1st Protection Systems

Review: This firm came by on 8/1/14 and said they were here to inspect the Fire Emergency lights. We did not call them, nor did the building manager who would normally do this. I did sign paperwork which had no price and thought the building manager had ordered the inspection. I was surprised to get an invoice for $95 for this inspection. When I contacted the property manager, he told me he did not call for this inspection and didn't know why it was performed. I have been calling this firm ever since to have this rectified and have left no less than 5 messages with their answering service. I'm always promised a call back within 24 hours but have never been called back. This is a total scam company.Desired Settlement: Credit the invoice sent.

Business

Response:

November 6, 2014

Thank you for your concerns sent to us regarding services provided. Further investigating the

invoices in question, there was pre-authorization form signed by your representative at the time of

service. The pre-authorization form is signed and it clearly states:

"By signing this form is agreed and understood that proper pre-authorization was given for all of the

fire protection services performed by one or more Fire Protection Systems Technicians at the

location identified below. Your signature below acknowledges that the technician(s) have not in

any manner whatsoever tampered with any of the fixed fire systems in the facility or any portions

thereof."

If the technician was not authorized to service/inspect the location then the technician(s) should

have been directed to the correct and authorized personnel. If the technician(s) were informed to

either come back at a later time or were simply asked to speak with the person that authorizes the

service/inspections then he would have not had any problems doing so. It is your employees/

"Managers"/ "Supervisors" obligation to ask questions if he did not completely understand what

the technician was offering. The technician would have been more than pleased to either repeat

himself or explain the service in a way he would have understood. The technician would have

been able to service another location at the time in question if your representative would have

refused the service or asked him to come back at a more convenient time. Not all to companies

have the same procedures as yours.

The technician would have never stated or mislead anyone to believe he is a Fire Inspector. It is

mandatory for the technicians to inform all customers where he is from and what he is offering. On

the pre-authorization form it also clearly states:

"Furthermore, it is understood that First Protection Systems Inspections Co. is a private company

and that its technician(s) has NOT REPRESENTED that he (they) and/or First Fire Systems Inspections

Co. itself ARE ACTING FOR, SENT BY, IS A OR ARE MEMBER(S) OF IS IN ANY AFFILIATED WITH ANY

FIRE DEPARTMENT OR OTHER GOVERNMENTAL OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY."

Not only the pre-authorization form states where the technician is from, but they also wear a

uniform that clearly states where they are from in BIG BOLD LETTERS.

First Protection Systems has attached the zero balance statement and the pre-authorization form

signed at the time of service/inspection so that you can better understand the situation. I have

received your letter, and we understand you did not request this service.

Thank you for your attention regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

Account Supervisor

Review: This company has fraudulent business practices and billing. A representative of 1st Protection came into our office pretending to be from the landlord. He looked up at the exit sign and said everything looks fine. Then I receive an invoice for $225.00. I see that I'm not the only company that 1st Protection has tried to defraud.Desired Settlement: This company should be out of business and the owner in jail. At the very least, the invoice they sent better be reversed.

Review: A representative ([redacted]) from 1st Protection Services arrived at our business, and stated they were sent by The Irvine Company. All vendors in our building must be authorized from The Irvine Company, so my receptionist let him in. She signed one piece of paper. I received an invoice in the mail for $225, stating they did things that are physically impossible, such as FOUR Exit Emergency lights. We have one sign in our office, not four. I contacted The Irvine Company just after [redacted] left, and was informed The Irvine Company did NOT authorize this service and that [redacted] had lied to gain access to our office. There were no safety inspections completed, however the paperwork states there were. There are four additional pieces of paper where my receptionists signature was also forged.

I have tried to contact this business to receive a copy of my bill voided, as we will not pay this bill. The service was unwarranted, the technician lied for access to our company and then forged paperwork. I have not been able to actually speak to anyone other than the receptionist, and have not received any phone calls back. A police report will be filed with Irvine Police Department on this issue as well, as this is fraud, and forgery has been committed.Desired Settlement: I want a copy of paperwork stating we do not owe this $225 and I do not want anyone from this company to approach our business again after.

Review: Completely fraudulent. No services rendered yet have billed us for $325. Received an invoice from 1st Protection Systems today stating that they performed a number of inspections at our site on 6/26/14. They were never authorized or called in to perform this service and fraudulently presented themselves to employees as figures of authority and got them to sign their form. This form was later manipulated by 1st Protection Systems as you can tell that a minimum of 4 people, not including my employee, have written on this form, including dating the form themselves below my employee's signature. On top of this, my employee only signed one form, but now there are 3 other "signed" forms which were obviously forged as the signatures and writing do not match. Additionally, it is blatantly obvious that they did not perform any of the services described as their sheet does not even match up to how our fire life safety system is setup. They state we have 4 emergency exit lights, which we do not. On top of this, it states the fire alarm system and alarm panel was inspected, which is impossible due to the fact that the fire alarm panel is inaccessible without a key from the property manager, which they did not provide and that the fire sprinklers were inspected, which is also not possible as they did not go past our front counter or have a ladder, which means they could not have been inspected (additionally inspecting the system requires advance notice to our property manager as the system would need to be put on test or the fire department would be called). It also states they inspected our fire suppression system, which they did not as well as it is not accessible to the public and they were not allowed to go into any private areas of the facility. Additionally I do not see anywhere that they are actually licensed to perform any fire life safety inspection services, which are required when certifying fire extinguishers, ANSUL systems, etc.Desired Settlement: Void the invoice and never return to this address.

Business

Response:

October 31, 2014

Thank you for your concerns sent to us regarding services provided. Further investigating the

invoices in question, there was pre-authorization form signed by your representative at the time of

service. The pre-authorization form is signed and it clearly states:

"By signing this form is agreed and understood that proper pre-authorization was given for all of the

fire protection services performed by one or more Fire Protection Systems Technicians at the

location identified below. Your signature below acknowledges that the technician(s) have not in

any manner whatsoever tampered with any of the fixed fire systems in the facility or any portions

thereof."

If the technician was not authorized to service/inspect the location then the technician(s) should

have been directed to the correct and authorized personnel. If the technician(s) were informed to

either come back at a later time or were simply asked to speak with the person that authorizes the

service/inspections then he would have not had any problems doing so. It is your employees/

"Managers"/ "Supervisors'' obligation to ask questions if he did not completely understand what

the technician was offering. The technician would have been more than pleased to either repeat

himself or explain the service in a way he would have understood. The technician would have

been able to service another location at the time in question if your representative would have

refused the service or asked him to come back at a more convenient time. Not all companies

have the same procedures as yours.

The technician would have never stated or mislead anyone to believe he is a Fire Inspector. It is

mandatory for the technicians to inform all customers where he is from and what he is offering. On

the pre-authorization form it also clearly states:

"Furthermore, it is understood that First Protection Systems lnspections Co. Is a private company

and that its technician(s) has NOT REPRESENTED that he (they) and/or First Fire Systems Inspections

Co. Itself ARE ACTING FOR, SENT BY, IS A OR ARE MEMBER(S) OF, OR IS IN ANY AFFILIATED WITH ANY

FIRE DEPARTMENT OR OTHER GOVERNMENTAL OR LW ENFORCEMENT AGENT."

Not only the pre-authorization form states where the technician is from, but they also wear a

uniform that clearly states where they are from in BIG BOLD LETTERS.

First Protection Systems has attached the zero balance statement and the pre-authorization form

signed at the time of service/inspection so that you can better understand the situation. I have

received your letter, and we understand you did not request this service.

Thank you for your attention regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

Account Supervisor

Review: On Aug 1, 2014 1st Protection Systems came to our store saying to perform sprinkler inspection and had our employee signed a paper. Later, we receive a bill for $295, so I called the building manager to verify. (Normally these kinds of expenses will bill to the manager's office. ) The building manager does not know such company and did not authorize an inspection. I sent a letter to request void this invoce , but never they did not reply the letter and keep sending the same bill. This is obviously business scam.Desired Settlement: Void the invoice and never come to this location again.

Please provide your licensing ifnormation so I can report you to State and local authorities.

Review: On June 4th, 2014 a representative of 1st Protection System, walked into our facility and approached our front desk clerk and stated that the company had been there the day before and forgot to obtain a signature for the work they had completed. Unfortunately the desk clerk believed this individual and signed his paperwork. I have received an invoice in the amount of $325.00 and when I try to contact them to dispute this invoice, my phone calls go straight to an "answering service" and my calls are never returned.

We have a strict company policy that any and all services, repairs etc. are all ordered through our corporate office and I can tell you that we did not contact this company to request any type of service. I decided to do research of this company and found several complaints, similar to mine and eventually with your involvement they do clear these charges but not before continued past due invoices and threats of reporting to collection agencies.

As stated I have called them and left them several messages and no answer, I have also sent them a letter, but would like to have your assistance in this matter as soon as possible.Desired Settlement: I want them to clear this invoice, in writing as we did not contract any type of services with this fraudulent organization.

Business

Response:

We received your complaint letter stating you were unable to reach us and

the inspection was unauthorized. Let me first apologize for any confusion

that was caused by our company. We strive for 100% customer satisfaction.

We are an inspection company that offers the highest level of inspection in

the industry. We have been serving California for over 10 years. We train our

techs to ask for an owner, supervisor or a manager, we feel we followed

protocol in this situation.

In an effort to save time and money, we will zero out this invoice and you

will not be liable to pay this bill.

If you need services in the future, do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Account Supervisor

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], although they claim that they followed protocol by asking for an owner, supervisor or office manager, I would like to make it clear that the person that they had signed their fraudulent paperwork, was neither an owner, a supervisor nor an office manager. However they have agreed to clear their fraudulent invoice and I find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: We are a Chinese Restaurant that has been open for approximately 27 years. A employee from 1st Protection came into the business and looked around. Then had a another unknown person sign their work order. This unknown person is not our employee, possibly a customer or salesperson. I called 1st Protection that day and never got a call back. When the first statement came in the mail I called the company again. This has been going on for a long time, many months. Their statement does not list the correct name of our restaurant or the correct owners name.I have made numerous phone calls. All the calls are answered by a answering service.Finally I received a call from [redacted]. In talking to him I learned he was the tech that came to the restaurant. [redacted] does NOT speak Chinese Mandarin - small ethical problem.[redacted] told me he would void this invoice.Months have gone by and their statements continue to be mailed to us threatening TRW action.I have continued to call talking to the answering service requesting to talk to someone in management. No one will call me back from management.I wrote a letter to 1st Protection advising the above info, I still cant get anyone one from management to call me back.Desired Settlement: Is it possible for Revdex.com to advise them to have someone from management call me and settle this matter.I believe this company is unethical.Are you allowed to tell me if they have other complaints?thanks for any help[redacted]

Business

Response:

05-05-14

[redacted] Restaurant

[redacted] N. [redacted] St.

[redacted], CA [redacted]

RE: Invoice # [redacted]

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

We have received your letter stating your Issues with our company. I am sincerely sorry for your inability to reach someone from management, we strive for 100% satisfaction.

First of all, We feel that our technician handled the situation appropriately and was able to come to a satisfactory conclusion. I will personally make sure that you will receive no more statements from our company. I will also put you on or "do not contact list and we will no longer service your location.

We have been successfully serving California for over 30 years and we have upheld the highest level of ethics in the Industry.

I am sorry for the confusion, please accept the NFPA Title 19 reports you received as a compliment from our company.

Sincerely,

Account Supervisor

This company came to our store and without owner or manager approval did the inspection and told the one in charge that they are just going to do a check with no charge. Asked the clerk to sign to confirm that they stop by. After a month, received a bill from this company for inspection. This is a typical scam that protection company does. Nobody authorized them to do or perform inspection.

This company came to our business and without owner or manager approval did the inspection. Asked the receptionist to sign to confirm that they were there. After a month, received a bill from this company for inspection. Called the company and they were quick to remove the charge. Still, this is a typical scam that protection company does. Nobody authorized them to do or perform inspection.