Alarm Funding Associates

Review: The business operates "Safe and Sound" alarm monitoring in [redacted], NC. I was renting a house and I contacted Safe and Sound as they had previously provided monitoring services to this house. I explained to the salesperson that I was renting for one year and he quoted a monthly cost for alarm monitoring which I agreed. When I moved out at the end of my lease, Safe and Sound (Alarm Funding) sent me a bill for $552.50 claiming that I had signed an agreement for 3 years of service! This was untrue and of course was never mentioned to me by the salesperson (why would this ever make sense for someone renting for one year?). When we called to dispute this claim, the company sent us what was supposedly a copy of the signed contract where I agreed to a three year commitment. It was clear from this copy that changes were made to this document after I had signed it.

I have of course refused to pay for any additional charges since moving out of the rental property. I recently received a notice from a collection agency so it clear that they are trying to move down a path of forcing payment on this erroneous claim.

To summarize, this claim is invalid for many reasons: 1) I was never told about a three year commitment, 2) The fact that I was renting for one year lends further credence to the claim that I was never told, and 3) the document that was produced after the fact appears to have been changed after my signing.Desired Settlement: I have paid Alarm Funding in full for all of the months that I occupied the rental house. I want them to acknowledge that I do not owe them anything more and remove their claim from [redacted] Collection Agency immediately.

Thank you.

Business

Response:

Review: I used [redacted] Security for alarm service monitoring at a residence in Arizona. My contract term was from November 1, 2012 to October 31,2013. I moved out of the residence in September 2013 and I cancelled my service with [redacted] Security in September 2013. I received a bill in November and again I called [redacted] Security and informed them that I would not be renewing and to cancel my service. I was told that my service was cancelled. In January 2014, I received a statement/bill from Alarm Funding Associates (AFA) informing me that they were now providing billing service for [redacted] Security. I immediately called AFA and explained that my service had been cancelled in September, 2013. At their request I sent a written request to cancel service. In February 2014, I received another statement from AFA demanding payment and threatening to send the matter to collections. I again called AFA and sent an email requesting cancellation and explaining that I had already canceled and that I had not used their services since September 2013. I also returned their invoice with a second written cancellation notice. On 05-02-14, I received another statement from AFA with a highlight and red writing stating "Final Notice" and demanding that I pay "234.60" for one years worth of service (from 11-01-13 through 10-31-14). I called and was told that my cancellation email was received on February 14, 2014, but that the other written cancellation notices had not been received and that [redacted] Security never informed AFA of the cancellation in September 2013. I called [redacted] Security and was told that there was no record on file for current service. Alarm Funding Associates has used unethical practices by threatening to send a bill to collections if I don't pay for a service that I cancelled well in advance and a service that I did not use. I have made several attempts via telephone, email, and postal mail to resolve this matter with Alarm Funding Associates, but they refuse to cancel my service and demand that I pay for one years worth of a service in advance for a service that I cancelled and do not desire or use.Desired Settlement: I want Alarm Funding Associates to accept cancellation of my account (customer #[redacted]) as of september 2013, when I initially cancelled this account. I want AFA to stop threatening me with more invoices and threats of sending the matter to a collections company. I want AFA to change their business practices to allow a customer to easily and effectively cancel service. AFA needs to be ethical and acknowledge a cancelation by sending out a cancellation confirmation letter to customers who chose to cancel.

Business

Response:

The customer called our office on May 2, 2014 to dispute final amount due per the terms of the contract. As customer care manager, I received an email from my customer care department requesting my review of the customer's complaint. After reviewing the account history I decided to write off the balance due on the contract due to the customer's long time, good pay history with our partner company. On the same day, I emailed the billing dept requesting the amount due be written off and send updated zero balance due invoice to the customer. The customer has a zero balance due and no further monies are owed to AFA as of May 2nd 2014. Our company received notification of a Revdex.com complaint on May 7th 2014, of which we responded immediately. Please confirm this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of the customer.Thank you.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Thank you for your assistance,

Review: I initially signed the contract in January of 2010 for a period of three years for my alarm service. They didn't mention then about the automatic 1 year renewal of the contract after three years. They did mention at that time that the price would be reduced after the 3 year period. I called them at the end of the three year period and asked them to reduce the price. They said they are going to reduce the price but it's going to be in contract again. Then I told them to leave the current pricing plan in tact as I know I was going to leave in a few months from then.

Now I cancelled, they called and confirmed that it's cancelled and but now they are still sending me the invoices. Now, when I call them they say that it's cancellation pending because I'm in a one year contract. I think I paid enough to not be in a contract again.Desired Settlement: I don't have to pay anything!