H S I Security

Review: I had recently purchased a home with a deactivated security system installed by HSI that had a malfunction and all overhead lights were flashing on/off. HSI's phone number had been left from the previous owner in case we wanted to reactivate the system, so I phoned them for assistance.[redacted], the owner of HSI, spent a total of less than 4 minutes on the phone with me to locate the system controls and basically tell me to unplug the system. After I got the system unplugged we spent a bit a time on the phone while he tried to sell me on the advantages of reactivating our system. He came across as a nice guy and was very engaging at the time.We then received a bill from HSI in the amount of $28.75 for 15 minutes of time. There was never an upfront mention of a charge for telling me to unplug the system to shut it down. We have no contract nor other relationship with HSI. We ignored the bill, feeling that it was unjustified and the company's behavior unethical. After all, it was their installed system that had malfunctioned. HSI contacted us by certified mail with a demand for payment, whereupon we phoned them to discuss what we felt was an unfair bill and followed up with a written request on April 3, 2013 asking them to reconsider their demand. HSI's response was to increase the bill to $39.24 and serve notice to take us to small claims court.As a side note, while researching for this complaint we discovered other complaints regarding HSI of a similar nature also citing what they considered unethical business practices. http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Hsi.Security.Systems.Inc.XXX-XXX-XXXX/rev...⇄ />
Order_Number: INVOICE XXXXX

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Other (requires explanation)

We would like HSI to drop their demand for all payment, now in the amount of $39.24.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response /* (1000, 6, 2013/04/24) */

This is now a legal matter that will be resolved by the court.

Consumer's Final Response /* (3000, 8, 2013/04/25) */

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

It is not a legal matter, as we paid the inflated bill of $39.24 plus $50 court costs totaling $89.24 simply to avoid wasting any more time with HSI. Our payment does not change the facts of the case, nor the poor way HSI handled the situation, their total lack of understanding of customer service, nor their unethical business practices. $89.24 is now the amount that we feel HSI needs to reimburse us.

Business' Final Response /* (4000, 10, 2013/05/06) */

In response to this complaint, the charge the customer is disputing was for an after hours emergency support page he requested at night on his security system that required our 24 hour answering service to page an on call technician and get them out of bed. On this particular night the on call tech happened to be the owner of the company who provided the support. The customer was not a customer of HSI's and his 1989 security system wasn't being monitored by HSI and hadn't been serviced by us for 12 years. On this particular night it had a maintenance issue as a result of a low system battery. A battery acts as a stabilizer as well as backup power for these systems and needs to be replaced every 4 to 5 years to avoid any issues with the system. We send out regular notices to unmonitored systems we have installed informing homeowners of the need for this maintenance. [redacted] walked [redacted] through the process of temporarily shutting down his system until the problem could be resolved. This process involves not simply "unplugging" the system, but the panel must be located as it is hidden in the home, information we keep documented in our records and that has to be accessed. The panel must be unlocked with a hidden key, the leads to the battery unplugged and the transformer that plugs into an electrical outlet must be located, again information we keep documented and that transformer must be unscrewed from the outlet.

These security systems are custom designed, top of the line systems that are fully functioning like any other appliance that comes with a home and are available for the homeowner's use whether it is monitored or not. In addition, our systems have smoke detectors and heat detectors that may be the only fire detection in the home. We strive to provide 24 hour prompt customer support to any homeowner that has one of our systems.

In light of the service provided above and the costs associated with providing it, $28.95 is both reasonable and fair. How many companies can you call in the middle of the night and receive that type of service on any other appliance in your home?

We're disappointed that it has come to this point with this customer. As the charge was billed in May of 2012, we gave him plenty of time to pay and politely discussed our justification for the charge with him at length but he refused and challenged us to take him to small claims court, which we have done and prevailed with a judgment on our behalf.

Do not publish this complaint without our verbatim response.