Interface Security Systems LLC

To Whom It May Concern:This message is in response to our customer [redacted]'s request to cancel his security monitoring service provided by our company.In April of 2000 Mr. [redacted] first contracted with Advanced Alarms to install and provide service to his home on [redacted] Drive...

for an initial term of 36 months with automatic renewals of the same 36 month term.  A few years later, Advanced Alarms joined forces with Interface Security and we have been providing monitoring and life safety coverage since that time.  In February 2008 we installed new equipment in his home and updated his agreement to a 60 month term with one year automatic renewals thereafter.  In December 2014 Mr. [redacted] contacted us to have a technician dispatched because his system was not working due to a storm.  The technician found that the system had sustained some water damage and he was forwarded over to sales to obtain a quote.  I do not have exact pricing on this quote so I can not confirm the amounts the customer says they were given, only that they would consider it.In order to cancel service with our company we need something to be sent in writing with the signature of the person who signed the original agreement for security purposes.  This information is provided to the customer when signing the agreement.  We did not receive any such letter to stop the services after the quote, though our Customer Care Representatives tried on three occasions to contact Mr. [redacted] in December 2014 after the service call for an update.  We did not receive a return call until he called in March of 2016 to stop the services.  We are unable to provide a refund to the customer for the time the alarm system was not working because we did not receive a letter to cancel the account in writing, as required.  We can however, cancel the account with no further drafts made.  At this time we have sent the customer a final letter and are waiting on it's return to cancel the account.Thanks in advance,[redacted] Customer Care Supervisor - Interface Security

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/18) */
To Whom It May Concern:
We are extremely sorry to hear of Ms. [redacted]'s dissatisfaction with her experience thus far with our company! We sincerely appreciate her patronage and want to do all we can to satisfy our customer. Having said...

that, we are escalating these complaints to our Sales and Install Management team to research the accounts and contact Ms. [redacted] personally for a visit. We will update the Revdex.com with additional info as it becomes available.
Thanks in advance,
[redacted]
Customer Service Supervisor
Interface Security
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/11/20) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
It has been 4 days since Interface responded to this complaint. I have received no phone call, no visit. and one home is still nonfictional waiting on the installation of a repeater to make it work, something that should have been put in with the initial
installation 5 months ago.

We are very sorry to hear of Mr. [redacted]'s continued dissatisfaction with our company and the inconvenience this is certainly causing him.  We do bill out in advance, however, which could partially explain the most recent bill.  I have confirmed with [redacted] that he will reach back out to Mr. [redacted] when we receive the form he is sending back to confirm we have received it.Sincerely,[redacted]Customer Care Account Manager - Interface Security

To Whom It May Concern:We are sorry to hear of the customer's dissatisfaction with our response to his complaint.  As he explained, as a former employee of Interface, he would definitely be well aware of the requirements to cancel security, and also the terms of the agreements that we sign.  Our agreements haven't changed in several years and would have been the same during his employment with the company.  The initial term of the agreement on file was for 36 months and had annual renewals thereafter.  The renewal would not be altered by a missed appointment on a service call. In researching the October 2015 call, we show a request date of 10/12/15, and the date the first tech was as 12/13/15, but notes show that the customer was unavailable and the tech left the site.  Perhaps there was an issue in scheduling this service call and we regret any confusion, but it does not appear that it was a no show.  The ticket also shows that it was rescheduled for 12/21/15 and a final visit was made on 10/26/15 for a final reprogram and test.  The ticket was closed as successful, meaning the system was testing normal and the problem was resolved when the tech left.   We show that the account is time and material, and so it would typically be billed for a tech visit, however if the customer disagreed with the invoice he received, he could have called in to our Customer Care Team to dispute it.  We do not show that this took place, only the conversation regarding agreement terms on 10/12/15.  We do understand that the customer claims he called for a Service Supervisor with no return, and then sent a letter with a check.  We are very sorry if his messages went unreturned, and given this additional information can assume with great authority that the letter that he sent with the check was sent in with a payment which goes directly to the bank.  Unfortunately, those letters don't always make it back to our team so we would not have known.  We did receive that unsigned cancellation letter in December 2015, but were unable to reach the customer after three attempts to try to save the account, and get the letter with a signature.  Additionally it is important to note that the agreement renewed on 9/9/15.  The first request for cancellation, as stated by the customer, came in October 2015, which would have been past that date and the agreement would have already renewed, making him liable for the remainder of that term regardless of the letter being unsigned or signed.  The bank cashing his check did not make his agreement month to month.Despite these facts, we are sincerely sorry of the customer's request to cancel and wish we could have done something to change the outcome.  The customer had originally mentioned he was cancelling because the site had closed down, not because he had this service issue.  We can assure you that if our team had known that this was the problem when he originally called to cancel on 10/12/15, we would have done everything we could have to work with the customer on the invoice he received for the service call.  We are unable to change the term of the agreement on file, and it is clear that despite the customer's issues, the agreement would have renewed on 9/9/15 for another 12 months, bringing the date to 9/9/16.  If he would have cancelled his service in December 2015, he still would have received the bill through 9/9/16.  Again, we will not hold him to the renewal from 9/9/16 for an additional year and are only requesting he pay what he would have charged through regardless, in the amount of $326.31.  Please let us know if your firm requires any documentation from our company.Thanks in advance,[redacted] - Customer Service Supervisor

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/09/22) */
To Whom It May Concern:
The Community Interfaith Pantry originally became a customer of Interface in August 2007. At that time they signed a 60 month term for security monitoring. In January 2014 they renewed their agreement with us for a...

new term of 60 months in order to receive an upgrade to the system. [redacted] was the Director of the location and it was he who signed the agreement.
[redacted] contacted us to cancel the service in September of 2014 because he was moving the facility. Rather than contracting with Interface in the new location, he signed an agreement with a new security company. Because he did not transfer the service, Interface sent him a final bill for the unfulfilled portion of the agreement which totals $2032.12. It does appear that RMTI, the collection agency responsible for this account, did contact Mr. [redacted] prematurely and for that we apologize. The account has currently been put on hold with RMTI to prevent further collection action.
If there is another location that this customer could transfer the service to, we would be able to completely forgive the balance of the agreement, and a new one would be taking this one's place. However if he is not interested in resigning, we would ask that he pay half of the final bill totaling $1016.06.
We will be waiting to hear the customer's reply.
Thanks in advance,
[redacted]
Customer Service Supervisor
Interface Security

To Whom It May Concern:We are so sorry to hear of this customer's complaint and want to do what we can to come to an amicable solution for both sides!  We heard of the customer's concern back in April when she called because she received an error code on her keypad.  She explained that she...

had switched to [redacted], then called us to troubleshoot.  The technician told her what the issue was related to- not having a POTS phone line for the alarm system which is the customer's responsibility to provide.  Somehow a mistake was made and a tech sent out, but there was no need.  Then the customer received the bill in error.  We are so sorry that this has caused the customer to cancel with our company.  At this point we would like to let the customer know that we will be crediting off the final bill in it's entirety in an effort to close this case and make things right with the customer.  Thanks in advance,[redacted]Customer Care Account ManagerInterface Security

Complaint: [redacted]   I am rejecting this response because I am continuing to be billed by Interface Security and also upon further review of my contract have been over billed by Interface Security Systems set forth in the terms of the attached contract (see attached Interface Contract.pdf).    I originally contacted Interface on 5/27/2016 to cancel my residential services.  As per what my sales representative, [redacted], had told me at the time of adding the residential cellular monitoring on 12/2/2013 I did not believe that I was under a contract and that I was only adding cellular monitoring to my plan.  Interface Security advised me that I was indeed under contract and was responsible for approximately $1,200 in pre-paid alarm monitoring costs if I were to terminate prior to the end of my contract and that they could not verify what [redacted] had told me as that employee was no longer with the company and that they could only go off of what the contract stated and that a contract is a contract.  I tried explaining to the representative that [redacted] had told me that since section 3 of the contract (see attachment: Interface – Signed Contract.pdf) was not filled in that I was only acknowledging the $8.95/month fee for the addition of the cellular service addition.  When I began to question this I was told that I would be responsible for the remaining balance because I had signed the agreement regardless of what the account representative had told me.   Initially when I requested that the customer service representative on the phone raise this with their management, per their management I was made an offer to be let out of my residential contract if I would extend the term of my business contract - which I declined.   I requested to speak with the management that made said offer and I was told that the manager would have to call me back as they were on the other line.   A management representative with Interface Security did return my call later that day on 5/27/2016 and stated that I indeed was responsible for the $1,200 or that I could extend the term of my business contract I have with Interface and be relinquished of said charges.  By visiting the local Interface Security office in Little Rock, AR I obtained all pages of the contract prior to the phone call with the Interface Security management representative.  Upon further review from outside counsel it was discovered that per my contract I was only obligated to pay a grand total $8.95/month plus applicable taxes for complete security alarm and cellular monitoring.  When I raised this concern with the Interface management representative I was told that the price was completely absurd and unheard of and was clearly a mistake on the contract.  I promptly reminded Interface what I was previously told, which was, that “we could only go by what was in the contract as [redacted] wrote the contract, and that employee is no longer with the company and that a contract is a contract”.      When I mentioned to the Interface management representative that if I were responsible for $1,200 in pre-paid alarm monitoring expenses (which is nowhere near the remaining term of my contract multiplied by my contracted monthly monitoring rate of $8.95) then legally per the contract Interface has been overbilling me since December 2013 in the amount of $46.76 when my contracted rate is $8.95 plus applicable taxes (see attachment Interface – Contract.pdf).  Now a contract is a contract.  Once I mentioned this to the management representative and they pulled up the entire contract and saw that it does indeed state $8.95/month for complete monitoring I was asked to hold while they spoke with the Director of Interface Security.  I was on hold for several minutes when they returned and promptly stated that the Director is going to let me out of my contract without owing anything and also without extending the term of my business monitoring and thanking me for being a loyal customer and bringing this to their attention and that my account would be cancelled immediately.   Since my account has already been cancelled and I continue to get billed I am requesting a refund in the amount of $1,041.65 which is to cover the overages billed to me since December 2013 based upon the difference in my contract and the actual amounts drafted from my bank account.  The calculations are in the attached file (Overbilling Calculations.pdf)   I look forward to quickly resolving this issue.   Sincerely,   [redacted]

To Whom It May Concern:Mr. [redacted] became a customer of our partner, [redacted], in 2003 and has remained a [redacted]l customer of Interface ever since that time.  He also upgraded with our company and renewed an agreement in 2011.  Agreements for security companies typically automatically...

renew for a period of time as industry standard, to uphold liability regulations.  The final bill he received was due to that renewed agreement, as we did not receive a request to cancel in writing prior to the renewal date as stated in his contract.Having said this, we certainly hate to see any customer go, especially a long term customer like Mr. [redacted].  When he called to cancel earlier this year, our Customer Care Representative did her best to try to talk him out of it, and come to a compromise that was suitable.  He was having trouble scheduling service and she wanted to ensure a fast and free service call.  Mr. [redacted] declined so she had no choice other than to go over the cancellation and contract procedures.  After management review, however, we have determined that we will not hold him to this final bill as a thank you to his [redacted]lty to our company.  Mr. [redacted] may disregard the final bill he received.Thanks in advance,[redacted] Customer Care Supervisor

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: Attached is an email from my landlord with the [redacted] (the outside surveillance company)  evidence which states that the police showed up at 1:51 am.  The dispatch call was made after that so yes the alarm company called the police, but this was after the police was already there, it is unacceptable that no motion detector would detect him after walking in and back out and back inside the store and walk all around the store and banging open the cash register.  I will accept the break detectors free of charge and I do not feel that it is my responsibility to pay any service charges that were applied to my account for this incident. There is a serious problem with the communication of this alarm company or I want to simply end my contract without any of my credit or name being affected or any other fees.  I will have to contact the police department to get the statement from officer [redacted] and the complete police report which I will forward to you.  
Sincerely,
[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern:We are very sorry to hear of our customer's wishes to cancel their security with our company and would like to do what we can to offer a resolution.  First, we would like to explain that the customer contracted with our company for an initial term of 60 months with one...

year automatic renewals unless given notice prior to the renewal date.  It is considered industry standard to have these renewing agreements that protect both sides, especially considering the seriousness of life safety, and a renewing agreement can be found with all reputable alarm companies.  Family Chiropractic's agreement runs through May 2018 and as we explained to the customer, if he cancels prior to that time he will receive a bill for the unused portion of the agreement.The customer spoke with our representative in early September because he was shopping around for a lower price for his service.  We negotiated a lower rate with him, and reviewed the services he was interested in and the cost to provide those services to him.  We spoke with the Director of Customer Care to ensure we were giving this long term customer the best rate that we could at the time.  After a few days to consider, the customer called back and said he had decided to go with another company, so we explained that after receiving a letter to cancel the service, we would process it and he would be billed for the unused portion of the term through May 2018.  We feel we have done everything in our power to ensure that the customer is receiving a fair and competitive rate, and we would like to retain his business.  If we cannot, however, we can work with him on the remainder.  We can offer to take a month off of the remaining time owed.  We would urge he call in to speak with our Customer Care management to negotiate as he has not done so yet.  He should call [redacted] and ask to speak with a manager to discuss.Thanks in advance,[redacted]Interface Security Systems.

To Whom It May Concern:Mr. [redacted] has been a loyal customer of Interface since 2009.  In September of 2016 he called in to cancel due to job loss.  We hated to see him go and wanted to work with him to keep him.  Our representative offered to lower the rate or split payments...

with him to make it more affordable for the next 6 months.  The agreement was not up for renewal until April 2017, meaning he could be held for the remainder of that time.  The customer agreed to lower the rate for 6 months.  At the end of that time the rate went back to his normal fee, and he called again to cancel.  At that time we re-explained the agreement and the renewal, and what we did in September.We believe this was an honest misunderstanding between the customer and our representative.  Our history shows we were trying to help him but may not have understood the full need being no phone line to allow the system to work.  We've discussed his complaint with management and they have agreed to let him out of the remainder of the term.  We simply need something in writing from Mr. [redacted] stating to cancel immediately for [redacted] with his handwritten signature sent to Customer Service [redacted].Thanks in advance,[redacted]Customer Care Supervisor

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/06) */
To Whom It May Concern,
This is in response to a complaint made to your firm by our customer, [redacted].
Mr. ** mentions in his complaint that we (Interface) are making a change and that is why he needs to upgrade and therefore we should...

furnish the equipment costs. This is incorrect. It is public knowledge that [redacted] is slowly changing over their network towers from 2G to 4G. This is a decision that was made by [redacted] and is affecting every alarm company and every customer across the country that is communicating on 2G networks. The fix is an upgrade to the panel itself so that it will work with the 4G towers. Again, this is not a change Interface is making, therefore it is not a change our company should completely pay for. What we are doing is offering discounted upgrades to our customers so that their systems will continue to communicate. If Mr. ** were to go to a different alarm company, he would face the same issue is trying to monitor his system due to the [redacted] towers in his area.
We certainly do not want to see Mr. ** cancel his service with us and would very much like the opportunity to send a Field Customer Service Representative to his location to continue to try to work with him on an upgrade. Our customer care representative offered a discounted price, but Mr. ** did not agree and said he would cancel the account. At this time we are still waiting to receive written notice that we should stop his monitoring services.
Should Mr. ** decide to continue with the cancellation, given that he has been a customer of ours since 2001, we will forgive the last few months remaining on his term and will not receive a final bill.
Thanks in advance,
[redacted]
Customer Service Supervisor
Interface Security
X-XXX-XXX-XXXX ext XXXXX

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/28) */
To Whom It May Concern,
Interface Security had been providing security monitoring service for [redacted] and [redacted] at XXXXX [redacted] Suite [redacted] since 2012. In 2015, without warning, we stopped receiving payments from the...

customer. We were unable to reach them by phone and sent a certified final letter requesting payment or we would have to discontinue the account in August 2015. This letter came back unclaimed from the post office. At that time the account was cancelled for delinquency and was sent to a third party collection agency named RMTI for the past due open balance and the remainder of the term on the agreement.
Due to collection laws regarding multiple parties attempting to collect on the same balance, we are unable to discuss this matter with the customer. The customer will need to contact RMTI directly to reach a resolution at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Thanks in advance,
[redacted]
Customer Service Supervisor
Interface Security

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/30) */
To Whom It May Concern:
We would like to sincerely apologize for the wait time this customers employees are experiencing with our technical support team! The times that are being described are inexcusable and we are thankful this issue has...

been brought to our attention. I am going to get in contact with the Account Manager for Mr. [redacted]'s [redacted] site and have them contact him at the number he provided ASAP to correct the problem.
Thanks in advance,
[redacted]
Customer Service Supervisor
Interface Security
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/12/30) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Was contacted by rep [redacted] and issue is being addressed

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and I will accept this resolution on the following conditions. I did accept their final offer.  I have mailed to them a final payment of $25.50 and have marked it as "Final Payment" on my check.  I want this to be the final contact with this company.  If anything else arises or any further contact from this company, I will request that this complaint be reopened.
Sincerely,
[redacted]