Soundscapes

Review: On 3-14-14, our home alarm went off in the middle of the night. This alarm was installed in our new home prior to us purchasing the home. We have never used the system/service at all. After many phone calls for guidance on how to turn the alarm off, we were give instructions to remove the battery. That would be great but the main alarm box was locked with no key. The owner finally came out to turn off the alarm. He was able to open the box, there we found the keys inside the box, he removed the battery but alarm was still going, he did whatever else and stopped the alarm. He then stated in front of my husband and I that it was not wired properly. He said he would have a tech come out and replace the battery for us. During this night he never once mentions cost/or a bill. We then received a bill in the mail for $187.67. This was for the cost of the battery and an after hours service call. We have no issue for paying for the battery but do not feel it is our responsibility to pay for a service call when he admitted that the system was not wired correctly. My husband tried to call and speak with the owner but was cussed out and could not resolve the issue. I am sending a demand letter to see if they will do the right thing and take responsibility for the bad wiring/service call.Desired Settlement: We would just like them to remove the fee for the service call. We will pay for the battery

Business

Response:

The [redacted] have seemed to have gotten the facts misconstrued. We provide a 24/7 on call service for emergencies as a courtesy to our customers. Mr. [redacted] initially called our on call late in evening speaking to our tech [redacted]. Paul informed them that on call rates would be in effect and it was probably better to pick up a replacement battery at our shop in the morning during business hours so he wouldn't have to pay the higher rate. Two days had passed and we had not heard from him. Then the second call comes in to our answering service and it happens when I am on call. Mr. [redacted] proceeds to use profanity toward me to describe his unhapiness with his battery situation. Please keep in mind that we do not have a service contract or alarm monitoring with Mr. [redacted]. He wasn't even the original owner of this home when we installed the alarm for [redacted]( the builders). So how are we responsible for where the keys are located? As far as bad wiring, this is not a true statement. So after talking to the irate Mr. [redacted] on the second call, I went out to Mr. [redacted] residence at 1 am in the morning after he called to disconnect the battery for him. I didn't have an alarm battery on me so I informed him that we would schedule to come back and replace the old battery with a new one, which is what we did. So what could have been easily taken care of by Mr. [redacted] turned into something more costly. We still have not received full payment for services rendered and now will forward this case to small claims courts. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: I am so disappointed with the response... first of all we WERE the initial owners of the home, it was still being built when we purchased the home. Second, my husband was NEVER told about ANY fees and we didn't receive a bill until 2 months or so after they had come out. We assumed that they were standing by good customer service. As far as the profanity, he was spoken to SO unprofessionally initially in the phone call, I am sure he used some as well after being spoken to like that. I have taught customer service courses for many years and know that you cannot communicate in an unprofessional manner.... and that all services should be explained thoroughly, and signatures to assure the understanding of both parties... Again as for his comments regarding the bad wiring, his crew put it in not [redacted] homes....so it should be their responsibility to correct the issue.

I am going to have to pay the fee because I cannot afford to pay the small claims court fees, however, I still want this complaint to remain on record so other people can read about their poor business practices. I am also going to let the local chamber of commerce know and report it to a local news channel.