CPI Security Systems Deceptive business practices Charlotte North Carolina

I was a customer from 2004-2013. In 2011 I decided to discontinue use of a land line in our home and had to "upgrade" to cell back-up service. I was not informed on the phone with customer service nor by the install tech that by doing this "upgrade" I was entering into a new 5 year contract. Within the contract about which I was not informed there was fine print stating that early termination would result in a bill for the monthly service contract for the remainder of the period. During the time that we had the cell back-up our equipment only worked about 50% of the time and various service calls could not get it to work properly so the service was practically useless other than potentially scaring away a potential intruder with the actual sound of the alarm. The voice two way did not work and they usually did not call after the alarm went off either.

In November 2012 my husband unexpectedly lost his job. In August 2013 we moved to a different state (in which CPI does not provide service) for his new job and sold our house. At that time we discontinued service. After moving we received a bill for nearly $1,000 for the remainder of our contract. After much discussion with them they "graciously" reduced our bill to $281. The lack of communication on the contract is a deceptive business practice and I would caution anyone who chooses to use them to be sure you ask questions and understand every aspect of the deal including if there is a contract and if so what are the minute details of said contract.