I thought I was done with these guys (Firstline Security) but they just don't go away. I got hit by the same smooth talking salesman in May 07; he said because of our prime visual location they would give me a discount for alarm service if we would put their sign in the yard. Needless to say I was out of town a lot of the time and the idea of an alarm system for my family gave me peace of mind, which was the last time I had peace of mind.
The deal was for 30.00 a month, less than a dollar a day (some months) the system worked great for about 4 days. The system started sending false alarm signals and the police showed up, the service tech had to come and replace some sensors. Oh I almost forgot the first shock to my bank account, Firstline never bothered to tell me that in Spokane you need to pay a yearly fee and register your alarm system with the police? This false alarm response by the police cost me a couple hundred dollars because we weren't registered. Firstline said that was not their responsibility to let their customers know local codes. A month later the security sign was stolen from our yard, the sales jerk told me if that happened just call Firstline and they would replace it. He didn't tell me they wanted to charge me to replace their sign.
Months later the system started sending false alarms again, this time to Police and Fire Departments, again I called Firstline and a couple days later the service man showed up, after making repairs he told me that he would have to charge me for the service call, I said B.S. it's your equipment. He called the office (their service guys have to wait on hold forever just like their customers) finally the office authorized the repairs at no charge.
In Jan. 08 I noticed a melted plastic smell and discovered the power supply to the control panel was very warm to the touch, after an hour on hold, the Firstline customer service person told me that was normal….? A week later Feb. 08, the power supply burst in to flames; thank God we were home and had other smoke alarms not on their system. I called Firstline and left a message, but never heard back.
At that point I stopped making payments sure I would hear from them, I did. I got a courtesy call in Mar. 08, reminding me I had missed a payment, I told them I was not paying for something I didn't have. They routed me to the repairs department and after a very long discussion with the person on the line they assured me someone would be there the next day (at no charge) I blew off a day of work but no one showed up. I sent them a letter terminating all service with them the next day.
In Aug. 08 I got a call from Alarm Services claiming to be updating their records, I told the woman I was done with Firsline and hung up the phone. The next month I noticed a 44.99 charge to my bank account from Security Services and had my bank reverse the charges immediately. I got my money back.
Now 12/29/09 I am getting letters from Alarm Services telling me I owe them 160.00 and that my monitoring service could be interrupted if I don't send them a payment. It makes me wonder who is actually monitoring this system? My control panel has not had power for 10 months and I never got a call, email or letter informing me my system was still off-line or asking me why my system was off-line. Did they not figure out we have not had service for almost a year? Who are they paying to monitor a system that is not hooked up? Oh – but they are offering a free month of service if I set up monthly auto-pay.
Ethan
Spokane, Washington
U.S.A.
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