Southern Atlantic Safety DeTech Firesense Technologies Unease, Unpleasant Disgusted Regrettable Experience Bunnell, Florida

First, I would like to say that I was not ripped off but my experience with the company was so unpleasant that I want to put it out there for others.  I suppose it's more of a public complaint and a forewarning for potential "customers".

My introduction to Southern Atlantic Safety, who supplies DeTech fire/smoke alarms, was through a close friend's hosting of a Fire Safety Educational Meeting. My husband and I went because we care & respect the host family and were genuinely interested in what they were supporting. In all honestly, we learned a few really interesting tips that we immediately put into place in our home. But overall, we learned more frightening statistics, sad stories and were scared silly rather than learned "valuable life-saving information".  Basically, fear tactics were used and the information emphasized was to scare the audience into their product. When recounting what I learned to a curious family member, all I kept repeating was that they scared us; not so much informative but they scared everyone into wanting the company to come a**es their homes.

The first sense of unease occurred when we were told that we had three days for Dave to come out to our house to give us a quote. This was followed by another double take when he said my husband HAD to be there. We had all intention of seriously considering and possibly investing in the DeTech fire/smoke alarms but were not keen on having to decide on the spot. Dave assured us that we would have five days to change our minds. Five days to do our own research, etc and cancel the contract if we so decided.
After Dave left our house with the sale, I looked up at our fire & smoke alarms and said to my husband, "I cannot believe we just spent $2,800 on a system that we just learned about two days prior"! We then started going through all the pros & cons, doing the research and making our final decision. Also at this time, my father came home (who is part homeowner) and was furious that we made a rash decision on the house without his support. Since we had unease, we decided to cancel the contract, do some proper research, check out other systems and make a decision that we wouldn't be rushed into. A decision we were comfortable with and not wishy washy.

The next day my husband was unable to reach Dave, finally the second day of the contract (August 3rd), Dave was told our decision to cancel and the reasons behind it. We also had sent the "Buyers Notice of Cancellation" which was on the back of the contract via USPS Certified Mail. Although Dave told us we had five days to cancel, the contract still said three days so we made it a point to get it off in the mail immediately.
After many phone calls, emails and text messages, Dave finally came to my house 2 1/2 weeks later to uninstall the units. I was told multiple lies in the meanwhile and finally the President (Peter D. Lucarelli) called me to assure me that I would get my refund within the next 4-5 days.  He also told me that policy was not to issue the refund until after the units were un-installed. I do not, for the life of me, understand why Dave couldn't have known of this policy and been up front from the beginning. He flat out lied to me via email, text message and over the phone! He promised me things and never delivered after multiple requests.

Peter also told me that they did not process the refund because I was still interested in the product! Really? Did you really say that? I WAS interested in the product up until Dave couldn't follow through on any of my requests! The product WAS a serious contender but we didn't want to be rushed and certainly not ignored, lied to and treated like we're idiots!

When Dave came to the house to un-install the units, he did not "Professional Patch" the holes as promised during his sales pitch. He said that he thought that the units would be uninstalled for him and that's why he didn't come prepared to patch. What? He said he would be back the following Monday. I was surprised to see him at all on Tuesday and the patch job was anything but professional. He told me that I could paint the patch in 12 hours. Really? Did you really say that? He also left splatters of the patch all over my cabinets!

We were promised multiple gift cards for attending the Meeting & Sales Presentation; low and behold, they arrived! 5 weeks later when told between 2 & 4, but they came! And I finally received the refund exactly 20 days AFTER I sent the Buyers Notice of Cancellation!

If anyone out there is reading this because they are looking for information on the company, my advice is to just be wary. I believe that the product Southern Atlantic Safety sells, the DeTech Fire    and Smoke alarms do what they say. But is it worth the hassle of dealing with the supplier to get them? For my family, it wasnt. I feel if we are being rushed into such a major and expensive purchase, something or someone is off. We were also displeased with the fact that they target families and use fear tactics to force or guilt people into buying. The product should stand on its own and sell itself and a seller should not use questionable sales tactics; which is exactly how Southern Atlantic Safety operates.

Good luck to all interested in DeTech Fire and Smoke Alarms and may your experiences be more pleasant than ours.