Protect America Home Alarm Security Packages: A Cautionary Tale
With so much crime in my area, a home alarm seemed to be a good solution. I chose a home alarm security package from Protect America. What I have learned is that dealing with some alarm companies can be worse than the prospect of a break in. Read this article before you sign any contract for a home alarm system.
The Protect America home alarm security package was purchased from Armour Alarm two and a half years ago. I am not sure why, but Protect America has many alarm companies selling for them. When you find an alarm company with a different business name, they may actually be from Protect America. The two main complaints I have against Protect America is low quality equipment and dishonest business practices.
When I called Armour Alarm expressing my interest in purchasing a home alarm system they sent a rep to my house. They pulled out a contract that was a few pages long. The rep said not to worry about trying to read it all and that he would go over it all with me. This was my first big mistake in trusting the alarm company. He went over each paragraph and assured me that contract would only be a two-year commitment.
After signing the contract, Armour Alarm installed the new equipment. My first concern is that the window alarms are only secured into place by Velcro. They continually fell off triggering the alarm. One morning I had a false alarm. Luckily I was home and could disable it. This time it wasn’t the Velcro, it was some other issue. I called Armour Alarm out to check the equipment. The technician seemed very unsure and did not know what he was doing. The next time I had a false alarm, I was not home. When I did get home, many police officers were there. The police department fined me for having a false alarm. I contacted Protect America and they blamed the false alarm on my dog. They told me that Pomeranian dogs have a shrill bark similar to glass breakage. According to Protect America my dog caused the false alarms. They sent me a new alarm that can withstand Pomeranian frequencies.
At that point, I did not have any faith in my home alarm system. I decided to keep the alarm disabled and cancel when my two-year contract runs out. When my two-year contract ran out, I called Protect America. They told me I am not allowed to cancel. Even though I have kept up my two-year agreement. They said if you do not cancel before two years is up, you will have a mandatory additional two-years. This was never explained to me, I had no idea. I asked for a supervisor, and was transferred to voice mail. The supervisor from Protect America never returned my call. I called in again asking for a supervisor and they gave me an e-mail address to write to. Protect America never returned my e-mail. I checked with the Better Business Bureau and they are advising not to do business with Protect America. This is just a word of caution. Sometimes alarm companies can be worse than who they claim to protect you from.
