CommentExcuse the following angry tone of this letter, but I am quite frustrated. For the last year I have been dealing with your company's poor customer service. It has resulted in the repositioning of your sign in my front yard so that it's not noticeable to potential clients - and will soon lead to me putting flyers on every house in our community telling this story.
After a year of talking to too many Monitronics representatives on the phone to count... this issue is still not resolved. And it's a measly $40 charge.
It begs one to ask: What is going on?
I've decided to stop calling, since that has not worked previously. I will write it all down here instead. Please forward it to a person that can actually do something about the situation.
The story:
After a botched sales job where the representative misquoted the price of having touchscreens installed (first big disappointment in your company) we had several installation blunders as well. One was that the installer didn't know how to even install the touch screen. The other was that they didn't know how to work it or tell me how to work it. It went on and on until finally things were cleared up by another installer that knew what he was doing.
Through all of them - we were told that our dog would not set off the motion alarm - as they had been rated to 'ignore' small pets. They asked the weight of our dog and concluded it was properly rated. I figured it was the heat sensor that worked according to body size. In any case - with this reassurance (from multiple representatives of your company) - we were not concerned.
Fast forward to our dog, of course, setting off our alarm. Why was this happening? No one at Monitronics could say - but they were willing to eat up our free 'passes' and even charge us for one of the times.
We called as soon as we got the bill and were told it would be taken off, as yes, the charge was ridiculous.
To add insult to injury - we ended up with an alarm system where the motion detector was useless because a small toy-dog would set it off. Very disappointed.
Fast forward to today - the matter is STILL unresolved. This after numerous calls and WASTED hours explaining the same thing again and again. (which is why I'm not calling anymore.)
The last person I talked to was a very nice and seemingly competent supervisor named Sean (ID 8565)
He was VERY clear about doing the following (I made him repeat it - that's how I know how clear he was):
* $21 late fees removed
* Original $39 fee removed
* Original 'free' guard visits removed from record
* NonBillable service call to be set up to see why the alarm was sounding
Sure enough - we had installers come. A good sign! Finally Monitronics was doing what they said they would. They said, "Oh yeah, it might be that the dog sits on the couch and triggers the alarm." To which we said, "Obviously dogs like to get on couches if they're small - that's where they sit." So it was a non-isssue. They should have told us this from the beginning. We would have never set the motion detector. Very simple.
All was good.
Except... the next month I get a BILL AGAIN. $41??????
What is going on? I figured maybe it would take a while for the system to clear it - but no. We still keep getting the same bogus bill.
This needs to be handled asap - and it needs to be handled without further hassle to us. I think that $41 is pretty darn trivial when compared to the warnings we will give to future potential customers (via blogging, word of mouth and flyers if that's what it takes) concerning the complete failure of your ability to handle a simple customer service situation.
So - Thank you in advance for fixing these ridiculous errors on my account asap.
Sincerely yours,
xxx
It's been nearly 2 years since we first signed on with Monitronics, and this is still unresolved. Since this letter, there were several more calls that promised to fixed this issue, but in the end never did. At this point, we are waiting for our contract with them to be up.
Save yourself the unnecessary stress - Do not use this company.
 Comments (2) |  |
| 1. Written by Ken, on 27-12-2009 23:27 Most motions or PIRs work off of temp differences. PIR stands for Passive InfaRed. This means it passively looks for changes in temperatures. Say the differences of 72 degrees in a home and the 98 degrees of a person. As the temp changes move around the motion is triggered. Motions need be adjusted or masked to help prevent false alarms befor activation. But if there continues to be issues you can always go with a glassbreak detector. Dual tech motions use infared and microwave technology at the same time. Both have to be triggred to set off the alarm. These are much more accurate. The big issue is customers dont want to pay for it. They are so used to the "free" or "99$" alarm system they don't get a proper system. 2 doors and a motion is not enough. All doors and all windows are the best start. Adding Dualtech motions and glassbreaks is even better. But no one wants to pay for it. But if its a 50 inch high def TV? Then the wallets open up. But god forbid you spend 1/3 the amount you did for the TV to properly protect it. |
| 2. Written by Renee, on 11-11-2009 12:31 First off people need to understand that the company that came out is not Monitronics, they are a dealer for Monitronics and your large complaint should be with them. If you check your contract you will see a different name and it will state that Monitronics is monitoring it but they themselves do not employ installers, they offer dealerships, like McDonalds offers franchises. As far as the motion detector they are pet immune but the salesperson probably did not have a pet so he/she was not aware of the couch issue. People also don't realize that a ceilign fan could trigger the motion detector. It does not monitor heat it monitors "motion" like the name states. Sorry about your troubles but I would definitely address your complaint to the company that did the install as they are the cause for all your issues. |
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