I had Protection One activate a system already in the home I bought. They told me the equipment was old but since it was supposed to be FREE activation, I told them I wouldn't be paying extra to update the system if there was nothing wrong with the old system. After activation, I continually would get phone calls when I left my home telling me that my alarm was sounding. We got 2 notices from the police department for false alarms when I couldn't get home on time. It became a nightmare and finally after repeated calls, a service person came out and told me I needed a new battery. After the new battery, same scenerio, false alarms and phone calls. I pulled the battery out and refused to use the system, just waiting for that time period when I could cancel. Unfortunately, I called to ccancel too late, according to Protection NO-ONE, because they told me my contract began again automatically since I didn't call to cancel on time. Now I am locked in for 3 yrs. I have been paying faithfully when I am not even using the lousy system. I just moved and called to terminate the alarm and will not be using it where I am moving. I am strapped for money and need to end all extra bills. They told me I have to pay up for the remainder of the contract regardless of whether I use the system or not.
This is a big rip off. Do not get involved with P. One.!!

constant harasasing phone calls sometimes 3 times daily .

I paid for nearly two years of service only to find out that Protection One wasn't receiving any signal from our house. And, THEY WON'T GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK !

Here are the facts: We had a Protection One, whole-house, system installed nearly 20 years ago when we purchased our home. My husband died about nine years ago and I continued to faithfully pay the monthly service fee and 24-hour monitoring fee. Over the past few years, I have accidently set off the alarm a few times (hasn't everyone?) and would immediately call Protection One and tell them that there was no problem and to ignore the alert. Then, several months ago, I had to have an upstairs bathroom window replaced due to a water leak. I called Protection One and told them I didn't want the window alarmed any longer and inquired how my contractor should cap-off the existing alarm wires. Protection One gave directions to the contractor and advised that I would still have to have a service representative come out and remove the window from my system or it would always show on the alarm pad and would require entering a by-pass code. The service representative came out and re-programmed the system and went on to "test" the system by sending a test signal to Protection One. He then advised me that my system was "not talking" to Protection One. He went on to investigate and determined that the problem was that the phone wires had been cut. Apparently, this had occurred a couple of years earlier, when I had hardwood floors installed -- during the installation, the phone wires were somehow accidently cut.

Here are my issues . . .
1. If the wires were inadvertantly cut by the floor installers, why didn't Protection One get a signal that something was wrong? What if it had been the "bad guys" who cut the wires while breaking into my house? I guess I'd be dead.
2. When I accidently set off the alarm over the past few years and called Protection One to tell them to ignore the alarm, why didn't they tell me they hadn't received a signal? If I set off the alarm and notified them and they didn't receive it, why wasn't that reason enough, in an of itself, to investigate further.
3. I repeatedly asked, over the phone and in writing, for a full refund of the money I paid for services I didn't receive. They have REFUSED.
4. Protection One says that I failed to do a "monthly test" of the system -- something, I might add, my husband nor I have ever done! In any event, setting off the alarm accidently over the past few years and calling them is a test in my book!
4. Their solution is for them to keep my money and have another service representative come out and upgrade my system, at "no charge, " and that I should continue to make monthly payments. Oh, and by the way, the monthly payment for the upgraded system would be more than I was currently paying.

Crooks!

Regarding Protection One (aka Protection Service Industries or PSI, Integrated Alarm Services or IASG) and its auto-renewing contract policies:

In December 1995, my wife and I bought a home in California equipped with a burglar alarm system. We opened an account with Alert Alarm Company (no longer in business) for a 3 year contract. We continued the service long after the 3 year term expired with this company, which became Protection Service Industries (PS), and then Integrated Alarm Systems Group (IASG), both of which are now part of Protection One. In 2004, we moved to Washington State, and rented out our CA home. We continued to pay for the alarm monitoring service for our tenants. We paid all of our bi-monthly bills via online bill payment regularly through August 2007.

In September 2007, our tenants told us they didn't need the alarm service. My wife called Protection One and spoke with a female account representative, settled the remaining balance and cancelled service over the phone. At no point during this conversation did the account rep tell my wife that they could not cancel our service over the phone, or without written notification from us, or that we should consult our original 1995 contract, or that anything more was required on our part to cancel service. This should have been an amicable conclusion of a mutually beneficial 12 year business/customer relationship. But no…

In December 2008, I received an alert from a credit report monitoring service that a collection agency called Asset Resources, Inc. had reported an unpaid balance of $402 to Equifax. Having never received any letters or phone calls prior to this alert, I immediately called Asset Resources to inquire about the matter. I was told it was regarding my account with Protection One.

I called Protection One and another female rep told me they sent several notices to our Washington address in 2008 and had made several phone calls to our former California phone number (which had been discontinued since 2004). I explained to her that we never received any such notice by mail or any phone calls, and would not expect anything in the mail from them as we had paid all bills online. Anything they may have sent would likely not have been recognized or perhaps been mistaken as junk mail as the company name, logo, etc. has changed so many times. They also said there was no record of us ever cancelling the account in 2007, and the contract requires written notice of cancellation, and would continually automatically renew for a full year term - forever, presumably.

I attempted to explain the situation to the collection agency, Asset Resources, and was treated with belligerence by a manager who insisted he will continue to report this account as unpaid to the credit bureaus unless we pay him the full amount immediately. He called that “meeting him halfway.” He also claimed to have called (the same discontinued phone number) and sent us notices via mail, which we have never received. I explained to him I have every intention of disputing the claim, as well as the credit reporting. He said he would begin the dispute process. A month has passed and we still have received nothing.

I have since discovered there are scores of customers who have had similar complaints against Protection One and its various companies, some of which resulted in class action arbitration cases. I am appalled that Protection One would treat its customers in such a manner: accepting our cancellation of service verbally by phone, then waiting a year to send a collection agency after us to demand compensation for a service they did not provide, and using a 13 year-old contract with a company that no longer exists to use as justification for this.

My advice: stay away from Protection One, Protection Services Industries, Integrated Alarm Systems Group, and whatever else they call themselves.

protection one calls every day sometimes twice a day. please make these calls stop.

thank you
912-897-5012
gerard swinson