This nightmare started when a door to door salesman came to my house selling alarm systems. He told me that they were installing free systems for some homes in order to promote their company. They would do it for free if we put a Platinum Protection sign in our front yard and promise to tell others about their "wonderful" system.
As we already had an existing system, but since it wasn't wireless he said that they could upgrade the control panel and add to the system at no additional cost. This even included the wireless fire protection in the existing system, at no cost, with keyless entry, and a few more sensors, we figured why not. Sounds like a good promotional deal.
We agreed to a 3 year contract @ $44.99... UH OH! First mistake. When we signed the contract I noticed that it was for 60 months. Not 36.. Price changed also to 49.99. After seeing this it sent up a red flag. Then the ultimate happened. The salesman called to see when they could install. Lo and behold they just happened to be able to install within 30 minutes as the installer was right around the corner finishing up a job. What a surprise! The installer showed up, installed the system and while in the process of installing he had to call the company as he had no idea how to PROGRAM the system... Red flag #2... Then after the install was finished he had to leave the house and call to make sure the system was activated. He left. Came back 20 minutes later and informed us that everything was " ALL SET"...
Well we thought that everything was fine. We set the alarm that night... When I awoke up the next day I forgot to turn the system off when I went to walk our dog... When I opened the door I heard the panel beep— NO SIREN GOING OFF— With the door open the siren should have gone off within 20 seconds and the monitoring service SHOULD have called... Neither happened. When this occured I decided to check the alarm system status for myself and called the number for the Central station. They informed me that I DID NOT have service. I became furious, I called Platinum and they told me that YES your system is active.
Checking again with monitoring it was not active. I tested the system 3 times. No Calls, no pollice, no nothing. I called in the clause for right of recind on the contract. Was informed that it could not be recinded because system was already installed... OOOPS on their part.
According to the FEDERAL LAW... When you enter into any contract there is a 3 day right to recind. This was instituted by the government after so many people were "ripped off" in the mid to late 80's. When I informed Platinum that I knew the law and would contact an attorney they told me I needed to send them something in writing in order to cancel, but it would have to be to them before midnight or the contract was binding.??? What happened to the 3 day right to recind??? Well I went to a fax machine and sent the form to them. I received a call 2 days later telling me that they would be here on Thursday to take out their system. I called back and reminded them that they also needed to restore the existing system back to its operating condition. OOOPS they threw away the parts they took out. Can't be put back as they do not have the parts.
Well they took dydtem out and when they did they broke the window frame and left 4 holes in the wall. I am going to contact my attorney now as they have told me that they will not restore system or repair the damages... Be careful. Be warned. This is a sham company.
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