Complaint Verified REVIEW:
EDitors UPDATE: Positive rating and recognition has been given to Vivint for its commitment to excellence in customer service.
Consumer complaints discussions with the company have uncovered an ongoing commitment to total customer satisfaction. You can expect to have any questions or concerns that you have with them to be answered and resolved in a timely manner, if any. They have shown us their customer service process, and it reflects a desire to serve customers, as well as fix problems.
The company's management specifically told us about how their job is to simplify lives and help people to live intelligently. The management really wants every person who buys a system to feel valued. The concern for each customer's experience starts at the top, and is reflected in the action of every employee they hire.
Complaint Verified. Part of complaint Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..
The information provided in this report is based on comments made by Ian Bell and Tim Izatt during an on-site inspection held by a third party verification company and with complaint with no biases toward Vivint.
Vivint is a full service residential home security company covering the US and Canada. Their sales process will start in a few different ways depending on where the initial lead comes from. When it comes to inside sales, the process starts when the company searches a region that might be interested in their services. The company sends their sales representatives to those regions to knock on doors to discover prospective clients. The company then has local technicians service the client if they are interested in doing business with them. Vivint also offers their clients customer support during this process and can even have a representative meet with them in person to answer questions and make sure that their clients are receiving the full benefit of their services.
Follow up is something that Vivint focuses on to ensure their clients are receiving proper customer service. When concerns arise depending on the level of severity, the company states that they standardly respond within 24 - 48 hours. Some issues do arise that take longer to settle and the company works to solve them within 72 hours. Vivints process for monitoring issues that arise on social media sites it to settle the concern within 20 minutes of it being posted.
The company also works to monitor their sales and customer support calls to see how they can be improved. They use these calls as examples for employees in training. Currently, Vivint is working to make changes to their contracts to make things easier for their customers as they have found that many of their complaints stem from feeling misled or customers paid fees they did not feel they authorized.
Vivint has found that the number one reason complaints do arise is because of the way the sales process is conducted. A sales representative knocks on the prospective clients door. The representatives are clean-cut, upright young men with hats, who are salesmen, and discuss why someone may need this product. Ian Bell from Vivint states that, We train our employees not to lie; we dont want to lie to the customers. Also, on top of the training we also have our phone calls to the customers to remedy concerns. However, there is pressure with a door to door to sales. Some people dont like the fact that someone knocked on their door, which I understand. People will be eating dinner and then someone will knock on the door, it can be annoying. We are aware that it isnt always comfortable. There always are complaints when you do door to door sales.
Statements from the owner.
"We are committed to making homes safe for families. With advanced early detection systems, many home fires are preventable and can be stopped in the beginning stages, saving lives. We have a plan for every family and every budget, and whether you choose our most basic or expanded services, you can be sure of our top quality technology and expert customer support.
This sales process continues because of the amount of people the company has discovered who respond positively. The fact that it is working the company feels they should keep the same processes. Vivint feels they minimize the number of misunderstandings that people have through their contracts. The company provides the phone calls to discuss contract length, price, renewal terms, cancellation window, and the warranty to provide clarification of terms. The client goes through an automated process to make sure that they know all that they are agreeing to and the people say, Yes to all the terms. If the client says No or that they werent aware of something, then they are brought back to the phone salesman who helps to clear up the terms. When it comes to clarity, the company feels they rarely have issues where a person doesnt know what they are agreeing to. They state that they go over all the contract terms with them and give a hard copy of the contract to them.
The company feels that the contract terms for the auto renewal after a year causes many complaints. If the client does not do their cancellation after the 30 days prior their instillation it can auto renew, which is in the contract. The company is in the process of modifying terms so that the transition is better. The contract has been their biggest detractor from their National Promoter Scores (NPS), but they have found that their other scores we are astronomically high.in that situation with the terms in dealing with clients, the company states they will do everything they can to help them but they are still working to remedy the problem, as they are committed to total customer satisfaction always making improvements to their products and services.
THE COMPANY MAY COMPENSATE AND GIVE DISCOUNT. Sometimes customers call with various complaints and the company states that they do their best we can to resolve them. The company has found they are able to fix 92.13% of problems over the phone. If they cant solve the issue over the phone, they send a technician to fix the problem. Depending on where they are in the lifecycle of their services the company may compensate them or give them a discount. If the issue is in the first 90 days then all the services are free. One example is that whenever Vivint receive a complaint from NPS they call the customer. Then, they work to try to resolve the complaints that the customer may have with the company and the company feels that sets them apart from others in their industry.
The company states that the biggest changes are going to come internally because of feedback they get from the customers in general. They state that whenever they hear of any problem they follow up and do what they can to help the customer. Then, they assess over time the different problems that have been raised and then implement measures to help them not to arise again. Complaint has been helpful in helping them to know some of the problems because they feel it is hard to know how to help that person, but they do their best to find ways to help every customer who may have a complaint.
GOING BEYOND THE CALL OF GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE. An extreme example of their customer service is when there was a lady who had an alarm system in her home. She was signed up for a 60-month contract. When she was half way through her contract, she killed herself and her son. A family member was still getting the bills and called in two months later asking about them. When the company found out their situation they cancelled her account, which they feel was the right thing to do. Tim Izatt from Vivianr stated, We went above and beyond to help them. We sent flowers to the funeral and we compensated them financially.
Another example of their customer service would be with a client who was really struggling financially. She had gone to relatives and church not feeling comfortable to ask for money and didnt know what to do. The company paid for one month of her payments so that she could have light in her house for her kids. Furthermore, Mr. Izatt stated, That isnt always the case. We do what we can to stick to the contract and make sure that people understand the terms. They have an automated system that helps people to understand the contract. We try not to be jerks and help people wherever we can.
A common thing that the company has happen is when clients are outside of the 90 day free window. They call and say that there is a problem for something that normally happens within the first 90 days. If that happens, they let their reps make a decision about what to do. The company states that they would rather have their reps over take care of people and come back and get slapped on their hands then to not take care of the customer. Furthermore, the company has had a lot of auditing to make sure people arent abusing the system.
Tim Izatt states, That is why I like to work here. We take care of people outside of self. I know you havent been here but if you had you would find that we like to take care of others and protect people. It is called servant leadership. To say you are a servant leader is to take away from it. But, we try to serve others more than self. That is why I work here. I came from eBay and really enjoy working here.
Vivint feels that they are taking steps to doing whatever it takes to make the client happy by taking every reasonable means to fix problems. Sometimes they come across an unreasonable person and cannot accommodate them. However, Ian Bell states, We want to fix whatever problem there is, especially if it is our fault. Whether it is credit, cancellation, or things like that. We encourage our employees to be compassionate and aware. We tell them that we want to be personable. I interact with people who are online. One thing I always tell them is that we want to be real. We want to sound like a real person. We dont want to be robots. That is our number one thing, to be real and compassionate.
The company has used complaint as a tool to solve customer service related problems. They are willing to make appropriate changes as they go, including expanding their customer service department. The company states they do go on usacomplaints.com and review complaints because they feel the customers voice can improve their day to day practices. Many customers dont bother contacting the company and just make complaints, a common problem says, ED Magedson Founder of complaint.
Stated improvements from the company.
We have simplified our customer service process to decrease the amount of time that a customer has to wait before speaking with a representative. Our customer service will look at your contract, listen to recorded phone calls, and make sure to get to the bottom of your issue to resolve things THE RIGHT WAY. At Vivint we want customer's to have a positive experience, and we understand that sometimes customer's fall on hard times. We're willing to work with all of our customers. Their experience and safety are our primary concerns.
Read more about why consumers should feel confident when doing business with a member of complaint's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Yes, its a long name for a program that does a lot for both consumers and businesses alike.
Read about complaint Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business. This program works.
As a matter of policy, when a business becomes a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program they agree to allow complaint to contact every client who filed a complaint so they can make things right with them.in order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, complaint is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer. Complaint is proud to state, that Vivint not only took care of their customers that contacted complaint back but, they went beyond the call of good customer service with comments. Many customers had already been taken care of. Customers even expressed to complaint they were sorry they even filed a complaint about them.
Check out their Solar testimonials (Vivint solar offering):
Http://youtu. Be/XX-tVOYJ9i8 http://youtu. Be/Br85-AYpTAo http://youtu. Be/XX-tVOYJ9i8
Check out Vivints Security / home automation offering:.
Http://youtu. Be/dBRFRAdhOg8 http://youtu. Be/lWthjOdAsss http://youtu. Be/loc6LCFRJ3Yhttp://youtu. Be/OHu-eLC4ovU
More at http://www.youtube.com/vivinthome
Now to the original report that was filed
Vivint former APX Alarm Vivint, Inc. Security services peace of mind or nightmare... Awful customer Service, Coerced in trying to pin a family member or friend with the bad service in order to honor contract and avoid paying supposedly Provo, Utah
Our nightmare began after on or about 20 months within our 39 months contract with the new Vivint, former APX alarm company. To mention that the company changed name without event notifying us of the matter. And coincidentally enough with the Municipal changes within our state associated with false alarms and the increase in rate due to these from $75.00 to $125 to $150.00 and likewise without a customer service notification about the matter being that it is their industry.
We suddenly started to experience false alarms due to motion detection. I continually left work to come home to check on the status of my home and each time things were in perfect condition.initially I noticed that the volume from the panel each time was altered or lower from how we left it. As we will usually raise the volume, but had no signs of activity in the home. I began communication with the company with the purpose of resolving the issue or getting to the bottom of it and I was advised the following 1. That we needed to pay somewhere around $800.00 approx. To get out of the contract, 2. Or refer the company to a friend or family member who could retain the contract until the end of the period of agreement the outstanding months to avoid the liability of the penalty. I advised the company that at this point I was unsatisfied with the service because no one could explain the root of the problem so I would not be able to recommend them and to prevent any allegations of the company that they were not successful in communicating with us or having inability to provide optimum service due to problem with the telephone line we proceeded to acquire a new and additional telephone line (somewhere in mid Jan) the same night we were first notified about the false alarms (late that night) in order to honor the 39 months contract. We then later learned that there was apparently false alarm prior to that date, when we had a celebration at home and we had no recollection of the alarm and neither of the company contacting us about the matter.in communications with the company they advise that in order to get a repairman to our home we needed to pay the approx. $40.00 dollars amount that differ from the signed contract. We refused to have to pay anything as we did not made any changes to our lifestyle, our personal life, secured space or home prior to the malfunction or receiving false alarms. The false alarms continued few more days into the month and suddenly it then somehow stop. A police officer who visited our home advised that we insist with the company that they sent a technician to fix the problem at their expense as he advised having the same system and been able to obtain that kind of service from the company. Base on the records provided by the police department the false alarms were on average on or about one or two a day with few changes.
The company accepted in sending someone to our home on or about two or four days after the alarms ceased in the month of Jan. The technician came to the home, but when I inquire about checking the motion detector he indicated that he had not been instructed to check for this one. I shared that this was weird because this was the root of the problem. We had another technician send out to our home to which we agree to and this person added another unit to our home and verified the functioning of the equipment. On or about Mid February again the nightmare began I was contacted by an employee of the company and we proceeded to verify the emergency contact and others and who appears to be willing to help us and been very concern about the matter. This person requested that I forwarded the Municipality (Police fees bills to her in order to assist us with getting reimbursed). We schedule another technician visit to our home per the company request and this happen the day after my conversation with the company employee. The next day or two days after my communication with this person the false alarms commenced again only this time they intensified. Supposedly, on or about10 or up to 15 or more in a day. I had requested that they sent someone other than the employees who had already visited our home and they proceeded to send the first employee who visited our home. I express my discontent and he contacted the company and another person for the day or fourth person was send out. At this point I was expecting to see a supervisor or someone who had the title and expertise in my home, but this was not the case. The company continued to insist that we shall set the alarm but not activate the away function, when in the first place this is the reason why we acquire an alarm system to know that there is protection while we are absent from home, to give us a peace of mind.
Long behold my mom got sick, the false alarms affected her at her job the employer requested that she removed them as an emergency number in case of false alarms, likewise, in my case there had been pre - existing issues in my workplace and the false alarms issue surface in one of my management and HR Predetermination meetings as this been an excuse on my part for perhaps wanting to be absent from work. Over the course of our relationship and the last two months there were many inconsistencies, such as false alarms when we were in the home and the panel had not gone off or been set on, activations of the panel even when we were at home sick and we could clearly see that nothing was occurring in the home, sometimes in intervals of every 20 min, inconsistencies in contacting the different point of contacts and emergency contacts, I continually requested the name of the owner or to be connected with the legal department in order to reach to a compromise to avoid the stress and the increase of expenses, continually police visit giving our neighbors the impression that on our residence or home there are illegal activities or others even at times abruptly, interruptions at work due to false alarm, increase in gasoline expense due to excessive trips to the home to verify the situation, increase in false alarms fees, transportations expenses due to the fact that we needed to contact customer service in order to even try to activate my system or change my password or whatever each time delaying or preventing me from arriving to my work on time no matter if I called the company an hour before my departure time from home. We even experience inability to make changes of my code even though this should be possible each time needed to contact the company, I have requested on three separate occasions an alarm history and until this date this have not been provided to me. On one occasion I was advised by one of the employee that in order to get the report they needed to call in the panel and we receive somewhere on or about 6 to 8 calls to the panel until I had to communicate with the company again to stop it because it was past midnight, and even then we have still not been provided with copy of the history. Dealing with the alarm company and system became my job after work on pretty much on a daily basis.
I file a complaint with BBB in the end of March and April 7 was my deadline to submit additional update that day I contacted the company prior to providing update to the BBB as the Bureau encourage you to solve the issue with the company prior filling a complain. On 4/7 I contacted the company to follow up on the outstanding invoices submitted Mid - March. I talked to Mr. Nick Welcker who advised that he were going to help me and at the end of the day that we were going to be fully paid. He contacted me on my cell phone each time all the way up to 4/10 to advised that all was set there had been issued a waiver to get us paid up and Mrs. Chantal was going to contact us on Monday, 4/11.in that conversation I also learned that the company decided to cancel the monitoring of my alarm system on 3/28 without giving us a notification of the effective day for this to take place or that they were planning to do so. I proceeded to verify as usual by activating the system and walking in the house and indeed I got no response from the panel and likewise opening the doors. We were under the impression that they were still monitoring our home. Other than an officer coming to my home to advise that the cops were going to request for the system to be turned off due to over on or about 40 false alarms calls I was never notified of a date or a time. I had an attorney with whom I maintained communication about the matter but whom never advised me on how to solve the issue or what were my rights and never review my paperwork. As a matter of fact I am been billed by him with no idea of what I am billed for, as I have never received an invoice and he has advised me that he will not provide me with a breakdown of the expenses until may but I have a total of $1,600.00 outstanding with him as well. The company has indicated that they contacted our home in order to offer a free upgrade, but the employee had actually contacted my work on a day off and on another occasion contacted my mom who advised her that she was stepping out for a doctor appointment and mom told her to talked to me and the company employee Mrs. Chelsea Guifford hang up. I proceeded to email the company contacts to request that this person call her back but never received a call from this person. Mrs. Chantal called mom cell phone number on 4/11 even though when the company had been advised due to a doctor notice that they shall limit conversation with mom, because of her health. The medical bills are all associated mom medical expenses as consequence to the false alarms. Mrs. Chantal only advised that they are going to pay only for the false alarms fees of on or about $575.00 leaving over $.00 in expenses associated to false alarms outstanding.
I contacted the company on 4/12 to talk to Mr. Welcker and the customer service employee after he verified all my data proceeded to hang up on me.
This email was sent to the company on Mar 2 to Mrs Hadder.
The present note is to follow up on our conversation about the matter on Monday, Feb 14 and likewise your call on Saturday Feb 19. I apologize for not have gotten in touch with you sooner, but within the last days I have not been feeling well and my health have been compromised. Up to the last invoice I have at hand the outstanding balance base on invoice dated 2/09 and with a due date of 3/11 for $600.00 and this cover the days from 12/30 until 1/17. Each police dispatch visit with a charge of $75.00. I will be sending it to the fax number you provided, per your request to 1-801-377-4116
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With the purpose to provide you with information about the performance of the system within the last days y share that we were visited for the third time by one of your technicians on Feb. 16. Even though, I provided instructions that you sent a different technician other than the two who had visited our home. To our surprise they sent the same technician who had visited our house the first time, whom had not resolved the issue. After expressing our discontent a different person was sent out. He changed the panel and the motion detection system. But as you can appreciate or observed attached even thereafter we had false alarms. I had to leave work at 4:00 P.M. On Wednesday Feb 16 due to false alarm and they continue in the subsequent dates.
On our end we have increased our monthly expenses by currently paying for a telephone line exclusively for the alarm system to avoid any discrepancies in the communication through the telephone. We have incurred in additional transportation cost due to the fact of the time that it is required to address the many discrepancies with the system resulting in having to incur in taxi expenses. As we only have one vehicle at home that serves for transportation for two individuals and if the one that drives has to stay back to interact with your technical support that result in the other having to seek other ways of transportation. We also, had to take my mother Cecilia to the emergency room at the hospital because of pain in her heart due to the many issues with the false alarms.
We do not understand the root of these problems due to the fact that we enjoyed approximately 20 months of contract with a good relationship and a service that until then was normal, but within the last 2 months we have presented many contingencies. When I contacted your company last month to find out the resource to ending out contract I was advised that in order to end the contract I had to pay you approximately the amount of $800.00. So far we are unhappy with the service and this difficulties are bringing additional stress to the members of my family, it is embarrassing to us to have the police at all times at our home, we are unable to enjoyed peace and tranquility and likewise a peace of mind we interested in with this service. We have concerns that the police (Anchorage Police Department) will not respond when we really need it and also due to the excessive additional expenses and the physical effort to clear this. Not to include the problems that this present when I have to leave my place of work due to false alarms. And it is apparent that you are not providing us with the appropriate service when we are having multiple alarms.in our home there are only two adults and we are both careful when using your system.
I do appreciate you taking the responsibility, however my family and I are overwhelmed and feel harassed. I will like to state that if this problem with false alarms persist we will like to request that our business relationship shall be terminated due to malfunction with us been released of any further contractual obligations in reference to #1155171. As you can see below we have requested an updated bill for the rest of February. We will forward this upon receipt. Thanks in advance for your attention to this matter and your prompt attention will be appreciated
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