ComplaintsforB Safe, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  3-6-2024 I paid $59.33 .one month that my service was canceled on 2-29-2024 told them I owe only $29.00 for month of February told me I have to give one month advance notice to cancel and I have to pay $29.66 for month of march even I canceled my service .they are scamming people and threatening to turn the account to collection. I ask for my contract that I signed that I have to give one month advance notice to cancel they are not providing me and asking for my DL. which is totally unethical. I have my write to ask for copy of my contract which they do not want to provide. they have over 30 people bad review. they should not be doing business and scamming innocent people.

  

  Business response

  03/14/2024

  Good afternoon.  I have attached a copy of the written request along with a copy of the signed agreement with B-Alarm (assigned to B Safe Inc) please not the terms in paragraph 4 of this agreement where it clearly states that 1 30 day written notice must be provided.  

  I have been in communication with Mrs. **** regarding this matter as well as 4 other representatives of B Safe and she continues to simply not want to accept what we have explained to her. As far as refusing to provide a copy of the contract, this has been provided to Mrs. **** as well by our cancellations team and me personally on March 5, 2024. I have attached a copy of the email that was sent to her on March 5th at 12:57 pm for your review as well.

  Thank you for your consideration.

  Customer response

  03/23/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 21419469

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  03/27/2024

  This is simply untrue. When customer requested a copy of their contract after disputing the contract terms, we provided the contract and their response is that the signature was not theirs. At that point, we asked for a copy of the DL to compare the signatures and explained if we found the signatures did not match, we would discuss further as they accused us of committing fraud.  Please be assured, we have never in our 40 years of business ever committed such a thing. They refused our request, which we understood, we were simply attempted to resolve the matter with them.  Again, at no time was the customer or any customer ever denied a copy of their contract. We receive requests every day for copies of contracts and provide them willingly. When they sign the agreement, a copy is always provided to the customer and we keep the original on file. If the customer does not have their copy, has misplaced their copy or filed it away and cannot get to it, for any reason, we  are always happy to provide the copy to them. 

  As far as the front door contact, it may have fallen off? Removed by the customer? I cannot say one way or another.  When a system is installed, there are several zones that are contacted to communicate to central station, I can assure you the monitoring was functioning.  As I stated in my previous response, I provided all of the documents to support our claims, and the consumer continues to accuse us of wrongdoing, now with this latest accusation. I need to also point out that it is also untrue that "we do not allow other companies take over" we simply do not give out our access codes to the other provider, I am not aware of any provider that would. 

  I am sorry that this customer feels they are being "robbed" as that is not our intention.  However, we do expect the customer to honor their signed agreement, as we honor our end of the agreement.  

  Thank you once again for your time and consideration in this matter. 

• Initial Complaint

  01/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We signed up with BSafe during Covid after our house was renovated and had all new windows put in the fall of 2020. We had our house with Ocean Security for more than 30 years with no problem. When we called to have them come back they informed us they sold the company to B safe. A salesman came out and sold us a new security system. We did have a few issues but they were taken care of in time. Our salesman had already left the company. We had them come back for service and it was always hard to schedule. We had a period of time where we were not even being monitored due to scheduling issues and parts they had to wait for. The people who came each time for one issue or another were always professional and nice to work with. The problem was that we needed them too often and the cost of each visit was way too much per hour. Then, this past September they had to come once again due to a notice my phone kept getting about "battery low in kitchen". When I called I said " How about you just change EVERY battery so we're not paying again and again. They did( and actually, we gave them the batteries because he didn't have the correct ones. About a week after he came we had the entire fire department at our house at 2am due to some alarm that went off. We were awake half the night because it was the weekend and nobody could come fix it until Monday morning. Monday's visit landed us ANOTHER bill! THAT did not make sense. They said it was due to a different problem but the tech guy was the same guy and he mentioned he had difficulty with that ceiling device. PLUS within 2 weeks of having all the batteries changed, my phone had that same alarm saying " kitchen battery low".... a few days later " master bedroom window battery low".... We'd had it at that point and just said NO MORE... we would pay the first September bill but not the other ones. After all this I decided to look up reviews on them... Not good! We never checked because we had been with previous comp 30 yrs

  

  Business response

  01/30/2024

  Good morning. I am in receipt of the above complaint filed by ******* *******. Please be advised that Ms. ******* had B Safe LLC install a new alarm system in September 2020 with a five year agreement.  She notified us that she was cancelling her account on 11/14/2023 because she was unhappy with our charges for service calls that she requested. Since then, she has not paid either service invoice, one in the amount of $372.66 and the other in the amount of $346.53.  We explained to her that she is currently under contract until 9/10/2025 as she signed a five year agreement at the time of the install of her new system. This contract is necessary as they cost of the install would have been much higher, but she chose the five year agreement and the lesser expense for the install.  We advised her that she had 15 months remaining on her contract, which at that time she refused to honor.  Please be advised the total due on the account is $1,264.14, which we have attempted to collect for several months without resolved. We offered her a negotiated settlement of $900.00, in an attempt to close this matter fair and amicably, which she counter-offered a settlement of $450.00, which we declined.  Below is my email to Ms. ******* regarding her offer.  Please know that we have done everything we could to resolve this matter but were forced to turn this debt over to Cedar Financial, our third party collection partner.

  1/23/2024:  EMAILED MS ******* - Ms. *******, thank you for the offer of $450.00 to satisfy your signed agreement. Unfortunately, I cannot accept this offer as $719.19 of the total balance due of $1,264.14 total due on the account is for service calls that we requested by you and you continue to refuse to pay.  15 months remain on your contract terms as well which leave a balance due of $544.95 to satisfy based on the default terms of 75% so I am sure you can understand why this offer from you cannot be accepted. Respectfully.
  
  Please note that the offer of $900.00 to settle this matter is most fair and amicable, a savings of $364.14 to you, a loss of $364.14 to us. We offer this negotiated settlement of $900.00 to you to close the matter before we are forced to take legal action. We do everything in our power to resolve such matters before taking those steps.  This offer will remain open for your consideration until Friday 1/26/2024 noon, at which time we will turn over this matter along with your signed agreement and invoices to our attorney.
  
  Thank you in advance for your consideration in this matter.
  
  Respectfully,
  
  

  Thank you for you review and consideration in this matter. It is greatly appreciated.

  Customer response

  02/07/2024

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered. Simply,B-Safe made service calls that were ineffective. i should not be charged for service that didn't solve the problems! Why continue a contract where the provider is incompetent? Regards, Complaint ID: 21201381    

  

  Business response

  02/22/2024

  Good evening. We serviced this alarm system on 9/22/2023 and on 10/9 & 10/10/2023

  9/22/2023 Replaced batteries in all devices and panel per customers request - customer provided batteries for the smoke detectors, B Safe provided the 12 v panel battery and 19 lithium batteries for the sensors. - Customer refuses to pay

  10/9/2023 False alarm received on zone 33 2nd floor rear bedroom smoke detector - troubleshoot, need to return to replace

  10/10/2023 Returned to replace smoke detector with new unit - original smoke detector installed 10/23/2020 - customer refuses to pay

  Please be advised there is no reason for these service call invoices to refused by the customer.  We provided service to their security system at their home upon their request. I have attached copies of the invoices for each service call.

  Thank you for your consideration.  

   

• Initial Complaint

  09/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My husband and I purchased a home in 10/2019 and installed an alarm system that same month. My husband signed the contract. Both of our names are on the deed. My husband unexpectedly passed away in 2/2022. Two weeks later the alarm company asked me to sign an agreement in my name. No fees were collected. I had my house under agreement in May of 2023 and also received a letter stating my alarm company was purchased by B Safe Security. Settlement was 6/9/2023. On 5/24/2023 I emailed the B Safe Security and asked to have the service disconnected. It took several tries, but I finally received confirmation that the cancellation was being processed. Five weeks after I sent my initial email, I received an email stating that I owe an early termination fee of $325.95. The service has not been disconnected and is still active today. The paperwork that I signed has the same account number as the contract my husband signed. It is the same contract for service that began in 10/2019. I have read over the contract that I signed on 2/27/2022 and offer the following. The contract says it is for a three-year period. There is absolutely no penalty language contained in the agreement. The email I received says “The finance department has reviewed the agreement and determined there is an early termination fee (ETF) of $325.95 • The current term of the agreement is to 2/27/2025 at 50%. • 15.9 months X $41.00 = $651.90 X 50% = $325.95 • Note if you sign with us at new home or the new owner signs with us the ETF can be waived.” None of this information is contained in the agreement I signed. Section 17 of the agreement I signed states “Integrated Agreement, This agreement contains the entire agreement between you and the company. Neither party has authority to make or claim any representation, term, promise, condition, statement, warranty or inducement (collectively “inducement) which is not expressed herein…” Section 19 states “Modifications, All changes or amendments to this agreement must be in writing and signed by you and the company to be binding.” I have not signed any subsequent documents changing the terms of the initial contract. B Safe Security has never produced a document that bears my signature and the early termination penalty language. I also maintain that since the account number has been in existence since 10/2019, three years has elapsed. They are fraudulently applying conditions that I never agreed to. I am not seeking a refund. I want B Safe Security to disconnect service to the house that I haven’t owned for over three months and discontinue insisting that I owe an early termination fee. I just want to be done with this company. I would also like to point out that in the reviews for this company from Yelp, Google Reviews and the BBB, there are over 20 complaints regarding early termination language.

  

  Business response

  09/18/2023

  Good morning. Please be advised that we have explained to Ms. ****** on numerous occasions that we recently acquired Abe Security and that her signed agreements was assigned to B Safe Security.  I have attached a copy of the signed agreement as well as a copy of the acquisition letter for your review.  Please review the below explanation sent to Ms. ******. We also offered a negotiated settlement of $250.00 to close the matter, which she rejected. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

  Good morning Ms. ******.  Please understand that much time is needed to investigate contract terms and disputes. I apologize for the delay, but wanted to be able to provide you with as much documentation and confirmation as possible.  I can assure you, we are not harassing you by any means, there is protocol to follow in cancelling monitoring services, for security purposes, especially when the customer is disputing their contract terms.  I will have your services turned off at central station immediately as you request. The matter of the final payment remains open however, and the account cannot be closed until payment is received.
  We confirmed with Able Security that your account was active at the time of the merger, May 1, 2023.  Please note that your contract was assigned to B Safe LLC by Able Security. I have attached your agreement in this email as well as the acquisition letter that was mailed to you by *** ****** *** **** ******* for your review.  Please review paragraph 9 of this agreement pertaining to the assignment.  Also, please review paragraph 7 of this agreement pertaining to early termination/cancellation of this agreement.  You are responsible for 50% of any time remaining on the contract.  The amount due is $325.95 to close the account and satisfy your contract terms.  Please see the calculations below provided to you at the time of your cancellation request.  Please keep in mind that if you are transferring your services to your new home, this balance will not be due, or if the new home owners sign to continue services, this amount would not be due. If neither of these happen, then of course the balance is due and payable in the amount of $325.95. Kindly contact Rebecca Johnson in our Collections Dept. to make this payment at (302) 996-9184 with your credit card.  If the new owners sign in the future, your credit card would be credited for any amount that was paid by you at the time of their signing
  Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding in this matter.
  

   

   

  Customer response

  09/27/2023

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.I disagree with their explanation.  It is faulty for the following reasons.  On the first sheet it does say the agreement is for three years.  The response from B Safe references Section 7, The Customer’s Default.  Section 7 states “The Customer agrees to pay the Fee and Charges under this Agreement as and when due.  In the event the customer fails to pay, as agreed, the Company will give the Customer written notice of default.  If the Customer does not cure the default within ten (10) days of the date of the notice, the Company can terminate this agreement.   If the Company terminates this Agreement, the Customer must pay the Company (a) all amounts then due and owing and fifty percent (50%) of all amounts to become due and owing under the entire term of the Agreement….”  This section has to do with default – failure to pay.  My account was paid in full.  Therefore, this section cannot be evoked.  Additionally, the requirement to pay “all amounts due and owing and fifty percent of all amounts to become due and owing” is once the Company terminates the Agreement.  In this case, I terminated the agreement.  This section states nothing about early termination.  It has to do with failure to pay.  Yesterday I received a bill for the next years of service after I already notified home to discontinue service in May.  They are picking and choosing sections and misapplying them for their benefit. Regards, Complaint ID: 20615074    

  

  Business response

  10/05/2023

  Please be advised that the billing has not been turned off as the matter has not been resolved. That is why another invoice generated to the account. Which Ms. ****** was informed to disregard. The balance due to satisfy the term of the contract remains $325.95. This matter has been turned over to our third party collections as we were unable to resolve with Ms. ****** amicably as we offered a negotiated settlement of $200.00 in an attempt to resolution.  

  As explained to Ms. ****** several times, the default terms are the terms she agreed to by signing this agreement on 2/27/2022 but has refused to honor the contract and it's terms repeatedly.  I am sorry she is misreading the language in the contract pertaining to the default term.  I explained several times, she is not responsible for the entire term of the agreement when cancelling early, as the default terms in this particular contract that we acquired (and paid for) from Able Security, only requires 50% of any time remaining.

  Thank you for your consideration 

   

• Initial Complaint

  07/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was never told, when they acquired the previous alarm company I was using, that my service contract was changed. I then decided to cancel my service and was told in 3 telephone conversations no one I spoke to could cancel my contract nor did anyone have an email or tel number that I could use to cancel my service. I was just told that someone would contact me and of course no one ever did. So far I’ve been waiting 3 weeks to be contacted.

  

  Business response

  07/28/2023

  We have attached a copy of the acquisition letter from Alarm Installers that were mailed to their customers advising of the merger/assignment. Please be advised that we cancelled this account without penalty on 7/17/2023 and  spoke with ****** ********** and advised him that the account was cancelled and no monies are due. 

  Customer response

  08/01/2023

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 20333449

   

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  06/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Invoice #2932522 dated 7/1/22 was received by us (Chuck's Garage, Inc.) from B Safe, Inc. in the amount of $81 for 3 monitoring. We did not have service from B Safe, Inc. We did not have equipment from B Safe, Inc. We have not met nor spoken to anyone from B Safe, Inc. until this invoice arrived. We could not get a hold of anyone from B Safe, Inc. on the phone. We also could not arm or set off our alarm system. We were without service for an unknown length of time in 2022. Eventually, we reached someone in billing via email and resolved the issue for the year of 2022. We did not pay B Safe. We did not and do not want monitoring from B Safe, Inc. and we told them but as of their statement dated 5/30/23 they want $264.60 for monitoring. We do not agree with their statement. We want it adjusted to zero and to be removed from their accounts. Thank you for your assistance.

  

  Business response

  06/26/2023

  Good morning.  My apologies for the remiss in response to this complaint. I must have overlooked this email notification when originally sent.

  Please be advised that Action One Alarms and B Safe LLC merged in May 2022.  A letter was sent to the entire customer base of Action One Alarms on May 17, 2022 by ******* ********, President of Action One Alarm and Philip Gardner, President of B Safe LLC informing them of this merger.  Please find a copy of this letter along with a copy of the signed agreement for Chuck's Garage Inc. This contract was signed by ****** ****** * ******** agreeing to these terms, the assignability found in paragraph 25, and the default terms found in paragraph 22.  When we received a call on 4/18/2023 from Romana, informing us that they decided to switch providers, we explained that the term of the signed agreement did not end until March 11, 2024 and that 80% of any time remaining would be due and payable.  The response was, they never signed an agreement with B Safe, which we then attempted to explained the contract was assigned to us by ******* ******** of Action One Alarm, they disputed the assignability, although we provided a copy of the acquisition letter and the signed agreement, pointing out the abovementioned items.  We informed them at that time as well that the total due to satisfy the term of the agreement is $237.60.  If there is any more information you need regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

  Thank you in advance for your consideration in this matter. 

  Credit Manager

  B Safe LLC

   

  Customer response

  06/27/2023

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 20189389

   

  Dear Sir or Madam,

  We were not notified by letter or otherwise by B Safe of any merger or acquisition with Action Alarm.  The first notice of their existence was a bill in 2022.  We had a very hard time reaching anyone in their offices regarding the billing and services. The paper work that was signed with Action Alarm was a proposal. We did not agree to service from B Safe.  We did not receive service from B Safe. We did not receive equipment from B Safe.  We only receive bills from B Safe. We would like B Safe to prove that services were provided. We would like Action Alarm to provide proof of services provided for their phone number and monitoring was disconnected before 12/31/2022.  In fact, we would like Action Alarm to refund us for non montioring in 2022.

  Sincerely,

  

  Business response

  07/13/2023

  Good afternoon.  Please be advised that the customer agreed to the terms of the contract, not some of the terms, all of the terms.  This contract was assigned, which you will find the assignability of agreement in paragraph 25.  This agreement is not assignable by you except upon the written consent of company, which shall be in the Companys sole and absolute discretion. This Agreement or any portion thereof is assignable by Company in its sole and absolute discretion without notice to Customer and any such assignee or subcontractor shall be entitled to the rights, benefits, privileges and protection afforded to the Company under the terms of this Agreement.

  I would like to extend a settlement offer to Chuck's Garage, in hopes of resolving this matter fair and amicably.  We will meet halfway with the final balance due of $237.60 and accept $118.80 to close this contract matter. Please understand that we purchased this contract from Action One Alarm.

  Thank you in advance for you consideration.

   

  Credit Manager

• Initial Complaint

  03/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was a customer for 17 years. I always paid my bills on time. I gave B Safe Alarms 30+ days notice (early July 2022) before canceling my service (August 31, 2023), as I was preparing to move (according to the terms of the contract). They asked for my new address which I thought was odd. Then they continued to bill me for the months going forward. I tried to resolve the situation by phone & by email on many occasions, but they kept billing me after service was properly terminated. I refused to pay for services that I did not receive, so then they sent me to collections. I can well afford to pay the small amount, but I refuse to pay for a service that I canceled according to the terms of the contract.

  

  Business response

  03/25/2023

  Mr ******** did not notify us until 11/17/2022 that he moved in August.  There would have been no reason for us to consider turning off the monitoring services between August and November. We waived the remaining term of his signed contract and simply asked him to pay for the months the service was left on as we must pay the central station as well but he refuses to pay.  We actually removed the balance due for those months in the amount of $99.24 and closed the matter on 2/25/2022 so I am a little perplexed as to why Mr. ******** is submitting a complaint to the Better Business Bureau?  

   

  Credit Manager

  Customer response

  03/31/2023

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered. Dear BBB,     I am sending this via email as I was having difficulty navigating the BBB website (I've never filed a complaint against anyone before).I am writing to notify you that the reply from ***** ***** was inherently false. If you carefully read her response while looking at my documentation (attached), you can see that just about everything she stated was false.She claims that B-Safe wasn't notified of my cancelation until November 17, 2022. I notified them in mid-July 2022 that I would be terminating at the end of August. While terminating, they stated that they would send over a termination agreement via email, which I never received. They also asked me for my new address, which I thought was odd, but I provided it anyway.        - If I didn't notify them until 11/17/22, then how did they mail me a bill, to my new address, on 11/01/22? Her statement was false.She claimed that I refused to pay for the service. This is partially correct. I only refused to pay for the service after August 31, 2022. This was because I took proper measures to cancel in mid-July. I paid B-Safe on time for 17 years. I pay all of my bills.She claimed that she removed the balance and closed the matter on 2/25/23.        - If she closed the matter on 2/25/23, then why did I receive a bill (see attached) dated 3/01/23? Her statement was false.       - If she closed the matter on 2/25/23, then how/why did I receive a bill (see attached) from a collections agency (Bonneville Collections) dated 3/04/23? Her                               statement was false.       - On March 10, at 10:56 AM I received a voicemail from ****** ***** from Bonneville Collections regarding this matter. Her statement about closing the matter on                            2/25/23 was completely false. I also received other calls from Bonneville Collections regarding this matter. At this point, I feel like I am being harassed by B-Safe Security. The collection agency and the complete lies of ***** ***** have me very upset. They were great as a security company, but it is apparent that they need much help in their office/billing department.I would like a formal apology and written confirmation that I do not owe B-Safe a single penny.  Regards, Complaint ID: 19596409      

  

  Business response

  04/03/2023

  Good afternoon.  I can assure you that all of my statements are true.  I believe Mr. ******** is confusing the cancellation date that I mention, which is the written request, required by contract terms that he agreed to, with his date that he called our office and indicated he wanted to cancel. These are clearly 2 different dates.

  Also, the reason Mr. ******** received an invoice on 3/1/2023 is because our billing dept. prints and posts the monthly invoice on or around the 20th of each month so they are ready to mail before the first of each month. His invoice mailed before my original response, but can assure you the invoice was immediately credited and the account immediately closed as I stated in my last response. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  01/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We had B-safe security for 4 years at our home in Hockessin DE, and I put in notice that we wanted to end their service on December31,2022 and get a new security company. They gave us a very hard time about it, and charged an early termination fee, $109.87 and Decembers security fee. They cut off our service December 27,2022, and never unlocked the security panel, so the new company could not get in to panel to change over on January 4, 2023, when we longer had any security service. I stopped payment on the early termination fee of $109.87 that we paid to B-safe , after calling b-safe on January 4, 2023, and I could not get anyone to unlock our equipment. The new security service had to put a whole new panel, which was $125 of equipment, because they could not use the locked panel. Our agreement was clear, they were to unlock OUR panel on December 31,2022, when we ended our agreement . The manager has sent our claim to collections for 109.87, plus late fees saying we were still with their company and we were not allowed to change out our own equipment. I am asking for our money back of $109.87 because we had to pay for new equipment, that would have been unnecessary if they had unlocked the old equipment. I will send the signed termination contract and the new contract with the equipment bill. Thank you for your consideration.

  

  Business response

  01/27/2023

  Good afternoon. I am in receipt of the below complaint.  Please be advised that  Mr & Mrs ****** were advised on 12/29/2021 by mail that the FCC has given AT&T and Verizon approval to upgrade the cell towers to 5G and were advised that they are in need of upgrading their cellular device.  After much discussion and multiple options on whether to purchase the cellular devise or receive at no charge by signing a 3 year agreement, they decided to upgrade the device on October 19, 2022 and sign a 3 year agreement. This agreement was sent to ***** for signature on 10/19/2022.  We did not receive the agreement back however we did receive a phone call from ***** on 11/28/2022 after several attempts to reach her, and she stated at that time that she still had questions regarding the upgrade, which we happily assisted her. It turns out that Mrs ****** was able to get a "better deal" with another provider" and requested we return her monthly rate to her old rate, and if so, she would sign the agreement. We obliged immediately and sent the new proposal to her on 11/29/2022.  We did not hear back from ***** again until 12/15/2022 to inform us that she has decided to go with ADT. We let her know we were sorry to hear that and explained that they were under contract until May 18, 2023 and would owe 50% of the time remaining as per the signed agreement (see attached) in the amount of $153.82.  We received a payment on 12/22/2022 (ck #2545) in the amount of $43.95 and informed us that this would be all that they would pay us and they would not be satisfying the terms of the contract. After much discussion with ***** on 12/28/2022 she finally paid the balance of the final amount due with me over the telephone in the amount of $109.87.  I cancelled her account immediately with central station and with our billing department.

  On 1/4/2023 Mrs. ****** had ADT take over the panel that they claim was locked out. Please be advised that we do NOT lock out our panels, and if  ADT was having a difficult time accessing the panel, all they had to do was power it down and power it back up again.  The reason why the needed to replace the panel was because the 3G CELL DEVICE that was no longer working was not accessible, it was expired, out of license and needed to be replaced. Which was the start of all of this from the beginning.  She decided to bypass our pricing and go with ADT but still needed to upgrade the cell device in order for the panel to communicate, which ADT surely would have charged her for OR simply replaced the entire panel, which they did. 

  It then came to our attention from our bank that they payment of $109.87 that she had paid to satisfy her contract terms has been rejected by Mrs ****** with her credit card company as she feels since she had to pay ADT for a new panel, we should pay, hence refunding herself the $109.87.  Please note that when I contact Mrs. ****** regarding this matter she informed me that the payment of $109.87 was "temporary" and she had every intention of taking it back if she felt she needed to.  I advised her at that time that the account has been turned over to our third party collections company for the $109.87 that she owes to satisfy her contract terms.  Thank you in advance for your consideration. 

   

  Credit Manager

   

  Customer response

  01/31/2023

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered. 18937331- in response to ***** Greer, I had only talked with this person one time, on Jan 4, 2023, on the date that the new company came to hook up our system. She informed me she could have unlocked the alarm, and did not know it was locked because her office staff did not tell her, she said they would not have known that it was still locked- their company, B-safe, had bought our previous alarm company, and even she  did not know that the previous company had locked the system.  (She said that on the phone) I told her we paid an early termination fee to their company,  and in return they were to have the system alarm ready for the next company to set up their system. Since it was still locked, the technician had to put in all new equipment and charged $125 for that equipment. I told her this January 4,2023 during our conversation , and I said I wanted our $109.87 returned, as we had all this trouble and no one could fix it. I also told the office staff on January 4, 2023 I wanted a refund for this money and they said they would get back to me. No one ever got back with me- our credit card company has put the money on hold until they feel the dispute is settled. I told them we have a billing issue with this company. On Jan 4,2023  S. ***** also said  to send her the bill to prove we paid this money, and she  gave me her email. On that day, I sent her an email saying Berley was sending me the invoice, and she responded to that email, which I will forward to the better business bureau. I never said that B-safe locked us out on purpose, that is not the issue, it is that we expected to have full access to OUR equipment and we did not- B-safe’s  office staff told me on the morning of January 4,2023 that the system was completely shut off and released by them and  it was not, and the technician that was here, could not use the normal default code that all alarm companies use when they hook up a customer. As for the new service we obtained, after our contract was over, on December 31, 2022, S ***** stated it was  ADT. I don’t know where she  got this information, ***** ***** has got us confused with a different customer. We now have Berley security.  All the information she has given you about us previously deciding whether we were going to continue with their alarm company is not relevant to this complaint. We as consumers,have every right to tell a business that we do not want to continue with them,and the main reason for this was their company kept raising their prices. They told us if we wanted to continue with them, at a better price, we would have to sign a 3 year agreement, but they were  still going to raise our price one more time in the 3 year contract they offered. We did not want to continue doing business with B-safe.  We legitimately  paid B-safe for the month of December, and as I said the $109.87  early termination fee and then we could not use our own equipment, as I said, because the panel was still locked on January 4,2023. I sent the $125 equipment/ panel invoice  to S ***** on Friday, January 27, 2023 to her email, like she asked, and she wrote back  in email she has sent us to collections. I will forward this as well. Regards, Complaint ID: 18937331    

  

  Business response

  02/03/2023

  This matter was sent to collections once the customer refused to pay, then decided to pay and then rejected the payment with her credit card company admitting she intended to reject the payment, not informing us of this though, otherwise we would have never processed the payment to begin with.  This is clearly a very unfortunate situation that we can no longer assist her with as we tried on multiple ocassion to resolve, which we thought we did when she made her payment to us.  This payment closed the matter, and we cancelled the account as we promised we would do.  Once we learned the payment was rejected, and Mrs. ****** admitted to us that she purposely did so, as the payment was only "temporary",  the account was sent to third party collections.

  As I stated in my earlier response, we did not lock out her panel. We never lock out panels.  She needed a new cellular device, the license had run out, making it unusable and unable to access. The new company, who I stated incorrectly as ADT, who is Berley Security would had had to replace the equipment regardless, as that was exactly what we had spent multiple months trying to assist her with to begin with. She received a "better deal" and went with them instead.  The 3G radio would have needed to be replaced whether it was with us, Berley Security, or any other alarm monitoring provider.  The FCC approved the upgrade of cellular towers to 5G nationwide. The panel was not locked, the radio was unaccessible, which means it would not communicate nor would the panel because of that line of telecommunications.

  Please note again that it is the sole responsibility of the customer to have a working system and telecommunications. Thank you again for your consideration in this matter.

  Credit Manager

• Initial Complaint

  01/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Incorrect and persistent enforcement of a cancelled agreement fees. On March 28th 2022 I wrote to B Safe to cancel my agreement with them. I had discovered that they had been failing to actively deliver the contracted monitoring service on my property for over one month, placing my property at risk. The notice of cancellation was provided 60 days prior to the annual renewal date of our agreement on May 25th 2022. I sent a subsequent reconfirmation letter, in writing, on June 6th 2022, after unexpected receipt of an invoice for future service. On August 19th 2022 B Safe acknowledged in a phone call the previous correspondence and on August 29th 2022 , B Safe confirmed via email that I could disregard the erroneous invoices, and that the account was being closed and no further invoices would be sent. I considered this matter concluded and an unfortunate administrative mistake. On October 13th 2022, I received a request to pay an unjustified early cancellation fee. I disputed this fee because I had provided 60 days notice (30 days required) before the renewal date of my intent to cancel service. B Safe then restarted invoicing on the previously closed account. On October 31st 2022, I provided a detailed summary explanation why the fee was disputed. Having received no answer from the company, I wrote to B Safe on December 2nd 2022 to confirm the matter was considered closed. On January 5th 2023 I received notice that B Safe intended to threaten legal action over the matter if I did not make immediate payment with 10 days of receipt. On January 13th 2023 I again disputed the fee and served formal cease and desist letter on this organization. I do not expect to be coerced into paying fees for an agreement that was correctly cancelled and for services that were not rendered. I would like the unjust fees cancelled.

  

  Business response

  01/25/2023

  Good afternoon.  Please be advised that this matter was resolved, the account was cancelled and sent to our third party collectors in error. This was definitely an oversight on our part and will take care of this immediately, with sincerest apologies to Mr. & Mrs. **** for any inconvenience this may have caused. 

   

  Credit Manager

  B Safe Inc.

  Customer response

  02/06/2023

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  

  Firstly may I thank you for taking the time to work with the company B'Safe to reach an adequate resolution of my complaint.   

  
  

  At this time, the company has not followed through on the actions as detailed in their response to you and the account remains open with the third party collectors.   Can I ask that you keep the complaint open for another 5 days to allow B'Safe sufficient time to complete their actions and provide a written acknowledgement to me that the case is indeed closed with the third party collection company?

  
  

  Kind regards,

  
  
  
  Regards,

  Complaint ID: 18814507

   

   

   

  

  Business response

  02/06/2023

  This is written confirmation that this matter is resolved and no monies are due at this time as per the previous confirmation. I am contacting our third party collections company again to confirm this was completed on their end on the 1/25/2023 request that I sent to them.  Thank you. 

• Initial Complaint

  12/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought my new house in 2000 and moved in April, 2001. I selected to have security system installed as an option. Although it was quite expensive at that time, I did believe that this was going to bring some peace of mind to my family. The system I had installed was "Advent Security". At the beginning it worked OK but over the years, I noticed that many times when the alarm got triggered I either waited a long time to receive call or sometimes no call at all. "Advent Security" was later part of BSafe and they kept raising price. One incident happened in November of 2021 really made me think the system was useless. The alarm was triggered on one day when no one was at home and supposedly Advent had sent the information to police for them to dispatch. Unfortunately this time it was a true alarm as some burglars broke in my house and stole a bunch of valuable stuff. But it turned out the police went to the wrong house. I had asked Bsafe to explain to me what really happened (did they give the police correct address) but I never got satisfactory result. In the months following the incident, I asked BSafe to see if the system can be upgraded to get better service. But the price gave me was so high (both upgrade and monthly service fees), furthermore, I noticed that many times the system was no longer reliable as I never got calls from them when the alarm was triggered. I recently installed security cameras by myself and contacted BSafe to stop the monitoring service. After being a customer with them and paying high monthly maintenance fee for more than 21 years, they told me that I had to pay them early termination fee of about $500! And they said my contract wouldn't end until November 2024! I already unplugged the system but they said they can not cancel the service until I pay them the penalty! Over the years I had inquired about stopping the service and I was told my service was month by month. BTW, I never received any renewal notices in 21 years from them!

  

  Business response

  12/14/2022

  Good morning.  Please be advised that Mr. **** notified us on 11/10/2022 that he wished to cancel his account. When we spoke to him in regards to his request, he informed us that he went with another provider in an attempt to save money. He was advised at that time that he is currently under contract with us and the contract terms ended 11/7/2024. The contract renewed on 11/7/2021 for 3 years.  We explained the early termination fee at that time which is in the amount of $496.38, 75% of the time remaining (23 months) and suggested he allow us to propose a new system or at least remain until end of term, both he declined and chose the early termination fee.  We mailed the letter, which he provided along with a copy of the contract.  Payment in the amount of $496.38 is due and payable.  If he would prefer, he can contact the new provider and advise that he is currently under contract with another provider, they can remove their equipment and we will reconnect his system or upgrade the system and resume monitoring his alarm system.  Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

  Customer response

  12/16/2022

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered. It just doesn't make sense that I stay with them as the main reason was the service was not reliable. I never agreed on any renewals with BSafe. When I contacted advent security few years ago, they said I had been with them for so long and if I wanted to cancel, just give them a call. Especially after the incident happened in November of 2021, I was completed tired of service quality.  Regards, Complaint ID: 18518616    

• Initial Complaint

  11/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  B Safe Inc bought out a company called AIC in 2022 that had sold me an alarm system at my home in Pennsylvania in 2012. Since the purchase of this alarm system, I had an annual monitoring and alarm service contract that covered all hardware that was part of my system. On August 26, 2022, while I was still covered by the service contract provided by AIC and subsequently "bought out" by B-Safe, I arranged for service that was performed on September 2, 2022. As part of this service call, a piece of hardware needed to be replaced. No one communicated that there would be a charge for this hardware or the service call, which was replaced during the term on my service agreement. This hardware replacement was needed in order to even have monitoring service provided, also under contract. B-Safe invoiced me for this hardware replacement in the amount of $300 and also invoice me at the same time for a renewal of 12-months of prepaid monitoring in the amount of $692.88. In good faith, I paid the latter invoice for monitoring while I attempted to reach out to dispute the first invoice for $300 that should have been covered under my hardware service agreement at the time it was replaced. After speaking to the service manager and accounting dept, it has been made clear that they do not intend to adjust this invoice, they have told me that the will not refund the prepaid amount of money that I sent them for monitoring service in advance, and have refused to give me the name(s) and contact numbers of management who I might be able to escalate this matter to.

  

  Business response

  12/28/2022

  Good afternoon.  Please be advised that the monitoring services and the service plan invoice that Mr. ********** attached to his complaint is correct. He pays $692.88 annually, ($57.74/monthly) for both monitoring and his service plan. However, the service plan does not cover "end of life" equipment. It is the customers responsibility to keep equipment updated.  Please note in paragraph 17 of the signed agreement under subscribers duties, it is your sole responsibility to have working telecommunications.  The FCC had approved Verizon and AT &T to upgrade their cell towers to 5G, when the cell towers are upgraded, unfortunately most cellular devices must be upgraded, if not at the time of the upgrade, eventually, as the cell device serves as the communicator for the panel to communicate with central station.  Unfortunately, the business and the consumer are affected by these deciisons made by the FCC and will always be as technology will continue to upgrade and cell devices, personal and others, will constantly need to be upgraded as well.  

   

  On 8/30/2022, our representative, **** ******* spoke with Mr. ********* and quoted the device to him at the time of scheduling the upgrade. I have attached a copy of the invoice for your review. Please note that we did not charge our labor rate, as we recognize Mr. ********* has a service plan.  But as explained above, the device is chargeable, please note paragraph 27 of this contract. "Repair service consists of providing all necessary labor, material, parts and equipment to service the system due to ordinary wear and tear only" the need to upgrade his cellular device is his responsibility, as he must keep the equipment updated.  The new cell device was installed on 8/2/2022 and invoiced for the uplink ONLY. This invoice is due and payable.  Thank you for your consideration in this matter. 

   

  B Safe Inc.

   

  Customer response

  12/30/2022

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered. There are a few inaccuracies in the business' response:1. Section 17 in the agreement that is being referred to has to do with telephony services and equipment that would be provided by a person or company other than the alarm company, and most likely is outdated language referring to landline equipment and service. The issue at hand in this matter is about a piece of equipment that was provided by the alarm company when the system was initially installed (and paid for) and for which a monthly service fee was paid consistently since 2012 to provide support for.2. Section 27 that was referred to in their response specifically states " Repair service consists of providing all necessary labor, material, parts and equipment to service the System due to normal ordinary wear and tear only"  The fact that this part in question needed to be replaced had nothing to do with any negligence on my part. It is a device that was purchased as part of an alarm system that failed to operate or function the way it was suppose to and should be replaced as part of the service contract. There is nothing written in the contract that says that this particular device is excluded.  In fact, the contract does list other items excluded: "battery replacement, alarm screens, wiring, light bulbs, L.E.D.'s, L.C.D.'s and foil tape". None of the items listed as exclusions include the device replaced.3. I have notes from ALL my conversations with representative **** ******* and at no time was any replacement cost or cost otherwise discussed. At the time the appointment was scheduled, no tech had even diagnosed the problem. Additionally, during the tech visit, there was no discussion or quotation of any cost or fees. Regards, Complaint ID: 18435152    

  

  Business response

  01/23/2023

  Please understand that we provide the monitoring services for THEIR alarm system. This is not our system, they do not rent this equipment from us. They purchased the equipment, had it installed and are solely responsible for it working and/or communicating.  The upgrade of a cellular communicator because the FCC has given approval to AT & T and Verizon to upgrade their cell towers nationwide to 5G hardly falls under "ordinary wear & tear". The consumer should be aware that these upgrades will continue to take place, not by our choice or theirs. We must adhere to the fact that technology will be forever changing and from time to time an upgrade will be necessary, just like with a consumers personal cell phone. All security providers and security customers are affected by these decisions made by the FCC and the constant changes in the world of technology. 

   

  The invoice for the upgraded equipment is due and payable. Thank you again for your consideration. 

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