as I love to point out whenever anyone invokes the BBB.
The bbb has no enforcement power beyond it’s own internal rating. They exist to keep businesses out of court by providing a target for customers to bitch to. I had a customer try filing a bullshit complaint expecting a refund when I refused to replace a dying hard drive that I did not provide or install because it had been in my shop a month ago for a different problem.
I had a problem with ADT several years ago. I was having a lot of financial problems and I asked if my account could be suspended for a few months to help me catch up with my bills. I was willing to go without monitoring for a few months but I wanted to be able to resume coverage under my existing contract. No they can’t do that. I either cancel my contract and pay a “nominal fee” per my contract or I don’t pay and get sent to collections. After i get sent to collections I could reapply for coverage. I asked how much the nominal fee was, $500+ dollars, basically the monthly fees for the remainder of the contract term. I asked if they had any idea what “nominal fee” meant. It’s a token amount, not the actual value of the item. I told them their contract was misleading and there was no way I would or could pay that amount, I couldn’t even afford the monthly fee. I couldn’t believe they would rather send me to collections and then take me back with the credit ding than put my a count on hold for 3 months.
I didn’t pay and I sent a letter to the collection agency about the whole exchange with ADT. They really didnt bother me much except for a few token letters. A little while
after my finances got worse and I declared bankruptcy and I made sure to include their claim. I would never use them again or recommend them. I was broken into after I was no longer being monitored and it wouldn’t have mattered if I was monitored because the alarm wouldn’t have gone off until he left.
We use ADT at work and whenever we have a problem and have to get repair work done we get a run around about whether or not we have a maintenance contract. We do, but apparently only one person at their company is aware of it. They are extremely disorganized.
Good luck with getting them to clean up your account.
We vowed never to have dealings with them, when a woman on our street was raped. The rape occurred as she was arriving home about 11 PM - someone grabbed her in front of her townhouse, dragged her into a secluded area nearby, and assaulted her.
A security service wouldn’t have done ANY good whatsoever in this situation. But EVERY TWO DAYS for a week or more, we came home to an ADT flyer stuffed in our door. Bastards were trying to prey on our fears and sell us a service that WOULDN’T HAVE HELPED!!
Yeah, I don’t get why the BBB has this reputation of power. Complaining to them is like going to confession - it may make you feel better, but none of your problems are going to be solved.
If they charged you for services they didn’t render, why not small claims court? It’s a great way to get the attention of someone at the company who might actually get things resolved (since paying lawyers actually costs them something). And if it doesn’t get anyones’ attention, then you win by default and get a judgement against them.
I mean, that’s what the courts are there for, after all.
the very first thing you need to be doing right now is sending a certified letter to the collections agency denying the claim. Detail your exchanges with ADT noting dates and offer to show contracts if necessary. You need that letter with them whether they believe it or not.
Then you’re going to need to monitor your credit reports and make corrections with the company clarifying the debt as an error with the company that you are trying to resolve. I don’t know if companies will actually pay attention to it, but it’s something for right now.
make sure when you finally do get ADTs attention you make sure that the person who clears all this up sends a retraction to the credit reporting companies asking that the black mark be removed.
As for getting their attention, well, you’ve gotten better advice upthread than I can give. Good luck!
Don’t forget to send a letter to the collections agency disputing the claims. Keep a copy for yourself.
Our business takes our BBB rating very seriously (mostly because a lot of our competitors have F ratings and hundreds of complaints, all while we have an A+)-- if we get any complaint, we promptly answer it to the best of our ability. There’s no harm in using them for mediation, even though the only bad thing they can really do to us is ding our rating. I can’t tell you how many accounts I get because the people compared us and our competition on the BBB website and went with us because of that. Seriously, a solid half of my business.
Another good thing the BBB does is arbitration. If there’s a contract dispute between us and a client, we can each put up how much the other says is owed, the BBB arbitrates it, and settles it. This is often far easier than going to court. Of course, both sides have to agree to it.
I’ve no experience with small claims court, no previous need really, but I’ve found a website and am investigating the process now.
I did call the collections agency and they rudely said the only reason to call them is to arrange payments, that everything regarding the validity of the charges had to be handled with the principal party. We have ridiculously good credit. This is what miffs me, that someone else’s malfeasance means I have to deal with vermin like that.
A whole lots of things are starting to happen now. I’m getting calls and things are starting to happen, although nothing gets off the hook until monies are replaced and I have confirmations in writing. But, in short, y’alls recs are having an effect.
I’m sure sorry to hear of the troubles others have also had with ADT.
ETA: An ADT Corporate VP did call while I was out and referenced the BBB complaint. I’m about to call her back. I’ve had both goo and bad luck with that route before. Guess it depends on how much a rating matters to the company in question, as opposed to them having any real punitive ability.
In regards to the collection company send them a certified letter saying two things. First, that communication is only to be through the mail and you are requesting no further communication through phone or e-mail. You want to do this for two reasons a) to have written documentation of all contact and b) to stop any annoying phone calls you may get, if they continue to call you you can sue them. The second is you want to say that you dispute this debt. Don’t go into any of your story or evidence you have, they are the ones that have to prove you owe the debt as a first step. If they can’t do this, they by law can’t collect on the debt and have to remove and derogatory remarks from your credit card report.
Then start your executive e-mail carpet bomb, as long as you can actually find the contact information for the executive management this will be worth trying for a quick fix before resorting to small claims court.
I don’t know if it matters, but ADT is a subsidiary of Tyco. Remember the old CEO of Tyco got into a shitstorm of trouble for buying shower curtains for several thousands of dollars and throwing his wife a multimillion dollar birthday party?
Okay, I copied the jist of the OP with minor modifications where appropriate and sent it to three of the “advocates” suggested by posters, one website and two local reporters (Stephen Dean, Wayne Dolcefino). In calling ADT back I asked to speak to those supervisors or VPs and when asked for a number for them to call back I said no, that I would hold until they came on. They were then informed of the widespread reports and attention their mishandling of the situation was receiving. That seemed to work pretty well and yesterday a “special” representative came out to the house and we spent an hour and a half discussing everything that had gone wrong and what they were going to do to make things right.
They’re taking care of the old contract and the collection agency and will verify that our clean credit was in no way compromised and, if so, will have that expunged.
They’re refunding all debits they’ve made back to May when we first resigned.
They’re giving us w/o charge the equipment needed to be compatible w/ UVerse, a wireless phone so theives can’t just cut the phone line, that delayed the install in the first place.
They waived current higher rates and gave us those in place back at our previous residence.
So while our situation has improved, it doesn’t negate the fact it took months and an inordinate amount of effort to get even the most basic level of service from them. I resigned because it’s what I had agreed to before, but more than likely once the term expires I’ll end the relationship. As others have indicated here, this level of dissatisfaction is not unique to clients of ADT. Further complicating the issue are residential security subcontractors that take shortcuts in selling the service, infringing on existing arrangements and not providing full disclosure.
So thanks, my friends, and caveat emptor.
Congratulations! Good job!
I was one of the people who recommended The Consumerist, but i’m ambivalent about consumer advocates for some of the reasons implied in your second-to-last paragraph.
Websites like The Consumerist, and local TV consumer advocates (or the threat of using them), can really help get a situation fixed. On the other hand, though, they also tend to reinforce a situation whereby companies don’t do the right thing unless and until you threaten them with massive exposure. What we need is for companies to do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, not just because they’re worried that they’ll end up on the evening news.
I’m dreaming, i know.