deceptive door to door selling practices in Tacoma WA
Complaint
[***]
Country: United States
This household burglar alarm company now called National or Monotronics seems to have "bought" out a number of other alarm companies like APX . Locally ,They say they are based in Vancouver WA. The practices are the same now as when I first encountered them in May 2008 in my neighborhood going door to door.
The offer to pay you to put a sign up in your yard that advertises their company . They also offer you a free alarm and then say it will cost about $1400 to install it etc . They say they work closely with the police and they do not nor are they endorsed by the local police . They say they canvas neighborhoods with burglary problems and can get exact addresses by asking for police reports of 911 calls ( this may be true).
Sometimes they ask to come in . They have you fill out a form with your date of birth and social security number on it saying you accept or decline there offer. They even say everyone will need an alarm soon as their is a bill pending - not true. The reports I have gotten from 5 or 6 persons so far this May are that they tell a lot of lies and engage routinely in classic deceptive practices used by scammers. I have no idea if they are actually legitimate. Would you buy a security alarm from someone selling them door to door ? I hope not . The more I hear the more I wonder how long before they change their name again! It just doesn't sound right ( what they say ), not right at all.
The offer to pay you to put a sign up in your yard that advertises their company . They also offer you a free alarm and then say it will cost about $1400 to install it etc . They say they work closely with the police and they do not nor are they endorsed by the local police . They say they canvas neighborhoods with burglary problems and can get exact addresses by asking for police reports of 911 calls ( this may be true).
Sometimes they ask to come in . They have you fill out a form with your date of birth and social security number on it saying you accept or decline there offer. They even say everyone will need an alarm soon as their is a bill pending - not true. The reports I have gotten from 5 or 6 persons so far this May are that they tell a lot of lies and engage routinely in classic deceptive practices used by scammers. I have no idea if they are actually legitimate. Would you buy a security alarm from someone selling them door to door ? I hope not . The more I hear the more I wonder how long before they change their name again! It just doesn't sound right ( what they say ), not right at all.
Comments
Any attempt to sell you something that is not controlled by your own choices about what you are already looking for is just a red flag indicating a con game.
"offer to pay you to put a sign up in your yard that advertises their company "
Common "alarm" deception. What they give with the left hand, they will take with the right.
"They also offer you a free alarm and then say it will cost about $1400 to install it etc "
"Free" is just a synonym for deception.
"They say they work closely with the police and they do not nor are they endorsed by the local police . "
They are an alarm company. If your alarm is tripped, they call the police.
" They say they canvas neighborhoods with burglary problems and can get exact addresses by asking for police reports of 911 calls "
Some police departments publish their crime statistics on the web.
"Sometimes they ask to come in . "
Why would you EVER let a stranger enter your home?
"They have you fill out a form with your date of birth and social security number on it saying you accept or decline there offer. "
That already is a common setup for contract fraud and forgery.
"They even say everyone will need an alarm soon as their is a bill pending"
Lots of bills are pending, most of them never pass, this one is pure myth. If everyone had an alarm, the police would have to ignore all of them due to all of the false alarms.
Overall a pattern of deceptive sales practices. Attempts at fraud or deceptive marketing should be reported to your local District Attorney.