Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  20/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I answered a knock on my door, answered the summer of 2022. A solicitor claiming to work for ***** Security. Offering me a discounted price for a home security system. The amount of crime is on the uprise in my area. I live in a community complex, I agreed to the offer. I did not sign any contract, only gave my billing information for the services. Then 1/2 hour later another gentleman came and installed the system. The system had glitches regularly which I had complained about to *****. I had been told it can happen. A week later my surf board stolen from the roof of my suv, the system was down. When I called to verify if they had the outdoor recording because the outdoor surveillance footage was off again, I was told that they dont keep any recordings on file. When I agreed (no signed contract) to install the system I hadnt thought that its against the complex rules to solicit, to need permission from the complex manager. I was warned to remove the system because it goes against privacy laws with in our complex. I called MAG Security *********** To disconnect the system because the system isnt functioning properly and that my manager had verbally told me that I wasnt allowed a gentleman come and disconnected.Next I received a bill for $1,604.66 for a cancelation fee. Immediately I called MAG Security and the man told me that my account isnt theirs and it was the ***** Companys account and to contact them. When I called ****** I was told I had no account with them. MAG SECURITY SENT THE DISCONNECTION FEE it stated the amount with the account going to collections if I didnt pay. I have had harassing calls from creditors since. Every time Ive emailed MAG security to send me the Contract I supposedly signed I never have received, its affecting my credit score and has caused stress.

  Business response

  21/02/2024

  As a Door to Door sales company we take allegations of misleading sales and inappropriate sales conduct very seriously. We know the reputation of other door to door sales teams and strive to overcome these stereotypes with our multi-layered quality assurance systems throughout our company. We are surprised to see a complaint come through like this, full of blatant lies and harmful slander towards our company. Please take the time to review the attachments here as I can assure you the conduct stated in this complaint is not accurate, it is falsified and quite honestly damaging to a small local business which prides itself on professionalism and quality service within our local communities.
  ****************** signed up for a security system in the end half of 2022 when MAG Security was still representing BRINKS security, through a sub dealer named Beeyond Security.
  Since inception of MAG Security as a company, we have always set ourselves apart from other providers in the market by confirming quality assurance via survey calls completed upon completion of each sale. On this survey call, we confirm with each customer that they understand the terms of the agreement they have signed up for: example - length of the term, monthly cost, and confirmation that the agreement has been signed. You can listen to ****** call confirming the information regarding the sale, and her agreeing to all of it - attached here for your reference.
  In this survey call, we did confirm with ****************** that the agreement had been signed. This would have been completed via docusign, so ***** should have a copy of the agreement still in her own email. 
  MAG Security was working through a sub dealer, as mentioned above,  when selling BRINKS products, therefore the contract is not ours to keep on record, and is in possession of Beeyond Security. We no longer have a relationship with Beeyond security, as we have now partnered with another long time trusted security and home service provider in ******, and do not have access to the signed contract with Beeyond at this time.This has been explained to ***** over the phone many times with our operations manager ******. However, as mentioned previously ***** should still have access to the agreement within her email used for the docusign that was sent for signature.
  I can also confirm that ****************** did not request to cancel the system due to an issue with the complex privacy laws. The cancellation was completed on our end, due to non payment for many months by *****. She ended up on our chargeback list, and we would have been held responsible for the amount of the entire remaining contract, as she was no longer paying her bill that was agreed upon to Beeyond security. We notified ****************** many times of the overdue payment, we collected the equipment (owned by us as the bill had not been paid) and removed the cost of the equipment from the remaining balance of the account. We attempted sending this customer multiple emails and voicemail correspondence advising the account would be sent to collections if the remaining outstanding amount was not paid. ****************** responded with im not paying and refused to pay the bill for the services agreed to and received. Therefore the account was sent to collections, as any other overdue service bill would be if the account holder refused to pay for the services. Please find the attached email correspondence advising the account was overdue and would be sent to collections. Also see attached chargeback list to us, from Beeyond security including ************************* name as an overdue account - other customer names have been edited out for privacy purposes.
  In summary, we ask that with review of the attached documents and the information provided above, this case be removed or closed as it constitutes no truth or accuracy to the situation that actually took place in regards to the agreement between MAG Security and this customer; Nor does it represent our company in an honest light of how we conduct business and care for our customers. Any agreement includes 2 parties, MAG honours our part of the service agreement with our customers, and in this situation, our customer unfortunately did not uphold their end. The service was not paid for and therefore was cancelled and sent to collections.. We will not stand for dishonest claims of mistreatment, in excusal for not paying for your services.

  Customer response

  21/02/2024

   
  Complaint: 21308426
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have asked several times for the here say contract I signed and for the approval letter asking permission to solicit door to door approval for permission from Kinsmen Gardens, Non-Profit ** ****************** to knock door to door authorizing the sale of any security equipment, services, change of out door appearance clearance??? 
  

  I have heard this type of MAG door to door passing the bunch so to say reasoning. Its absolutely disgusting that you can pin a cancelation fee on low income families that have obviously imposed a great deal of financial stress upon already pre addressed financial troubles. I do not understand the harassment of creditor companies calling me to pay an outrageous amount when MAG a company that is hired by security companies to sell a door to door lie that they ARE Brinks Security when in fact they arent. Its misleading and mis representation. 
  

  Thank you

  Sincerely 

  ******************************

  Business response

  22/02/2024

  This complaint and rejection holds no ground, nor a complete or composed sentence as to why this customer believes she can sign up for a service, not pay the bill, and then tarnish the reputation of the company that provided the service and cut it off due to non payment. 

  If any customer were to walk into ******* take food off the shelf and walk out the door - consequences would surely ensure... This situation is no different.

  You wanted a product offered to you at your door, you chose not to check with your strata or management team to confirm it was okay to have a security system in the complex. You chose to allow the technician inside your home to install the service. Even provided your payment information for the service in which you clearly signed up for - we did not get your payment information, credit check information, or any other information from you other than directly from the source (You). In addition, we then clarified over a phone survey directly after the sale to verbally confirm that you HAD agreed to all of these terms and understood what you were signing up for. Again, please listen to the attached call recording to verify this.

  When your home situation changed and you could no longer afford to pay your monthly bill, or decided you did not want to - we stopped providing the service.

  You refused to pay the outstanding balance to reinstate the service at your home. We removed our equipment and sent a bill for the remaining months owing, per the agreement you signed, which again ****************** will be in your email box as it was sent via Docu-Sign.

   

  Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  16/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Last October a solicitor came to my door to sell me a ****** Home security system. He told me if I signed up I would be getting a 40% discount on my internet bill from my ISP, *****. I accepted the offer because he told me the system would almost pay for itself with the savings I would be getting from the ***** discount. A couple months later and I'm still paying the full original price for my internet. I contacted ****** to resolve the problem and they told me I would need to contact the dealer who sold me the package, ******* Security. I managed to get ahold of them and they said they would contact the manager of my account who was apart of a sub-dealer, Mag Smart Security, who I'm am filing this complaint about. They proved difficult to reach but when I did they said they didn't really know what I was talking about and couldn't help me with my discount. I tried to cancel my subscription with ****** but I'm under a three year contract, I couldn't cancel my contract without paying the full cost of subscription for the three years costing roughly 3000$. Finally I called ***** and they said they never do partnerships with ****** and I may have fallen for false advertising. It's interesting to note that on their website Mag Smart Security says they're partnered with ***** but says nothing about ******. It's my understanding that the individual who sold me the system was an employee of Mag Smart Security, even though he was selling a ****** security system. I don't want/can't afford to pay the price I'm currently paying without the discount I was promised.

  Business response

  17/01/2023

  Hello,

  Unfortunately these claims are presented with little to no accuracy in regards to the date of sale, the discounts offered, and the response from our company when discussing cancellation terms and fees.

  Yes, MAG Security system is a door to door sales company operating throughout Canada in the provinces of BC, Alberta and Manitoba. 

  We were previously partnered with ****** security as an authorized retailer and distributor of their Security products and Alarm monitoring services. However in the recent months (December) ****** has decided to pull out of Canada and will only offer business to U.S Customers. Due to this unexpected change, we as a business have now moved over to partner with ***** to provide products and services in the door to door channel. This is why we have made recent changes to the branding on our website, as well as our phone greeting services.

  We are still servicing all of our previous ****** contracts in Canada, as well as now servicing on behalf of other ****** dealers within Canada who could no longer sustain their business.

  The complaint of the contract in questions here, was sold in November of 2022, (not October) - While we were still partnered with ******, as a sub dealer through ******* Security. Prior to our move to *****.

  Every contract that is sold by MAG Security systems is subject to a required pre-installation survey done by our in house office team. This survey is required specifically for situations such as this, where we are accused of offering products that we cannot offer, or accused of making promises in which we could not follow through on.

   

  Each survey call is subject to the same questions, every single time- including "Has your sales rep made any additional promises that were not included in your contract today" To which this customer responded "no".

  We do hold recordings of every survey call completed as well, and i have reviewed the call and can provide proof of the recording as needed to whomever may need to confirm.

  ****** has never partnered with any internet service provider to obtain larger discounts for the customer, and this was not something we ever offered while working with ******.

  If by any chance this was offered by a sales rep on the field, and the customer was unsure of the validity - these concerns should have, and could have been discussed on the initial survey call with our team.

  A copy of the contract would have also been docu-signed on premises at the time of the sale, and immediately emailed to the customer to have on hand. This contract clearly states that there is a 10 day cost free cancellation window. Any cancellation request after this time period are subject to pay the remainder of the 3 year contract that was signed. If equipment (such as cameras, panel, sensors etc,) is returned, the cost of the equipment is deducted from the total amount owing for the remainder of the contract. 

  We have also reviewed notes, and phone calls after the sale was completed, installed, and operational for over 3 months with no complaints - and we have confirmed that the cancellation fee that was expressed and explained to this customer would be $2021.60 (not the $3000 expressed in this complaint).

  We pride ourselves as a company on being transparent, ethical, and available for customer inquires Monday - Saturday from 8am to 9pm - all done in house, locally, and with our team of kind and professional office staff. 

   

  We understand that there are situations in which customers experience buyers remorse, and wish to blame the company that offered them the services.

  However, it must also be understood by the customer that you are responsible for the decisions you make, and the contracts you sign on your own free will; based on your own judgement of cost, value and affordability when it comes to other financial obligations in the individuals life.

  Customer response

  30/01/2023

  I have issued a response to Mag Smart Security privately. I am already coming to a less than desirable agreement with them, but an agreement nonetheless. I will copy/paste my response to them here:
  
  "Hello, this is [redacted]. I'm replying to the message you gave through the BBB. I wanted to confirm (and partially apologize). I was wrong about some of the details outlined in my complaint. Namely, the time of sale, which I assumed was October, perhaps because that was when my first bill came through. The 3000$ cancellation fee was calculated by me based on the total amount I would be paying for the duration of the full contract. I may have also misheard the amount given to me by the person on the phone when attempting to cancel my contract."
  
  "However, I still maintain that the individual who sold me the system, who identified himself as [redacted], did offer me the 40% ***** discount. He made that abundantly clear, outlining what my discount would be on a notepad. Unfortunately, I do believe it is true I declared that the salesman didn't offer me anything when I was talking to the rep on the phone, and that fault is with me."
  
  "If you don't want to look into this anymore, that is your prerogative, given the official documentation. I may settle with the 2000$ fee you mentioned for cancellation of my contract. I am sorry if my message was slanderous or questioned the integrity of your company. The situation has been stressful for me and that may have come out in my tone."
  
  "A few things I wanted to confirm, is the 2000$ before tax? And is that cost before or after deductions for the returned equipment?"
  
  "Thank you for your time and I'm sorry for any inconvenience."
  "Sincerely, [redacted]"
  
  However, I would like to go into a little more detail here, as part of my official response. The door to door salesman who sold me the system was exceedingly clear on what I would be paying. His pitch was that with my savings on my internet, as well as my savings from house insurance (which I wasn't guaranteed to get), would mean that I would be paying very little for my security system. He outlined all this on his paper notepad he had. He made it seem that the deal I would be getting wasn't typical, as a part of some sort of promotion. On top of this, after my contract was over, I would be paying a fraction of the original amount, around ~$30, down from ~$84 (although I do not remember the exact amount). This meant that after the contract was up, with my internet and insurance savings,  I would be making money off my security system, according to him. The thing I want to make clear is that I would have absolutely never agreed to pay $80+ for a security system I didn't need. It seemed like a no-brainer given what the salesman told me. He was a good salesman who made it sound like I would be getting it for almost free.
  
  But there is the unfortunate fact about that phone call with the representative. I do seem to recall that I declared I wasn't offered anything extra with my package. When asked to declare anything, they gave an example such as a "trip to Mexico" or something similar. A discount on my internet doesn't seem very suspicious in comparison so I think I can be somewhat forgiven for not declaring anything. That fault is with me for being a little too complacent. Looking back, it seems to me that they do this in order to cover themselves when someone doesn't get what they promised, instead of using it to prevent situations like this as I originally thought at the time of purchase.
  
  So, given the circumstances I decided to bite the bullet and take the offer to cancel my service and pay the fee to end my contract, because, if my math is right, I would be paying less overall than if I kept the service. Having the system was a constant reminder of the situation, and was causing me a great deal of stress and anger (which is ironic, considering it's supposed to keep me feeling safe). Like I said before, I couldn't care much less about the security system, paying the price to be done with it now and leave it in the past was preferable to me. I didn't bother disputing my claim because I had no concrete proof I was offered the discount in the first place, and they have official documentation saying otherwise . The ~$2000 fee was something I could afford. It was worth it to me.
  
  I don't expect Mag Smart Security to reimburse my contract fee, given what they have said. I will be somewhat content to leave this unfortunate episode of my life in the past and move on. **** ********* *** ***** ****** ** * **** ** ** ****** ****** **** ** ********* ********

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩