Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Bay Alarm Company's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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Bay Alarm Company has 17 locations, listed below.

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  Bay Alarm Company

  5130 Commercial Cir Concord, CA 94520-8522

  
• 

  Bay Alarm Company

  9836 Kitty Ln Oakland, CA 94603-1070

  
• 

  Bay Alarm, Inc.

  2264 Goodyear Ave Ventura, CA 93003-7748

  
• 

  Bay Alarm

  1590 S Lewis St Anaheim, CA 92805-6423

• 

  Bay Alarm Co.

  3819 Duck Creek Dr Stockton, CA 95215-7956

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/21/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The Bay Alarm system stopped communicating with the smart phone app. That prevented remote arming and disarming. Bay Alarm attempted to diagnose and repair on 3-4 occasions over a period of a month. It worked for a day or two and then stopped. Eventually, after almost one month, a supervisor got involved and figured out the problem was with THEIR equipment. They had failed to install an upgrade that would have corrected the problem in 30 minutes. Instead they spent hours, to no avail. They also failed to inform their techs about this problem that was a common occurrence in my ZIP code. The techs should have been informed. Bay Alarm later charged $215 for fixing their failed equipment. It's like a car dealership charging for fixing a recall. All attempts to get them to waive the charge were to no avail. I paid it and I am now reporting them.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/10/2025

  Good morning, ******, 
  
  Happy Terrific Tuesday! I hope you are doing well. I am happy to report that our Service Manager has been in contact with the customer and has addressed the complaint. 
  
  Have a wonderful day!
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/24/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Dear Better Business Bureau,I am filing a formal complaint against Bay Alarm Company regarding an unjust debt collection issue.Complaint Details:Bay Alarm installed an alarm system at our business location (*********************************).The system was installed on a faulty door, leading to continuous false alarms.We made multiple verbal requests to Bay Alarm by phone to address the issue, but they failed to resolve the ********** the service was unreliable, we withheld payment while awaiting a resolution.Instead of addressing the issue, Bay Alarm transferred the alleged debt of $10,000 to **************************** who are now aggressively pursuing collection.Address Issue:CAB also claims the debt is linked to a different location. However, the address remains the same (**************), as evidenced by ****** Maps and our lease documentation.Requested Resolution:1.Investigation into the unfair practices of Bay Alarm.2.Withdrawal of the debt and cessation of collection activities.3.Clarification from Bay Alarm regarding their failure to provide adequate service.I am attaching relevant email correspondence and documentation for your reference.Thank you for your support in resolving this matter.Sincerely,********** Strokin **************************************************************** Phone: ************ Email: *********************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/21/2025

  Unfortunately, when an account has gone through the collection process, and it is at a collection agency, we legally cannot reach out to the customer. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/17/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Cancelled monitoring of security system in December 2024 due to on-going technical issues and exhorbitant fees. I own the security system and it is not under contract and never has been. Contacted them for the installer code in order to operate the system and they refused to supply it stating that I would have to pay for a techician to come out at $125 an hour. No I do not. I have contacted them again asking for the system to be returned to the default code so that it is fully operational by me. No response. The account has always be paid and has no outstanding charges, I own the equipment. They have no right to lock me out of my own property.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/28/2025

  Our branch manger reached out to the customer regarding her complaint. He explained that solving this issue is definitely achievable, but tech support cannot remote into the system and rolling a truck uses Bay Alarm recourses. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/28/2025

   
  Complaint: 22827075
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  This business has a responsibility to ensure that a customer has access to their security system after cancellation of monitoring services (and ownership of the hardware.) They failed to do this while they still had access remotely and are now trying to charge for a technician to come out and reset the installer code that THEY changed. I have verified that the previous company who installed the system did not change the code. It was changed by a BayAlarm technician on a previous visit. This 'Branch Manager' in *******, ** did call me and 'mansplained' to me how if I called a plumber, I would expect to be charged. True, but I would not expect that my plumbing would not be fully functional by me unless I paid for it in the form of a $125 per hour service charge. When I challenged his obviously canned responses he did not like it and put the phone down on me. Absolutely unprofessional behavior on his part. 

  While speaking with the owner of the company who originally installed the system and provided excellent service I might add, he let me know that he had sold his business to BayAlarm and within a year most of his customers had cancelled their service with them. I cannot imagine why.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/26/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am writing to formally file a complaint against Bay Alarm regarding the recent service performed at my property, ************************************. I believe that the some of the repairs conducted were unnecessary and designed to overcharge for services that were not required.On 11/04/2024, a technician from Bay Alarm visited my property for a service call. The technician assumed that it was an alarm problem at the beginning because there was an error message on the panel outside in common area, so he replaced our old alarm with a new one. But it was still not working with the new one, so he figured out that the issue was not due to the alarm inside our house. He told us it was due to the programming issue of the panel outside of the house. The alarms inside of our house are totally fine. He called his manager to site and fixed the programming outside, but did not change the new alarm back to our old one since the programming is specific to each alarm and they did not want to redo the work even though our old alarm is totally fully functional. So, the root cause of this is the programming issue with the panel outside instead of the alarm inside the house. The replacement of the alarm inside my house is unnecessary and were likely an attempt to overcharge me for services that were not needed or not related to the root cause. In addition, the technician seems not experienced and had to call his manager to come to program the panel outside. All of this unnecessary time were charged to our property. The total charge to me is $554.55 for replacement of a fire alarm that costs $50, which is unacceptable.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/13/2025

   Although the *** has instructed Bay Alarm to communicate with their representative (****** ******), our branch manager called Ms. *** and reached out via email with the following update: 
  
  On 9/19/24, a service call was scheduled with *********** *** for Bay Alarm to come out on 9/27/24.    
  
  On 11/4/24, the Bay Alarm technician returned to the location and replaced the smoke detector.  
  
  A technician addressed the programming issue and is in contact with the *** for the fire system, not individual residences. Also, fire alarm systems are held to code, and if there is an issue with the system, it is required by code to be fixed. The ************************************ (****) sets the codes and standards, and the fire agencies enforce these codes. 
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/13/2025

   
  Complaint: 22609626
  
  I am rejecting this response because the company does not address the complaint at all. They are not addressing the issues of unnecessary replacement and not providing cost information before doing the replacement. 

  What has made us very uncomfortable about, is the behaviors of BA technicians in this event. Knowing clearly there was nothing wrong with our device and yet still jammed down our throat with the change so BA could charge us the fees, is misleading your customers to say the least. But in our opinion, this is defrauding the customers, far more serious in nature. The only thing I am not sure about is if this is just an isolated incident, only related to those technicians or this is a more general behavior condoned at the company level. We are waiting for you to offer a satisfactory solution.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ** ***

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/11/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Bay Alarm cancelled my service without warning. While they claim attempts were made to reach me, that is not something I can verify as there was no letter received, no voicemail left or email regrind an issue with payment. they simply closed the account and claimed they had reached out but hadn't. After multiple calls, I still cannot reach anyone willing to help me reinstate my account. It used to be a family run local business, but the caring customer service is gone (as evidenced by the many complaints here) and it seems calls go to rude call center operators who do not feel bothered to provide customer service and want to put callers on hold for up to 10 minutes. the service is not acceptable and buyers should stay away and find a company that still maintains standards of customer service.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/19/2024

  thank you. they have resolved the issue, but working with them has been very disappointing and the quality customer service is extremely spotty. 

  Regards,

  ****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/05/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 7 Jul 24, is the date I received service.I requested service to remove/fix two, alarm contacts and to have the remote option via my phone to arm or disarm my alarm system.Upon the arrival of the technician, I was informed that my system would need no other equipment, but I would have to set an seperate appointment with accounting to complete the change.He then stated this appointment would cost ******, and any future appointment would be ******. He proceeded to digitally remove the two contacts, within 5 minutes, which I could remove manually when I armed the system.*I should have been told initially of the need to schedule a seperate appointment with accounting to set the system up with my phone. *This was only told to me after the technician arrived for service and charged ******.*This would cause me an additional ****** expense.Upon calling to resolve the issue, an insolent specialist returned my call and stated that no resolution or adjustments could be made. When I requested to speak with a supervisor he stated there was no one above him. I will pay 10 percent of the bill until there is a proper resolution.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/26/2024

  Our service manager reviewed the account and reached out to **** to discuss.We agreed to waive the service charge. We believe the matter has been addressed. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/14/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Bay Alarm will not stand by its products. It releases garbage hardware to senior citizens and their systems become inoperable in less than a year!!! Whether its the connection to the internet that dies because of cell tower upgrades and you cannot just plug it into a new 4G modem, or the issues with motion detectors or door sensors never reconnecting after we change the batteries. Bay Alarm provides no customer support and refuses to fix the issues. They are a garbage company with zero upgrade path and just wants you to drop thousands on a new system after a complex system was installed and troubleshooted over the past couple years. The system is a source of pain in my family and does not provide any safety value at al anymore. STAY AWAY.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/22/2024

  Our office manager contacted the customer and offered assistance in resolving the issue. The family mentioned that the service was closed. Our office manager asked if there was anything account-related about which we might be of service. **************** said thank you; everything was all settled. Our Office manager apologized for the issues and invited him to call us if there was anything else he could think of. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/14/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I thoroughly explain the entire chain of events (in an attached Word Doc) that let up to Bay Alarms inadequacy in providing proper customer service.It's close to ***** characters long, so it did not fit in this comment box.Unfortunately, due to Bay Alarms lack of proper training, lack of professionalism, NO ACCOUNTABILITY for any of their mistakes, us, Socco Plastics, the customer, have been made responsible for a total of 5 invoices and a total cost of $645. If Bay Alarm knew how to answer their customers questions and concerns with responsibility and the proper knowledge, again, none of this would have happened.Any company that truly respects and values their customers would choose to fix their mistakes. Bay Alarm the entire time NEVER took any accountability for this chain of events. After years of confiding in Bay Alarms services, we are disappointed with this outcome.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/22/2024

  Hi ******,
  
  Our branch manager spoke with ****** about the situation, and everything was explained in detail. Also, a credit of $552.00 was issued for the past 12 months of service. 
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/22/2024

   
  Complaint: 21853225
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The $552 credit that was approved was in regard to a different issue. Bay Alarm had been charging Socco Plastics $46 monthly for over 2 years (the exact amount that was charged over the 2+ years was $1,242.00) for our Tool Room account, in which the ******************** panel WAS NOT even active during those years. We, Socco, recently became aware of this and suspended service for our Tool Room account, and they resolved this matter by crediting us the $552.

  Regarding this current issue, the charges that were applied on May 20, 2024, nothing has been done nor resolved. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Socco Plastic Coating Company

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/30/2024

  Our branch manager reached again on Thursday, July 25, 2024. We let the customer know based on the circumstances we are happy to give a credit of $125 for the current service call on 5/20/2024. Our branch manager also let the customer know we will do our absolute best to make things right and to reach out with any further questions.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/10/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Called Bay Alarm in early Feb 2024 regarding a low battery notification on panel which would not allow me to activate alarm. Since it's been more than a year of service, I was going to be charged for the tech service visit. The tech spent most of the day troubleshooting and concluded the battery pack was drained since system did not recover from the recent power outage (i.e. getting power from the hardwired electrical setup, instead of drawing from the battery) because the initial installation of the panel was done improperly. He needed to come back the next day to install a new panel and re-do the software sync up which literally took the entire day. Fast forward a few weeks and I get a bill for this service. I call Bay Alarm immediately dispute the bill and to tell them the tech mentioned the initial installation was done incorrectly. The Bay Alarm representative recorded my dispute and said to wait for resolution. I did not hear from Bay Alarm until I received a late payment notice 4 months later (today). When I called to discuss the matter, the representative said they see a record of the dispute from February but was not processed (no reason given why). But because so much time has elapsed since invoice date that I would still have to pay for the service call & parts. Moreover, the initial problem didn't fully get fixed because I cannot arm my alarm system. My app still shows multiple sensor failures (though all *************** have been secured) and the panel also shows a sensor failure. I was transferred to tech service to fix the app problem but was told a tech would physically need to be at my residence to delete app, re-install app and sync the panel - of course I would be paying for this. Bay Alarm service and quality has completely gone downhill and I can't get out of my contract. I've been paying for service that I'm not getting and stuck paying for it another 1-1/2 yrs.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/19/2024

  Our ********************** spoke with Ms. ****** ******. After being explained, all charges seemed to be clearer, and the customer seemed to have a better understanding. 
  
  Aside from this, she mentioned that she has been having issues with her app displaying multiple troubles. With the help of our tech support department, we were able to resolve the customer's app issues, and she was satisfied with the outcome. 
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/23/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  When I originally contracted Bay Alarm for our 40k job, I expected to receive ******************** I soon realized this company does not provide White ***** but sub-standard service.I initially worked with a sales **** *************** who consistently made futile promises. See Attachment

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/28/2024

  Our Sales Manager, has been in contact with this customer since March because of issues with the sales rep and installation. 
  
  We've applied credits for both accounts, and also credited 3 months of service.  
  
  In regard to the desired resolutions, we made the billing adjustments on the customers accounts last week, the jobs were completed in April/early this month, and everything is working properly.  Our Sales Manager also explained all other charges and went over the invoices with the customer.  We are waiting on one last visit from a tech to provide a complete orientation on how to use the system, which should be completed this week.
  
  Please let us know if you need any additional information or if there is anything else we can help with.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/28/2024

   
  Complaint: 21615217
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  I have not received ALL of the credits "promised,"  The Sales Manager HAS NOT gone over all of the charges with me, I am still waiting for that to happen.  I still have not received anything reflecting the credit for the SEVEN CCTV not installed.  I am unable to ascertain a date as to when a technician will visit the site.  This has been going on since March, it is now end of May, beginning of June, still not resolved.  I would like for this company to complete this HORRIBLE experience, so we can move forward!

   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Family Bible Fellowship Fellowship