Complaints

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:01/31/2024

  Type:Order 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.

  Charged for an appointment that was a courtesy, being held into a contract that promised certain services that haven't been delivered, overcharged credit card service fee, refused to accept accountability and has lied to cover up deceptive practices. Then threated litigation on a contract that had no validity.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2024

  Dear *********;
  
  I wanted to take a moment to review the items that we discussed in our conversation today with regards to your complaints regarding Matson Alarm **. 
  
  Per our conversation today we discussed that you were upset that you were billed for a service call that you indicated was to be a courtesy call, but you were billed $150.00 on invoice *******. As we discussed, our agent should never have scheduled a service call to have the leased camera equipment removed as you are under contract. 
  
  You also mentioned that we deducted the monies from your credit card fraudulently. We deducted the charge for the service because of the authorization that you gave us on the Account Information Form that you signed on 8/3/2022. This authorized us to bill all charges which include monthly fees, billable service calls, installation fees, etc. which is option #1 under CheckFree that you selected. A copy is enclosed for your records.
  
  I have attached a copy of your contract for review dated 7/25/2022 signed on 7/26/2022 by you for your records. Due to this error by our agent, we issued you a refund back to card ending on **** on 1/30/2024. This could take up to 7 business days before you see the refund reflected on your credit card statement. 
  
  During our conversation you indicated you were upset that your monthly service was increased without your knowledge. Per the contract that you signed on 7/26/2022 Section 5 of the contract states, after the expiration of one year from the date hereof Alarm **mpany shall be permitted from time to time to increase the monthly charge. You disputed the rate increase, and we reduced your rate by $5.00 and returned your rate back to $43.00 per month on 1/29/2024. 
  
  You indicated that Matson Alarm ** did not fulfill our commitment to the contract because the angles of your cameras were never correct and for that reason you wanted the cameras to be removed. The alarm system and cameras were installed on 9/14/2022. There was an issue with the cameras, and you called in and we serviced the cameras on 10/24/2022. We had technicians out on 10/14/2022 and 10/24/2022. There was never any indication to any of our technicians that the angles of the camera were an issue. We would have been more than happy to make the adjustments at that time. It was not until 1/9/2024 that you called in and indicated that you were not happy with your cameras. 
  
  It has been determined during our conversation that you will be relocating to ***** and that you will need to cancel your service. As I explained to you, the contract you signed is for lease equipment and is a three-year term. This agreement goes through 7/26/2025. If you cancel before this date, you will be breaking your contractual obligation and will be responsible for the term of the contract. You have decided that you would like to continue your service and do not want to cancel at this time. The cancellation request we received from you on 1/24/2024 has been voided.
  
  You and I made an agreement to reinstall the two cameras that were removed at no charge to you. Service ticket number ****** has been scheduled for Thursday February 8th between 11 am 1pm. Our service calls are scheduled in two-hour windows. 
  
  If you decide that you would like to cancel your services at any time you will need to submit a 30-Day written cancellation notice to us. Once received we will contact you to schedule the removal of our leased equipment and as indicated if the account is cancelled prior to 7/26/2025 you will owe for the balance of the agreement. If the leased equipment is not removed there will be additional charges for our leased equipment. As indicated, if you cancel prior to the term of your agreement, I will be happy to assist with the closing balance by offering a possible discount.   
  
  It has come to my attention that you have filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau complaint ID# ********. I hope you can agree that we have done nothing wrong to warrant this complaint. I will forward this correspondence to the Better Business Bureau to fulfill our obligation to respond to your complaint. 
  
  If you should have any questions or further concerns, please feel free to contact me at **************.
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/02/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:Camera angles were promised and not delivered upon. Cameras were broken by installation tech, then replaced still not at the coverage I need. Charged for fees that were not part of the agreement I signed, then told I signed a contract for 3 years that I did not acknowledge and instead was told it was a work order. Overcharged monthly fees then threatened with litigation if I don't pay. Then when holding them to their contract for camera angles that have not been acheived, they wanted more money to fix what they should have in the first place. It's was unfortunate that it took a BBB complaint in order for them to come to an agreement to resolve the issues at hand. I have been passed around for 2 weeks, threatened and money demanded from me that I did not owe, hence why I filed the complaint.
  

  I am appreciative at their willingness to try and resolve our dispute on some level, but Matson Alarm really has caused an emotional burden on me over the past 2 weeks that was completely unnecessary. Their response to the BBB complaint was that they did nothing wrong and that they will refund the $150.00 disputed charge and try and fix the camera angles promised without charging me a second $150.00 fee. Without the complaint, they wouldn't have done anything and for that reason, I can't agree that they did nothing wrong and the complaint will stand. I do believe that complaint is what drove their willingness today to try and rectify the issue and not because of good business practices. I hope to move past this and have the camera ls fixed as promised, and the fees reversed. An appointment has been scheduled, so I am hopeful, but to fully deny they did nothing wrong and only change their stance after a complaint was filed was completly unnecessary. I may change my stance once the work and promises made are actually completed. Time will tell....

  Business Response

  Date: 02/09/2024

  Please see attached letter and contract.

  To whom it may concern, 
  This response is regarding a complaint submitted to the BBB about our business on 1/31/2024 by *******************. 
  ****************** complaint about the camera angles is for an installation that was completed on 
  9/14/2022 for the contract that she signed on 7/26/2022. There was an issue with the cameras being offline and the antennas were broken off due to clearance issues, but the two cameras were replaced on 10/24/2022 to rectify this issue. There was no mention of the camera angles at that time being an issue. 
  The ***************** Equipment Residential Lease **ntract signed by ************** on 7/26/2022, see Acceptance Detail, she agreed to all terms and conditions of this said agreement. Section 4 Term of agreement: Renewals indicate that the agreement is for a period of three (3) years. 
  As mentioned before invoice number ******* for $150.00 dated 1/17/2024 was incorrectly billed to ************** due to an error by one of our agents. This matter was rectified on 1/26/2024 with one of our supervisors and the amount was refunded to ****************** credit card ending in 8919. 
  Since our last correspondence on 2/1/2024, both cameras were reinstalled on 2/8/2024. Both technicians on site indicated that ************** was happy and approved the set up of the cameras and motions areas. 
  ************** mentioned that she would be relocating to Texas in July, at which time she would need to cancel service. Per Section 4 of the agreement, ************** will need to submit a 30-day notice prior to the expiration of any term to begin the cancellation process of her account. 
  We have included a copy of the ***************** Equipment Residential Lease **ntract between Matson Alarm ** and ************** for your records. We hope that we have supplied you with all the information needed to close this complaint. If you need any further information, please feel free to reach out to us. 
  Best Regards, 
  **********************;
  Office Manager 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/13/2024

  I am rejecting this response because: although Matson Alarm has attempted to fix the camera angles, they have still had to come out multiple times to fix them. As of yesterday, the cameras were up and running efficiently for the first time in ***************************************************************************************************************************************************** as of today. If there is a credit on my account, then I have not actually seen it on an invoice.  They are however trying to rectify part of the issue.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/14/2024

  Please see newest attached response letter and documents. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/31/2023

  Type:Order 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.

  My account number with ********************** is *******. On 5/19/2023, they sent me an invoice of $480 to cancel monitoring services with them that I do not agree with.We moved to our new home in November 2022. A Matson Alarm security system was already installed in our home from the previous owner, so we thought it would be a good idea to try it. After a few months, we noticed we did not use the service enough and decided to cancel. Matson Alarm has a difficult and lengthy cancelation process. I attempted to cancel in April, only to find out the agent would have to email me a form to fill out. I never received the form and forgot about it until I got charged again in May. I called again in May, filled out the form, sent it back and thought that would be the end of it.I was shocked to find out Matson Alarm now wanted to charge me a cancelation fee and that they scammed us into signing a $1280 three-year contract. Their sales associate never told us it was a 3 year contract, and had only sold it to us as $35/month service. If we had known, we would have never agreed as we do not even know if we will be in this house that long. The verbiage on their contract is also very unclear, no clear end date, not clear on being locked in, or a cancelation fee. I was also under the impression I was allowed to cancel anytime. I am very concerned they do this on purpose to all their customers.The alarm system already existed and was installed by the previous owner. There was no further installation or equipment expense on their part. It is not right or does it make sense to charge any further fee. Their representative ******************* agrees in her email "The 35$ does not mean your paying off your equipment monthly or that the system is worth that much, it is just for us to monitor your system." Therefore, if they stop monitoring, they do not need to charge anything else.We have paid on time $35 for each month of service. We do not agree with a further $480 fee.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/06/2023

  We understand it can be frustrating paying for a service that you did not use as much as you were expecting to. With that being said, ******* signed a contract in which it was made clear that there was a term committment. We DO NOT scam our customers into signing contracts with ** and our sales representatives always make it clear that the customer is entering an agreement. The terms of the agreement are also laid out in the contract and it is also the signees responsibility to read the terms of any contract they sign. We did try to come to a resolution with ******* by lowering the fee to exit the contract early.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/06/2023

  I am rejecting this response because: Terms in contract are not clear. There was no meeting of the minds with this contract. Whether "contract" was 3 or X years, if I can cancel at any time, then I should just be able to cancel. Also does not say there will be a cancellation/early exit fee -- business just made this up. They are just trying to squeeze money for doing nothing. Contract only provides for cancel at anytime 3 days after installation, but nothing on process for what happens AFTER the 3 days. Perhaps business should add to the contract "from day 4 until year 3, there will be a cancellation fee of $X." Business should educate your sales associates to be clear on contract length and sell as "3 years" not "$35/month," and also explicitly have a start and end date on your contracts, not ambiguously in small print. This error and lack of information on Business's part should not be the customer's problem. 
  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/07/2023

  The Standard Residential Security Agreement clearly states in Section 5 Term of Agreement: Renewal:  stated that the term of the agreement is for a period of 3 years.  For this reason, Section 3 Services and Charges under Monitoring Only is for the sum of $1,260 payable at the rate of $35 per month for the term of the agreement which is 3 years or 36 months. 36 months x $35 = $1260.00.
  
  Had you decided not to move forward with the Alarm ****** Services, you would have been able to cancel the signed agreement by the 3rd day of signing the agreement. You signed the agreement on 12/23/2022 you would have been able to cancel the agreement without penalty on 12/26/2022 by returning the Notice of Cancellation form.

  Per section 25 of the agreement, it states the following, I have attached a copy of the agreement you signed for your review. You signed the agreement on 12/23/2022 which would put your agreement term through 12/23/2025 leaving a remaining term of your agreement 30 months at $35/mnth for a total of $1050.00.
  
  We do understand that your need for an alarm system has changed and to come to an amicable resolution of this matter, we reduced the early termination fee to $480.00 to assist you.

  Prior to the signing of the agreement, you acknowledged that you understood the terms and conditions of the agreement. To assist you further, we can extend a payment plan to you. We can accept a payment of $240 by 6/25/2023 and a second payment of $240 by 7/25/2023. If you would like to move forward with the payment plan, please let us know.   

  We hope this resolves any further issues that you may have.