A Pinnacle Employee Speaks Out (Con't):
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"I use to work for Pinnacle Security as an installation/service tech for 5 years. Trust me when I say, "I've seen it all". I will cover the good and bad in this review."
First off, I don't really feel bad for "some" (really a small portion) of the customers that sign up for the security system and service. People need to read in detail any contract that they are signing. People that just sign any contract after a sales rep talks with them, deserve the consequences that come with it.
Having said the above, here is what happens. The sales reps for Pinnacle are very, very smooth talkers. In a short amount of time they can build a relationship of trust with you. They have been trained by the best sales reps/managers in the company
Having said the above, here is what happens. The sales reps for Pinnacle are very, very smooth talkers. In a short amount of time they can build a relationship of trust with you. They have been trained by the best sales reps/managers in the company
on how to get in your home and how to "sell" the product to you. Anything they tell you is mostly likely a sales ploy. They will tell you that you were selected because you have the nicest yard on the block and they want the sign to be advertisement for the neighbors to see. They will tell you that the deal is only a limited time. In the sale they will call their manager to see if they can offer that upgrade or do something special, when in actuality they already know they are going to call each other, but in your mind you are getting a deal because the manager said so. If you have an alarm they may ask, "do you mind if I can see your equipment to see if we can offer you an upgrade for free or to give you better equipment?" Guess what, they are in your house now. There are too many sales tactics to list. Almost all of them are a lie. They will give you the jist of the contract but will leave out many important details that would red flag many customers. Before you know it you have signed a contract and a few other documents including the notice of cancellation.
A major thing that they will do is to get the alarm installed the same day, usually within hours after signing the contract. Often times I arrived to the house to install the system, and the sales rep was still there finishing up, I would begin to install the system before everything was finalized with the customer. They will tell you it is good service and they want to get it done fast for you. The real reason for it is that they don't want to give you time to think about what you're getting. It is much easier for you to cancel when nothing has been installed, than if someone has to come take out all the equipment and small holes will be left in your home. They want it installed before you can have buyer's remorse.
Here is what it boils down to. There are some very good and honest salesmen but also others that we call "shady" that may or may not lie, but may leave out some important points of the contract or capabilities of the equipment. Those that are the most honest on average don't sell as much as those that are "shady". These guys make commission on each sale and the more sales they make the more the commission can go up. Some of the managers and traveling training salesmen can make up to 500 dollars a sale, sometime more (most first year reps and others make much, much less). After a while when they realize how much they can make they will do whatever it take to get the sale. They may give away equipment for free or waive installation fees because in the end they still might make a few dollars and they have another sale under their belt which in the end might raise their year end commission (It is retroactive, meaning at the end of the summer depending on their sales #'s they will get a big end of summer check).
Another problem I saw frequently was that SOME salesmen were not trained or improperly trained about what the equipment could do. I heard it all from the customers about what the reps told them the equipment could do. "He said the motion detector could see through walls", and "He said the glass break in the basement would detect windows broken on the first and second floor if I keep the basement door open", just to give a few examples.
Some of the things often left out or briefly mentioned about the contract is/are that the contract is 36 months (you sign a paper whether you realize it or not that states specifically that the contact is 36 months), the tech/company is not responsible for any damage done to the house, if you cancel, the tech then removes the equipment and is not responsible for any damage or holes left, and the customer has only 3 days to cancel the contract. After that they are "locked" into the agreement for 36 months.
The sales reps are general there only for the summer 4 or 5 months. Often they never return to your city even if they sell the next year. For most reps, that means when they go home after the summer and get paid, they don't care about any problems you may have in the future. The company does have a call/tech/service call center that you would contact if you have problems with your alarm that they may try and fix over the phone and if they can't they will schedule you and appointment with a service tech. Having worked as a service tech, I can say sometimes depending on the work load you may not receive service for several days. Not dissimilar to a cable company. If it is in August or September, the service tech will most likely have a heavy load of service calls. October thru April you should get service fairly quickly. There are usually only 1 or 2 service techs depending on the size of your city. Possibly more but I was in pretty large cities and there was only ever 2 service techs.
I'll briefly speak about the installation technicians. Some new technicians are very, very under trained. Others don't really care about the quality of their work. This is due to the fact that the more they do the more money they get. For technicians, much more emphasis is put on the speed of the installation. Generally they want it done in 2-3 hours. This means they don't really care about how nicely it is installed. As well there are areas of the country where the technicians are not even properly licensed. For example in Minnesota every tech either from Pinnacle or any other security company needs to be low voltage certified. Are any of the techs in Minnesota? No. This is the same thing in other areas of the country.
I think that Pinnacle Security as a company wants to provide a good service and experience, and in some cases does. At the same time they offer the training tactics of the salesmen and technicians that give them the tools to get the sale done. These tactics are twisted and altered to the extreme by salesmen and technicians that are out to make as much money as possible and will do whatever it takes.
Read the contract!!!
A major thing that they will do is to get the alarm installed the same day, usually within hours after signing the contract. Often times I arrived to the house to install the system, and the sales rep was still there finishing up, I would begin to install the system before everything was finalized with the customer. They will tell you it is good service and they want to get it done fast for you. The real reason for it is that they don't want to give you time to think about what you're getting. It is much easier for you to cancel when nothing has been installed, than if someone has to come take out all the equipment and small holes will be left in your home. They want it installed before you can have buyer's remorse.
Here is what it boils down to. There are some very good and honest salesmen but also others that we call "shady" that may or may not lie, but may leave out some important points of the contract or capabilities of the equipment. Those that are the most honest on average don't sell as much as those that are "shady". These guys make commission on each sale and the more sales they make the more the commission can go up. Some of the managers and traveling training salesmen can make up to 500 dollars a sale, sometime more (most first year reps and others make much, much less). After a while when they realize how much they can make they will do whatever it take to get the sale. They may give away equipment for free or waive installation fees because in the end they still might make a few dollars and they have another sale under their belt which in the end might raise their year end commission (It is retroactive, meaning at the end of the summer depending on their sales #'s they will get a big end of summer check).
Another problem I saw frequently was that SOME salesmen were not trained or improperly trained about what the equipment could do. I heard it all from the customers about what the reps told them the equipment could do. "He said the motion detector could see through walls", and "He said the glass break in the basement would detect windows broken on the first and second floor if I keep the basement door open", just to give a few examples.
Some of the things often left out or briefly mentioned about the contract is/are that the contract is 36 months (you sign a paper whether you realize it or not that states specifically that the contact is 36 months), the tech/company is not responsible for any damage done to the house, if you cancel, the tech then removes the equipment and is not responsible for any damage or holes left, and the customer has only 3 days to cancel the contract. After that they are "locked" into the agreement for 36 months.
The sales reps are general there only for the summer 4 or 5 months. Often they never return to your city even if they sell the next year. For most reps, that means when they go home after the summer and get paid, they don't care about any problems you may have in the future. The company does have a call/tech/service call center that you would contact if you have problems with your alarm that they may try and fix over the phone and if they can't they will schedule you and appointment with a service tech. Having worked as a service tech, I can say sometimes depending on the work load you may not receive service for several days. Not dissimilar to a cable company. If it is in August or September, the service tech will most likely have a heavy load of service calls. October thru April you should get service fairly quickly. There are usually only 1 or 2 service techs depending on the size of your city. Possibly more but I was in pretty large cities and there was only ever 2 service techs.
I'll briefly speak about the installation technicians. Some new technicians are very, very under trained. Others don't really care about the quality of their work. This is due to the fact that the more they do the more money they get. For technicians, much more emphasis is put on the speed of the installation. Generally they want it done in 2-3 hours. This means they don't really care about how nicely it is installed. As well there are areas of the country where the technicians are not even properly licensed. For example in Minnesota every tech either from Pinnacle or any other security company needs to be low voltage certified. Are any of the techs in Minnesota? No. This is the same thing in other areas of the country.
I think that Pinnacle Security as a company wants to provide a good service and experience, and in some cases does. At the same time they offer the training tactics of the salesmen and technicians that give them the tools to get the sale done. These tactics are twisted and altered to the extreme by salesmen and technicians that are out to make as much money as possible and will do whatever it takes.
Read the contract!!!