Pinnacle Alarm Employees Speak Out

"I answered an ad for employment to sell a wireless internet service. The company calls themselves Clear Pinnacle which I found out is really Pinnacle Security".

They have this orientation that shows you a pay and advancement structure and they claim to have all the....(read the entire comment)
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"I have had a Pinnacle security system in my home for almost 3 years, I have never had any problems with it at all. I have also worked as an technician for Pinnacle for the last two years".

I will admit that I have seen a couple of Marketing Reps that are a little shy of completely honest. I have also noticed that these marketing reps are quickly dismissed from their positions. Pinnacle spends a great deal of time and money making sure that all of its employees (Sales, and Installers) are properly licensed and that Background checks are done on all of them. Many states also run background on each marketing rep and installer working in that state and required them to pass a national certification.

With all of that being said, I would tell anyone who has a Pinnacle marketing rep come to their door to listen to them and to read the terms of the contract. A 42 month term is clearly stated as well as the 3 day cancellation policy. The monthly monitoring rate will be on the contract as well as any set up/ activation fee. A technician will then come to your home and install the system, almost always the same day. Why the same day? It's pretty simple, every marketing rep wants his or her client to get taken care of first. If they were allowed to schedule out jobs for the following morning or even the next week they would schedule every job for 9 or 10 am. There would just be no possible way for us (the technicians) to get them all installed.

Just a side note: As well as me having a system in my own home, My parents have systems at both of their homes, My sister recently had a system installed, My wife's boss has one in his home and one in his business. Each one of them is under the same 42 month agreement and paying 45.99-49.99/ month depending on their service type. I hope reading this will help you make an informed decision.
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"I'm a college student from Texas that got sucked into Pinnacle Security and it is indeed a scam".

A Pinnacle rep came up to me on campus talking about an internship through G.E. He promised advanced business credit hours and a minnimum of 17k for working with them for the whole summer. I was told I would be updating and installing existing systems in Vancouver, Washington. They told me that I wouldn't be a door to door salesmen but an advertising director, only meeting with people who expected me and wanted me at their homes. This wasn't the case. They dropped me and several other college students off in the middle of Vancouver in 30 degree weather with no jackets for 10 hours at a time. I won't go into all the details of the job but I will say that Pinnacle security is a scam. They train "interns" sales "tactics" aka lies for getting into people's homes. If you do get into the home and talk home owners into buying their security system, you actually make more money the LESS you secure their homes. The only way you will have a truely functional system is if you pay for it yourself or if you have an fairly new sales rep. Do not let these people into your homes! I've seen and worked with the top salesmen for this company and boy are they good. They have the ability to get into your homes have you pay double or even triple for a "free" system. Go ahead and slam those doors. You'll be much better off. If this insn't enough to make you believe it's a scam, I've even talked to the techs about some of their techniques. They told me about one summer nobody was making any sales, if the reps don't sell the techs don't get paid. After a week or two of making no money they got fed up and went out at night and threw rocks through people's windows. The next day they had record sales...
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"I worked for Pinnacle at their Corporate Office. Pinnacle is a good company, with good leadership and excellent management".

Pinnacle is not a scam. Unfortunately, many companies have unethical salesmen that are driven only by $$$ and hurt the reputation of the remaining folks that are good and honest . Pinnacle holds their salesmen to a high standard, and I personally have worked with many of these salesmen. The vast majority of these were men and women of great honesty and integrity. Consumers need to read the contract. The contract is very clear about cancellation. If a consumer is still under agreement with another alarm service, they should know double billing is a possibility. Pinnacle covers this with Each and Every new customer on a Quality Call. Pinnacle is very thorough in covering the terms of the agreement. Overall, Pinnacle Security is a good company and I can attest having worked for Pinnacle.
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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....(read the entire comment)
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"I am currently a Field Service Tech for Pinnacle Security. I am one of the guys that comes out to fix problems with the system (as technology has been known to get "bugs" in the system) after the install is complete and the Summer Reps/Techs have gone home".

I just want to let everybody know that I am working in an area that has over 10,000 accounts, and I am able to cover the area by myself. This tells me that the system is sound. Considering how much work I actually have, I would have to say that it is less than a 1% failure rate on the equipment within the first 6 months of the system being installed and a little more than 3% in the first year. Most of these failures are from bad batteries, or the settling of the house on the foundation.

I cannot speak as to the customer service of the company as I do not work much with them. I do feel bad about all these people who have had bad experiences, but please keep in mind that usually for every person that files a bad review, there are several more who are happy with the system and have not filed a review. Most reviews are filled out by the people who are frustrated or did not understand what they were signing before they were signing. The only ones who usually fill out the review positive are the ones who have had a well above average experience.

All that being said, please everybody remember that it is a company. I do not know a single story of a company that survived that gave out more to their customers than they were getting paid for. That would put them out of business.

Thank you for all of you who took time to fill out the review (good or bad) I hope that we can continue to give good service to our satisfied customers and I hope that we can have the opportunity to work with those who are not satisfied to resolve their issues.

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"Hello, I am an employee of Pinnacle Security. I have read all of the reviews written about the company I work for, and am thoroughly appalled by some of the things you have had to go through. I do not represent the company when I say this but I do sincerely apologize for those horrible events. It truly does make me very sorry".

Our company has more recently made some significant improvements that in my opinion will prevent many possible complications. One thing I just want to clarify is that Pinnacle Security does NOT do the monitoring of the alarms. It is a company we have partnered up with called SAI (Security Associates International). The calls you may have received in the wee hours of the morning were more than likely from them and not from us. (The time difference is not that drastic)

For those of you that do happen to be doing a little research on this company before considering purchasing one, please understand that disappointed and disgruntled customers are an exception. We have hundreds of thousands of customers that are completely satisfied with their service from Pinnacle Security and I talk to them daily.

I was sure that it was a no brainer to completely read a contract before signing it, especially when it is in regards to something you will be putting money down for. For those who do not thoroughly read their contracts before signing them, I am sorry you have to discover in sometimes unfortunate circumstances what you did in fact agree to.

In regards to the Sales reps, often referred to as Promotional Reps; yes, there are apparently some that do not represent Pinnacle Security (and mormons for that matter) in a positive light. For these select few (for we have hundreds of good and honest ones) I do again appologize. The select few slimey ones are a disgrace to our company and I believe should be fired. ( And they certainly would be if it were up to me, but I'm just a lowly account creation agent who doesn't have any say in the matter :( ...)

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"I used to be a technician for Pinnacle Security. I have to say that I am absolutely appalled by them".

I went to the Chicago South Office from San Antonio, TX, and found there wasn't much work. So I called the corporate office, and asked where in the country technicians were needed. This was on a Thursday. They told me that the Rio Grande Valley needed technicians pretty badly, and they would give me travel expenses to make the move.

Three days later, they gave me $702 to move from the Chicago South Office to the Rio Grande Office. The money came into my bank account on Monday, three days later. So I left Monday morning for Rio Grande. I was excited, until later that evening, I was in the middle of Arkansas, and I called corporate again for the address to the new office that I was reassigned to. They gave me the phone number so I can ask them, because they didn't have it handy. I called them, and they asked why I was coming down. I told them I spoke with corporate three days ago, and they said that they needed me two weeks ago and didn't need any more technicians. They told me to go back to Chicago!! 45 minutes or so later, I receive a call from the corporate office, and they tell me that because they didn't need me in Rio Grande, they would do a reversal and take the travel expenses away. Keep in mind that I receive this news in the middle of a road trip in the middle of nowhere. I tell them I'm just going to go home and work for the office there. By the time I get there, my bank account is NEGATIVE $1200!!! $702 FOR THE REVERSAL, THEN EVERY TIME I GOT GASOLINE OR FOOD I GOT HIT WITH $38 NSF FEES ON TOP OF THE ORIGINAL COST OF MOVING!! Pinnacle told me that it is an unfortunate turn of events, but they weren't responsible in any way. I got to San Antonio and quit.

I got a new job, and it took me almost two months to get my bank account back. I had to donate plasma for money just to get gas money. I will never work for or recommend Pinnacle Security!! Now I don't care much because I have a better job and I'm in back in college. When I buy a home of my own, I'll never choose Pinnacle Security for an alarm system!!!

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"I used to work for Pinnacle. When I was being recruited, the CEO spoke to a big group of us at one of the Pinnacle offices and spoke about integrity, family, and hard work. I was sold. My manager that recruited me promised a lot of things before I signed and throughout the summer that he never came through with".

In fact, at the end of my time, when I was consulting the corporate office about his promises, I was told that my manager has denied everything I was claiming. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. My office manager, the manager I refer to, was an amazing salesman but a terrible manager. Nearly 25 people in our office left mid-summer. Our regional manager (the one above our office manager) came to "train" us once and taught us the delicate ways of getting around the truth and having people sign up without their definite cognizance. Now I don't think everyone is like this in the company, and I don't make a blanket statement about Pinnacle, but this was my experience. If you buy from them or work for them, make sure you do your homework and ready EVERY word of your contract. If you make deals on the side with people, make sure to ALWAYS GET IT IN WRITING. Don't get sold.

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"This summer, I worked for Pinnacle installing home security systems. I had a great experience working with them and will definitely do it again next summer. I worked in the Washington DC office and was very impressed by the managers and individuals that I worked with in this summer office. I would recommend this job to anyone".

I found out about Pinnacle from a friend that worked for them two years ago. At first, I was apprehensive about the job. I was told that I would be working out of state all summer and that I would be paid per job (instead of an hourly wage). I decided to take a chance and it was one of the best decisions I've made. Working out of state allowed me to travel (which Pinnacle paid for with a Training/Travel Bonus) and live in a part of the country that I'd never before visited. And by being paid per job, instead of hourly, I made more than I ever thought a college student could be paid for four months of summer work. Pinnacle paid for my summer rent and I was able to save enough money to pay for school and all my other expenses for the rest of the year. I won't have to work again until next summer!

I spent four months in the nation's capitol, I made some great friendships, and I learned a lot about myself and my potential. I would highly recommend the Pinnacle experience to anyone.