Firstline Security Unbiased Customer Reviews

(Added Feb 12/10) I signed up with Firstline in May 2007. The system has never worked correctly. It took them 3 months to even get it installed. I was told they would credit my account for 3 months. They never did. The alarm has never sounded at home. It does do a silent alarm but that does not deter someone from breaking in. If alarm doesn't sound it wouldn"t scare the burglar off. I have called several times but nothing gets acomplished. When I said to have them cancel it I was told this couldn't happen until the 3 years was up or I would have to pay $500.00. As of May 2010 I am cancelling. I would never recommend this to anyone. S.A.I took over. I have paid $44.99 for almost 3 years and never able to use the system.

(Added Jan 9/10) I signed up with Firstline the summer of 2007, while living in a house had I rented more many years. I told the salesman that I rented and asked if I could move my services to the next location, if I had to move. (I had some concern the landlord might sell). The salesman told me yes, the service could be moved to a new location if I moved. At the time I had no plans to move, but as happened, my landlords raised my rent beyond what I thought was fair for the size of the house, so I decided to find a bigger house for the same money. I called Firstline to tell them of the move, but couldn't reach anyone. Every extension I contacted by phone resulted in a recording, a long wait and then a disconnect. There were no human beings and I couldn't find any names on the internet, to contact. I called the original salesman that sold me the service, but his number was no good. I did reach the person who installed the equipment and he was the one that told me he "thought" Firstline might have filed bankruptcy. I tried calling the monitoring company (I think I called two monitoring companies, inc. SAI,(they said my account was not with them), but neither could help me and neither would confirm anything about bankruptcy. They suggested I send a letter to Firstline. I did then immediately send a certified letter( with return receipt request) to Firstline. I received notice that they had received my letter, but no one ever contacted me to cancel my service at the current address, to be moved to the new address. I removed the equipment as carefully as I could (it wasn't easy!!!!! and took it with me). Four months went by (I called twice more, to no avail, same disconnect result), and I then heard from Alarm Services via mail. "Who are they?" I thought. I responded immediately by certified mail and told them my situation and that I was not going to pay for service I did not get. Since that time they have continued to send me bills and threatened to send my account to collection and report breach of contract to the credit agencies.

(Added Nov 24/09) I enjoyed working for Firstline Security back in 2003-2004. They had great potential and a positive outlook and follow-through on their growth. I would compare them to any other alarm company at the time: fast paced, eager to get the sale, and retain the customer. Many phone calls were made to ensure the customer was pleased with their new system. Service calls were made if a customer was unhappy. As far as employment, we were treated well; maybe over promised, but that is what you get with prodominently a summer sales company. For some who worked hard and got lucky, it was an awesome opportunity to make serious cash flow. Some of the owners were a bit flashy, sporting brand new Esclades and Durangos, but it was a tactic that worked to show the college students what they could earn in one summer. Overall, they should have gone ahead with their idea of creating their own monitoring center and that would have eliminated the debt issue.
(Note from admin: More employee comments regarding Firstline can be found here: Firstline Declares Bankruptcy)

(Added Nov 2/09) Firstline Security is indeed a scam!!! On 10/25/2008 I signed a contract with Firstline security but after about a year later I found out they went out of business. Everytime I called the 1-866-477-7738 it would just ring and after 4 or 5 rings would just stop. Then I sent them a letter to discontinue my services due to breach of contract but they just kept sending me bills. I called that # again and a man finally answered, he couldn't give me any information about my account but he said I signed the contract so I had to pay it. I asked who was monitoring my house. He said it was being monitored by a company named Legacy Phone #1 866-337-3947 but when I called a lady answered and said she couldn't give me any information if I didn't know the password to my account. I didn't have a password! I didn't have an account with them.I asked her for it and she couldn't help us at all. I called the BBB and the sent my account from Fresno to Las Vegas, New York back to Las Vegas because they couldn't get a hold of them either.So I stopped paying. My balance was $628, and today a lady from Hillcrest & Davidson Assoc. called me saying I owed over $2000. But if I paid today, the company only wants $628 and they would deduct 20%. I told her I would pay $50.a mo. but she refused, so I guess Firstline will be ruining my credit.

(Added Sept 1/09) I signed a contract w/ Firstline in June of 2007 and was charged 8 times in three months and four of those charges were for an up front check I paid the day I signed the contract. I disputed the charges back in 2007 w/ my bank, I have notified the Better Business Bureau, contacted and worked w/ the Attorney General, and then my account got sent to collections. I disputed all charges and stated I was "cease and assisting" my account. I wrote a letter to Firstline, SAI and the collection agency back in October of last year stating the cease and assist, and haven't heard from any of the three companies since then, until yesterday. Scandalous!!

(Added July 27/09) After my smoke detectors went off & no one called or a fire truck was dispatched was when I realized that Firstline was ripping me off. My monthly monitoring fee was automatically deducted from my checking acct and they totally screwed that up. I also began to trip the alarm myself just to see what would happen, even waiting on my front porch for police NOTHING I did this twice. I called the 800 number only to find out Firstline was sold to another co and the rep told me to stop everything coming out of my acct pertaining to Firstline. I should have known I was doomed when on the first day of installation the tech lost my check & he quit the next day, when I asked about my check Firstline wanted me to do a stop pmt, when I asked who was going to refund me for the stop pmt fee the guy I spoke sent me a starter check from out of town. That didnt fly with me so I sent it back and demanded someone pay me they dispatched another tech & told him to give me $30 cash from his own pocket as far as I know he never recieved his money back & I later found out he quit within 2 wks & my ck was never was found or cashed.

(Added July 21/09) I acquired my contract in July 2007. I was told that the monitoring would be....(read the whole review)

(Added July 15/09) I lost my job, had to sell my house, and now my family is living with friends. Alarm Services will not let me out of contract and expect me to pay the services (which are horrible, I had $500 in fees to the city for false alarms) that I no longer have. DO NOT BUY FROM FIRST LINE OR ALARM SERVICES!! Their billing has been wrong since installation. I was only able to get a technician to come on site for repairs once and the problem was never resolved regarding false alarms.

(Added June 9/09) (Updated Apr 6/10) (Updated July 19/10) I too, thought I was done with Firstline Security. On June 1, 2009 I received a letter from....(read the whole review)

(Added May 14/09) Our module began announcing "Module OK" every 15 seconds, beginning in late 2008. We searched the manual for what to do but....(read the whole review)

(Added April 24/09) I thought I was done with these guys (Firstline Security) but they just don't go away....(read the whole review)

(Added April 24/09) I am not sure if this was the right company or not. A sales man came to my home (door to door), and sold me this bogus system!!! The system never worked, plus they charged me 6 times over a 3 month period. So I was making double payments. I never knew they filed bankruptcy until I called to get my money back, and was told to call another number, that now another company was monitoring my alarm. I called this other company and they had no record of me. It took me about 4 months to figure who was handling my account, only to find out, the alarm had not been monitored since installation. Long story short, they refunded all payments made to them, and waive the termination fee. I was ready to see an attorney!!

(Added Feb 11/09) Like you I was duped. After several garage break-ins, the....(read the whole review)

(Added Dec 10/08) I sent the letter below by certified mail. At this point, after reading other complaints I am not sure who is monitoring my system....(read the whole review)