Protection 1 Security Solutions

Since my initial review, I’ve had this company install 2 more CCTV systems for me, along with an electronic card access system by Brivo. The very positive initial impression has been consistent ever since.

I’ve been a customer of Protection One for about 5 years. Aside from an occasional motion sensor in my house being triggered for no reason, I’ve never had to deal with them, until recently.
Protection One called me when the faulty sensor detected motion in my Living Room, and the alarm was triggered. Being the 3^rd time this had happened, I wasn’t panicked. They asked if I wanted them to send security unit out to inspect the premises. I agreed. After I hung up, I called my sister, who lives a few miles away, and asked her if she could swing by my place to check it out.
When my sister arrived at my house, she noticed a «Veterans Security» vehicle parked in front, with a guard walking the perimeter of my house. She greeted him, and let herself into the house. The alarm sequence countdown, the guard closed the door behind her «as to not see the pass code». She punched in the deactivation sequence and opened the door back up. She walked into the living room and then went upstairs to examine the rest of the house. At this time, the guard from Veterans Security walked into the house. I want to note, not only are these security guards told by Protection One to not enter the house (I learned this after calling Protection One), but ONLY do so if explicitly asked, which my sister did not do. My sister went back downstairs, and found the security guard walking around the first floor. She asked if he could have suspected anything. He suggested the AC unit had turned on, blowing air and swinging a hanging lamp near the sensor. Our AC is disabled in the day time. Either way, he described details of the house he could have otherwise not known if he weren’t in the house. This is important later.
I come home, and drop my work bag off in the kitchen. I immediately notice a small sum of money that we keep on a high shelf was missing ($ 620). I asked my wife if she had moved it, which she hadn’t. I called my sister, and asked if she had seen anything funny. She said there was a short period of time where the security guard was unattended downstairs.
I call Protection One and explain what had happened. They immediately attempted to withdraw any responsibility, stating their security are contracted business, and aren’t Protection One employees. They said contractor security is to not enter the house with being explicitly to do so, and immediately started denying any claims I made about him entering the house. I then tell them he described explicit details from the interior of the house. It was clear Protection One was not going to help me. They gave me the name of the company they contracted. I asked them for the agent that was dispatched, and they wouldn’t give it to me.
I call the security company, Veterans Security, and they gave me the same run-​around. They told me I should file a police report, provided the badge number of the unit they sent, but no name. After hanging up with them, I triple checked the details with my sister, who was incredibly apologetic, despite it not being her fault. I filed a police report, providing them with the entire story, and all the information I had about the burglar, the company and time estimates of when everything went down. The officer who took the report said at this point «It’s a matter of he-​said she-​said» and said there may be no guarantee for getting the money back.
I’m writing this review to let others know that not only was Veterans Security to blame for the actual burglary, Protection One lacked empathy for this whole ordeal. They not only balked at providing information, they were very defensive when I tried to ask them questions. Not exactly a warm welcome from a company that’s responsible for protecting your house. Being stolen from is an already de-​humanizing experience, and dealing with Protection One just made it worse.

I have had this service for 2 years now. Went to upgrade some of the systems a few months ago and the fiasco started. Tech blamed bad wiring in my house for malfunctioning system and left. I hired an independent electrician to test and fix said wiring issue. Guess what wiring is FINE. Now I have to pay Protection 1 to come out and reinstall panel that they improperly diagnosed. The techs and service people are really nice but #sofrustrating
6÷25÷2015
Update– The tech came out and was able to fix the issue. The alarm is functioning as it was before. I have not been recharged for the «extra» service call. I will give them an updated rating of 4 stars since everyone makes mistakes. It’s how you correct them that defines you. I think they have done a good job on the follow up. #happynow

My parents have had Protection One for many years at their home and businesses. We have had many break ins at my businesses and we usually get to the location before the response. Their home was broken into this last week and they were not able to respond to the phone calls so response was dispatched. When they got home they found the house ransacked but no one had responded to check out the alarm. When he tried to find out why no one ever got to the house he was told that the company Protection One called didn’t have the correct gate code so they just turned around and didn’t notify anyone. The gate code has been the same for years and they have had response there since it was changed! He spent the next day trying to find out why his home was never inspected and was told to contact the company Protection One had called that they were not responsible to provide an answer. He was told by more than one person that the issue was with Veterans Security because that is who was called to inspect the home. He repeatedly tried to explain to the many different Protection One staff that he was their customer and didn’t have a contract with Veterans Security but still have not had anyone give him a reason. My parents will have an new security company that not only stands behind their product but that has in house response teams!

This company is a joke when I purchased the service they told me that if I move to transfer the service was going to be free. But they never told me that another 3year contract will start so when I moved I was shocked to learn that I had to pay $ 350 to install the service and my monthly was going to go up. I am very dissspointed since I only had one year left in the contract and knowing that they were not respecting the contract to me it was very unprofessional and unfair.
I was going to renew the service but with this experience I’ll go somewhere else.

Protection One should be a model for customer service. This company provided the best customer service that I’ve had from any company. They were efficient, on time and clean (little booties in my house). Dennis, the technician was professional and knowledgable. I’ve have this company since 1990 so that should say something about how happy I am with them.

Security companies are a dime a dozen. You pay them a monthly fee and when some crack head tries to break in you hope they are watching and ready to respond.
Luckily, that scenario hasn’t occurred yet. Until it does, this review is for the sales, install and service crew at Protection 1. Version 2.0 of securing our workplace found us once again under the advise of our salesperson Glenn. You know the type of guy that notices everything, every little nuance when walking around a new space? That’s Glenn; he knows what to recommend, and more importantly he also knows what not to recommend as opposed to trying to rip you off. He’s an all around good guy and I like when I call his cell phone he remembers me and answers with a «hello Chris». We got a system that does exactly what it’s supposed to do.
Minus one star! Break out the pocket protector, it’s about to get nerd-​y. The iPhone app that goes along with the system can use some tweaking; and thus the knock from 5 to 4 stars. I won’t bore you with all of the details but suffice it to say if you have a dual partition system as we do (dual zones) you should be able to know which partition you are interacting with while in the app. With the current version it’s kind of a guessing game. Did I disarm the warehouse zone? Or did I disarm the office zone? Hmm I don’t know maybe we’ll just wait and see what happens when someone walks in and sets the alarm off (or not). The app works but it’s not as intuitive as it should be in this regard. A simple Z1 and Z2 in the virtual keypad would do wonders to let you know which partition you are interacting with.
The installer: Sorry, I don’t remember his name but he did a clean job as far as installing the sensors, contacts, two consoles and the panel. Yes I looked inside the panel. Yes it meets my neatness standards in regards to wire management. He also installed a strobe/​siren outside. That required drilling through 14″ of solid concrete… in the middle of Summer, on a ladder. Well done good sir!
Last but not least… and a primary reason I will recommend P1 to others. There’s this guy, his name is Jack. Jack is the guy that goes around programming the systems and performs advanced troubleshooting and service calls. Let me tell you, this guy is top notch in his knowledge of the security system AND has the patience of a saint. I’ll be honest, I’m demanding and I like to ask lots of questions so that I am sure that we are on the same page and so there is no confusion on how the system is operating. I don’t know what to tell you other than if I were to open up a competing alarm company I’d steal him from you. He’s that good at his job. Give the guy a raise and make sure he sticks around because I will be asking for him by name in the future.
Closing: clean up the app for the more complicated systems such as ours and you easily go to 5 stars.

Needed a CCTV system put in, their quote was way more competitive than anyone else. The initial install didn’t go as planned, my buildings weren’t laid out the way the builder told me if would be. Last 2 camera install had to be rescheduled.
Lawrence (salesman), and Steve (install tech), were very willing to work with me as I got them in contact with the builder. Especially considering I had prior plans to be out of town for 2 weeks. We’ll continue where we left off when I get back, and I’ll update this at completion of job. But so far they’ve been nothing but professional.
*Update, install techs met with builder, camera install was finished, and setup for remote viewing. Had some issues remote viewing on a few PCs, but figured out the issues. Everything working as it should.

Worst alarm company ever. My house was broken into, and the alarm didn’t even go off!!! The burglarers were able to disarm it by shutting off the breaker on the side of my house. In addition, I had cameras installed in my house. They didn’t even record as they are supposed to!!! I had tech out at my house several times, the cameras STILL don’t work! company refused to give my a refund… MALFUNCTIONING EQUIPMENT is NOT what I’m paying for! Had to get a lawyer and sue… so ridiculous!

This service doesn’t work with anything but a hardwired landline or you have to upgrade your service to $ 55/​month and pay for new equipment. I tried to cancel the contract I signed with a different company 12 years ago which they bought out & coincidently had automatically renewed for another 3 years just 2 weeks ago. They did me” the favor” of only charging me a 3 month penalty for cancelling a service that was unable to be monitored anymore by protection 1. Switched to ADT for free & lowered my monthly payment by $ 10 a month.

The ownership of the company has changed about 4x since getting this service over five years ago. The service is very good– at less than $ 40 a month, we have round the clock monitoring and if the alarm is tripped, security is dispatched (at no additional charge), to check the home’s status. It’s worth having that peace of mind. The alarm is very loud– I’m sure our neighbors hear it, I know some dogs hear it, because there is barking shortly thereafter. Sometimes we forget about the alarm being on, and then minutes later, we get a phone call to see if we are alright. It is advised to test the system once a month. Just call the center and they will walk you through it. I would highly recommend this service.
We also use this company at one of our office locations. If we are having some work done (swamp coolers), I call the center to place the system on «test» mode for a few hours. It’s very easy dealing with them– the operators are always very nice and pleasant on the telephone.