Guardian Protection Services

When building my new house the builder offered a wired alarm system through Guardian Protection Services. I decided early in the process that the alarm is something I wanted and contacted my Guardian salesman. After no response I find out that the salesman is no longer with the company (I wonder why) and a new salesman (Chris) was assigned. When it came time to mark out locations for my low voltage wiring (Guardian also provides those services) the salesman did not have paper work for the alarm system. At that point my wife and I stressed how we wanted the alarm system. He said he would look for the paper work and contact us if there was any issue but in the mean time we can mark out where we wanted the keypad and motion detector. Low voltage installation came and went and I noticed that there was no alarm system wired and drywall was delivered to the house. I left several messages to Chris telling him drywall was delivered to the house and the alarm system was not installed like we had asked. After several attempts by myself and the builder to contact Chris my builder said they had finally spoken with him and they could install the drywall. Although it would be more time consuming it would not be a problem to wire the alarm system after that and fix any holes that needed to be made. I was skeptical so I received a statement in email from Chris that this could be done without causing major damage to the walls. I finally received the paper work from Chris I was promised and signed right away. After I closed on my house I had Guardian come out to activate the system. The activation technician was very honest and pointed out that the system was not properly installed. There was only one door with contacts on it (an interior door of all things) and the motion sensor was not hardwired but wireless. I made it very clear I didn’t want a wireless system from the very beginning. I spoke with management (Mark) at Guardian and he offered no credible explanation as to why the system was not installed properly. I guess they were hoping I just wouldn’t notice. At this point the only option was to break into finished walls or go with a wireless system. Neither of these were acceptable options and if I was going to opt for a wireless system I would go to any one of the many providers out there rather than give Guardian my business at this point. Beware of Guardian and as stated by other reviews I was also told there was only a 2 year contract when it turned out to be 5 years.

I wish there was a way here to give it zero stars. I’ve never had a worse customer experience than I did with Guardian. This is company is focused on collecting money through contractual obligations, not in building a brand around valuable products and customer service.
Several months ago, a sales representative from Guardian Protection Services presented me with a contract for home security services while I was in the process of building a new home, as a part of a business agreement they have with my home builder. He set the expectation that the commitment was risk-​free because I could change my selections or cancel the service at any time. The product features were the focus of the conversation, not the contract terms. I certainly was not made aware of any multi-​year obligations or early termination fees. Pre-​wiring for the security system was completed as a part of the home construction project. Prior to the hardware installation date, I contacted Guardian by phone to let them know that I didn’t want to move forward with installation. The person that I spoke with did not mention at that time that I would be billed for security services anyway. Only a month later, I noticed that Guardian had automatically withdrawn a payment from my bank account, although it never installed a functional system in my home. I had made the assumption that I wouldn’t be billed for a system that hadn’t been fully implemented. That would be like a cable provider billing someone who is without cable boxes in his or her home. I assumed the initial withdraw was done in error and that it might be corrected once the information that I never completed installation made its way to the billing department. After a second auto payment was withdrawn and I made a second phone call, I realized that I was sadly mistaken. This company fully intends to hold its customers hostage to multi-​year contracts, regardless of whether or not they ever implement the system. I was told my only option was to move forward with the installation and contract in its original form or pay a $ 3000 early termination fee. $ 3000! As point of reference, the monthly fee was $ 54.95. I spoke with three different Guardian employees over the past three weeks, one of which was a supervisor, and was sadly disappointed to learn that all employees have been trained to only discuss the terms of contractual agreements, regardless of whether or not any services have actually been provided. I am greatly concerned that this company intends to bill for services it has never actually provided and cannot imagine how they are able to recognize revenue in accordance with GAAP accounting principles. Most of all, I am disappointed by the lack of respect as a potential loyal client and as a human being. I feel that the sales person gave me the bait and switch approach during my home buying experience by setting a false expectation that I could change my mind at any time, which I later learned was a $ 3000 error. In the way that its employees have approached this situation, Guardian has jeopardized the likelihood that I would ever move forward with implementing their security services or recommend that a friend or fellow home builder work with them.

If you’re looking for a home alarm system, look elsewhere. Guardian’s practices are less than respectable.
I’ve had service with them since 2011. We unexpectedly moved in 2015 so I disconnected service and told them that I wouldn’t need them right away because we were moving to an apartment. They continue to bill us monthly with language on the bill as if we’re still receiving the service. They told me I have to continue to pay them for another year and a half. If that’s not horrible company practices than I don’t know what is. Yes, I’m sure it’s written in very fine print on the contract but the salesman made no mention of it. Why is an alarm system trying to keep you indebted to them? We’ve paid them up until the service was turned off. I refuse to continue to pay them for service that I don’t have. Furthermore, the paperwork should not read like a normal monthly bill. It should state the charges they are trying to push on me after cancelling service.
A service meant to give me a peace of mind is nothing but a headache. It shouldn’t be this difficult to do business with an alarm company. I despise scam companies that try to lock you in as if they own you — no class.

I just got a call from them claiming my name is on an account for some guy I have never heard of. Immediately I hung up on the woman and googled the number. When i called back there was no ring just a lady asking how she could direct a call. For those wondering that’s probably a immediate red flag for a scam. I’m wondering how these people even got my number to begin with. Thinking about reporting it to the police. Also some sketchy companies will probably dial random numbers and make phone calls to try and get your number and information to ‘clear up misunderstandings’. To be perfectly clear I NEVER signed up for anything with these people or heard of them until today. Assuming it wasn’t a scam and just a wrong number I’m wondering if this company makes a habit of giving out there client’s first and last names to people without even checking the area code and seeing the area code is for a completely different state. The lady didn’t even say the name of the company correctly or give me her name which should be standard courtesy when answering/​making calls. Also she didn’t even say ‘am I speaking with so and so’ to verify identity she just assumed I was the person in question and proceeded to say supposedly my name is on an account which it’s not leading people to jump to the conclusion of fraud or a scam. In the future I would advise this company to double check its numbers and learn standard procedure and common courtesy to avoid misunderstandings.
Ps. To those thinking about signing up with this company. Such a mix up that I mentioned happened to me aka being mistaken for someone on a random guy’s account would be a identity thief or scam artists dream they obviously don’t take security of your personal information seriously there. Anyone could pretend to be on your account and steal your information and the agents wouldn’t have any idea there not who they say they are.

This company is very sneaky. I built my house through heartland homes and was told that there is a three year contract with free installation. I don’t know how but they sneaked in paperwork for a five year contract. Its my fault for not reading the whole thing but in the maze of paperwork I guess I signed that. Their cancellation policy and penalties are draconian. Please beware and never ever sign up for their service.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! I’ve been a customer of their’s since 2004. Recently I received a postcard advertisement from them saying I could upgrade my system to get a new keypad and smartphone access. I called during normal business hours and was left prompted to leave a message which I did. No one ever called back so started searching for different providers in the area that WANTED my business. So the installer from the new company arrived and I called Guardian to cancel. All the sudden they wanted to keep my business and started throwing offers at me. I told them it was too late and what’s done is done. During the process of cancelling, the panel needed to be unlocked so the new company could access it. Keep in mind that I own all the equipment in the house, it wasn’t leased or rented, I paid a lot of money for it 11 years ago. Guardian refused to unlock the panel remotely stating they don’t do that for competitors. The problem is I’m not their competitor, I’m their customer and I own the equipment. The fact that they have terrible customer service is not my fault, I attempted to do business with them. Guardian’s business practices are shady and this company should be avoided. IMO THE UTMOST PROFESSIONALISM SHOULD BE DISPLAYED BY A HOME SECURITY COMPANY. SCREWING WITH PEOPLE THAT TRUSTED YOU WITH THEIR SAFETY FOR 11 YEARS IS SICKENING.

If I could apply zero stars to this review I would have.
This company Guardian Protection Services is the biggest scam I have ever came accross in my 60 year life right in the public’s face.
My 86 year old mother lives in an adult mobile home park which is gated and does not allow any solicitors. A third party solicitor was able to gain access to my 86 year old mother’s mobile home park and knock on her door. Even though my mother already had an eacy to use and understand security system installed at her home and already up and running (Life Alert) this salesmen ignored this fact and talked my mother into his newer upgraded hot shot Guardian Security system with all the bells and whistles (Honeywell). He told her that all of the equipment was FREE.
What he did not tell her is that she was signing a 5 year written contract with no bail out for $ 60 dollars a month (direct debit)
at more than $ 3,750.00 dollars for this new system weather she liked it or not.
The Contract was written in super small print and mom is super honest with a big heart and trusted this third party salesmen from
AMP Security.
Guardian came out and removed my mom’s simple easy to use Life Alert system and replace it with a honeywell system which tapped into her furnace/​air conditioner wiring as well.
This system was so complicated that my mother was having me come by all of the time to re-​set the heater or air conditioner or some alarm would be going off she did not understand, and needed to be turned off.
We opted to remove the system, we called Guardian who said since my mother signed a 5 year contract with the third party AMP Security salesmen there was nothing Guardian Security Systems could do.
They were now holding my mother hostage for $ 3,800.00 and the five year contract. Even thought the original third party solicitor illegally entered my mothers gated community to get the contract signed.
After weeks of contacting Guardian by phone and with detailed letters they ignored, we removed the Honeywell/​Guardian equipment cutting it off the wall and throwing it all in the trash. We called Life Alert back and my mothers has her easy to understand easy to use security system back up and running now.
This all did not happen without a cost to her. She had to pay a heating and air conditioning professional to come out and remove and rewire her furnace and air conditioner at a cost of almost $ 300.
My mother now is receiving at least one call per day from Guardian people playing stupid and saying that they are not getting an emergency signal any longer from her home to their equipment, (which in the AMP salesmens terms was my mom’s equipment free). Probably cannot get that signal from the city dump.
I will be taking them to Federal court soon.
You have been warned about Guardian buyer beware. !!!

After posting my review on Unilocal I was surprised to get a response from Guardians customer service. More businesses and restaurants should follow this practice as an easy way to put most fires out, no pun!
After a brief conversation I was told that the last six months will be taken care of. I wish that it would have been handled differently but do appreciate what was done! Thanks Donna

I’ve had their service for several years but in the last year, it’s become nothing but trouble, equipment snafus, long wait times and general frustration. Hours spent on hold with no satisfactory outcomes
Customer Service is extremely degraded. Most CS reps haven’t a clue. I’ve received incorrect info several times. Long hold times result in «Someone will have to call you back.» They regularly miss service appointments without so much as a phone call or an apology.
And, yes, they do sneak in a punishing five-​year contract.
I’m sadly only two years into it. Buyer beware — Guardian is not what they used to be. Look elsewhere for your home security needs.

RIP OFF!!! I have been a customer for 11 years. 2 Years ago my equipment broke. They replaced the piece of equipment, and told me it was free, but I needed to sign a work order saying they were there. THEY LIED TO ME — IT WAS A 5 YEAR CONTRACT that I signed — and now telling me there is no way out of it. They are liars and do business through deceit!!! DO NOT USE GUARDIAN!!!

This company does it right from sales to installation to billing and fair priced monitoring rates. They make you feel like you are part of the family and not just number paying your money to them every month.
They have the fastest police responce in the buisness as we have used other alarm companies in the past even the largest one which is the worst and I recommend Guardian to all of my family and friends.

This is a great service for a great price. It started with the knowledgeable sales person who visited our home and had some great recommendations on how to better protect and control our home. The next step was a very professional installation appointment, the technician did a great job of installing and explaining the entire home control system we had purchased. I would strongly recommend Guardian for anyone who owns a home.

This is the worst company I have ever had to deal with. You end up paying for their incompetence over and over again. If I had time to spare I would go after them with a class action lawsuit– may still do if they don’t resolve the dispute and give me the refund me the credit that is due.

The company compromised with me on length of contract and reinstalled desired system so I am fairly pleased with their response.

This company is a total rip off. We have had nothing but problems since this system was installed in our new home. We had a flood last year which caused damage to the system. Since the home was a new build the warranty covered everything. The builder asked Guardian to come repair the alarm damage. Guardian insisted we pay the service fee even though the building told Guardian to send the bill to them. It took 3 months (of course while we were still being billed) for them to come out and «repair» the damage. Low and behold 8 months later our alarm is having the same problem. This time without a warranty. It has taken over 3 weeks to schedule an appointment (again, still being charged for a non working alarm which they twiddle their thumbs about getting a service person out)
This company is the worst I have ever dealt with. I am normally not a complainer, but this has been beyond ridiculous. Run if you ever see them coming!

Run from this business.
They have a «relocation» package but they force you into signing a new 3-​year contract on top of havibng to pay to move the service.
They do nothing for their customers; I got the feeling that I am working for them instead of the other way around.
I guess I’m the dummy for not doing better research on the company first.

on Monday June 24^th a power surge disabled Guardians system in my home and set the siren off, I called Customer Service to find out how to turn the alarm off since the keypad wasn’t working. I then asked how to get the system running again and was told they would need to send a truck out at a cost of $ 85 per ½ hour to diagnose the problem, then I assume I would need to pay for parts. I said I wanted to cancel the service and was promptly informed that would cost me $ 700 + to do that. I was also informed that they could come out and install a new system and them i’d be on the hook for another 3 year contract. Not only that, apparently even though I called in with a system problem they dispatched West Grove Fire who arrived by my surprise about 20 minutes later with 4 trucks and about a dozen firemen.

I wish I had read the reviews on Unilocal before signing up. Long story short, I wanted to install a security system in my home but knew that we would be moving in the next six months. Prior to signing a contract I asked their salesman what would happen when I moved and he assured me that they would install a new system (no matter how many times we moved) in our new home with no additional charges. I paid $ 500 to install the system and six months later when getting ready to move I was told that I would have to pay an additional $ 500 for a new system. When I talked to a customer service manager, she basically told me that she thought I was lying. I’ve been going back and forth with them for months and months. They are still providing monitoring services to a home I don’t even own any more despite being made aware last October that those services were no longer needed. I haven’t been able to resolve with them so I’ve gone to the Attorney General for Maryland and the Better Business Bureau. At this point I don’t even want a new system I just want to be done with them.

I’m so ticked off at Guardian, sadly enough.
We purchased a home in Austin Tx in March 2012 and since it was wired for alarm services, I signed up. Perfect, right?
Well, my husband lost his job in June 2012, couldn’t find work anywhere, so we had to make a hard choice to move back home (a few states over) last Aug. At our present address I didn’t have any alarm system set up. After calling Guardian and asking if I could cancel the services, they said, «No». Then they said they’d give me a relocation package for a wireless system including 3 doors, 1 motion sensor and 1 keypad for $ 198. This doesn’t even cover the downstairs area of my house. Here I’m trying to lessen my expenses (still haven’t paid off the moving expenses) and Guardian just wants to add to them. Basically, I’ve been paying $ 43.25/month for NOTHING since August.
I’ve talked to them numerous times begging them to cancel because of our hardship situation. Nothin’ going. My contract isn’t up till March 2015. That means they’ll auto-​withdraw $ 43.25 from my account till that time no matter what.
Seriously? Contracts can be broken. Would it really hurt them to save their ‘good name’ and help us out? Make us happy? Not sure what I’m going to do. .. BBB?
Now, even when I HAVE the money to get another alarm (which I don’t even want to) I wouldn’t use Guardian!

I am so angry that this will not be eloquent…
Guardian Protection Services has done the following:
1. Put us on auto pay, then failed to put the money to the correct account, thereby sending us to a collection agency, saying we owed the entire contract amount plus fees.
2. When we paid the quarterly amount owed, (not through auto pay but through their credit card system), the money still went to another account, again sending us to a collection agency. When we talked with their internal bill collector, there was never any call back to say they didn’t get payment. (which was recorded in our checking account as paid but not in their records.)
3. They have sent people to our house to fix their faulty equipment, which was never fixed and ended up costing us money with the city of Austin for multiple panic alarms. (The key fob was supposed to be disconnected and it wasn’t. They said it was. This was after they told us it took 10 seconds to set off the panic alarm, but it would go off after barely touching the key fob. We finally wanted it disconnected to avoid problems and it still didn’t work.
I had to work with the court with the city and show that we had Guardian come out to fix everything but the city fees were only reduced from $ 600 to $ 200.
4. When we thought we were all set, each time, something new came up. This time, another bill from a collector, even though I was told we were paid and all set once again. The collector is asking for the entire contract amount plus fees. EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE BEEN ON AUTO PAY THE ENTIRE TIME. They will not let us out of our contract even though their service has been shoddy at best and their billing procedures fraudulent. Their equipment is faulty to the point where we don’t use it.
5. The last time I called to check on the system and make sure it was working, the person assured me it was safe to hit the panic button to test. I asked him twice to make sure it was okay. He said he had put the system in test mode. But of course he hadn’t. Again, the police came out. Another $ 100 to the Austin Alarm unit. FOR TESTING THE SYSTEM!
6. Getting collection agency notices in the mail after being on auto pay for two and ½ years and then being told everything is fixed but still being billed over and above the amount we owe, is harassment and fraud. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.