Security customer alarmed by company charges, little help
BATON ROUGE - Six months of back and forth with an alarm company has pushed a woman over the edge. Joyce Reed says she's been paying Safe Home Security for the past year, but the alarm system has not been working.
It's been disconnected since the August 2016 flood, yet each month the company withdraws $40 from her account on the first of the month. She never called the company to alert them about the disaster. Soon after the flood, she had surgery, which took time to recover.
It wasn't until February did Reed get organized to call Same Home Security and let them know what happened.
"I called them and that's when I told them that my security system is not hooked up, I need somebody to come in and hook it up," said Reed.
At first, Reed couldn't find the old alarm panel since it had been packed away in a box. She says during the phone call Safe Home Security offered to sell her a new, upgraded one.
"I said, 'I can't afford what I have now," said Reed.
As she unpacked, the alarm panel was found and as far as Reed could tell it still worked. She called the company to have them reinstall the system, but no one ever came and Reed is still paying her monthly bill.
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"Very angry," said Reed. "I just want them out of my house."
Tuesday, 2 On Your Side made some calls and found that since May, an additional $10-$20 had been withdrawn from her account by the company each month. On one of the calls, Reed had been sold additional protection for a system that was not connected. A sale Reed says she did not agree to.
After all the back and forth, Reed asked for a refund, which she was denied.
Tuesday afternoon, the company's tune changed. A call from the complaint department to 2 On Your Side said it will work with Reed to install her system and give her credit for the time she was unable to use her alarm panel. Reed says she'll keep WBRZ updated.