Firstline Security Cost Comparison

by Karoli on August 12, 2007 · 73 comments

[Note: This post concerns Firstline Security, Inc., incorporated in Orem, Utah, NOT Firstline Security Systems headquartered in Anaheim, CA]

Commenter Paul, who is a first-year “Advertising Director” for Firstline Security in Washington State (Vancouver area), was recruited out of Texas A&M university and has been trying to convince me that my criticism of Firstline is unfair and unwarranted. In the process he challenged my contention that the sales pitch is deceptive because Firstline claims to provide “free” equipment in exchange for the placement of a yard sign and commitment to a 36-month monitoring contract at $45.00 per month. (Details are available on the GetFirstline website).

Firstline markets the Simon 3 wireless security system with the Alarm.com GSM security module. i was able to find the Simon 3 with the GSM module on sale at Safemart.com for $459.95. Monitoring was available through LiveWatch on a prepaid basis for $24.95/month with two free months, or $249.50 for a year. Assuming that years 2-3 do not have the 2 free month provision, that would work out to $850 for monitoring, plus $500 (with tax) for the hardware, or a total of $1,350.00.

The Firstline Security, Inc. package works out to $1620 for 36 months, including the “free hardware”, assuming a direct checking debit each month for the monitoring fee (if the credit score is high enough they will paper-bill but charge extra for that).

That’s a difference of $280.00. I am not sure that I had the exact hardware that the basic Simon 3 system Firstline sells includes, so I also went to HomeSecurityStore.com and tried to match the Firstline system exactly. I was able to configure a package with 2 keyfobs, a handheld wireless touchpad, GSM, and 2 “panic pendants” for $526.88, which when combined with the monitoring package available from LiveWatch.com, is still less than the Firstline package with the ‘free hardware’.

Paul also argued that Firstline is a company listed on the Inc 500. I was unable to find it listed, or any possible predecessors. I was able to find a 2001 listing for SafeHome Security, which has an association with Brandon Savage, a VP with Firstline through 2005 and also Sterling Barnes, President/CEO of Firstline through 2005.

It’s worth noting that the Inc 500 list is a ranking based solely upon growth. Given the aggressive sales tactics of Firstline sales reps, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them listed as a fast-growing company. Other companies listed in 2006 include social networking sites, internet startups, home mortgage companies, and medical/insurance based companies, sectors that have experienced growth both in public and privately-held arenas.

There’s a moral to this story. Firstline presents itself as a trusted company, proudly displaying badges from PBS Kids (presumably for the safety level of their website) and the Better Business Bureau. Yet, their website has no information about their corporate officers or leadership and they are training their “advertising directors” to sell an overpriced product using deceptive sales techniques. The invocation of the Inc 500 as some sort of revered benchmark, when there is no identifiable listing for Firstline through 2006 is further evidence of their deception.

Finally, I was reading through one of their contracts and happened across this provision:

“You understand and agree that in conjunction with employee training, quality control and the provision of services, we may monitor and/or electronically record video and audio related to monitored activity at your location, as well as conversations with you, emergency services providers and law enforcement personnel. Further, you understand that privacy cannot be guaranteed on telephone, cable and computer systems, and we shall not be liable to you for any claims, loss, damages or costs which may result from a lack of privacy experienced…”

The first part seems to be related to 911 emergency monitoring, which we should all know happens, particularly if you’ve heard a 911 tape played on your local news after some sort of crime. The second part, though, where I’ve bolded? Think about that in the context of the expanded FISA provisions that allow warrantless wiretaps and monitoring on electronic communication.

Install one of these babies and you might end up in an FBI file. Particularly if you’re not a big supporter of our current administration. Think it’s preposterous? Study what happened during the dark days of the McCarthy era and J Edgar Hoover’s FBI. It’s not at all unthinkable.

Technorati Tags: firstline security, simon 3, wireless monitoring, FISA, home security systems

Tagged as: Business, Scams

Anonymous

you are absolutely retarded and obsessed. give it up, absolutely ridiculous. the pbs kids link is for a literacy program that employees donated to last year thank you.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

anonymous,

I certainly hope you’re not working for them currently, because stepping into someone’s virtual front room and calling them retarded, obsessed and ridiculous is certainly not the way to influence them to your way of thinking.

You have a great day.
Apples to Apples?

I am a home owner who had a Firstline Security rep come to my door explaining their Advertising Program recently. I am not one to make immediate decisions on my door step, although the sales rep would have been a lot more please if I was.

I was already interested in getting a security system so doing a little more research fit into my already busy schedule naturally. So I researched everything I could… ADT, Brinks, Protection One, Online etc. What I found was that most companies were not offering the type of security I was interested in. Namely I didn’t want a noise maker but I wanted something that would allow me, the user to see and control my home environment from remote locations. Of course very few offered such services because they are relatively new to the alarm industry.

So after my research I found there were few options close to what Firstline was offering me. In response to the post here I researched your prices from safemart and found a comparable package there for 542.95 and this was without the Smoke Detector included in my package as it wasn’t an option that I could find on the website. I imagine 100+ dollars would be a fair estimation not to mention that I get an additional discount on my homeowners insurance with a monitored smoke detector. With of course the 24.95 monitoring over 36 months (Firstline’s contract length) I figured roughly 900 Dollars not counting on “Free Months.” 1442.95 is a little less than 200 dollars cheaper not including the additional homeowners discount and cost of the smoke detector. Even with everything looking to be about as dead even in pricing as possible I was left with one problem… I did not want to install or program the system myself, nor did I want to find anyone with no affiliation to the place I bought the equipment from to install the equipment. A lot of different potential problems I did not want to navigate. Also I was pleased to find out that I would not be receiving a Simon 3 Alarm system but a more aesthetically (not tough to do with the Simon) pleasing Simon XT. GE’s new and unavailable to the public, except through two U.S. companies, version of the Simon.

Initially leery of the Door to Door presentation I have come full circle and feel great about the work done on securing my home. If you have enough time and resources to do it all yourself then by all means go to it. I have found that the 200 savings is not worth the hassle and headache of doing it yourself. It usually ends up costing much more in time and materials after it is all said and done.

Comparing Apples to Apples I can’t agree with the part about selling over priced products door to door. The value is decent and the representatives were great and professional. I also liked the idea of buying from a college student and feeling that maybe his commission would reach the tuition office rather than too much draft at the local pub. Who knows right?

The pitch of free was never presented to me either… although I could understand how it could become that really quickly by a young person new to sales. Really though homeowners should be smart enough to know that nothing is free… every company researched was going to get their money for the service in one way or another. Although I did not research UNICEF… maybe they will be getting into home protection one day. Until then we are all going to have to pay something for the services provided. Perhaps a bad experience with them has affected the evaluation of their offers value? For my needs Firstline was the best bang for the buck.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

Apples to Apples,

Firstline is charging you $24.95/month for monitoring? Are you sure about that? The package my kid was selling was free hardware with $45.95/month monitoring. You’re the first person I’ve heard of who is getting it for $24.95. Their website lists the price as $45.95, too. What monitoring do you get for that price?

The smoke detector was available on the second site I priced. I didn’t include it because I didn’t see it in the basic package that the Firstline folks sell. It’s an add-on.
Anon

Apples to Apples was not stating that they were being charged $24.99, they were using your example to add up the total cost. Re-read and you will see what they meant. And they make a good point, I would rather have an install done by an experienced technician as opposed to doing it myself. My time is worth more than that.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

Anon,

What Apples to Apples wrote was ambiguous at best, but even assuming your interpretation, I think it’s just fine that they’re satisfied.

I will, however, point out that the “free equipment” pitch is in the sales literature and the students are trained to use that approach to sell the product. The prices for the hardware now are less, so I still stand by my assessment that selling the product by offering ‘free’ hardware is deceptive.

This goes to what I’ve been saying from the start. If you have a product you can stand behind, why sell it with misleading statements? Why not just step up and say “here’s what you can get it for online; here’s what we charge for it altogether — hardware and monitoring; and you get a professional installation”? Why the big deal about turning customers into advertisers with the frontline sign and the ‘free hardware’.

The fact is that there has to be a margin to pay these kids for what they’re doing, assuming they meet the threshold. Just like any other commissioned employee selling products cold, they have a right to earn a living for what they’re doing.

If the product were unique, or the sales pitch straight-on, then I’d have no complaint. But this conversation began with Paul telling me that he did not feel he was being deceptive by approaching homeowners with a ‘free offer’ of a fully-installed security system with a required monitoring fee each month. That’s deceptive. If he said that he was selling the system by approaching homeowners and telling them the hardware was amortized over 36 months along with the standard monitoring fee, I’d have far more respect for the pitch, frankly.

Why? Because that squares with what I can find on my own online. A comparable system with a comparable monitoring service for less money, but I self-install as opposed to paying for an installation. So then I make the decision based on whether I want to do my own installation instead of some bogus premise that I’m getting something for free.
Tony Ellerbe

Karoli, I just got ripped off by these sleezeballs last weekend. They hit me up with this great deal for free equipment. I looked up the equipment on the the internet and you more than pay for the equipment over a 3 year period for this cheap alarm system. These scumbags take advantage of folks and sleep like babies at night. I didn’t know about the clause that you put in your article about recording at your location. What scumbags. A friend who used to be in the business told me that it may cost them as little as $5.00 dollars a month to set up the monitoring.

Check very closely into what you are buying. Slomins, ADT and all the others are rip off artists as well. Good luck.
alexx

The rep. that signed me up as an “advertising home” assured me that although he was signing me in for the 44.95/mo. monitoring fee I would not actually ever have to pay it. He told me on 3 seperate occasions that the money that they recive for me being an advertising home, along with the homeowners discount would cover the monthly charge. Mind you I made him repeat this to me with witnesses present in three differant conversations.
This was not the only outright lie, he also assured me that he had obtained the property owners permission before I allowed the install to be done. However, when I handed my landlord the homeowner’s discount certificate he asked me , “what is this?” The landlord was NEVER contacted about his property being used as an advertising home or contacted by Firstline IN ANY WAY. I am in the process of obtaining a date for removal of the system and getting the run around from the cancellation department.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

Alexx,

So what the rep really was saying when he/she said you wouldn’t have to pay the monitoring fee was this:

Of course you have to pay the monitoring fee, but the insurance savings will more than cover it. And of course, it doesn’t.

That rep was really dishonest with you. Most of them aren’t. At least, not the ones who endeavor to be ethical…but they didn’t sell all that many systems either, I’m afraid.

Good luck getting it taken out and refunded.
jamie o

I too was taken on this a year ago. Reason I said “yes” to the deal was that he the salesman told me we could backout at anytime and that he was just happy to have our home advertise for them as long as possible. Year later alarm is going off for about 7 minutes with no call from security company. I call them and tell them i want out as my alarm is going off. They ask why, I tell them about the noise in the background.

They tell me the alarm monitoring is covered by another company(ADT?) and I should complain to them. I said fine I will but I want out of the contract as they didnt fulfill their service and was never notified of a second party.

I was told too bad they are not liable and I am locked into 36 months. I tell them what the salesman told me and somehow they had him call me and he denied it and said I am locked into it. He also said he was a supervisor or such and his word was golden.

Was I lied too. Heck yeah. But I should have read the contract. Not that it would matter if they didnt follow on their end. As it lists so many outs for them that they could never be held accountable.
Jon

My brother is currently employed by these jakaces and not only do they scam the customers, but they also threaten these guys that if they leave they don;t get paid. Stay away from this company and you’ll be better off!!
michael

first off, i would like to apologize for any of our reps who have been misleading, as you all know just because there is one bad seed doesn’t mean that there all bad, i currently work for firstline security, and i truly believe that when i sell a system that i am doing the home owner good, now if there is a miss understanding about the home owners discount, again i apologize, but…. we only estimate what the discount could be off of what the customer claims to be paying yearly, and let them know the most they will ever receive for a discount could possibly be up to 20%, now i am not a slezzbag, or a con artiest, simply i am a salesmen, and if some people are just to ignorant to understand what i tell them, and also don’t read the contract, it is not my fault or the fault of the company that they end up in some sort of bind because of it, but really who’s fault is it for signing something with out reading it first? i mean really? it doesn’t take that long to read…. tell me who is really the idiot here? and lastly, about the so called “free equipment” the only question I have is when do you right a separate check for that? because working in this job i’ve never charged anyone for there equipment, when you get a cell phone and sign a contract do you ever pay full price for the phone? no, because thats part of the deal, if you stay with us, we will help you out and give you a break on the product itself, i challenge you to find another company out there that gives a better deal on a cell module upfront, if you can then you can go with them, but where in business to make money, not to give stuff away, just do me a favor next time….. think before you open your mouth, or “trash type” a company that is helping thousands of families stay safe, and is a company that i love, have a nice day…..
Apples to Apples

“What Apples to Apples wrote was ambiguous at best”

Really? Are you interested in slandering the company or evaluating your claims through sound research. It’s not hard to understand what was being said in my post. The important thing is the bottom line… which you not myself is arguing. If the semantics are a big deal to you you then you should write a letter to all the companies giving out “free” cell phones while you are at it. While some sales tactics are unethical or dishonest we as consumers must shoulder a lot of the responsibility for knowing that the service will be paid for in one form or another.

Perhaps it would be different for me if I had a child that went and didn’t like or do well at the job. My post was written in regards to the fact that you mentioned overpriced equipment without a really clear explanation of the costs to actually get the service Firstline offers. The other things I know nothing about. We are very happy with our system and the services.
Alexx

‘Of course you have to pay the monitoring fee, but the insurance savings will more than cover it.’
As I explained to the rep, I am not the homeowner so how am I going to see a drop in the homeowners insurance?
To Michael the issue is not only the lie about monthly fees it is about them installing a system without the permission of the home owner.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

Apples to Apples,

Semantics are at the heart of this discussion. What you call something and how it’s phrased are the key to the marketing pitch that Firstline and other companies use.

Just this weekend I received a flurry of flyers from DirectTV and Verizon, promising me “free and faster” equipment than I already had if I bundled my long distance, cable tv and phone service together.

Nothing is new under the sun. In fact, the prices are slightly higher than what I’ve got now, the equipment is different but not faster, and it’s sold through a reseller rather than direct from the company.

You mentioned ‘free’ cell phones. Of course they’re not free, not even when you walk in the store. They’re ‘free’ after the rebate, the 12-month commitment, etc. The ‘free’ hook gets you in the store. In this day and age, I’d also view cell phones as a necessity, and further, they’re something I am actually going to the store to buy, as opposed to opening my front door on a sunny morning to find a bright-eyed student there waiting to tell me what I really need is a security system that until now I’ve done just fine without.

This isn’t about my kid — this is about semantics. Telling people something is free when it isn’t and training college students to sell it, using deceptive tactics is just the wrong approach.

BTW, you’re given a platform here on my bandwidth at my expense to state your case, completely free of charge. Whenever someone finds this post, your point of view is represented, along with the views of others pro and con. If I were interested in slandering the company I would’ve closed comments and left the “semantic” part out of the mix.
Alexx

I want this system out of my home before I get evicted. Calling the cancellations dept. is just a run around I have been on hold the 4 times I have called with an average 10-25 mins. each time.
The rep of course lied like a rug when confronted about not contacting landlord for approval. He never did answer the cancellation operator’s question of “did you actually speak to the landlord or did you leave a message?”
After it was obvious that the rep and I did not have anything further to say to each other, the rep asks to talk to the cancellation dept. privately. I am put on hold again and was then disconnected. Now I’m really pissed! I am calling back now and they better be ready to give me the address of their company attorney if they do not cancel this contract.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

alexx,

I’d suggest contacting the Better Business Bureau in your area and reporting it there.

Also, whether the rep answers the question or not, the fact remains that they do not have the homeowner’s approval to install the system and so legally can’t install it or bill the homeowner for it, as I understand things. (Keep in mind that rules for rentals vary from state to state, so what I said might not be true where you are).

And truly, from the comments here on my posts concerning firstline, it’s not the reps I have the problem with for the most part. They’re doing what they’ve been trained to do. It’s the training that I take issue with.
http://evolvingimpressions.blogspot.com/search/label/firstline Mike

-Attention Firstliners: Please leave this woman alone, she’s too bright to be manipulated.

I’ll dare say that -Apples to Apples- is not a homeowner at all, but is rather, a Firstline employee.

As a former employee, it is apparent that this ‘homeowner’ has a very intimate knowlege of the inner workings of the company, accompanied with the same spin that many Firstline employees have.

What a great tactic, I believe successfull politicians are also implanting knowlegable staff to appear like innocent citizens.

The truth:

Many of my fellow coworkers used deceptive methods to sell systems. One rep told people there is a smoke detector in the panel. Another tells people that if they choose landline- rather than cellular- that the systems still sends signals even if the phone line is cut.

Rather than ensuring these poor people knew the truth, it was my job to ensure the homeowner didn’t cancel. Imagine what I challenge I had when attempting to explain- a mini smoke detector, or worse, a cut phone line which can still comunicate.

And I do know that the cost of the system is added into the monthly ‘monitoring rate.’

I’m shocked to see that the best reason to buy from Firstline, rather than a discount distributor is: the supposed ‘professional installation.’ Check out the reality here, and take time to look at the pictures of the ‘professional installations.’

-Mike
Firstline: Your First Line of lies.
http://ivorypower.com Josh

Given the current federal law and NSA wiretapping, it literally does not matter. What they’re saying is that phone calls via monitoring center may be recorded, which is standard in all customer-to-company calls. The security company is a for profit organization , not government unit, so they have no obligation to protect you or your privacy. Forget FBI, I’d be less comfortable with company employees listening to my calls.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

Mike, thanks for pointing out the installation issues — I meant to do that and forgot.

Josh, yes. I’m not inclined to want company employees monitoring those either. Frankly, I don’t really want anyone monitoring my activity. I’ll run the risk that someone makes off with my ‘stuff’ first.
Paul

First off, I never said we were previously on the INC. 500 list. I said we would be on the 2007 list on August 28th, 2007. If you are at all familiar with the INC. 500 you should know that it takes a company five years to become eligible. You not only have to have strong growth, but you have to MAINTAIN that growth. This is the first year we were eligible, seeing as this is our fifth year in business. Anyways, I do not even know where to start with you. You take isolated incidents, with select reps and blow them out of proportion. We have over 100,000 customers. You would think if all 2000 of us were running around being “deceptive” there would be a hellstorm of complaints and lawsuits. Yet, a blog that highlights isolated incidents and complains about how their kid got tricked into working hard is the only thing that shows up. Let me ask you something. Do you complain to a store manager when you find out that the “buy one get one free” special was not as “advertised”? That it was really an inflated price to cover the cost of both products, and the only reason you were inclined to consider it was because the promotion. This is called marketing. Every security company, cell phone company, grocery store, retail store and restaurant use it. They even offer it as a major at many of the universities across the United States. Bottom line, the consumer is responsible for himself/herself. An offer is presented to them, and they make an informed decision. Does not matter if I say their bill will be 5 bucks a month forever. The confirmation call is completely up front, if not plain blunt. “You are aware that this is a 36-month agreement” “You understand that you will be paying a monitoring rate of $44.99″ “you ARE the homeowner, right?”. And the last question on the confirmation call: “Has (rep name) promised anything to you that is not written or listed in the agreement?”. Unless you do not understand the english language, I find it hard to see your argument that our company is being unethical or deceptive. Also, in regards to installation. Our office in vancouver has set-up over 950 homes. You are welcome to inspect each one of the installations done and see how they were completed. Our technicians are all extremely sharp and trained well. As is true in every profession, when someone does not do their job as trained they are fired.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

Paul,

Let’s start with this:
First you said:
Take a look at the INC. 500. The INC. 500 is a list of the 500 fastest growing privately held companies in the United States and the 2007 list will be released nationwide on August 28th.

Then you said:

“I might even stay with a company that is listed on the INC. 500 and is staged to go public…either way, I am honest, straight-forward, and I will be successful at what I do because of my work ethic.”

And tonight you say:

“First off, I never said we were previously on the INC. 500 list. I said we would be on the 2007 list on August 28th, 2007.”

Um…since I’ve been accused in other comments of arguing semantics, let’s just leave this one as a series of indirect statements which carried the implication that indeed, this was an Inc 500 company. Your middle statement in particular leads one to that conclusion, since you currently work for them and expect to be working for them in the future.

And you seem to agree with my point, which is that the Inc 500 is an indicator of rapid growth which yes, must be maintained over a period of time. Hence, the ‘creative recruiting techniques’ and equally ‘creative sales techniques’.

Addressing your questions, one at a time:

You take isolated incidents, with select reps and blow them out of proportion. We have over 100,000 customers. You would think if all 2000 of us were running around being “deceptive” there would be a hellstorm of complaints and lawsuits. Yet, a blog that highlights isolated incidents and complains about how their kid got tricked into working hard is the only thing that shows up.

My response to you is two-pronged: a) Read the comments on all of my blog posts; and b) Read the links contained in those blog posts. Carefully. I am neither the first nor the last search result.

“Do you complain to a store manager when you find out that the “buy one get one free” special was not as “advertised”?”

Abso-frickin-lutely. If there is an advertised special that does not conform to what has been advertised, fine print included, you can bet the farm I do. I also don’t do business with them. Typically, two for one offers involve technology which is on the way to obsolescence. Cell phones are an example of that. You want a Razr 2 for 1 special from Cingular/AT&T? It’s there, but the Razrs are a couple of generations back from the most current, sometimes incompatible with Cingular/AT&T’s fastest wireless 3G network (but then, so is the iPhone), and you know that because you are in a store with all of the handsets right there to choose from. But you bet — if something is advertised one way and that advertising is deceptive I’ll be the first one to be calling the manager out on it. It’s worth noting that Cingular/ATT gives the customer 15 days to rescind the contract, unlike the 3 days that Firstline gives.

If you go back into the archives of this blog, you’ll find a series of posts that I wrote about an online advertising service — PayPerPost. I wrote for them for awhile, despite the criticism that I was a whore for doing it. They set a price for the post, I decided if I wanted to write it, and if I did, I got paid. Simple as that. The blogosphere went nuts over it, claiming that PPP was corrupting the blogosphere with deceptive ads. And truly, some writers were deceptive in the beginning. Not all. However, I could point to the fact that I disclosed all of my paid posts up front, tagged them as such, and wrote darn good content for the money I was paid. Even though I don’t write for them any more because of other conflicts and time issues, I believe in them as a disruptive, interesting, creative way to deliver advertising value.

The only thing that contradicted the assertion that all people who wrote for PPP were whores were the actual posts by all of us who disclosed and clearly displayed that disclosure.

Similarly, those of you who sell these units in a straightforward fashion have no criticism from me. I have defended those who sell when they’ve been criticized here on the blog.

But I will stand by my assertion that the marketing techniques taught to recruits are opaque and deceptive. You are free to disagree with that, and use my bandwidth to do it, and I will let it stand as long as you don’t engage in personal attacks. (the comment at the top of this strand is pretty borderline as far as what I’ll tolerate on my nickel). In that respect, any reader of this blog will have both perspectives to weigh and consider.

Which leads to my final point. Don’t assume that because you go through the steps you outlined, everyone at Firstline does. They don’t, and anecdotal evidence exists of that in the blog comments, consumer complaints and other articles on the web.

There is one point upon which we are in complete agreement:

“Bottom line, the consumer is responsible for himself/herself.

Yes, which is why I wrote this blog post and left it open for discussion. So they can make that ‘informed’ decision. Of course, to do that, they must tell the salesman they want to think about it and review the paperwork, which is utter anathema to the whole pitch. The idea is to pitch it, sell it on the impulse, close it, and then hope the customer wants to keep it in that three-day look time frame.
Paul

My statement was true even back then. We, as a company, got notification that we were on the 2007 list in mid-july. The list will be released on newstands August 28th, 2007 as my original statement said. We are on the 2007 list. Quite frankly, I find it ridiculous you took that much time to argue whether or not I was speaking in the present tense. Even reading the comments on your blog posts…there are no more than 20 negative posts. And the links that you are speaking about. They are similar to yours. Either disgruntled employees who got fired, or pictures from, again, isolated incidents where a install was not done properly. Those people were obviously fired. I still stand by my previous statement. Search any other major company and see how many complaints arise. For the volume that Firstline handles, I believe that if all these unethical incidents were company-wide there would be a whole lot more complaints beyond a series of blogs.
Random

These guys are crooks here is the personal cell number of vice presidant of sales [Information Removed] Post back any stories of getting anywhere on the phone or in person.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

Paul:

You definitely get the award for tenacity. I’m sure many of your summer’s success stories can be traced back to that quality. All good luck to you.

I just spent the last three hours on AT&T’s support forums for the Blackjack, after my email push client suddenly gave up the ghost. There were message threads 25 pages long filled with complaints. Now you could argue that given the size of AT&T, that’s not very many complaints when compared to the customer base. On the other hand, they follow the same theme right down to the overpriced data plans, erratic signals, and inconsistent performance. The law of numbers dictates that you can extrapolate a trend from that, since statistics prove that about 10% of customers will actually say something online while the other 90% lurk. Similarly, there are trends which can be extrapolated from the comments here and other negativity around the web. Is everyone dissatisfied? Of course not, or you wouldn’t have a company to sell for. But the company itself would do well to consider what’s been said here and elsewhere and modify their approach before the small outcries become much louder.

Random:

I had to remove your comment…I can’t let you post the personal cell number of a Firstline executive on the site — it’s a disclosure of someone’s personal information, which goes against the blog principles I have published here. Sorry.
Steve

Wow, you all have way too much time on your hands. I want you guys who say you have been “ripped off” by firstline because you are paying $44.99/month to call up ADT and ask them how much it would cost to get a security system with a GSM radio. Or even ask Brink’s…oh wait, they don’t even do cellular! So ask ADT if you’ll get any web-access capabilities. Then ask them if they will do the Simon XT. Then post your experience on this board. Yes, Firstline’s new system is not for everyone, but, for the people that want web-access and future two-way voice over cellular then it is right for you. It’s sad when people blame a company “forcing” them to do something. Own up, and quit looking like idiots by showing how little control you have over your life and decisions.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

Steve,

Paying $45/month for a service I can get for $25/month is the ripoff part.
Paul

Your livewatch monitoring does not include the Simon XT, web-access(alarm.com) or capability for two-way cellular.
Jr

Hi there,

Had two college kids come by last week offering to sell their new Simon XT alarm system. I thought it was a good deal since I was told the alarm package would be free in exchange for the placement of the yard sign. The technician guy showed up minutes after signing the contract and it wasn’t untill he had left that I came across this site.. The package total for the new Simon XT system came to $1595.00 and the monthly monitoring is $44.95 a month. I called the next day and had the technician guy remove the system. We then received a call from one of the college kids and he wanted to give us a month free and he also said sorry for the big hole in the wall left by the Technician and that the company does not cover holes in walls. We finally agreed to 2 free months.. the college kids came by the next day and had us sign a new contract because the Technician guy took the contract home.. dnt know why but the new contract had a total of $1685.00 for the alarm system..?? and also I just found out that they charged my card, $44.95 already!!
Bccornut

Wow…Thats all I can say is Wow…You know I love reading these articles, not only about the company I work for but others as well. Most of the Firstline comments from disgruntled customers are all the same..Honestly guys, how many of you payed exact attention to the words that were coming out of the reps mouth? Now I know there are bad apples, we had some in our office..But once the managers found out about the lies they were telling customers, they were fired..Yes, you can find cheaper monitoring this is true..But in the fine print many of the cheaper systems are landline based.. Yes you can by the equipment outright for a few hundred dollars less. But do you know how to program the simon 3? Never mind that..The total of $1685.00 that is on our agreement is simply the price of monitoring over three years….That is not some hidden fee that your going to have to pay for in the future… Heck I even know of a few of my customers who offered to pay it upfront and the company gave them a discounted price off of that..And before we the reps leave and I definatly know that before the technicians leave we state that your first month’s monitoring will be deducted from your check/credit card once the system is fully installed an operational..Honestly I don’t know why some people complain or feel like they have been ripped off..So you sign up get it installed and do your research..what did you probably do? Google it and see what others had to say. Of course there are going to be bad comments, thats just how the world operates..Find me one company that doesn’t have supposidly some form of scam going on…Theres always going to be some paranoid people out there who are too afraid to take that risk and actually go through with a good deal..Hey I’m sorry if you felt like you were decieved, But I can honestly say that after knocking doors all summer and getting phone calls from families who thanked me for the system, I felt and Feel good about what I am doing..And I have delt with a lot of people that have no clue why I am on their doorstep..Come on man, if you have a minute at least listen, is sitting on the couch watchin T.V. or mowing your yard really that much more important than giving a person the time of day?
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

So…your logic is that because dishonesty is rampant among corporate cultures, we should just shrug and say okay?

I don’t think so. But thanks for stopping by.
Brett

Thanks for the post. This helped me with my decision and I am going to call and cancel installation tomorrow. I was able to schedule an install for the next day which got me some research time. They also threw in some extra sensors at no additional cost, but not that it matters in the long run since I am cancelling. And my sales guy was very upfront. I knew the charges and I knew that I was just a random house to be sold to. Still doesn’t make this alright, but at least I didn’t feel so betrayed. The part that irked me in the contract is that Firstline can sell your contract to another third party at which point your contract with Firstline is null and void. Anyways…your blog helped me make my decision to cancel before install is done. Thanks!
Juli

Thanks for all the comments. A young woman appeared at me door last night asking for permission to put up a sign. I had to ask many questions just to get information on what type of sign. When I told her I was not interested, she then told me I would get the security system ‘for free’ if they could put their sign on my lawn ‘as advertising’. More vaguely answered questions ensued before I told her I’d think on it and she agreed to come back. I asked for a business card or some literature on the product. She had none.

It seems the bottom line is this: The product may or may not be good, the cost may or may not be competitive, but the marketing practices are misleading. As a consumer, it is my responsibility to decline this ‘offer’ and indicate that this type of marketing does not work. Alas, I may be only one voice in the wilderness, but I do what I can.

Marketing seems to be directed at convincing the public that we ‘need’ items that we had no thought to buy. And unfortunately when we do wish to make a purchase and wish information on the products available, we have to shift through volumes of data that seem intended to confuse rather than inform. Of course, the only way to stop these practices is to ignore them. As long these practices put money into the marketer’s pockets, they will continue.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

Brett:

You’re welcome. I feel badly for the kids selling this system — they’re given a script and little else.

Juli:

Your bottom line is exactly the same as mine. This is what I’ve had such difficulty getting across to Paul and others in the comments.

The thing is, the majority of the kids who are recruited into this give it their heart and soul. They have goals, hopes, and financial obligations and when they figure out that they were sold a bill of goods which they were then expected to turn around and sell to others, it’s incredibly disillusioning and costly.
Nick

Karoli,

You do realize that not all monitoring companies offer the same service right? That would explain the difference in price of your so-called rip off. As a Previous Tech Manager For Firstline I have set up security systems for 24.99, there are other options.

The latest price comes with some equipment and monitoring that has a lot of bells and whistles. It can’t be compared to a self installed system and a run of the mill monitoring company. Most monitoring companies do not even have the technology to monitor the SimonXT.

Also, the pitch that Firstline uses is the same pitch all the other big alarm companies’ use. Put a sign up in the yard, pay our monitoring, and we will give you the system and installation for free. After paying the technician, sales rep, and equipment, along with shipping and all the other costs of running the company, Firstline will not start making a profit until halfway through the last year of the three year contract.

All the big security companies that do this are playing a game of averages, which is most customers’ stay with the same company for about 10 years. And the pitch that Firstline uses in its trainings is honest. The lies come from individual sales reps that twist it or add untruths. I my self have visited and had to admit to the customer that the sales rep had deceived them.

The potential for sales reps to deceive is a problem Firstline is aware of; this is why they have a conformation call. If the customer is paying attention they will catch some of these untruths. Still these problems are NOT the norm and Firstline as a company is always trying to improve on these matters.
Lynn

My Mother was ripped off by a door-to-door salesperson, that said they were upgrading her current system. She signed a document that indicated they install a new system and she would pay for monitoring for 3 years. She was not aware of that based on what the salesperson said. The system is not working now and she calls me crying because for 3 weeks she tried to get someone out to fix it and she had spent hours on the telephone trying to contact someone. They are taking advantage of the elderly.
debbie

Tonight a rep from FirstLine security came to my door in the dark asking if they could put a GE sign in my yard. I asked for what, he said so that other people driving by could see the advertising. I asked for what and he told me that the city of Fresno REQUIRES this system, but that I would get it all for free, and where do I want the sensors? I asked point blank, do we have to pay a monthly fee. He said “NO NOT A PENNY.” I told him I needed to talk to my husband, could I get a card or brochure as we make decisions together. He said he had none. I told him I felt it very odd that he comes to my door in the dark of night to give me a security system. He then left.
smarter than you

Hey,
read your contract, get into , its your reasponisablity to read the contract ask questions and look into. Your the adult , do the research so blaming a company who is trying to help you. And don’t waste so much time complaning its no way to live your life.Its ridcoulous to see how much time you waste proving a point over a website.
http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

smarter than you…you’re not.

If you actually read these comments you would see that the contract is produced after the product is sold. If you look at the sales materials, customers are not given a lot of opportunity to review the contract ahead of making an agreement. That’s because they’re counting on the impulse buy and the fact that remorse will set in after the three-day free look is past.
Robert

I signed up for a system on a house I recently purchased. My credit cards had not been put on the new address yet so the credit check was done using my previous address. On the contract was my current address, Firstline made a mistake, which they then transfered to the monitoring company. The alarm was installed at the right location but the monitoring service could only sent police to my previous address which has no alarm. I didn’t find this out until 5 days later when the alarm went active. It took over a week to get the address straightened out. During which time my house was broken into and the police could not be alerted by the monitoring company because of the address issue. Even when Firstline doesn’t commit to the expressed procedure in the contract, they will not release you from it. In fact upon calling the cancellation department I found they aren’t even willing to listen to your complaints and will push blame onto a second company they hired to monitor your service. I don’t mind there is a second company, but if Firstline hired them, I feel Firstline needs to make sure they do their job, not me.

I figure if I spent 10 hours a month wasting the time of their employees on the phone then their losing money, Posting what bad information about them I can find is a bonus. If I can stop anyone else from making my mistake then they lose out on more money.

But if they break contract and wont man up and release me, I have no love for them and anything I can do is fair game, I’m sure thats their opinion as well.
Kate

Lets not forget about the employees. My husband and I just got back from a hellish summer! They screwed us beyond belief! We are worse off than we were before we left. They lied to us, manipulated us, and sugar coated everything! I am so angry! They promised a reality show, (the Prodigy) but that never happened. They promised all these bonuses and incentives…never happened. I could go on and on…these people need to be stopped.
LOL

Welcome to the security industry… The best way to think of it is MLM (multi level marketing). You make money by getting others to sign up and not by the sale of the actual product. You want to get back at them? Do what I did… I signed with 5 companies and got a total of 3,000 dollars in signing bonuses and told the sales managers to lick my basketballs when I didn’t show up
there not really honest

Your a paraniod freak I work in the security industry and have for years. the only way the 2 way voice function can be activated is if there is a breach in the system internally. trip a sensor they come over the monitor via your phone line to verify the emergency. the system initiates the outbound call. they can’t call and activate for listening purposes. I worked for firstline they screwed me to the tune of $42000 I never got paid. worse yet I managed another office for Icon and then screwed me for $55,000 I made good money up front but the back end never came but the excuses sure did. I am going to start my own security company and make my money back. I can sell and recruit all I need to find is a security license. you know wnyone with 7 years of verifiable security industry experience?
Leigh

I signed up with Firstline about a month and a half ago. The guy rushed me through everything and told me he was in a hurry to meet the other guys back at the “drop off point” in order to get back to his car. He was very polite and told me that he was working for GE brand and they used to be part of AT&T but had branched out because of difference of opinion in customer service. He stated they were just trying to get the GE brand name out there and people familiar with it. He asked to make me an “advertising home” in exchange I leave the sign up in the yard and speak well about the company to my neighbors. Again he was in a rush and kind of hurried me through signing all the contracts and when I said I needed to read everything he was so distraught about missing his ride that I caved in to his plea to read over everything after he had left. Of course this was my fault but again it was very rushed. So the guy shows up to do the installation a few days later. I was supposed to receive 6 sensors and a motion sensor. The guy tells me he is only authorized to install 5 sensors and no motion sensor. He calls the guy that sold me the system and he tells me “sorry that you’re confused but I never said that”. Well I might have been stupid for letting him rush me but I wrote down the list of items he promised on the back of the folder he gave me as he was listing them. He refused to argue the point and just hung up. The guy that did the install felt bad but he said there was nothing he could do. He spent about 20 minutes installing my entire system then left. The next day I had to re-glue 4 of the sensors that were installed because they fell off the day after they were installed. Well a month later my checking account has been charged a total of $229.80. A company called SAI Alarm Monitoring charged my account $44.95 twice (1 day apart) then a company called Counter Force USA charged my account 26 days later $44.95 twice (1 day apart) on top of Firstline charging me $50.00 on the same day. I didn’t catch the first double charge but the second double charges on top of the Firstline charge really smacked me in the face. So I call Firstline and ask why 2 other companies are charging my account. The girl informs me that Counter Force is supposed to be my service provider and she will contact SAI and make sure they don’t charge me again but that I will need to talk to SAI about getting credit back from the charges. So she transfers me to SAI and the guy there tells me I will need to send him my bank statements and they will try and “research it”. So I call Firstline back and the girl there tells me they have done all they will do. So I ask to speak to a manager or supervisor. She informs me that there is no one else I can talk to about this. She stated her supervisor was to busy to deal with something she had already dealt with. I asked her how many other companies they had given my credit card information to and she pauses for a few moments and comes back with “I believe it was only those 2”. I had to call my bank and cancel my credit card in order to be sure that I would not be charged any more because when I asked her if I could be sure that no one else would be billing me she very huffily told me “I don’t know”. I have spent the last 2 days surfing the net for information on this company and frankly have found nothing but bad. The only good I have found has been from some of their “employees”. But if you read blogs from some of their former employees you will see that its not the norm for this company to operate on the up and up.
Jil

Wish I’d found this blog prior to signing a First Line contract. What a nightmare it’s been. Of six sensors installed in our home, three have been faulty and have needed replacing. We’re still waiting for the last of the 3 to be replaced; the repair person never showed up for the scheduled appointment and we never received a call or an apology when we called to inquire about his whereabouts.

A very brief power outage triggered an alarm about one week after installation of the system. That was when we learned that First Line provided an incorrect password to the monitoring company. That was fun. That was also when we learned that First Line did not provide the monitoring company with our 3 of the 5 alternate contact phone numbers we provided. Instead of calling my husband’s cell or my work, they called my husband’s sister because that was the only alternate number First Line gave them.

When the First Line sales rep came to my home I pointedly asked him about costs to terminate service prior to conclusion of the 3 year contract. He clearly answered that if I terminated service within 1 year it would be a $200 fee and if after 1 year but before 2 years of service, it would cost me $100.

After having the system in my home for 2.5 weeks and having 3 sensor problems and one false alarm I decided I wasn’t up for it. I called First Line and asked to schedule an appointment to have the system removed. I felt that $200 was worth it. That was when the sales rep explained that I was responsible for payment of 75% of the contract value or approximately $700. I would need to pay the $700 first and could then schedule an appointment to have the system removed. I explained that the salesman had told me it would cost me only $200. He said he would contact my salesman and did provide me with my salesman’s phone number so that I could call him as well.

When I called my salesman he explained that, of course, I would get a different story from the sales department – that’s just business. I told him it wasn’t the conduct of businesses I am used to dealing with. He went on to explain that he, as my personal salesman, could trump the quote provided by the sales department and could assure me that I would only have to pay the $200 to have the system removed and cancel service.

He called back within 5 minutes to say that, after checking with his supervisor, he could only guarantee that $200 fee if I gave him one more chance to fix things by scheduling a repair appointment with a particular service person. Feeling backed into a corner and faced with a $500 difference in costs to terminate service, I agreed to schedule one more service appointment. When I called to schedule the appointment, the earliest date I could get was more than 5 weeks out.

Summary – I wish I’d never signed up with First Line and would caution anyone else against doing so.
Sean

Hello all.
First of all, I’d really like to apologize to all of the people experiencing trouble with their alarm systems. I worked for Firstline from February until August of this summer.
Secondly, I would like to apologize to all of the people that I actively tried to recruit during the ‘preseason’. You really can’t recruit anyone without having at least tried something first…and now I’m paying the piper.
To all of the rather self-righteous employees who have posted on here about how everyone needs to quit complaining…I must say that your tone reflects the attitude of the company louder and prouder than any of your door approaches ever could.

I am not upset with Firstline Security, per se. I am more than a little aggravated at “The Prodigy”; a hip new reality TV show that doesn’t exist. That’s how I was recruited to work for Firstline. “Come out this summer, work hard, control your emotions, break through the learning curve, and you can be the CEO of your own company with $1 million in venture capital, a staff, a Hummer, etc…” I did not expect to win…but I did believe that I could have more money at the end of the summer than I had at the start. Trouble is, it’s not a reality show at all…it’s some internal company competition. It looked legitimate; there were sponsors, auditoriums, and pep rallies galore. Then the hammer dropped. That, my dear Firstline afficionados, is called ‘deceptive marketing’.

I was enthusiastic about the hard work. I was happy about the concept of door-to-door sales. I was even ok with the total lack of pay and compensation for all of the recruiting I did during the spring.

I was not ok with all of the things that occured once I got to my summer location. Here is the short list:

-Firstline promises a short-term draw against future earnings so that you aren’t totally broke while you learn the ropes. What they don’t tell you is that you will be having most of that money deducted back for van rent and room rent. $250 – $150 = $100 a week…enjoy.

-Firstline has you on the books as a 1099 contractor. Then they tell you where to be, what to do, how long you WILL do it for, and impose penalties (sanctions) for any violations. They tried to tell me I couldn’t claim workman’s compensation for the gash I got in my leg as I ran from pitbulls and got caught on a spike on someone’s fence. In other words…I was totally responsible. That seems to be a common theme coming from the company and the advocates who posted here earlier in the year. In other words, Firstline is totally irresponsible, and it’s up to the consumer and the sales reps to do the responsible thing.

-Firstline purposefully recruits people from out of state. They will not recruit locals to fill in missing numbers. One common excuse may be that they are simply ‘burning our bridges’, as advocated in Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich”. The truth is, they want to be able to fly by night.
FLY BY NIGHT: That’s what my office did. I was in Central California this summer, up from Phoenix. After one particularly long, hot day, our regional VP showed up and told us that we were being shut down and relocated. Less than 24 hours later, we were gone. Again, I apologize to any and all who got burned in the crossfire of that exchange.

-Simon XT: I’m not certain which offices got those…or if they were just for the extension crowd, but most of us spent this summer slinging the Simon 3. It’s not a bad system…the problem is that the upper management types at Firstline care less about providing services and more about making the INC. 500.

In fact, I am holding a copy of the INC magazine. It states in there that Firstline was projecting a total summer sales growth of 50,000 households. That’s not a bad goal, unless you were recruited under the premise of “the average rep makes $20,000″. In order to do that, one would need to hit 75 good credit installations. But, there are 2000 employees. Ok, so let’s say that at least one third of those employees are technicians, office assistants, or upper level management. That leaves about 1300 sales reps. Divide 50,000 by 1,300 really quick. That actually is only about 39 sales per rep. Since Firstline is really awesome, that actually means the pay bracket is only $130 per deal X 39 deals = $5070 for the entire summer…and that’s if you actually get good credits all the time AND collect activations from as many as humanly possible.

Another thing the Kool-Aid crowd won’t tell you about is how many times the company policy changed about how they pay on accounts. A rep can sell and install 5 or 6 accounts in a week, and be left with about $150 to show for it after all of the nonsensical smoke clears.

How about the weeks everyone spent working from 9am until 9pm? And for what? To quote Wright Thurston, co-president of Firstline Security, it was “to give you guys more opportunity to break out of the learning curve.” That was ok, the first time. The second and third times got to being a little upsetting…especially since $150 for a 72 hour week adds up to a total of $2.08 an hour. You could have made more working in an Indonesian sweat-shop. Go Firstline!

One last thing I would like to mention is that during the recruiting season, and during the recruitment lectures themselves, I couldn’t help but notice all of the references to a movie called “Boiler Room”. This is a movie about a dirty sales organization that creates a phony market to sell shares of non-existent companies to people via impulse. Know why so much mention of that movie is made during the lectures? Because Firstline Security of Orem, Utah, is in fact a boiler room.

Nobody mentions that these guys also charge employees for any parts that are ‘given’ to secure deals. I must explain this in depth.
In bulk, Firstline can get parts and bits of these systems, such as door/window sensors, for about fifty cents or less a piece. If a rep needs to over extend him or herself with a few extra pieces in order to get a deal, then those parts will ultimately be charged to the employee for the retail value. In the case of the door/window sensor, we’re talking about $100 a piece. Do that often enough, and pretty soon reps will be owing Firstline money at the end of the summer…as stated by other reps in earlier posts. To boot, the company will then charge off all of their excess inventory as a tax write-off. Nice, huh?

And Paul…wake up and smell the roses. There is not going to be a public issue. It was all part of the sales pitch. They have no assets other than contracts that get auctioned off as soon as possible. A stock issue would bring too much unwanted attention to their operations and books. It’s a chop shop. If you did well, and ended the summer with a positive balance in your bank account, you are the exception and not the rule.

-Sean
guyhaas

I got scammed by Firstline too. The number of lies I was told during the sale was incredible. I was first led to believe the sales team was from GE (a company that I do have respect for), they were there to replace my existing security system. I was told my existing system was vulnerable (because it used a landline) and the new system fixed this by going wireless. I was told that it was free, because of my location and all they wanted to do was put a sign up. When the topic of the monthly fee came up, I told the salesrep “so that’s how you make the money.” The lies continued. “No, the monthly charge just covers the costs that they incur.” I could go on and on…

I didn’t figure out that they had no official affiliation with GE until my existing system had been disabled and the new system was being installed. And… Guess what? They had no association with my existing security service either. As the installation was proceeding (and I hadn’t even signed the contract yet) I turned on my computer and entered a Google query and… the first link I was presented was from RipoffReport. As the installation proceeded, I now knew this was a scam. I’ve posted my full experience on the RipoffReport website if you want more details.

But, everyone that is sharing bad experiences here needs to file a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau (http://www.utah.bbb.org/). Also, find out who in your home state can help. In California, go to the Department of Consummer Affairs (http://dca.ca.gov/) and file a complaint.

I’m sure everyone posting here knows how unresponsive they are to all calls you make to them. As it stands right now, even though I wrote an e-mail to the company the day after the install, demanding to settle the misunderstandings or come and get the system, they still have gone ahead and are debiting my account. I never got to management within the cancellation period. The damn debacle even cost me an additional $200 to get my original system fixed/reinstalled!

This company is nothing but a shell that is taking advantage of everyone! Please, please, file formal complaints against them to save your neighbors the painful experience we’ve all been through.

And, previous “Advertising Directors” that have had less than stellar experiences, please continue blogging – especially where you go to school. The ramp-up for new hiring for next year is coming. Save others from what you were put through, or at least open their eyes to what they could be in for.

guy
Debbie

I was stupid enough to sign up with First Line Security. This company is the most incompetent company with which we have dealt and being a CSI, there have been many company. This is the absolute worst – it is more of a scam than a company. To explain further…we signed up on a “door to door” advertising campaign for a two year contract. First they breached the contract by providing a service that never worked. I called and called and the company called back and would continually try to update a non-working system. Then this company sent someone out to service my alarm system when I was not home, which could not be repaired. Next, when I called to cancel because of inoperative system and the fact that we were moving. Now, to this point, I have paid the service from my account on an automatic pay. Before we moved, I called First Line Security and requested cancellation of service. The individual representing the company, which took forever to set on hold to reach a person, told me that my contract was now a three year contract and I had until June of next year to pay for before I could cancel it. The salesman sold us a two year contract but turned in a three year contract…breached contract as far a working service…now, after I called the cancellation department and spoke with a Marissa or Marie – something like that, I was quoted a sum to pay because we were moving and cancelling service (which I was reminded that I had to pay to the end of the service to cancel). I paid the $168.00 (quoted this because I was paying so far in advance that I received a discount)to FirstLine Security and was told that the bill was paid in full and the account cancelled. Done with story right? WRONG… First Line Security begins to call me at work claiming I was behind in payments and they applied the $168.00 to past due payments and refuse to cancel, demanding payments. The audacity!!! These individuals call me at work and have to transfer me three times because “no one can help me” and all the while I am demanding to speak to a manager who is competent enough to handle this situation and am told that managers do not talk to clients that customers are put on a two day waiting list – IF they call.

Thank you guyhass for the information you listed as I will be taking action. I am currently waiting for my attorney to call regarding this. He has suggested suing First Line Security for Breach of Contract and falsifications. I will be speaking to him in length regarding this.

My son is a highly demanded web page designer and will be creating a webpage exposing the company and its fraudlent business actions with customers.

Also, my father and brother are both in the Sheriff’s and Highway Patrol Departments and are spreading the word in Southern California about the fraudulent behavior and misrepresentation of First Line Security. This will also spread to city council members, so First Line will not be having much business here soon with the negative reputation and nagative publicity the company has projected.

Warning to others!!~!!! Heed this warning – First Line Security based out of Provo, Utah is a FRAUDULENT COMPANY! STAY AWAY!!!!!
anonymous

Jus tso you know i found out today that firstline was removed from the Better Business Bureau…i worked for them and was completely mislead…i heard some of last years reps didnt even get their 2nd backend. we were trained to mislead people, however i took a huge pay cut and didnt sign up pry 25+ extra customers because i couldnt lie to them and told them straigh tup if they cancelled they had to pay the remaining months and whatever else they wanted….the pay and things they told us were absolutely rediculous….nothing was true, and everything was basically a complete scam and waste of time…im sorry for any homeowners that have been mislead and screwed over
anonymous

This is in response to sean…..you are so 100% entirely correct….i felt like the biggest loser telling all my friends that they are making 20K for the summer, then the avg person pry sold around 20……well pry 45 but only bout 40% of all your accounts actually will be good and get installed….we were also mislead about incentives and the backend….instead of the monster 3-5K i expected, it was a measly NEGATIVE BALANCE, saying i owed them money….so 65+ hours a week, 10-11 hours a day, 6 days a week, everyday, all summer, i basically paid to work in a Shady Sales Boot Camp…and when i got recruited all i heard about was “THE PRODIGY” and how we were gonna have all these camera people following us around and we were on a reality tv show….that was even cool to have lucy dozey as the spokesperson…she pry didnt even know it was fake…but with a few weeks left int he summer we find out there was never a tv show, and it was all just a big marketing scheme….i added another point to firstlines totals….i love even more how when someone calls into cancel because of how crappy the response to the system is, and some 16yr old at corporate saves an account and charges me $75 still….coming from utah, the land of mormons, i figured i would be dealing with a corporate office of moral and liberal standards, and instead we are dealing with a bunch of hypocritical, back stabbing, enron wannabes…..congratulations wright thurston, you have mislead, misguided, and manipulated 1000′s of kids across the country…your god would be very proud!