Safe Home Security review: contract practices

Avoid SHS at all costs. If you are involved with them now, beware of their ethics (or lack of them). This company appears to have a specialty in misleading or scamming people (especially seniors) into contracts then making it virtually impossible to get out of. They have no scruples about reporting negative information to credit agencies and damaging credit ratings then harassing people for payment. We are seniors who made the mistake in April 2011 of switching from ADT to Safe Home Security. Things were satisfactory until October of 2014. In October 2014 a service call was made to repair what was a communication problem between the equipment and SHS. We were given a paper to sign that we were told was an acknowledgement of the service. We were never told, either in setting up the service or when the paperwork was presented that the “fine print” included a contract extension of 5 years. This was totally misleading and deceptive. We would never have agreed to that length of commitment with nothing in return and no right of rescission. In May 2014 we requested cancellation of our service verbally and were told all we had to do was send them a written request for cancellation. A letter was written to SHS and mailed that day. In addition we had two follow up phone calls with SHS regarding our cancellation request. The last conversation was with Chris Heath, Customer Service. He was adamant that he explained to us on October 8, 2014 that we would be responsible for a five-year contract. He further asserted that he had taped the call, would forward an audio file of the recording to us by email and in the interim he would discuss the termination request with the company owner. No audio file or follow up response from Mr. Heath or any representative of SHS was ever received. Since then, we have blocked our credit card payments to SHS. We have continued to receive monthly invoices from SHS. In July and September 2015 we have sent two additional letters to SHS regarding our reasons for cancellation and stopping payment. Our attorney has also sent a letter (September 2) to SHS. SHS has not responded to any of our letters or our attorney's letter. In September 2015 we noted that SHS had sent negative information to Equifax. This resulted in a drop in our credit rating from Excellent to Fair. We subsequently researched reviews on the Internet for Safe Home Security. The number of negative reviews on multiple sites is astounding and enormous. In March of 2014, the Attorney General in CT resolved a 2007 lawsuit against Safe Home Security for alleged violations resulting from the company's automatic renewal provisions in its contracts with customers, its billing practices, its debt collection practices, and alleged violations of the Home Improvement Solicitations Act and Home Improvement Act. On March 21, 2014 the court entered a stipulated judgment against the company that imposed permanent injunctions and required a $100, 000 payment to the State. It appears that this has not affected their approach as SHS continues with the same practices. This is a terrible company to have worked with. It makes us ashamed we ever got together with them. Appropriate resolution would be the cancellation of our service as of May 1, 2015, cessation of billing and restoration of previously undamaged credit ratings. We wonder if that will ever happen.