KELLY PROTECTION

Description of Work: Quite possibly one of the most disappointing experiences I've had with a vendor. 3.5 years ago I contracted with ADT to handle my home security- about a year and a half ago I received a first phone call from Barbara Kelly (the owner I believe?) from Kelly Protection, who explained that my account was now going to be serviced/monitored by them. Same terms and conditions. Fine. We paid our annual service agreement and figured we would have a similar experience with them. We set up a time for one of their techs to come out and do whatever it is that they needed to do at the house, and I thought we were on our way. The guy no showed us, and our alarm still seemed to work, so I wasn't terribly concerned. About four months later began the flurry of phone calls from Barbara, insisting we hadn't done XYZ, and when I mentioned that her technician had never actually shown up to finish the job, she instead took the opportunity to defer the blame and to let me know that he hadn't just skipped out on us, he had retired. Great. But still, a missed appointment is a missed appointment and still kind of that technician's fault if they fail to call us to tell us they decided to retire instead of showing up for work. Fine. A weird experience and she seemed a bit distracted and chaotic, but whatever. We belatedly got a contract and my husband signed it. My fault, since I had relied on Barbara's words directly and assumed that "same terms and conditions" meant that our contract hadn't changed. Big mistake, since the very tiny print actually locked us into a 2 year agreement. Fine. It sucks that they failed to disclose any of that, but hey- that's why Elizabeth Warren is going after the credit card companies, right? If the credit card companies can do it, totally ok for Kelly Protection. But then about six months ago, a buddy set off our alarm. It went off for a few minutes before anybody was able to disengage it. I'd get a phone call, right? Nope. No word from Kelly Protection Services. They cashed my check, sure, but maybe actually not monitoring the ten sensors throughout my house was also in that fine print. Luckily, fate intervened and I got a phone call from one of their large, corporate competitors, who not only promised to DRASTICALLY change my monthly, but did so without any type of crazy fine print! We removed all of their sensors and went with the competitor. I have wireless fobs and can control everything from my Iphone, and the entire system seems light years ahead of what I was using with Kelly. And crazily enough, they also called automatically as soon as someone set my alarm off. Now, I'm all for the mom and pop joint, but when I save a significant amount of money with a corporation that also does what they promise? Kind of a big deal for me especially when it comes to my family. Now, all is fine and dandy and I was happy to part ways and let Kelly Protection I wasn't going to renew the contract (because my original contract was a yearly one with ADT) when Barbara got on the phone and took on an incredibly rude and defensive stance. She let me know that it was impossible to have a new service plan with someone else, since they were still monitoring my home. Not sure how that was even possible, but maybe the sensors function from the closest Los Angeles dump ground? Then she insisted that I couldn't have possibly found a cheaper plan with anyone else (sorry BK, but the proof is in my pocketbook). And then she disclosed the fine print, at which point I was obviously a little frustrated and upset. I tried to point out how I felt duped, but could barely get a word in edgewise. She rattled on and on and wouldn't let me speak. When I tried to point out she should have let me know when we had spoken and that as a real estate professional, I had plenty of experience with working with similar vendors- she chose to cut me off again and let me know that I was merely one of "thousands" of their customers, essentially implying that my opinion and experience didn't matter. Fantastic- a great way to do business, by alienating your customers and reminding them that they're mere peons. The condescension was just really the extra icing on the cake. If she were a customer service rep? Lady would have been fired long ago.