CPI Security Systems Inc

CPI Security showed me one console system online, and installed a much older system. When I questioned it, they said they will just remove everything they did and leave (including leaving holes in my wall where they cut to place the speaker system). That obviously wouldn't work. I was forced to keep the out-of-date system. They told me it was a two year contract when I signed up to have someone come out. Then on the way out the door after the install gave me a piece of paper to sign?to say it was complete? ? and that paper included ONE SMALL LINE saying the contact was now 60 months. They want 75% of the contract paid back to cancel. There is no OUT CLAUSE. I have had the system for two years and think it functions at about 80% of what I wanted. The phone app is good (they have improved it over the years) but the monitor they installed in the house is old and very difficult to use (hold this button for five seconds then press this button then hit another button for three seconds kind of garbage).... The $704 I paid at the time of install included my first full year of service. Even though I have excellent credit they wouldn't accept my American Express unless I paid in full. I should have known right then that CPI was a company who probably deals with a lot of unscrupulous people, and therefore treats all their customers like garbage. My issue with CPI is the bait and switch both on the console and the contract.

They've been incredible. We have 4 security companies come out on one day, it's the only free day that we were here and the guy that came out, Craig, was very prepared, he brought samples of their products, he did a security consult as opposed to a security system sell. He was more interested to see what we could do and possibly if we found a better price with other security systems, he recommended that. He's very honest and it was an eye opening experience that there's somebody out there who still do that. He recommended several things, he came in after the ADT guy was here and I told him what the ADT guy suggests and he said those were all good options but did he explain this to you as a part of that. It was really good that he was really thorough and when the other guy came in from the local security company, I had a checklist to rate off to him that Craig left us, and the other guy just looked at me and like what, and then like, "Okay, thank you, have a nice day." They went above and beyond what they needed to do for us and I had recommend them because the people who live next door of us are getting assistance on that and they were just incredible for what they did for us. We had somebody try to break in the house twice in one night so the following Monday, we're having a security system installed.

house struck by lightning, and one spring relay missing during repairs. would not come to check system unless i was a customer. they would replace my exisiting system with their own, which is not needed.

This was an incredibly disappointing experience. Made an appointment for 3pm. Waited at my daughter's vacant condo and when nobody arrived to provide estimate tried to call and make sure they were still coming. That was a worthless effort as the person could not tell me anything since they are located in a different location than the salespeople. I emailed my contact who sent back an email that our salesperson was scheduled at 3pm. At 3:30pm, my husband and I finally left. At 4pm we received a call saying the salesperson would be late. This was an hour after he was supposed to have been there. We rescheduled for 5:30. My husband went to meet the salesperson. I received a call at home from the salesperson asking if someone was going to meet him. I said my husband should have already been there. The salesperson then told me where he was and he wasn't even at the correct address! How hard is it to look at the address and it's a short road. I stayed on the phone with salesperson until he got to the correct address. My husband met with him. High pressure tactics, trying to sell items not needed and wanted to charge for installation AND have us sign a 5 year agreement. My husband said he wanted to think about it and wanted to keep the contract for review. Husband was told they don't allow people to keep the contract unless they sign up. Ridiculous! Husband said he had no more time. Salesperson went back and forth with his boss (just like car salespeople do) and finally said we wouldn't have to pay an upfront fee. Husband told him it was too late and the fact they wouldn't let him review the contract in a timely manner by taking it with him and their tactic of trying to shove unneeded services at him was a total turnoff. Would not recommend them to anyone.

I scheduled an installation for an alarm system. This consisted of telling the sales person everything that I wanted in order to feel that I made sure that my house was properly protected. We came up with a 39 month contract, $39.99/month and a $99 deposit. I verbally agreed to everything and paid my deposit prior to scheduling the installation. Several days later my sales person called to tell me that the marketing department did not approve me getting 2 glass break sensors but that they would throw in a door sensor in it's place. The glass break detector was simply too expensive because it was priced at $160. I don't understand the issue since I didn't want the motion detector (we have a dog) or the key chain remote that they "gave" us for free. It seems that they could've just switched both of those 2 things out in place of a glass break sensor. Regardless, I felt that it was unprofessional of them to not at the very least notify me at the time of our verbal agreement and me making a payment, that my package may not be approved. I requested a refund of my deposit instead of dealing with them any further. I don't understand why they gave up $1500 worth of business over $160.

Been with CPI since Feb 2011 when they installed my system in my house in South Charlotte. Love the equipment and love the services. I called on 8/28/13 to cancel service because I was selling my house and buyer had not indicated she was interested in signing on for monitored service. Closing was scheduled for 8/30/13 and I just did not want to be responsible anymore. When I called on 8/28/13 the csr just said I should really try to contact the buyers agent to see if she was interested in signing up for monitoring service. So at 5:30p on the 29th when the buyer had not indicated any interest, I called to just discontinue the service. I had already moved to Columbus, GA, closing was scheduled for 10a today 8/30 and I just did not want any further responsibility for the service. Imagine how ballistic I went when the csr told me I was obligated to pay upwards of $1500-$1600 for the remainder of my contract which I had apparently signed for 60 months. The csr on 8/28 told me they could transfer my service to Columbus, GA, but when I called the sales number on 8/29, I was told cpi did not service Columbus. As it turns out, I agreed to "transfer" my service from Charlotte to Columbus, GA to avoid the excessive contract cancellation fee - even though I may be the only CPI Security customer in Columbus. Apparently, cpi can service my new area, but they are not actively selling to new customers because they are trying to "manage" growth. Great equipment, great monitoring service, lousey communication when they don't want you to "go". Beware any buyers or sellers of properties with CPI equipment or monitored by CPI.

When we canceled we found out that we have to do so with a letter. Luckily we were able to scan and email one.

Great technician. I had to wait until I had a compatible internet connection installed before the interior camera could be installed. The technician was awesome. He set up my new wireless router (because my current one was ancient). It would work better with the system and the camera (and for me). He set up the camera. The job was done so nicely and neatly. He was super nice and very smart and very courteous. He took time to set up the camera correctly and explained a few things that were not explained by the first intaller. I'm very pleased with the system and the service.

Long story short......customer service is non-responsive. When they tell you they will call back they do not. They do not honor appointments and they do not confirm order details with you. Brief summary below: We initiated an agreement for services with CPI Security and paid for the equipment to be installed 30 days upfront. After scheduling the initial appointment and going back and forth with customer service for confirmation emails....we finally set up a good day and time for installation. I took a day off from work, due to the fact they told me it would take 6 hours. At 3pm they informed me they were not making it to the house, nor could they reschedule a time and date convenient for us. When I brought this up to the CPI Customer Service Manager; the guy laughed at me. We decided to cancel and switched to ADT. They were much more professional and customer driven.

There was an issue with my system. They came out around 14 times and still were unable to fix it. So then the next option was they were trying to get me to upgrade to the next system up and that was with a 5 year contract and about $200 more. I was able to get them to allow me break my contract by going to the BBB about it.

I interviewed three home security companies before the closing on my home in early May. CPI clearly had the most updated technology and comparable pricing/length of contract. Sales call was impressive, installation excellent, system pretty amazing. Had one snafu with motion detector......knowing what I know now.....they just will not work with a dog..especially when that dog gets on the sofa. The detector sees that dog as much larger than it is when on furniture. Anyway, FINALLY had that issue resolved (removed motion detector and added glass break) and I am VERY happy.

All went well. The system was installed in a timely manner. The only hiccup was my wireless system was not comoatible with the system. I was not able to have the video camera installed. I had to change provide anyway, so I was able to get my camera installed.

I'd like to start out by saying that the company has one very good employee. Unfortunately, he is on the technical side/home service and not in customer service. Our experience with the installer, (Chris C.) was excellent. However, prior to having him fix our system numerous times the company and it's "management team" failed miserably. It's owned by Mr. Gil. A man whom I've left numerous messages for or at least his secretary, Jessica. Neither have ever taken the time to contact myself or my wife directly. I travel for business so security is Very Important to me & my family. I also have two small children at home so I take all of this very seriously. Unfortunately, as a company, they do not. Trying to reach management or get a return call is nearly impossible. When they first installed or took over an existing ADT System, they said the house was protected from top to bottom. One day my son noticed the our garage window was open. It was at that time I realized the windows that led directly into our garage & subsequently our home were not working, arming or installed properly. The Garage door was also "disconnected" from the system even though it had been wired by ADT & supposedly CPI. CPI spent time in my garage so I "assumed" they had it all working correctly. Frankly, they never hooked up anything in the garage so anyone could've simply walked straight into our home & robbed us. When I called Customer Service, they responded that they must have "missed" it. Not good considering this is what they provide as a service. Protection against intrusion/Security. They fixed the problem eventually, but service calls are not prioritized which you will see if you decide to continue to read on. We had several problems with a motion detector. It kept tripping & they didn't know why. They finally replaced it stating that it was faulty. In the meantime, they had dispatched or came close to dispatching the police many times. We explained that we would be charged for any additional calls & that they would be responsible for those charges unless they rectified the problem or came up with a new plan of action. Rather than fix the problem, the customer service manager (Kelly P.) set up parameters so that they would 1. contact us first. 2. They would not dispatch if it was the rear motion detector located in our keeping room. Not much of plan if you ask me but I went along with it, though I don't know why. The motion detector in the Keeping room tripped again this past weekend while it was set in the away mode. I was out of town for business and my family was out & about. Luckily, my wife's phone was in her lap and lit up. It was an automated message that alerts you that an alarm was triggered. They never contacted us like they had mentioned & they did not follow parameters that they set on the system. They did call my wife's phone to let her know that the police were dispatched again (another charge) and she viewed the camera's at the rear door & front door & saw that nobody had broken in. Just the same faulty motion detector. We were both infuriated. The police have much more important things to do than to respond to "false alarms". Trust me when I say it is NOTHING LIKE THE COMMERCIAL THEY RUN. Frankly, they should be sued for false advertisement. They don't come over a loud speaker and yell anything. They didn't even look at the camera's much less follow the parameters that they set. Go figure. Prior to this "event" the entire back section of our home which includes 14 windows & a door in our keeping room went out. We had to bypass the system till' they could send tech support out to "fix" the problem. After this occurred on two or three different windows, the tech came out to fix it again but couldn't find the problem so they placed wireless contacts on that bank of windows. In this case, two banks of windows were connected. The Keeping Room and the sitting area in the kitchen. The irony here is that they state that they "Take Over" the equipment however, they wanted to charge us $75.00 per window for the wireless contacts. That's $75.00 x 14 windows or 1,050 not including tax. We went back & fourth on this matter for some time & eventually didn't end up paying for the wireless contacts but what a Nightmare It was going through that with CPI and their crackerjack customer service representative. Last month, the same thing happened in the Master Bedroom. Makes sense to me, the home is older & they run the wires under the windows. The windows absorb the moisture and therein lies the problem. At some point they will all need to be replaced. One window after the next was not reading correctly so you would have to bypass almost the entire system or side of the home. Again, my wife was on the phone with customer service. I was out of town at the time so I was worried that they had to bypass effectively half of our home because the Master Bedroom windows, both the front, side and rear bay windows were on the same bank of windows not too mention it was tied into the Dining Room. In other words, they never separated the zones out. They left the Dining Room Windows & Master Bedroom Windows connected to One Zone. This should have been resolved since they are the "experts" & it would be easily recognizable since they put their equipment in & set up the new zones. These are completely different rooms located in completely different areas of our home. So in essence, when one window goes on the fritz, you lose protection on every window that is connected to the "Zone" which in our case was one half of our home. It get's better or would I would like to call a "comedy of errors" or perhaps sheer laziness and a failure to prioritize calls. I would think that new business would take a back seat to an existing install but that is obviously not the case. They set a service call Two Weeks Out while I was out of town. That is simply unacceptable to me but they stated that they were "short" staffed & that was the best they could do because they had a lot of new installations. Again, I tried to contact the owner because I felt the Customer Service Manager was ill equipped & not trained properly on how to solve customer issues appropriately. I own my company & I would have driven out to the house to service it myself if need be. But what do I know since I audit denied patient accounts for hospitals & patients who the insurance companies stick with the bill. Still, I know I would return a client call at the very least. I guess this is a top down approach. The owner seems too preoccupied with his toys & private jets to respond to his customers or train his employees on customer service issues. If that weren't the case, perhaps I wouldn't be writing this scathing review. They came out again to fix this issue (they have been out a half a dozen or more times to fix various sensors) It may be closer to 10 or 11 I've truly lost track, but they did place wireless transmitters on the three windows in the Dining Room. They Then set the Dining Room on its own zone. Then they set out to fix the Master Bedroom Windows. They told me that they would need to be replaced too & that the first three installed on the Dining Room Windows would be Free but on this particular call I would have to come out of pocket at $75.00 per wireless transmitter for the Master Bedroom Windows. That's 11 windows in total or $825.00 not including tax. Look, I'm all for capitalism. I get it, I own my own business too but you need to take care of your customer first. We already pay them roughly $50.00 per month, every month and I believe we signed a five year contract. But I don't need to pay his jet fuel too do I? The end is the kicker. So today my wife & I received a certified letter from UPS. It is a notice from CPI Cancelling Our Agreement where the Customer Service Manager, Kelly P, states that we can keep "all of the equipment" but that they will no longer be monitoring our home or providing "service" to us. Really, they call that service? I find that rather insulting since it's been everything but service. In addition, I have purchased Two Indoor Cameras, Three Glass Breaks, Two Remote Door Locks, and Two Additional Key Pads. That should at least keep the jet engine running for a few minutes right? In the end, rather than "take over the system" as they state in their contract, they would rather cancel our agreement & be done with us. Like they say, let the buyer be ware. We are shocked, we did not see this coming from CPI. We had other problems like their main alarm siren being a tenth as strong or loud as the ADT Model but that's what they have. They also could not take over our heat sensors for fire. We had three of those and they are very important because they will sense the heat where smoke might not make its way into. In the end, I hope everyone will be careful and read the fine print. You don't always get what you pay for. I hope nobody else has a 18 or 19 year old home that malfunctions. You can bet they will simply cancel your contract too without the "Owner" or "Management" ever getting involved. So much for the safety of our home and their alleged "commitment" to their customers. Maybe I should start my own alarm business :) Evidently, the profit margins are pretty high & if it's not "Cost Effective" to keep a "Customer" well then hey, we'll just cancel them.

I really liked the services they offer as a part of their system. It seems like it was a lot more comprehensive than another company offered. They even used equipment that was there from the previous system so I didn't end up with all these extra holes in my wall. Their monitoring service was better as well.

A service technician from CPI came to our home to replace a faulty sensor on our back door. I was pleased with scheduling of the appointment especially since someone could come on a Saturday so my husband and I would not have to miss work. The technician was friendly and was able to repair the door sensor in a timely fashion. He reset the system so the "trouble" light was turned off, tested all sensors, smoke detectors and the alarm system itself. He also showed us how to reset the clock and other features we weren't previously aware of. Overall, great service!

I am very happy. He was on time, courteous, and patient with my kids who were interested in everything he was doing. I have been very pleased with the system and have especially enjoyed the daily forecast and serious weather notifications. And it's way cheaper than our old system with more functionality. He didn't try to sell more more than I wanted also which. Really appreciate.

John Evans did an exceptional job of surveying our needs and recommending the best system for our home. Their technician was prompt, neat, complete, respectful and very professional. The system does more than we expected and has worked flawlessly.

I called and spoke to them about adding the building to our current security system. They were able to schedule a technician to come out within 2 weeks. The technician who came was absolutely wonderful. He was very polite, professional and explained all the options to us. He was also able to explain the upgrades we could do to our current system in our house. He listened to all of our questions and concerns and recommended what he thought would work the best for our property. He did the work in a professional manner and left the area neat & clean. We are very happy with the work performed & will continue using them in the future.

They ended up initiating a charge before any services were actually done, or even agreed upon. After that, I decided not to go with them. They ended up not charging me, because I called a manager directly.

I used several security systems+ and they are the best. They have been the most responsive. They were good and when I call they help me right away..

CPI's service has deteriorated. Originally, I chose them because I felt safe with them; liked their technicians; liked their service No longer. Service has jumped off the cliff last year. I have had them as my alarm system for over 10 years. At first, they were wonderful. I have updated twice, upgraded my system $$$ and bragged to my neighbors---many of whom now have CPI. Their lack of response and customer service do not behoove a company whose purpose is to protect. ;

I used CPI at my old residence and was happy with them there. However, I have not been happy with my recent experience. When I called CPI to set up the service, I was greeted with professionalism. However, my installer was over an hour late. He attempted to engage in conversation that was, in my opinion, not conversation acceptable for this sort of situation. My family and I were eager to have him leave! Then, my first bill was incorrect. Overall, the product is good, but I would hope for more professionalism. When I called to get my bill fixed, I had a lot of trouble finding my way to the right department. However, the issue finally was resolved. Also, they billed me before I even had my system installed, which is not appropriate. I'm not sure if I'd use CPI again or not. If I did, I would next time request a more seasoned technician.

Salesman explained everything about setup and installation very well. On day of installation the technician showed up on time and was very helpful and even suggested aglass break sensor that made perfect sense for our situation. We did realize after the fact that our overhead garage door was not being monitored, but I called and they scheduled a tech to come out and install it and added into the monitoring system. My only complaint is that the tech arrived early for that appointment and I was not home, Had to call him back before I had to go to my next appointment.

We purchased a wireless telephone, and our alarm system was not compatible with it. So we upgraded in order for the alarm to work. What we received was great, a camera so that we can view our home when away. The system also allows us to control a lamp and the thermostat from computor of phone. The best feature overall from CPI, is the ability to communicate with them via intercom, which has always been a feature. I didn't mention price for the upgrade, because of being a long time customer they gave us a generous discount. And I must mention Theresa the agent that helped us through the ordeal, because there was a six week waiting list and she kept on the look out for a closer date for installation. And Alfred Abbot our installer was AWESOME. By the time he left we were completely educated as to how to use the new system. The only reason we gave them a "B" in responsiveness was because of the waiting list.

I first spoke with Brian, the salesperson, who was very courteous and called back with an appt. time the next day, just like he said he would. Torrance, the installer, arrived on time, was friendly and polite and cleaned up after himself. He even put the boxes back in my storage room that I had to remove so he could get to the electrical box. I spoke with 2 more people who helped me get set-up online when I had some trouble and they were also pleasant and polite. Overall, it was a great experience and I would definitely recommend them.