NorthStar Alarm Services

AVOID!!! Company is sneaky and incompetent. Techs didn't install compatible equipment, took 3 years for them to find out my sensor never even worked, had to hire outside company for tech support because again their techs are not competent. HORRIBLE customer service and their contract guidelines are sneaky with auto renew contracts. They got an extra $1000 out of me in an economy like this. Poor business tactics.

Our experience with Northstar alarm have been a nightmare. When we first signed up with Northstar we were never told the contract was for 5 years... that is fraud. If you are reading reviews and wondering if should choose them as an alarm company run an don't look back. We have camera items that are not working. We have been paying $85 monthly for 5 years. My husband started calling Northstar beginning in May 2021 asking them when was our contract up. He was told he needed to speak with a Manager and never did. When he called again and spoke to a customer service representative he was told to call back in October when his contract was up. So it is October and he called back he now being told that he needed to cancel in writing 60 days before the contract ended. Now a new contract has started for 18 months because the 5 year contract was not cancelled 60 day before it ended. This is VERY VERY manipulative and deceptive practices. Especially since he has been calling since May 2021 (we have documented proof) and was told to call back in October and when we did to be told this crap. I spoke to Mason who was not helpful at all. He told me there was no one else I could speak to besides him. No supervisors not management no one else could help us. Please do not waste your time or money. I demand for our contract to be canceled when it was supposed to cancel and not to start another 18 month term. We do not want to continue any business with Northstar or be responsible for any bills from this new 18 month contract. We were not aware of any 60 notice needed and was not given incorrect information from your staff. CANCEL OUR CONTRACT WHEN IT FIRST EXPRIED!!

Company will lie and scam you. Only time the alarm ever went off was for a short time. I got it shut off. No communication from the company. Next thing you know a cop shows up. He commence to berate me as no one called off his being routed to the house. "Your alarm company didn't call you?" he asked? "No sir." was all I could tell him because they have never called. Fast forward to last year, I called to cancel the service. The employee explained that I would have to wait until the contract was up end of May to cancel service. Now, this June we called to cancel and were told we needed to cancel in writing at least 60 days before contract expired, and that we were renewed for another 36 months. I explained to them that I would have canceled in writing in September if I had known that, but they lied, and are demanding I stay in contract. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Total money pit, with no actual service.

Horrible company...these are the words I like to start off with ..I sold my house the previous buyer was supposed to call and setup but once they read the reviews they wanted nothing to do with NorthStar now I'm stuck on getting billed no longer have the equipment.all they want me to do is sign another 5 yr contract .no help at all.also through the 2yrs of having the service non stop problems with the equipment.avoid avoid this company

After 5 years with northstar alarm It's time to end the contract. Being senior retired on fix income, I want to terminate service of $49.99 a month I paid for 5 years. Couldn't wait. Called them 50 days before contract ends, they're telling me Im supposed send a letter 60 days before the contract ends. I was told by the salesman 30 days before the contract ends. But people need to read the contract. Salesman says something different than the contract. Don't sign with this long contract and they will get you again. Now I have to pay another 24 months cause I miss the 60 days.

A door knocker told me they could install cameras, a new doorbell and alarm for $48 per month. I went forward because I was having problems with an autistic kid in my neighborhood that kept coming into my yard. I was told by the police that I should get a camera. Immediately after they installed the cameras, NOTHING WORKED! I had their tech out 8-9 times. I had Cox out 10-20 times. Everyone blaming the other. The Northstar tech stopped responding and I finally broke down and had a mesh wifi system installed and I called Northstar directly, told them what was going on and that I could not get the cameras to work. They sent out another tech ($99) who immediately told me that I had too many cameras and that I had been taken advantage of. His fix was to unplug 3 cameras..... So now I have 3 cameras and a doorbell that I am paying for that I cannot use. I was told that the alarm system would work with my Alexa devices. That I could say 'show me my front camera' or talk to people through the doorbell... ALL LIES. It does NOT work with Alexa. You cannot see the doorbell and if someone does ring the bell, you have to log into the app and talk through a 2 way radio. After a month, I removed the Skybell and reinstalled my ring doorbell because at least it works with Alexa and you can talk and listen to people at the door. They lied about the bill too. That $48 bill is actually almost $70 and the equipment is almost $4000. Just avoid this company!!!

I have had 2 major system failures with NorthStar since the end of January. The first one was discovered during an actual home invasion in which the alarm company did not contact police or any of my emergency contacts. Luckily, I was not incapacitated by the intruder and was able to call 911. The second failure with NorthStar occurred this week when my motion detector on my window was triggered and my siren did not sound. I was asleep and woke up to police at my door 20 minutes after the alarm was triggered. Despite my system failing to perform basic functions during two critical situations in less than 4 months, NorthStar is refusing to let me out of my contract unless I pay them $2,204.51. Below are some of my recent interactions with the company after extensive hold times: Cole in customer service- I spoke with him on Tuesday and he assured me a manager would call me on Wednesday. I never heard from anyone. Steven in technical support- He yawned in my ear and told me I would have a new sensor to replace my faulty one within 5-7 business days during which time I would have to bypass the sensor on my window. Linda the manager- I spoke with her last night after I had to call again due to not hearing from anyone on Wednesday. She confirmed I could not get out of my contract without giving NorthStar more of my money. She provided me with the address where I can serve a lawsuit for breach of contract. Ashlyn in customer service- I spoke with her to request a copy of my contract. She never sent it. David in customer service- I spoke to him to get the contract Ashlyn never sent.

They sold the monitoring system to somebody else. They didn't manage to stay in business long enough. The monitoring fee is higher than I would want to pay. I have a contract with them for a bunch of years so I don't have a choice but to use them.

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Their real good about is resetting alarm. They called immediately and they monitor very well. The only complain we have is the battery they put in we had to replaced all of them.

Installation in 2010 was okay. Alarm has worked and they respond. That's not the problem.
My frustrations with this company began a few years ago when they called my cell phone, which is the primary and emergency number listed with their service, ostensibly to have me participate in a survey. At the time I was on vacation, hiking in the mountains. When I got back into some sort of cell phone range, I could only see there was a voice mail from a number in Utah, which is where the company is located. Panicked that someone had broken into my home, I had to drive over five miles just to get into cell phone calling range so I could return their call, only to find out they wanted me to do a phone survey, probably with a sales pitch at the end of it. I was plenty mad and let them know it and asked them under NO circumstances should they call my emergency number for anything other than alarm emergencies. They apologized and said they would not do that again. Yet in the next year or two they did so twice, trying to get me to "lock in my fee" and sign on for an extra five years. Again I asked them not to call my emergency number for sales pitches. I got kind of a dumb response like "Well how are we supposed to contact you then?" I reminded them that they have my email address and home address. Duh. Finally I received a sketchy email asking me to "sign" the online contract, which didn't spell out very much, and sign up for five more years. I responded that I needed to see a contract outlining what I would be signing up for. They eventually did send something via regular mail. I looked it over and considering I'm not really thrilled with Northstar and don't expect to be in my home another five years, I politely declined and said when my current contract ends in June 2015 I will decide what to do then.
Today, on a Sunday afternoon, a sales guy from Northstar shows up on my doorstep, totally unannounced, to explain changes in their service. At first I refused to let him in, saying the company should let people know if they're going to send around a representative and that I didn't feel comfortable about the surprise visit. After talking a few minutes, I was convinced he really was from Northstar and let him in. He said the mechanism in the current alarm box which allows 2G cellular notification to the company when the alarm goes off (as opposed to a telephone landline) was being discontinued by the cellular service they use (he did not say which provider) and they needed to upgrade my system, install new alarm box, and it would be done at their cost. The second papaerwork he pulled out for me to sign had a new 60 month contract already filled in, and I told him I didn't want to sign up for another five years. We went round and round about why and how long I might be here, etc., which frankly is none of his business. He started quoting things from the original contract that sounded suspect, so I said I needed  time to look at this one before signing, since I didn't remember those things from the first one. He said if they needed to send a representative out again to do the final contract signing they would need to charge me a technician fee. That's when I kind of lost it. They arrive unannounced to pressure me into another contract for a minimum of three years and hopefully five years, then if I want time to actually READ the contract they're putting before me, it will cost me a technician fee. What kind of business practice is that?  I asked him to leave.
Since I have less than a year left on the current contract, I will first try to find out from them when the  current alarm system goes dysfunctional due to their cellular supplier no longer supporting 2G ? I have little hope that I will get an answer to that ? and then simply pay off the contract and go in search of a more reputable alarm company. 

alarm service wasn't bad but how do you trust a company with your security when no one in the office tells the truth?

Not what they promised and locked into a 5 year contract

We signed a 60 months contract with them at a very high monitoring rate of $45 a month. That was our fault, we were uninformed as to what the competition charged at the time. We honored our contract with no argument, and never missing a payment. The contract was up 8-7-14. We contacted them attempting to cancel any future service on 8-20-14. We were told that to cancel our service we had to provide written instructions to do so at least 60 days prior to the end of the contract or that we would be automatically signed up for another 18 month contract. 

Major complaints here are
1. The fact that any company now-a-days requires written instruction to do anything is just laughable. Is this 1970?
2. They are forcing us into 18 more months and will not release us from the contract.
3. Nobody told us about this fine print clause.
4. Nobody attempted to contact us prior to the end of our contract to discuss the end of our contract.

The Northstar Home Alarm Sales Representative came to my home and stated that the alarm system panel I had was outdated and that the company I was currently with was only the monitoring service and would not repair or address any problems with the panel (panel was not outdated and my then service is more than just a monitoring service).  The Rep offered me the same services I currently had and included other amenities such as the temperature control panel,  door lock and a camera for about $15.00 more than the cost of my current service.  All items were included except for the camera.  I was told they did not currently have one on hand but would return in the next couple of days to install it,  Northstar never returned so I tried to cancel the agreement but was told I was four (4) days too late to cancel.  I was contacted by the Sales Rep who tried to tell that he did not mislead me. After I reminded him of what he told me, he then said he was going to have to change the way he stated things.  He then promised me the camera installation (which never happened) and three (3) months of free service (payment was deducted out of my bank account for the first month).  Northstar did not follow through on anything they have promised and will not let me cancel the agreement.  I will not recommend them.  I would advise you not use them at all.

I love them. The price is decent but I don't know what other companies are charging.

It took me 5 phone calls in order to get an appointment scheduled.  They sent someone out that was obviously not qualified, he spent the whole time calling the company to ask them differerent questions.  He left holes in my wall that were left for me to fix.  The alarm system that the put in has not worked correctly, when the alarm sounds off the code they gave us to put in to shut the alarm off does not usually work.  We have had to wait before for them to call while the alarm was going off in order to get it turned off.  I called them again last Wednesday to let them know that the issue was still not resolved.  They informed me that it would be at least a week before they would be able to come out and fix the issue.  I asked them if they would take out the security system and refund me my money which they refused to do.  I would recommend avoiding this company at all costs, they tell you one thing and they don't deliver.  They are unreliable and have horrible customer service.

In about two months, we tried to test the system but it failed.  Eventually we got a repairman to come out and fix it.  He said this happens quite often.  We knew it was a five year deal but did not know (although I did initial it in the contract) that I had to give a 60 day notice to cancel or it would extend for another 18 months.  I called on 4/29/13 to cancel and was told I could not.  The woman on the phone was not pleasant.  She did give me a fax number to send a cancellation request to, which I did, but have not heard anything in three weeks.

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They start out lying and it gets worse from there. The price is terrible because it is higher than everyone else.

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The guy was just walking around and he asked me if I could sign and by the end of it I ended up signing a contract.  He was doing door to door service.  My friend said that I should be more careful doing something like that.  He went online and found that they had 1 or 2 good reports.  When the guy came in with the stuff to install it I told him that I didn’t want him to install it.  Northstar is $49.55 a month and it’s a contract for 5 years and I’ve got another system on my door which was used by the lady that I bought the house from and they are $27.95 a month with 1 year contract.  They are going to come out next week.  I informed the guy from Northstar that I was canceling it.  They don’t even have the license to work here.  The guy called me back and asked me to look on the back of the contract to see if he had the license.  He said that I could say anything bad about him and not about his company.  He said that he would bring the voided check which would be here the next day.  I haven’t heard from him and that was 2 days ago.  I also told him that I still had 3 days to cancel the contract and that I’m going to fill in a certified mail.  He told me that I didn’t have to do that as I hadn’t got any equipment and no money had been passed to him.  The other company guy told me that he would have called the bank had he been in my place.  I called the bank and they asked me to call them back every 2 or 3 days until they presented the check so that I could go and sign something and stop it.  It said on the website that it was almost impossible to get him to stop taking money out of the account.  He was nice when he called me back and when I told him that he had 2 or 3 reports that were good and about 138 to the Better Business Bureau that were really bad.  He used the same approach.  It’s a rip off.  The guy from the other company told me that he knew what the guy from Northstar would have told me exactly.  He told me that I had some hardware installed in the phone and it was going to cost me less money and he was just looking for people.  They don’t use any hardware.  I just got conned for anything that he just said more or less.  He was the nicest guy.  I made a judgment call.  I called the company and asked them if he worked for them and they said that he did work for them.  When I tried to fax the cancelled document to them they never answered the fax machine.  I went ahead and took it to the post office and did it.  They are almost twice as much and 4 years longer.  They said that the merchant detector wouldn’t go off the dogs, but it does.  It stopped working for about 4 months and I can’t get a hold of them and they can’t do this and they can’t do that.  I don’t think it’s a very good company.  I have a mail drop in my door and he had to come and drop the check.  He never showed up.  It’s a voided check.  He hasn’t put any equipment here and he can take me to court and sue me.  They are out of Utah, but they go from state to state.  The man that I talked to from another company works in Oklahoma and they’ve been there for 30 years.  He said that the lady before me used him.  He also said that he could tell me whatever the guy had told me word to word and he did.  Everything that was told to me was read back to me by my friend because I don’t have internet.  I cancelled it and I couldn’t check myself.  The guy was a couple of hours late, but I didn’t let him come in.  The guy comes across as really clean cut and nice young man.  I’m not sure that they are not licensed.  He said that it was on the back and when I looked there wasn’t a license number there.  I would not recommend them and I’ll never use them in the future.                          

We sold the house and moved to Florida (they do not have services in this state), but this is not reason to terminate the contract! They send me the note saying: “I am sorry to hear that you are no longer using the alarm. The cancellation of your account is currently pending and will be effective Nov of 2010. “We moved Sep 2009. When I talk to them on the phone, in August Nors Star "friendly" customer service in most “polite” form told me it is NORMAL to keep paying for the new owner of the property another year! We close bank account right after we moved, so they keep sending me bills in a mail!

Our experience has not been good. We've had two major issues with them. First, our home was burglarized in November 2008. The alarm system told them that our back door was broken into at 11:50 am. They turned off the sounding alarm in order to talk to somebody in the house. I got home at a few minutes after noon. When I came in, I went to disarm the alarm and saw that it said the back door was open. Upon inspection, I saw that the back door was kicked in and some jewelry was on the floor and in the yard. The alarm was not going off. When I finally received a call from the alarm company, I was already on the phone with the police. The people at Northstar asked if anything had happened and if I wanted them to call the police and I told them I already had. Even with the ability to monitor sounds in my house, they had done nothing up until this point. Second, on Sunday, June 14, my wife came into the door that leads into our house from the garage. I had turned the alarm on, but when she came in, the alarm did not go off as it should have. I then went to the front door and opened it, and the alarm did not register for that either. We then tried the atrium door and that finally set the alarm off. We contacted Northstar's home office immediately. The person we spoke with told us there was nothing we could do since it was the weekend. When I complained that I felt uncomfortable with that, I was referred to somebody else who told me that it could not be dealt with until the next day. On Monday, I was called and told that a technician would come out, but not for another 24 to 36 hours. Fortunately, the system began to work again early Monday morning. It is now Wednesday, no technician has arrived, and I was told that they had just received notification about our problem and that they would be here on Thursday (considerably longer that what I was initially told).

In 2001 I signed with a sales rep. from NorthStar for installation of a monitored alarm system. He went over the contract, carefully avoiding the specific terms of automatic renewal & contract cancellation. I wasn't thinking about those yet, we had just moved in and knew we'd stay for at least 5 years. The installer came the next day and was prompt and professional. For 5 years and were very happy with the quality of the hardware and the monitoring service, and saw no change when the new company took over our contract. In 2006 we moved and I called to cancel the service. I was told I could cancel, but would still need to pay the balance of a 3-year contract, which had been automatically renewed without any notice other than the fine print of the contract I signed in 2001. This meant another 11 months of $42. The only way to stop paying was to have the new homeowners assume the contract. They did not, and I was stuck paying $450 for a service I wasn't even using. Criminal!