Protection 1 Security Solutions

Protection One billing is the very worst. When we sold our house and the new owner assumed the service, ProtectionOne kept on billing us, despite 8 calls (and supposed resolution) to customer service. Then they referred the non-existent amount to a collection agency. Beware; nearly any other service has to be better than these guys.

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Tadd is an excellent representative for this company.  We have been doing business with them for 20+ years.  He was on time, responsive to my questions, explained what he would be doing.  He left the areas involved clean.  He made sure that I understood how the new key-fob worked before leaving.  He is the best technical specialist we have had from Protection 1 during the time we have had their system installed.  
I also want to acknowledge the excellent work of team at headquarters.  The scheduling system through their office is far superior to what I experienced several years ago trying to set up appointments through the Kent office.  I believe it was Robin who handled my request most efficiently.
Thanks to Tadd and Robin.

They did very well. Had a consultation first and then set up for installation. The technician showed up on time, showed me how to work the system and was on his way.

I've had service with Protection 1 for ~5 years. The initial service and installation was okay though overpriced, at the time I couldn't find many options for someone I could trust that offered cell service monitoring instead of hardwired. So among limited options Protection 1 seemed best (I wish I had Angie's List back then).
I can't fault the service in the last 5 years it has done the job, with no false alarms and prompt calls the couple of times the alarm has gone off (Luckily no actual break in's either). The one negative experience I did have was recently with a door to door salesmen for Protection 1. He approached me while I was in my yard gardening. I cut him off before he started and told him politely I wasn't interested. He tried standard salesman BS with the line "I'm not selling anything", I asked again for him to leave and after firmly cutting him off a third time he gave up. However he decided to put in a snide jab at the end. While walking away he stated "I hope someone call the cops if they cut your phone line and break into your house." This was all ironic since unbeknownst to him I was already a Protection 1 customer. The experience in general put a bad taste in my mouth, Protection 1 should do a better job ensuring all of their employee's represent their company in a positive manner.
My biggest issue with the company came when I more recently when I called to get a quote to add 4 window sensors to cover newly updated windows on my house (After replacing windows they now can open where they did not before). I was quoted $140 per window, $70 per sensor and $70 installation charge per sensor. Now being a bit handy and technically inclined I checked before hand online and found the wireless sensors my system used were standard Honeywell design and could be purchased on Amazon retail for ~$25. I also know that installation means pealing some double back tape and pressing, followed by reprograming the alarm which is consists of a series of key presses on the main panel. I'm not trying to offend professional installers however this was clearly overcharging for the service requested. I complained that the price was unreasonable and was offered a single $25 "Loyal customer" discount. With this the total would have been $535 to install sensors for 4 windows.
I've since decided to replace the system with a competitor (Thanks Angie's list). When I called to cancel Protection 1 offered to install the 4 window sensors for free if I signed a 1 year contract. However the damage was done it should not take a threat to cancel for a business to value my custom.
With the new company I will be getting a completely new systems including all the pieces my old system had, plus the 4 windows, plus smoke/heat detectors (which I didn't have before) and my out of pocket will be ~$300 and the monitoring fee will be a few dollars less per month. In the spirit of full disclosure this is after an Angie's list discount and a discount for signing a 3 year contract. However I priced the same kind of upgrade from the new service for comparison and it would have cost me ~$128 total. So I'm confident that future upgrades will be affordable.

The problems with this alarm system started almost immediately with the motion detectors sensing the movement of my cat. The salesman had assured us that the motion sensors were pet friendly, and would not sense our 8 lb cat. It took them two service calls to come and remove the motion detectors, during which time I was not able to use the security system as intended.
After finally removing the motion detectors, the system worked for about two weeks, and then the controlpad began losing the wireless connection, and dropping offline. I called the customer service center, and ran through the process of purposely setting off the alarms so that they could confirm that the system was in fact not communicating with the monitoring site. Repairing this problem required scheduling another service call. Another week that I'm not getting what I paid for.
The repairman "rebooted" the system, and it appeared to be working again, until about 4 hours later when it once again dropped offline. Another call to the service center, another service call scheduled, another week with no security system.
This time the repairman changed out the wifi card, and once again the system appeared to be working, until two in the morning when it dropped offline again.
After 5 service calls, it was clear to me that Protection One had installed a bad system, and had no idea how to fix it. At that point I sent them an email stating that as of that date 3/19, I wanted the contract cancelled, and my money refunded. It took them 6 weeks to cancel the contract. All that time, I have an unusable security system that I'm paying for.

They have finally removed the system from my house, but I'm still waiting on my refund. I have contacted the general manager Mr. John Holland numerous times by email, telling him the situation, and that I want a refund. While he appeared to be accomodating at first, he had not responded to any of my recent emails, including the one where I told him I was going to review the company on Angies List, and file a complaint with the BBB.
At this point, I am out $333.71, have wasted about 20 hours of my vacation time, waiting for service people to show up, and I have a hole in my wall where they removed the keypad, that I now have to pay to have fixed.

We've had them for approximately 15-16 years, when our alarm goes off, they call us right away, and we're satisfied. We have it hooked up for alarms, fire, and break-ins. We've never had a problem with them and they're very, very good. They are very firendly and professional. I think their price is good, too.

When I need this company, they are there. I had them replace my keypad and they did it right away. In Seattle, now the police will not come in response to alarms. Protection One comes out right away. I will say they provide me with sufficient services. They do tack on additional fees to their bills now though and I have noticed that. They do this because they send out their own people instead of contacting the police. That has upped what they charge. Now I did try and do auto pay with them and they were deducting my money every month instead of two months. That was a bit of a hassle.

OVERALL THE EXPERIENCE WENT WELL. THEY WERE FRIENDLY, HELPFUL. THEY FOLLOW THRU IF I ACCIDENTALLY SET THE ALARM OFF. I WAS GIVEN A VIDEO ON THE ALARM TO HELP ANSWER QUESTIONS ECT

THE EXPERIENCE WAS A GOOD ONE WITH THIS COMPANY. THEY WERE PERSONABLE AND HAD A LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE THAT CAME TO THE HOUSE TO INSPECT WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE. THE INSTALLER WAS QUICK AND EFFICIENT AND PERFORMED THE WORK THAT WAS ASKED OF HIM.

THE SALES REP WAS VERY NICE AND KNOWLEDGEABLE. THE TECHNICIAN WHO DID THE INSTALLATION WAS GOOD, BUT WE HAD PROBLEMS THREE DAYS LATER BECAUSE OF THE WIRING HE DID. WE HAD A PINCHED WIRE. THAT WAS NOT GOOD BECAUSE THEN WE HAD TO WAIT AND IT INTERRUPTED OUR EVENING. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS THEIR PROBLEM, WE HAD TO DEAL WITH IT.

VERY FRIENDLY AND PROFESSIONAL. DIDN'T TRY TO SELL US ON A SYSTEM WE DIDN'T NEED. WE MADE A SECOND APPOINTMENT TO ADD A SMALL PART THAT WOULD GIVE US A BACKUP SYSTEM THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE. THEY WERE PROMPT AND COURTEUS.

PROTECTION ONE WAS PROFESSIONAL AND THOROUGH FOR INSTALLING AND MONITORING OUR ALARM SYSTEM. THERE IS A CHARGE FOR FALSE ALARMS IMPOSED BY THE CITY. THAT IS A NEGATIVE. WE HAVE BEEN IN THE HOUSE 4 YEARS WITHOUT AN INCIDENT.