I have been a CPI customer since 2013 after having a terrible experience with ADT. I got CPI after someone tried to break into my house a couple of times. I am a renter and got a renter's package while living in a different house. I had been told that when I moved, I could move the system with me at no cost (this was a major requirement for me as I am a renter and do not wish to pay for installation each time I move).
My landlord at the home where CPI was originally installed decided to sell the house and I had a very short time to move out. I called CPI to let them know I had moved and they stated that there would be a new renter's package installation charge of $299. I didn't understand this since I had been told it would be free to move. The equipment was in the house that I had moved out of and I had no way of getting that equipment. They stated if I had called ahead of time that they could have sent a technician out to move the equipment for $100/hour. The last time they installed, they were there for close to 6 hours. I opted out of that. I decided to wait until my next pay day to get the system installed. While I was not happy with the $299 charge, I knew that it was necessary for me to have the security system in my new home. This was in April of this year. The months got away from me and I realized that I had never scheduled them to come and set it up. I called back (having had no one contact me) and learned that the old system at the house had still been connected (no one was living there). I also realized that they had been charging me each month since then. I had been paying $49/month with no service. I spoke with someone and they stated they would credit my account since I had no service. Then they said that they would setup my system for me at no cost since I had not been contacted and that they were charging me with no system connected. I was pleased with this outcome. I scheduled for a technician to come to my house on a Monday. I scheduled to work from home that day. I never heard from a technician and no one ever showed up.
I contacted CPI and asked where the technician was and I was told that it was never scheduled. This was after I had spent a total of 4 hours on the phone over a couple of days getting this all ironed out. The customer service representatives were nice, but it just took a long time to get things settled.
They rescheduled the installation for that Thursday. They stated they would be at my house between 12-5. A technician would call 30 minutes ahead. I decided to work at the office that morning and work from home that afternoon. While I was at work that morning, the technician called and asked if they could come earlier. I stated I was not available until after 12 and they said they would be by later.
I got home around 12:30 and was on a call at 3:30. I received a call from CPI (not the technician, but customer service) during that call and a voice mail was left. The voice mail stated that my appointment had been cancelled due to non-payment in 2015. I called back and attempted to speak with the person who left the voice mail. I had to leave her a voice mail.
On Friday I received a hand-written card in the mail from CPI and the person I had worked with that said "Thank you for choosing CPI. We look forward to protecting your home." She had put her business card in the note, so I called that number. The extension on the card did not go to that customer service representative. I called back and asked for her specifically. The associate I spoke with stated that she was on a call but she would definitely call me back that night. Two days later, I receive an email from CPI stating that the contract they had sent me to sign was now voided for the following reason: "This sale did not go forward. The contract is void." I have had no time of not making payment since my account has always been automatically debited each month. I am not aware of any situation like this. I also have not received a return call to explain this situation to me.
Oh and did I mention that I if I do not get the system installed, I have to pay the remaining contract cost from the original system which is approximately $1200?