5
Apr
2010
YIKES!
The door-to-door boys of summer are back going door to door and selling burglar alarm systems to unsuspecting families on Oahu again and ripping them off while tying them to a 36 month contract. Even worse, they are telling people the Security One, Inc. is their service company! We are getting calls from people who want us to cancel their contracts or fix their systems. A complete lie and very much against the law. They are operating under new names this year such as Frontier Security Solutions but the scam is the same. Sell and install a system, get that monthly obligation in place and then disappear. Beware! Guru
20
Jul
2009
ASK DOOR TO DOOR THESE QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU LET THEM IN!
Before you give any door to door salesperson information you need to check them out and be sure you want them to know anything about you. If you tell them you don’t have an alarm system, guess what? They have knowledge you will immediately wish you hadn’t given them. If you are interested in what they have to say be sure to ask the following:
1. Are they a company affiliated with a mainland company. Yes, they may have a local address but that doesn’t mean they are a truly “local” company.
2. Is their phone number long distance or an 800 number. Again, if so, they are not local.
3. Do they have a contractor’s license. A Hawaii contractor’s license ALWAYS starts with a C-followed by 4 digits. If they give you a number, call 808 587-3295 or 587-3222 to verify the license is real.
4. Are they selling the monitoring agreement to a mainland company? If so, they can leave town at any time with no obligations to service your account.
5. Do they have installers just waiting to install a system. Don’t fall for it. No good alarm company drives around with installers looking for immediate business.
6. Do NOT give them your social security number and let them run a credit check on you. Who knows where that information is going to end up.
Don’t fall for the “we are in your neighborhood and we want to do free advertising at your house”, or “we like the looks of your house and want to install a free system for you for advertising”. Above all, if you already have a system, don’t fall for “we are here to upgrade you”. I guarantee they are NOT with your alarm company and they have been known to actually lie about it.
BEWARE! BE SMART!
13
Jul
2009
BEWARE THE DOOR TO DOOR
We have a very serious influx of door to door alarm salespersons in Hawaii for the summer and possibly beyond. They are in your neighborhood promising you a free system or trying to take over your current alarm company system. BEWARE! This is a mainland scam that has been identified as a rip-off! No established, LICENSED, local alarm company goes door to door. They have been known to lie about being your current company, having a contractor’s license and being a local company. Check them out before you let them in the door. Tomorrow I will give you some things to ask them that will reveal who they really are. In the meantime, if someone at your door asks if you have an alarm system just say yes, and it is a good one.