Story Created:
Jun 7, 2009 at 10:16 PM CST
Story Updated:
Jun 8, 2009 at 4:18 PM CST
Buyer beware--that's what one Springfield woman hopes others learn from her experience with door-to-door security salesmen.
86-year-old Vonda Jones is getting her original Atlas Security alarm reinstalled, after she says a door-to-door salesman took it out and installed a different one.
"I had one and didn't need another one,” says Jones. “I told them that two or three times. I'm happy with what I've got."
But still, she says the salesman put a new one in anyway.
She isn't the only Atlas Security customer to say salesmen from another company used forceful sales tactics on her.
"We've had customers call and say they're working with the police department to install systems,” says Jon Adams, with Atlas Security. “We've had people call and say they're working with manufacturer of alarm systems because recalls have taken place, and they need to install new alarm system."
For Jones, the door-to-door salesman was from Pinnacle Security, a company based in Utah.
In the past three years, more than 500 people complained to the Better Business Bureau about Pinnacle Security. Twenty people complained to the Missouri Attorney General. Atlas Security says people should watch out for all door-to-door security salesmen.
“Sometimes these employees are temporary employees that don't have any link to the company, and so they just want their commission,” says Adams. “If down the road there's a problem, they don't really care."
Because of what she calls forceful selling, Vonda Jones ended up with a security system she didn't want and that would cost her more every month.
"I told him I think I would rather wait,” recalls Jones. “And he said, 'well, we'll go ahead and sign you up.'"
Jones just hopes her mistake helps warn others to beware. Atlas Security says most of its customer complaints have come from elderly customers on the west side of Springfield. KSPR contacted Pinnacle Security for a response to the complaints. The company had no comment.
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