SNELLVILLE, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Several metro Atlanta residents are claiming home security companies are misrepresenting themselves in phone calls.
Atlanta News First Investigates received multiple emails from viewers after publishing Renaldo Weekes’ story on March 27. He claims a caller posing as an ADT representative told him his alarm battery was low and his system was eligible for replacement.
Weekes said he found out later ADT’s competitor, Skyline Security, a partner with Brinks Home Security, was behind the call.
A viewer who reached out to Consumer Investigator Better Call Harry after seeing Weekes’ story, was Phyllis Bedford. The ADT customer lives in Snellville and says she received a very similar call.
That call was in February from someone she says was claiming they were doing free upgrades in her neighborhood. Bedford says the caller did not identify their company, but she assumed it was ADT because an installer identified the make and model of her alarm system.
“She just said her name and said they would be in the neighborhood updating alarms to 5G, and they would like to come in and evaluate my panel,” Bedford said.
Bedford booked an appointment but then got suspicious. She called the number back the following day but said it had been disconnected. Bedford waited for the installer to call, and when he did, she canceled the appointment.
Atlanta News First Investigates reached out to Skyline and Brinks Home Security about the incident but did not receive a response.
As for Weekes, he said when he realized later it was Skyline Security, he agreed to the switch because the monthly rate was better. He agreed to a five-year contract but admitted he didn’t read all the terms because the installer presented them to him on a tablet, and he quickly scrolled through, initialed and signed the agreement.
After Atlanta News First Investigates got involved, Skyline agreed to terminate the five-year contract.
“Skyline spoke to Mr. Weekes and has resolved his concerns with no further action being necessary. Skyline takes these matters seriously and we are pleased that this matter has been resolved,” an attorney for Skyline told Atlanta News First Investigates.
Brinks issued a statement as well, saying “The Brinks Home team spoke with the third party that sold and installed Mr. Weekes’ alarm system,” a statement from Skyline Security said. “We understand that the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of Mr. Weekes and no further action is necessary. As a company, Brinks Home does not tolerate any misrepresentations of its brand or services and we are pleased that this matter has been resolved.”
In response to these cases, ADT sent this statement to Atlanta News First Investigates.
“ADT understands how inconvenient unwanted solicitations can be for customers,” the company said. “We take these types of matters seriously, and this lawsuit is an example of one of our many efforts to protect our customers from misleading solicitations and our business from competitors who resort to deceptive sales practices.”
ADT Lawsuit
ADT Security recently filed a lawsuit against Skyline Security and several managers in part for “targeting ADT’s customers with deceptive sales practices.”
The lawsuit claims Skyline Security Management “have conspired to steal ADT’s proprietary business information in order to poach thousands of ADT customers throughout the United States.”
They went on to say in the lawsuit that the “stolen trade secrets” allowed them to target and mislead ADT customers. They claim Skyline profited millions of dollars because of this.
Atlanta News First Investigates asked Skyline specifically about the lawsuit, and have not received an official response.
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