CPI Security Systems

Unethical business practices. My husband and I have been transferred for his job (out of state) and we have sold our home, CPI will cancel our services, however, we will need to either continue to pay the monthly fee of $ 49.95 for the next three years or buy out 75% of the contract. They cannot transfer the services to our new home and the new owners of our sold home do not want to use CPI. What a mess — what horrible customer service! What ever happened to doing the right thing for a customer in a situation that is out of their control. Terrible, terrible, terrible! Countless hours on the phone with no solution and what’s even worse is that the entire time we are talking to their customer service staff, we feel like they are trying to constantly pull a «fast one» on us or lead us to believe they can help, yet there is always fine print they don’t disclose. I guess the same thing happens when they get you to sign their contract in the first place. It’s no wonder they have a 5 year contract, no one would want their services — they have to trap you! Yikes!

The worst experience I ever had. Simply, their customer support consists of bunch of morons! It was a terrible experience from the beginning. They offer me 6 month discount but they charged me full premium! I had to call over 4 to 6 times and lose my temper to get them do 3 month only! Wore, when i tried to cancel the service, I had to call many times to be told that I have to write a letter! I wrote the letter in August but they continued to charge me the full premium till now! Called again and not only they never apologized for their incompetence, they insist of charging me for additional 2 month after writing the letter, which was already 3 months after I started calling to cancel the service! Avoid them at any cost!

Suckered my wife into a 5 year contract with a 75 percent early termination fee. Had it for 2 weeks and I called them because that’s outrageous and they said there was nothing they could do.

We have experienced multiple problems with the security system. On multiple occasions while we have been out of town the security system has activated and the motion sensor detected someone in my residence. After viewing the video footage and having neighbors check the home there is nothing inside the house. CPI said that there must have been something inside the house that set off the alarm even though I was watching the video footage and there was nothing there. I live in a city that charges you after multiple activations. CPI finally agreed to replace the monitoring console and the motion detector. Approximately two weeks later I was notified that the power console had a low battery and I was informed by CPI security that my power outlet location the system is plugged into was not operating. I plugged in an additional item into the outlet and it was working fine. Now CPI security wants to charge me $ 75 for an emergency visit to fix the problem even though I’m covered under my protection warranty. I do not recommend this system to anyone. Go with ADT, they are much better system.

Don’t use this company! I have CPI service for a few years and when I go to cancel it no one ever calls you back. They don’t show up

Worst experience with any kind of business (PERIOD).
I scheduled an appointment with them 2 weeks ago and they came late, after spending 2 hrs, the technician said he can’t install it (and it was just an upgrade from the previous owners system) and he said he have to reschedule it. I rescheduled it and they called me the same day saying they have to change the appointment to earlier that day because camera installation takes long time but I told them I can’t and I arranged my whole schedule (my patients and other commitments) to be available as we agreed up on and it’s not my fault that someone overlooked it. I finally agreed after talking to their supervisor to come install it without a camera. I waited 4 hours at home and I kept calling them and they keep saying someone on the way until finally someone at almost 7pm said we have to reschedule again! I told them they are not getting my business and none of my family or people around me especially with this kind of service even before starting! They did not care about the inconvenience for me, for my patients and also my financial losses not working. I would give them ZERO stars if I could

The WORST customer service. Do NOT use CPI. We ended up going with them because the previous owners had a system already installed, worst decision! Trying to talk to their customer service is painful, they can’t give any straight answer over the phone and then expect you to pay $ 50 service charge for a tech to come out… no even knowing if what i’m asking for is possible. They are trying to charge $ 500 for window sensors… seriously? I called ADT and they charge $ 200. I can’t wait until my contract is up so we can switch to ADT immediately!

Do you remember when you were a kid and you wrote up a fake contract and convinced brother/​sister/​cousin/​friend to sign it? It stated something to the effect that they were now your servant and all of their possessions and toys now belonged to you. This is what CPI does.
I signed a contract and I will now be billed $ 1800 to cancel my service. I say billed because there is no way in hell I will ever pay this. All of their contracts are 5 years and any updates immediately extend your contract 5 more years. I am moving out of state and out of their service area. Really???
I look forward to dealing with their collections douchebags and berating them every time they call.
Just an FYI for all of you. If they report you to a credit agency it will have little effect on you getting credit. As I stated, this is an easy explanation to your bank, credit union, or mortgage company. They will completely ignore your credit history with CPI. They don’t care about some company trying to bill you for services they don’t provide.

The worst customer service I have ever experienced… and I work in IT! CPI does «OK» as long as the money keeps coming in, but once we attempted to end our service when we sold our house, they could not have been less helpful. When my wife called to end our service, the customer rep said that we were liable for service since we recently upgraded our system. That was fine, but my wife asked for a reduced amount as we had been loyal customers for 13 years. While initially agreeing to cut the amount in half, the customer rep never confirmed in email despite promising to do so, and repeated requests over the next few weeks to remedy the situation were unsuccessful. Then as closing date neared, we called to resolve the issue once again and they wanted the name and contact information of the buyer. We indicated that we would not provide that information as it was not appropriate to do so. Once we moved out of the house we thought that they had closed our account… Wrong. They merely «froze» our account instead of closing it like we requested. When we asked why they would do that, they indicated that it was for our benefit so that they could «transfer» the system to our new house. At this point I wouldn’t let them put a security system on a doll house. I have have experienced lousy customer service before, but I have seldom seen a company treat a long time customer so poorly. Whatever goodwill they had built up with us in 13 years they lost in a few weeks, and didn’t seem to care less about it.

Have been told by 2 representatives my fee would be waived. Now I’ve received a bill for that fee for the 3^rd time saying it’s my final warning — I called they tell me those employees were wrong and I owe the fee and have charged me late fees. They harass my everyday with phones call. I call and talk with them and ask for a supervisor and NEVER get a call back. It’s absolutely ridiculous. They should honor their employees word. And if they’re going to harass me all the time they should call me back when I request to speak with supervisors. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE!

No matter what you do, do not deal with CPI Security.
I inherited a security system from the previous homeowner, so I kept up with CPI for a few years. I ultimately decided the system wasn’t worth it and discontinued the service after the contract was up. They sent a person out to disarm the system.
This technician only took out part of the system, so a few months later, the system started beeping incessantly. When I called them to ask how to disarm it, I got bad information from the first two customer service people. Then the third one told me the awful truth: somewhere in the house, and they couldn’t tell me where, there was a small transformer I needed to find and disconnect.
Shouldn’t the person who came out and disarmed the system have taken care of that, I asked? Sure, but they didn’t.
Can someone come out and help me find this thing, I asked? Nope, they said: they can’t schedule service calls for non-​customers.
So I just have to put up with the beeping until someday I find it? Believe it or not, they told me yes.
As I write this I am beginning the process of going through my house for the fourth time. They won’t help me. Don’t ever deal with them.

Clark Short was a very friendly and professional person to deal with. Almost.
He met with us several times and many phone calls to understand what our needs were. Gave me a quote and set an installation date and time. But in installation day they didn’t show up. After several calls he finally told me his boss wouldn’t allow them to do the installation. This went in for several days and I never was really given a reason for the change in position. Clark was in a bad position between me and his boss. But I still don’t know why they didn’t do what they said they could do.
I would not do business with CPI and don’t recommend you to either.

Avoid CPI Security for the same reasons mentioned by a previous reviewer. They will push a 5 year contract with the clause that you can move the service with you if you move to a new home during that time. However, if you move out of their service area, you will be responsible for the remainder of the contract. They are more focused on collecting the full 5 year contract than providing decent customer service or having a repeat customer. The service was good while I was living in their service area, but in my opinion it is not worth the hassle or potential liability if you move. I ended up paying for 2 years of service that I did not use and that CPI did not have to provide monitoring service.

So far I have not had an experience with the actual security system so my review has nothing to do with that. My review is regarding the sales representative that came to my door and the following customer service.
He was friendly and seemed informative on the day he came to my house. He was able to answer all of our questions and gave us a deal that we were fine with. The problems happened later when we found out what he’d told us wasn’t true.
I like to keep a paper record of bills for a period of time, even just an email copy is fine. CPI does not send out a bill if you sign up for autodraft. Something the rep assured us was not the case. I asked specifically for a bill and he assured me that it would come in the mail every month. They don’t even send an email reminder that a draft is being taken out.
When I called their customer service I was told that I should have negotiated that at the time of purchase and if I wanted a bill I would have to pay the full year up front. Never mind the fact that I had «negotiated» at the time of purchase.
I ended up speaking with their customer service three different times. The first told me that she had set everything up and that I would receive a bill in the mail. Then they called my husband, who is listed as a secondary contact, after no attempt to contact me, and told him that they would not be able to send a bill.
My experience with CPI is that they tell you what you want to hear and then continue doing whatever they want. I would not recommend based on their seriously lacking customer service.

While you have service, enjoy it, but if you ever want to discontinue or move, be forwarned. They «require» a 60-​day notice of stoppage of service. I just learned about this this very morning. I moved a month ago after calling and writing a letter to stop service prior to the move. They debited my account this month for service that I have not had for a month. If there is a reason for this other than money-​grubbing, I do not know what it is.

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. My family relocated out of the area and the company is mandating that we pay for the ADDITIONAL 31 months of the contract. Due to the poor customer reviews, the new homeowner declined using CPI. Now we have to foot the bill. BEWARE! They are more concerned about getting your money and locking in a contract as opposed to actually providing decent service. I expect this company will just go downhill from here… They could care less about how they are perceived.

Absolutely the worst company I have ever worked with. If this mess hadn’t happened to me personally, I would not believe it. This company employs criminals. They stand behind their criminal employees in the wake of overwhelming evidence to their deeds. They cannot be trusted. I will never allow anyone from this company on the premises of my property again and advise everyone I know to beware.
Here is my complaint:
CPI installer (assistant to the lead installer) stole and consumed 9 beers from my refrigerator in the basement of my home while they were on premises to install my home security system.
How do I know this?:
— I found empty beer bottles stashed in trashcans, furniture (dresser), tossed on the ground outside where the CPI van was parked for the day. Some of the beer consumed was specialty brews and I can confirm all came from my fridge (the perp did not bring it with him).
— CPI is the only company who had the access and the time to do such a deed
Here’s how the rest of the story went:
— When confronted about what we found, the initial comment from the perp’s partner was deep regret and apology telling me that this was not the first time this had happened, but the other incident was not conclusive due to teenagers in the house. We have no kids and noone else had been in the house in the basement. The non-​perp installer is a good man and did not know what was happening that day. He was busy doing his job.
— When the matter was taken to management, the mood changed and the walls started going up.
— The perp denied the action and instead of investigating the matter further (as I offered to cooperate with), management chose to close the case and write it off as «he said, she said». Nevermind that I have 8 of the 9 bottles/​cans with fingerprints and saliva DNA evidence. «he said, she said» is their stance.
— A police report was filed however we chose not to press charges since in essence the «theft» was ~$ 12 worth of beer, however the real crime was the violation of trust and our privacy. Getting our $ 12 back was not the issue.
— Although I was told «any reasonable request» for compensation would be handled, CPI and I have considerably different opinions on what is reasonable in a situation like this.
— In lieu of asking for compensation, I asked the manager I was dealing with to tell me what he thought was fair in a situation like this. I was offered 1 month of free monitoring. (~$ 50).
— In response I requested ~$ 300 – 400 worth of hardware to secure a vulnerable spot in my system and told them the $ 50 offer for compensation for being robbed and having my privacy violated (the perp not only went through my fridge but also the furniture in my bedrooms where we found empty bottles and spend time in our office with financial documents) was a little bit insulting.
— Management considered my request «outrageous».
— I asked if they would release me from my contract and they agreed.
The release of contract:
— This was the last ridiculous act the company pulled. Had this gone smoothly, I would feel less compelled to smear their name like this in a public forum. For those still considering if CPI is OK to work with or not, you can read on in my Better Business Bureau complaint (#11 081 576 with Eastern NC) «
;.
— Filing a complaint with the BBB was the only way I could get CPI to return my calls or emails.
I’ve tried throughout to be fair in all this and been absolutely dumbfounded by the response of CPI’s staff top to bottom. I don’t trust them as far as I can spit and don’t advise anyone else to either. Buyer beware!

I shopped around and found CPI to be the best bang for your buck and they are a NC based business not corporate. Mike Moffit is who I worked with 919−669−8144
and he was a pleasure to work with. On time for the meeting, was flexible and very honest about what we really needed as far as equipment was concerned. He didn’t try and sell me on something I didn’t need. After 6 months of using their service I am very happy with CPI security and highly recommend them to anyone.

This home security company provided us with, hands down, the best customer service I’ve ever received. They like to get things done.
After getting a glowing referral from someone, I called them in the morning to learn more about their services. They sent someone to our home an hour later to give us the rundown. Once we understood what we were signing up for, he sent over a tech immediately. There was a small technical problem (and just for some balance here, it took a few people to figure it out), but various people worked until 9pm to get it resolved — all in the same day (this was a welcome surprise after DirecTV said it would take one month to get an appt. to set up the dish). All of the service people were nice and personable. Big gold star.