ADT Sues Door Knocker Alarm Company – Again – for Poaching Customers

ADT is a huge company, and in the home alarm industry, being big can make you the target of your competitors. Of course, not all of those competing alarm companies are playing by the rules – especially some of the “door knocker” outfits that I have written about before.

One classic door knocker tactic is to “poach” existing customers of other alarm companies, which literally means stealing them. The poachers frequently accomplish this through deceit and fraudulent misrepresentation. However, ADT has the means – and the determination – to fight back. This news article describes exactly how ADT dealt with one door knocker company, and why ADT is suing them… again.

ADT today announced it has filed a second lawsuit against Utah-based Vision Security, LLC to prohibit their sales agents from using deceptive sales pitches, and to obtain further damages and attorney fees. The new lawsuit comes just two months after Vision settled with ADT and agreed to a permanent injunction for engaging in similar practices.

The Truth Comes Out…

Previously, Vision stated it did not tolerate deceptive sales practices, and customer complaints likely came from isolated "rogue" sales agents. However, following the August settlement, former Vision Security managers provided ADT with copies of audio and video recordings of Vision sales agent training sessions. As alleged in the lawsuit, those recordings show Vision has been training its sales force to sell alarm systems by posing as GE technicians, making service calls to upgrade customers' alarm panels at no cost, at the direction of local police and fire departments.

And It’s Pretty Ugly

"The new revelation in our lawsuit alleges that Vision trained more than one hundred sales agents to use false sales pitches and urged them to record and share these pitches with others," said Hannah Lim, chief litigation officer at ADT. "We will continue to litigate aggressively against companies that misrepresent ADT to consumers."

Poaching is one of the biggest complaints against door knockers, along with overly aggressive sales tactics and the fraudulent and deceptive practices that result in fines, lawsuits, and complaints all across the US. And poaching was worse this past summer than ever before. Many door knocking sales reps would rather try to steal an existing alarm subscriber than create a new one – and that’s in part because it’s getting harder to sell door-to-door.

Hard to Poach FrontPoint

From time to time we get a report from one of our customers when a door knocker tried to pretend he was from FrontPoint. Of course, that approach never works: we have never sent salespeople door-to-door, and don’t intend to start. Plus, our systems are easily set up by the end-user in half an hour, so we don’t need to be in the home. And since all our customers can rely on safer cellular monitoring, there is nothing to upgrade there.

Plus, almost every FrontPoint system provides advanced interactive services – like remote arm/disarm and the text or email notifications about anything happening in your home. You can even get in-home live video and home automation features. FrontPoint customers are also paying less than they would from a door knocker: our Ultimate level of monitoring, which includes every service we offer, costs $49.99: one nationwide door knocker sells the exact same suite of services for $68.99.

Reputation Really Matters

But don’t take my word for it. Just search the Internet for “FrontPoint reviews,” and you’ll find consistently great reports, much of them having to do with the quality of our people, and our high levels of helpfulness, integrity, and transparency. As the leader in wireless home security, and the #1 ranked home alarm company in the US, FrontPoint is committed to your safety and security – and that means honest sales and advertising, no hidden fees, the best technology at the best price, and world-class service. Now that is peace of mind.