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Protect America Home Security
Smart Home System Install or Service, Alarm or Security System Installation, Alarm or Security System Repair,
About us
Additional contact - Matthew Gingras. Additional email - matthew@protectamerica.com. Additional phone number - (800) 951-5111 ext. 8305
Business highlights
Emergency services offered
34 years of experience
Services we offer
Monitored safety equipment, Residential home security systems. Small business security systems. GPS tracking. Video surveillance. Wireless home security. Home Automation systems, carbon monoxide detectors, flood detectors. Window alarms. Door alarms., freeze detectors, smoke detectors
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Reviews
3.7167 Reviews
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 50% | ||
| 14% | ||
| 7% | ||
| 13% | ||
| 17% |
Showing 1-25 of 167 reviews
Christopher K.
May 2020
PROTECT AMERICA, a home alarm company based in Austin, Texas Run, don’t walk away from this company. They are dishonest, disreputable and incompetent. After signing up with them and paying them $216 for 4 months at $54 per, I cancelled the account for non-performance. They didn’t install the alarm system and they refused to re-negotiate in response to changed circumstances. They initiated a belligerent letter and phone campaign that was unceasing. They also filed false information with Experian dinging my credit. Although I paid them $216 and owed them nothing, they filed a false credit report with a preposterously high amount - $2,357 – a blatant lie, high enough to cause trouble for my credit Don’t do anything with this company - they are bad actors
Terrance K.
Dec 2017
Protect America was by far the worst alarm system. They make you call in every month to make sure everything is working and they state if I don’t they are not helping liable for anything that happens. The worst part is customer service. Because I have a call every month there’s so much time wasted being placed on hold. I tried to cancel after my three years with that. It only gets worse. I called in September and they stated that it would only charge me for October. Come November I was charged again stating that I had to fill out something online that was emailed to me. How does this make any sense what I was told that I was only responsible until October? I called back multiple times trying to speak to a supervisor and after the runaround, the supervisor kept on repeating the same thing over and over again stating that I have to fill it out online and the phone call does not count. Definitely seek your security need somewhere else because if you go with Protect America you will have headaches lasting 3 years. If anyone from that company is willing to contact me please do as I have also filed a complaint with the BBB. Protect America is the WORST company that I have ever dealt with. I would give them '0' or less than zero stars. I am a customer of Protect America for about 1 year. It became apparent that I needed new equipment so the person I talked with said that their new equipment is very easy to install--just 10 minutes and all I had to do was sign their 3-year contract and they'd send the new equipment to me. I signed it and received the equipment. I began the install with one of Protect America's tech guys--however, it took 2 hours (not 10 minutes) and still did not work. I found the equipment to be cheap and difficult to use (sensors would not attach etc.). Finally, the tech said that I would need additional equipment like a 'radio wave box'. At this point, I said that I did not want the equipment & that I am sending it back--Protect America provided me with a printed label. I talked to supervisors and others at Protect America but no one would do anything but suggest sending me more equipment--and all would state the contract cannot be changed. Protect America (which I now call Scam America) continued to harass my husband and me by calling us to pay their monitoring fee for the length of the 3-year contract-- sometimes calling us 3 times a day! They continue to email invoices to me (which they say is for 'monitoring') and now they are threatening to take this matter to collections! I have spoken to supervisors, sent a letter to the corporate office, an email to the CEO ...all to no avail. As stated, they are demanding that I pay for monitoring (which they are not doing) on monthly bases for the full term of the contract namely 3 years. I am very upset with this company and will NEVER do business with them again. I regret having anything to do with them and have already posted a complaint with the FTC. I'm not sure why this company would treat customers this way--it just seems like they do not care. I am happy to offer my negative review and I sincerely hope that this company takes the copious negative reviews as a sign that they should change their business practices...but I do not think they care to do so!! Beware if you are considering using their services! Later, I called Protect America on 12/07/17 to cancel my service related to budgeting issues. They kindly connected me to someone in customer service to try to retain me as a customer. The deal the lady offered me was a $250 Visa gift card, 4 months free of service, and a decrease in my monthly rate to $34.99 from $45.00. Agreeing to this would start a 36-month contract. I asked her several times what my new monthly rate would be. I was assured it was going to be $34.99. This is the first month that I've been charged since my 4 months of free service is up. I noticed they deducted the $45.00 from my account. I called customer service today. I was treated rudely and was told that the monthly amount looked like it was decreased if I took into account the $250 gift card, and 4 months of free service. I explained that I wouldn't have agreed to that because the point was to decrease or eliminate my monthly bill. I asked them to pull the recorded call.They told me that she never said it would be decreased, which is completely false. That was the basis of the conversation. My email that has the link saved to view my agreement won't open. It tells me that there's an error in the code. After an hour and a half on the phone, I was told that there was nothing they would do to help me. PROTECT AMERICA, shame on you. If only the company would call me so we can finally close out my account, with no more monthly charges! I am one unhappy customer and the world needs to know about the terrible business practices adopted by Protect America!
Roddy A.
Nov 2017
Many phone calls, always suggest something else when one of their products won't work. A real disappointing company and experience. Dont' use them.
Patricia S.
Jun 2017
Please see above.
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member: We appreciate the time taken to share your experience with us. As per Protect America'[Member Information Removed] Agreement terms and conditions, the term is for 36 months and a 30 day written notice is required to process cancellation of the account at the end of the term. We reviewed the account and calls. This information was provided on the initial recorded sales call dated October 08, 2012 and summarized again on May 16, 2017. We are able to provide a copy of the Agreement for further review. The balance on the account is valid. Please feel free to contact us at 1(800) 951-5111 option 4 should you have any additional questions or concerns."
Emily W.
May 2017
No one could explain about the contract
Joy J.
Apr 2017
We installed it ourselves. For all the equipment and everything it was $103. The price was very good because my monthly payment was only $49 a month. I like them better and I have heard too many horror stories for another company. Responsiveness, I would have to give them a 100%. I have set the alarm off by opening the door without turning it off and they were right on top of it to call and make sure we were okay. I love it. I feel safe. The quality is good. We own our equipment so when we move it will go with us. We have 9 sensors that came with that plus the other one that will go off when you move around, the motion sensor. I have had no bad problems at all. They are alert and call right away to make sure we are okay. I have the key fob and also it is battery operated if the power goes out. It is wireless and I can program it from my phone.
Gus K.
Mar 2017
Protect America is an alarm company that makes a great deal of its profit through their monitoring service. If you cancel, as you would with the Internet, phone, etc; they consider themselves separate and apart from consumer fraud prevention initiatives. They require an ADDITIONAL step. You must send them a physical letter or a "signed" email in addition to the cancellation phone call. I think they make a great deal of money through this deceptive practice. Despite having satisfied both criteria (which in my opinion is far too complicated anyways), they continued to charge me for months after I cancelled. The fine print of their contract seems to me purposely placed to deceive customers. I recommend avoiding Protect America.
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Protect America has received the complaint submitted by Mr. [Member Name Removed] As per Protect America's contract terms and conditions, a 30 day written notice is required to process cancellation of the account. This information was provided to him when he initially set up the account on May 14, 2003 and was recapitulated to him on May 13, 2016. We received the 30 day written notice on March 27, 2017 and processed cancellation of the account accordingly. We ask that he allows Protect America to assist with any further inquiries."
Ruth C.
Jan 2017
Besides alarms falling off windows and setting off false alarms, I stopped arming my windows. Paid up the 3 yr. contract and called to cancel. They tried to talk me into another contract and never cancelled. Kept charging me monthly saying I didnt write to them to cancel. They still charged me after I wrote. Said I sent it to the wrong department etc.etc. I filed a claim with my bank and won. Protect America still is charging me monthly and harassing me daily with phone calls and emails. Threatening my credit etc. These people are so crooked. Beware IF you get this service you will be paying for life !! It took them 6 months to finally send me a copy of my contract. Just got it 2 weeks ago. The service is not good either and I am exhausted with their no stop harassment.
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member: We appreciate the time taken to share your experience with us.I show that we've had the opportunity to speak with you and address your concerns. Please feel free to contact us at 800 951-5111 option 4 should you have any additional questions or concerns. Customer Protection Team"
Kenneth Q.
Nov 2016
I woild nit use this company ever again
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member: We appreciate the time taken to share your experience with us. We welcome any kind of feedback from our customers because, we use it to make sure we are always getting better and finding things we could improve on. We apologize for the long hold time that you experienced while waiting to reach our customer service department. We are sorry that you were not able to get the information that you needed from the first representative. We will definitely implement the feedback that you have provided. If you have any further questions, please contact us at 1 (800) 951-5111. Thank you so much for you feedback. Best regards, Protect America."
Jackie S.
Oct 2016
Wonderful - they are always very patient with me.
Jared H.
Oct 2016
I have been with them for 8 years. Last march they sent me a new chip panel to put in my control box, no letter accompanied with it or anything. Just sent the equipment. I called 6 months later about changing my passcode and also asked about the new chip panel they had mailed me. They said I could install it myself and call them to test it once I was done. Little did I know this required getting into my attic to thread down the new cellular antenna. So, I spent 2 hours in my attic, in the heat, trying to fish that thing through and couldn't do it. I called them up and said you are going to have to send someone out. I can't do it. The response was that I would have to do that as they don't install. That's funny, they had no problem installing the equipment the first time. Having been with them for 8 years @ $56 a month, this was totally unacceptable to me. Total failure.
Daniel B.
Oct 2016
Almost every piece of equipment originally provided has had to be replaced, some several times, in the two years we have been under contract with Protect America. We have experienced repeated false alarms due to malfunctions of the equipment, including door and fire sensors. Eventually the company agreed to have someone physically come to our home to check everything out (installation is DIY, and quite easy). This professional affirmed that everything was correct, made a few tweaks, and left. Unfortunately this did not really help and we continue to have difficulty with the system. Service through the call center is of mixed quality. Some reps are excellent, most are fine, some are very frustrating. If the system itself functioned correctly, the service would be entirely sufficient, but they aren't up to the task of making up for its many failures. We are working hard to get out of the remainder of our contract, and strongly recommend against working with this service provider.
Robyn M.
Jul 2016
First, I want to give high praise to those individuals in technical services that help over the phone with self-installation and troubleshooting. Except for one individual, personnel are knowledgable and helpful. My high praise, however, ends there. <br> <br>We purchased a second home that we obviously wanted to secure. The house had an existing contract with Protect American and some equipment was already present. We purchased additional equipment to more fully protect the home and added some "bells and whistles," like lighting automation, to complete the project. While visiting the home we did not set the alarm system but did receive two sensor failures. Frustrating but not alarming, as technical service was able to walk us through resetting the sensors. Upon leaving the home and setting the system we began to receive more sensor failures. The first was a motion detector. Its failure prevented us from remotely alarming the system, due to a "protest open zone" failure. I tried to call technical support but it was Saturday after 7 p.m. You see, customer service/technical advise does not operate 24/7. They are open M - F 8 a.m - 9 p.m. and S - S 9 a.m. - 7 p.m, so if you experience a problem or want to do your install after hours - tough. This meant our home went unprotected until we could reach someone the following day. Once I was able to get ahold of someone they told me there was nothing they could do, that I needed to be at the house. I told them I could see through their online interactive software (which is awful by the way) what sensor was bad and asked them why they couldn't remove the sensor so that I could then set the alarm. I finally convinced the gentleman to disable the bad detector and I was able to set the alarm. Whew. Great, I thought, but why didn't he think of it? <br> <br>The next day I received a call from the monitoring service informing me that the alarm was going off. The alarm went off at 8:53 a.m. and I was called at 8:58 a.m. Since I have cameras inside the home I could see that there was no breach. I called the monitoring service to cancel the alarm so as to not have the police waste their time and to avoid a false alarm charge by the City. I was put on HOLD! Are you kidding me. Yes, hold, for more than three minutes. When someone finally answered my call I was told "I'll try to stop the police from coming." Well, I guess if you answered the phone more quickly this might not have been an issue in the first place, I thought. I asked the gentleman whether or not my system was still alarming. He said, "I don't know. Some systems go for three minutes, while others go off for seven or eight." I could see on my end that the system was in alarm mode so I remotely disarmed it. When I went to rearm the system, of course, I got another "protest open zone" error because yet another sensor was bad. In fact, when I looked at the interactive software, it was not one sensor but two! Completely frustrated that in such a short period of time we had experienced such instability I informed the gentleman that we were not satisfied with their equipment or service and thought it best we part ways. Of course we are under contract but in our opinion Protect America is not providing adequate equipment or service. He had the nerve to tell me the problem was on our end. Really? The gentleman said he would transfer me to the proper department. I waited for more than 10 minutes and no one ever picked up so I hung up. <br> <br>So, in short, great upfront technical install service, disastrous equipment, horrible software, lousy hours and poor monitoring service. With so many alarm companies out there there certainly are better ones. Find one, Protect America is not it. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>
Ashley C.
Apr 2016
unknown
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member, Thank you for your feedback. We are delighted that you are satisfied with your alarm system and our overall service. Thank you so much for sharing and for choosing to be a part of the Protect America Family! Best Regards, Protect America Inc"
Chris S.
Mar 2016
unknown
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member, Thanks so much for the review! Please know that it is your peace of mind and sense of security that matter a great deal to us. We value you and your business tremendously and look forward to providing you with exceptional service for years to come. Thank you for your feedback! Best Regards, Protect America Inc"
Kelli G.
Oct 2015
unknown
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Value Customer, Thank you so much for letting us know about your positive experience! We are so excited that you received such great service! Thank you allowing us to protect you and your family! Best regards, Protect America Inc"
David A.
Sep 2015
We first did business with them in 2003. We had used them since around that time up until this year and never had a problem or any issue with them. They were great but we had made a decision to use them for our house here. We purchased an alarm system from them and they mailed it to us. We did this in June of this year. They told us that if we didn't want to install the system ourselves, we could have someone else do it. But then after we got it and I told them, I said I was having some health issues. That I normally would be able to do this because it is really not that hard but I was having health issues and I just could not even fathom doing it myself. I wanted them to have somebody else do it. They said, we checked and we don't have anybody in the area. Then I said well, then I want to cancel this. They gave me so much grief that I ended up calling the credit card company and making a complaint. The credit card company got them on the phone. They were horrible. It was threatening. I had already paid for some of it, like the cost, but I told the credit card company that I wanted to dispute it because they were giving me such a hard time. We returned the equipment. We had not done anything with it, we had the box and we returned it and we were willing to pay their 'restocking fee' which I think was something like $70. But they gave me such a hard time that I said, you know what I don't want to pay for any of it. When I got the equipment, their quality has suffered. It is only $20 a month. That was the thing we loved when we lived in Maryland. They did end up sending me an email saying that they didn't have a contractual obligation to us and we didn't have contractual obligation to them.
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member • • First we would like to thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We always appreciate any kind of feedback from our customers because we use it to make sure we are always getting better and finding things we could improve on. • We would like to have one of our Customer Resolution look into the details of your experience and make sure we take all necessary action to make things right for you and your family. Thank you for your time and your business! Best regards, Protect America, Inc."
David F.
Aug 2015
Terrible. See above. <br />
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. We always appreciate any kind of feedback from our customers because we use it to make sure we are always getting better and finding things we could improve on. We would like to have one of our Customer Resolution look into the details of your experience and make sure we take all necessary action to make things right for you and your family. Thank you for your time and your business!"
Sudha G.
Aug 2015
I had a contract with this provider at another location. I moved and asked that the security system to be moved. The provider told me that I had to renew a three year contract in order for the security system to be moved. Since the system was installed in the new location, it hasn't worked. I am very dissatisfied with this provider and there have been no results since I contacted them. They offered to refund me a month charge but what does that do for me? My home is not secure. They sent me a new control panel but I am expected to install it myself. The signals are not reaching them so in case of an emergency, they cannot help me.
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member First we would like to thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We always appreciate any kind of feedback from our customers because we use it to make sure we are always getting better and finding things we could improve on. • We would like to have one of our Customer Resolution look into the details of your experience and make sure we take all necessary action to make things right for you and your family. Thank you for your time and your business! Best regards, Protect America, Inc."
S P.
Aug 2015
unknown
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member, Thanks so much for the review! Please let us know if there is anything we could have done differently! We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to improve! Thank you for your time and your business! Best regards, Protect America, Inc."
Gina E.
Aug 2015
unknown
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member, Thanks for sharing your awesome feedback! It's great to hear that you have been so happy with your alarm system and we will be sure to pass along your compliments about our great customer service. Please feel free to let us know if there is anything that we can do for you. Thank you for your time and your business! Best regards, Protect America, Inc."
Jill S.
Jul 2015
unknown
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Customer, Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience. We're pleased to know that we've been able to provide you with quality service. Please know that it is your peace of mind and sense of security that matter a great deal to us. We value you and your business tremendously and look forward to providing you with exceptional service for years to come. Thank you for your time and your business! Best regards, Protect America, Inc."
Leslie S.
Jun 2015
Run for the hills! Protect America sent us a GE security system to install in our home in 2011. We followed the instructions carefully and worked with the representative to get everything set up properly. About 3 months later, the system stopped recognizing when the front door opened or closed. We spoke with Protect America then and about 5 times since regarding this and other issues with the system. Each time they offered a temporary fix that would result in the problem reemerging several weeks later. At $40/month, we calculated that we threw away approx $2,000 on completely useless alarm system. To add insult to injury, when I called to cancel the service, the rep lied to me about the length of our contract. Only when I found the email communication confirming the date did he pretend like it was a mistake. Never. Again. <br />
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Customer, Thank you kindly for sharing your experience with us! It is very disappointing to see that you have not had a great experience with us. Our goal is to provide the best standard of service. Please don't hesitate to contact us directly at 800-951-5111 for assistance in resolving any outstanding concerns. Best Regards, Protect America Inc"
Eugene W.
May 2015
unknown
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Member, Thank you kindly for sharing your experience with us! We're certainly happy that we've been able to satisfy your needs. We value you and your business tremendously and look forward to providing you with exceptional service for years to come. Best Regards, Protect America Inc"
William P.
Mar 2015
unknown
Response from Protect America Home Security
"Dear Valued Customer, Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience. We're pleased to know that we've been able to provide you with quality service. Please know that it is your peace of mind and sense of security that matter a great deal to us. We value you and your business tremendously and look forward to providing you with exceptional service for years to come. Thank you for your time and your business! Best regards, Protect America, Inc."
Licensing
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FAQ
Protect America Home Security is currently rated 3.7 overall out of 5.
Protect America Home Security accepts the following forms of payment: CreditCard
Yes, Protect America Home Security offers free project estimates.
No, Protect America Home Security does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
Yes, Protect America Home Security offers emergency services.
No, Protect America Home Security does not offer warranties.