New allegations against FirstLine Security | ABC30 Fresno

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By ABC30

Friday, August 28, 2009

Fresno, CA She said, "I had it installed and I wore a bracelet and whenever you wanted help you press the button. But it never worked! When they ripped it out they said it was a bunch of junk."

Spann thought she had activated her emergency alert system which should have sent an ambulance. But the next morning her daughter found her passed out on the floor. The Fresno woman canceled the service at the end of 2007. "She said, "I thought the case was closed. Then I get this letter."

The letter from an attorney in Dallas, says the case is now in collections and demands Spann pay almost $2,000 due in full. But the feisty fought back. "I said 'I don't owe you anything.' I said 'you didn't fulfill your contract I could have died.'"

Spann is hardly the lone case. Last year Action News found several angry Firstline Security customers claiming they were ripped off. After investigating the claims, we discovered some college students who told us the company lured them into door-to-door sales promising they'd be in a reality show with a $1 million dollar prize. The show was fake and the better business bureau had more than 300 real complaints against Firstline.

Cindy Dudley with the Better Business Bureau said, "We would give them a big fat "F" rating. Now, the BBB has 664 complaints filed against Firstline Security. Dudley said, "It's sad what they do to consumers. They're not providing a working security system; they're not delivering what they promised."

Other former customers told Action News they're getting repeated threatening phone calls from a collection agency demanding full payment for what they call a worthless alarm system.

Now it's Dudley's alarms that are going off as the security company goes after former customers like Spann for non-payment, for a service they say didn't even work.

Our call to the Dallas attorney wasn't returned and Firstline Security said no one was available to talk to us. The BBB wants other unhappy "Firstline" customers to call them and file a complaint to help build a stronger case against the company.