Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:21/03/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hello,
  On November 12th, 2022 I was informed that my alarm company was terminating their services and I was given an option to opt in to their services and set up an installation.
  I did not opt in to continue with them.
  There was now no video camera and after that time I also disconnected my home phone line as the sole reason we had it previously was that the alarm system required it.
  
  This was the exact email sent to me copied below:
  Hello,
  
  We are contacting you from Grand Alarms regarding your current service.
  
  ******** is retiring its services effective December 15th 2022. This means your camera system will not be available for use.
  
  Grand Alarms is offering a one time FREE alarm upgrade due to this matter. The offer is as follows;
  
  Rate: $29 + Tax (current rate)
  Term: 3 Years
  Promo: Includes: No Charge Hardware + No Charge Install
  -Upgrade Alarm Panel
  -GSM Cellular Communicator Panel (No Home Phone is Required)
  -Remote Access APP (Arm & Disarm from cell)
  
  Please call or email me if you wish to proceed to set up your installation date.
  
  On March 5th, 2025 I discovered Gland Alarms has been continuing to debit my account for monitoring services every month. I notified them of this and sent several emails requesting this money to be paid back, as they cannot charge for services not provided. They terminated the contract and can’t monitor my home with no phone line or camera.
  Here was my final email that has gone unanswered:
  
  “..I am formally requesting a full refund of $917.56 ($32.77 x 28 months) for monitoring services that were not provided since December 15, 2022.
  
  Based on your own communication dated November 10, 2022, your company informed me that ******** services would be retired as of December 15, 2022, meaning my camera system would no longer be available. You offered a new 3-year contract at that time, which I did not sign or accept. By your own admission, my existing contract and service structure were terminated when the technology was retired.

  Business Response

  Date: 31/03/2025

  Grand Alarms and ****** ****** have a contract in place with clear terms and conditions related to the termination of services.  
  
  Until the customer's complaint has never advised us of cancelling their home phone line. As per the agreement, communication is not the responsibility of the company but rather the homeowners.
  
  Their decision to cancel the phone line also does not terminate their agreement.
  
  We have no record of any calls to our office regarding termination or emails until March 5, 2025.  We have processed the cancellation with the last day of service March 31, 2025.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 31/03/2025

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  
  The business is missing the point here. They sent me an email terminating their services in 2022 (whether I had a phone line or not is a moot point). I did not opt in to their services. 
  Therefore they continued to bill me for services I did not opt in to and services they could not provide.  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** ******

  Business Response

  Date: 07/08/2025

  We understand your position and we’d like to clarify our own.

  The email you received in November 2022 was not a termination notice.  It was an advance notification that ******** remote access and camera service would be retired as of December 15, 2022.  Grand Alarms offered an upgraded system at no cost to ensure uninterrupted monitoring, but this did not automatically terminate your existing monitoring agreement.
  

  Not opting into the upgrade offer did not cancel your account.  We did not receive a cancellation request, nor notification that you disconnected your phone line, until your email on March 5, 2025.  Until that point, your account remained active, and monthly monitoring charges continued in accordance with your contract.
  

  While we understand you did not wish to continue, formal cancellation is required to close an account and stop billing.  Without it, we had no way of knowing that service should end, and your account remained billable.
  

  As previously noted, your account was cancelled effective March 31, 2025.  Given this timeline and the absence of prior cancellation, we are unable to offer a refund for past services.
  

  We consider this matter closed.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/08/2025

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  Hello,

  I do not accept the business’s position. The November 2022 email explicitly stated that the ******** remote access and camera service would be retired as of December 15, 2022, and that an upgraded system was being offered at no cost to avoid interruption. The clear implication was that the existing system would no longer function after that date without the upgrade. Under Canadian contract law, when a core service is retired and replaced, and no continued access to the original service is possible, this constitutes a fundamental change (or “frustration”) of the original agreement.
  Furthermore:
  Failure to Provide Service – After the ******** system retirement in December 2022, the original contracted monitoring service was no longer available in the form agreed upon at the start of the contract. Charging for a service that could not be provided as contracted, without express renewal or consent, may constitute unjust enrichment.
  Duty to Mitigate and Notify – A service provider that unilaterally changes a material term must ensure informed consent from the customer to continue billing. The burden is not solely on the consumer to send a separate cancellation notice after being told the core service was ending. The absence of continued access itself should have triggered closure or at least a verification step.
  No Evidence of Active Monitoring – The business has not provided proof that the contracted monitoring was still being actively and fully delivered in its agreed form after December 15, 2022. If they materially altered or ceased the contracted features, continued billing without explicit re-authorization is questionable.
  Consumer Protection Considerations – In Ontario, under the Consumer Protection Act, suppliers cannot bill for services that were not requested or were materially altered without consent. An “upgrade” requiring new hardware is effectively a new contract, and consent to this must be clear and documented.
  Given these factors, I maintain that billing after December 15, 2022, without my express agreement to a materially different service, was not justified. I am requesting a refund of all charges from that date onward. I reject the business’s closure of this matter.
  Sincerely,

  
  ****** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:29/01/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Incident Details:
  
  Date: September 30, 2024
  Issue: At approximately 7:24 AM, a duress alarm was triggered. Instead of dispatching the police immediately, Grand Alarms called me twice at that time and again at 8:00 AM, using the same phone number despite the emergency nature of the situation. This violates their protocol, which mandates immediate police dispatch without calling the client.
  Background: This was especially concerning as my family and I had been victims of a shooting incident one month prior. Immediate police dispatch was critical. Although the police were dispatched at approximately 7:27 AM, they did not arrive until about 25 minutes later, which was an unacceptable delay in an emergency.
  Result: Despite the mishandling of the alarm, I was charged for the police dispatch, which I believe is unfair given that the company’s actions delayed the response time

  Business Response

  Date: 28/03/2025

  The customer has an agreement with Grand Alarms.  They have elected to have a service that does not dispatch any authorities and is to be notified only by phone.
  
  The customer had an emergency code programmed on their system that sends a panic signal to the station and disarms the system.
  
  The invader would see that the alarm was disabled.
  
  The use of the ambush code resulted in “notifying” the customer by phone and it also resulted in dispatching the police as the customer did not answer the phone twice.
  
  The customers false alarm fee from the police because of the customers use of the add on service emergency panic code that was entered and 2 calls that were ignored will not be credited.
  
  If the customer does not want the ambush code and would like it removed we would be happy to do so.  The customer needs to send us that request in writing.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:25/05/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  ACCT NUMBER: *********
  -Continuously get billed monthly when alarm was never installed since April 2022.
  -Billing non-alarm monitoring fee - 24 hour alarm monitoring service monthly fee (alarm was never installed in the house)
  -Scheduled an appointment previously for a technician to come install the alarm (did not show up on the day, waited at home for 4 hours then I get a call after 4.5 hours from technician saying he is not showing)
  -Called to speak to the manager (company said someone will contact me but never did regarding the point above)
  -

  Business Response

  Date: 08/06/2023

  We were not able to install the system as the technician was late for the appointment.  Since the system was not installed, we have deleted the invoice for the outstanding balance.  We offered to reschedule the installation appointment but the customer declined.  The account has been closed down.