I had a pretty strange experience yesterday afternoon that I think is a scam. I was working at home and around 4pm two guys came to my door saying they were from a company called APX that was a subcontractor for Honeywell and were fixing alarm systems for free. Since my house got robbed back in December I had an alarm installed and these guys were saying that robbers had been cutting the phone lines to disable the alarm system and that they were installing a wireless backup system. I hadn't heard anything from my alarm company and my suspicions were raised further when I asked them if they could leave me some literature and they said they couldn't but were coming through my neighborhood offering to fix alarms for free as part of a special offer and were talking to my neighbors too. I told them I was skeptical as this seemed pretty strange for people to come by at random offering to fix an alarm and they seemed pretty pushy. They even showed me some laminated material and an ID badge that looked official but again with Adobe Photoshop and laser printers stuff like that wouldn't be that hard to fake. As for the appearence of these guys one looked like he was in his early 20's and the other looked like he was in his late 20's or early 30's and they were both wearing what looked like official company golf shirts and baseball caps with the APX and Honeywell logos. I'm guessing those would be harder to fake but obviously not impossible and they could've gotten those through other means. Both were in general well groomed and looked like an average IT technician. This whole thing still seemed pretty suspicious, especially considering they were pushy. So I called my police precinct after they left and the cops said they had had reports of these guys and there ID's appeared legit so the cops didn't stop them but they were keeping an eye out about it. I'm planning on reporting this to the attorney general's office but wanted to see if anyone else has ever had a situation like this or heard of anything like this.
never trust anyone calling you out of the blue or coming by your door randomly, especially when it concerns something that allows them access to your house. Scam indeed. They were scoping your house out and getting info out of you...i hope you didn't give them any details about yourself and your schedule. You can always call honeywell and confirm
That is really odd. You think you would have got some kind of communication first to see if it was ok to show up at your house.
You did the right thing. It definitely sounded like a scam, and I'm glad there's people like you who would take the initiative to follow through. Unfortunately I think many people wouldn't and these guys would feel like they have nothing to lose. 'Keeping an eye out' means they'll do something about it after someone gets murdered.
Good idea. Yeah I went APX's website and checked and there is very little info about this and their offices are located in CA.. I haven't checked the Honeywell customer service office though.
I wouldn't worry about it. I was in sales for seven years and this sounds like a sales angle. You could construe it as a scam, but I'm sure that the ultimate result would be a sales pitch, and if you bought whatever they were peddling it would be legit. And regardless, you'll probably never see them again, since you didn't bite.
Total scam. Glad you didn't fall for it, and it's a good thing you reported it. Did you happen to see a truck or van anywhere? If you could have gotten a license plate number, that would have been some key information.
That's the best thing to do. I don't trust anyone that I didn't call to come out or that I at least knew was coming...especially when it comes to the security system in my house.
It's legit, I've had my APX alarm for about two years now. They came to my door I was a little suspicious but went upstairs made a few calls to confirm their stories and got the alarm installed free of charge. Their costumer service is great, they even call to let me know about power outages in my area. But like everyone said there's nothing wrong with being cautious.
We once had guys come to our door with some no-name company logo-ed shirts on, and claimed to be selling alarm systems. They said they would like to come in and assess possible entry points to the home, and would take that info back to their office and draft ideas for an alarm system. Sounded shady right away, so I told them "I already have an alarm system...its the sound of me pumping a shotgun at the top of the steps and saying "I'm calling the cops, I have a shotgun, and you shouldn't come upstairs". They said nothing and left.
If someone comes knocking at my door, I look through the peep hole and don't recognize them, I don't even answer it.
I got some more info you are correct these guys are legit but somewhat unethical. Apparently APX isn't exactly a subcontractor for Honeywell but a rival. What they do is target homes with alarm systems of rival companies and go in and switch the system to APX and then change your contract over. While you might've had a good experience with these guys apparently there are a few complaints and lawsuits against APX for this practice. I haven't heard back yet from Honeywell but I have a friend who works for a subsidiary of GE on home security systems and he did some checking into these guys when I told him about the situation and passed that info onto me.
Yeah an APX guy came by my house as well. Apparently, they target homes that have signs posted in the front yard and try to convert you. They are extremely pushy and don't give you any free details. They have no info to give you, not even a business card. The guy also didn't have a car. Somebody drops them off in the neighborhood. When selling the product, they never mention the monthly costs, the service provider, etc. All they focus on is setting you up with a free system for a "cost" of putting their sign in your front lawn. Overall, it's the typical summer "scam" job.
I had the same group pop by my home the other day. They also mentioned they subcontract for honeywell. I just told them I am with protection one, and I do not need their service.
This reminds me of Home Alone... <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/e2LkEZN_5l8&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/e2LkEZN_5l8&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I had a guy come by the other day with a similar pitch. I told him I was happy with my current service. I actually have lots of door-to-door salespeople come through the neighborhood. Cable people, Verizon FIOS people, Mormons (lots of Mormons), Kirby people, those scamsters selling the magazine subscriptions for their phony contest, and so on.
