Brinks Review 2023

Brinks/Montronics has long term contracts. Our initial contract was 60 months (we were told 36 months- READ the fine print). When we moved (prior to the 60 months) they started by offering a lower rate and an extended contract of 27 months. The next time we called they gave us the option to pay $199 plus labor for the move, no contractual extension. Then, the last call they stated we could not pay for our move (and the second call was not recorded), instead, they extended our contract 24 months. Calculating it out the extension added $1056, the equipment and labor only equaled $663.75 (per receipt from the technician). They also give you a "fixed" rate and tell you that if it goes up you can call, dispute it, and they will drop it down again. However, if you fail to call and dispute it within a limited time you now have a new "fixed" rate. Additionally, they will try and install equipment that cannot be moved later unless you specify and double check with the technician.

10/2018-I was a Brinks customer for over 8 years. I contacted customer service for upgraded equipment and a new key fob and was told I would have to pay for both (after 8 years of being a customer). I was dissatisfied with the increase in monthly monitoring(for and old panel and outdated key fob) and the different information given by "multiple" customer service reps. I contacted customer service, canceled my account with brinks and uninstalled the equipment. I was told the automatic deduction would cancel immediately, and that I was paid up to the end of the current month. This was incorrect as they deducted a full months fee from my bank account again, explaining that the fee covered through the end of the current month (contradicting what previous customer service "manager" stated). They explained it would take 30 days to cancel my service I would NOT be receiving a credit. I am so dissatisfied and can honestly say I would not recommend Brinks to anyone because of the inconsistencies and lack of assistance to their longtime customers. The customer service reps were not helpful and only continued to offer me a better rate (not updated equipment) after I insisted that my account be cancelled. After 8 years, this is what it has come to. If a customer asked for their account to be closed/canceled it should be granted immediately, not 30 days later and be charged for service not received. Customer service reps should be on one accord when giving out information to "customers", and credit should be given when a home is not monitored due to a requested immediate cancellation. I am close to seeking legal advice to determine any options (if any) I may have. Lesson learned.

First things first, I fully admit that I was dumb to even consider a home security system. When the vast majority of homes will never be broken into in the first place and having a home security system really does not change the outcome because the crime will have already occurred by the time the alarm company contacts YOU. That is right, they contact YOU not the police. Let's say you are one of the few people to have their home burglarized. The average damage/loss is not as much as the annual cost of having a system in your home. Brinks/Monetronics/Elite are the business of scamming people. They change their name every couple of years to hide from the lawsuits and bad reviews that follow them around. I allowed my ex-wife to start a 5-year contract with whatever name they were scamming people under at the time. The only way to get out of the contract is to pay the full amount still remaining. So let's say you have the account for four months when you realize how stupid it is to pay over $50 per month for a service that has false alarms and other glitches constantly. You call this company and say that it is not working out and you want to cancel. The only way to cancel is to pay every monthly payment for the next 4.5 years which is thousands of dollars. The customer service center is rude and tells you that you are dumb because you are not honoring the contract. When you show them that they are not honoring the contract by consistently having malfunctions or because you requested they move your service from one address to another and they failed to do it. I moved six months ago and have tried to get Brinks to honor their end of the contract but they still charge me over fifty dollars a month for service I have not received. The employees in their call center will lie to you when you request to speak to a supervisor. I had a "Tiara" lie to me for over half an hour saying she is the top of the line and she does not have a supervisor. She continued this game which was comical because from her grammar and syntax I am fairly certain she cannot even read English. After a half hour of her lies, she transferred me to her supervisor who was very rude and insulting. She told me that I would be better off just hanging up then trying to get money back because they have such a massive volume of complaints and dissatisfied customers that they do not accept fault, provide refunds, or provide solutions for customers who have been wronged. She stated that Brinks just expects people to pay every month no matter whether or not they have received the service they are paying for. She was insulting and rude the entire time. Be smarter then I have been and DON'T HAVE A HOME SECURITY SYSTEM BECAUSE THEY ARE POINTLESS AND DO NOT ADD SECURITY....they actually delay the response of emergency responders because the alarm company has understaffed support lines and they spend the first several minutes calling the client not calling for assistance during your emergency. If you are going to make the mistake of being conned by a home security company make sure it is anybody other than BRINKS/MONETRONICS/ELITE or whatever name they are going by that day. Any company that changes their name this often is obviously hiding from something.

We chose Brinks based on their brand and "good name". We didn't know that they'd been bought out and the name is essentially being leased. Spent 2 and a half hours on the phone with their support people trying to get the camera working.

Only an hour after hanging up did I get it occasionally working - and I'm a network and development guy. I was amazed to learn that the system requires Adobe Flash for monitoring from a laptop - a program that even Adobe admits is a huge security risk and shouldn't be used!

The camera only works intermittently (whether from my S9 Samsung phone or one of several laptops) even though it has a direct (wired) ethernet connection. The parts all seem very cheap and the panel's computer voice sounds like very early text-to-speech voices and is rather annoying.

The support people were friendly and patient enough, but clearly were not properly trained and the equipment seems to be too cheap to be reliable.

I'm sending this junk back and am prepared for a big fight to get out of the 3-year contract, even though we just got the system 3 days ago.

FLOOD IN MY HOUSE... NO WALLS NO WINDOWS... I WAS CHARGED FOR TWO YEARS WHILE MY HOUSE WAS BEING PUT BACK TOGETHER AFTER HURRICANE MATTHEW DESTROYED MY DOWNSTAIRS. I ASKED THAT THE ALARM SYSTEM I HAD IN THE HOUSE BE SUSPENDED DUE TO THERE WAS NO PLACE OR REAL HOUSE TO HOOK THE SYSTEM TO. I WAS TOLD THAT THE SYSTEM SHOULD HAVE BEEN RELOCATED TO WHERE I WAS. A HOTEL ROOM, MY DAUGHTER'S HOUSE OFF AND ON??? THE MAN TOLD ME THAT WAS NOT HIS PROBLEM. I SAID SO IF MY HOUSE BURNS DOWN YOU ARE STILL GOING TO CHARGE ME? HE SAID YES. YOU SHOULD HAVE MOVED IT TO A NEW LOCATION... SO, I HAVE THE SYSTEM RESET. THE GAVE ME AN ESTIMATE OF $150/ GAVE ME AN ORDER BILL FOR $272 AND THEN TOLD ME I WOULD BE GETTING A "REAL BILL" IN 30 DAYS.SO, IN THOSE 30 DAYS YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO CHARGE ME? YES MA'AM WAS MY ANSWER. I WAS PUT ON HOLD AND PASSED FROM PERSON TO PERSON FOR AN HOUR. JOE THE CUSTOMER SUPERVISOR SAID HE COULDN'T HELP ME. MY PROBLEM WAS ABOVE HIM. SO HE SENT ME TO POWERHOUSE. WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME ACCOUNT SINCE 2015. DISRESPECTFUL, RUDE AND NASTY PEOPLE. I NEVER HAD THIS PROBLEM WITH MONITRONICS!!!!!

We purchased our system under the LiveWatch and it worked for a few months and then it did not work. Called for support and they are only open to help you Mon to Fri 8 AM to 5 PM and on Saturday for a few hours. We have the centrally monitored plan. Have spent 1 to 2 hours on hold on any given attempt to contact support.

On any given week one, two, or three of the sensors report a malfunction. Brinks sends an email to tell us that we may need to move the sensor closer to the control panel. Really? How can I move a door jam? or better yet should I put all the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors next to the central control panel?

Brinks has no clue on how their devices work in the real world. Stay away from this brand and look elsewhere for your safety and security.

I was originally with Monitronics which was fine, then Brinks bought them out and I automatically became a Brinks customer. I have 4 business accounts with them and have had several issues of which I've had to call in regarding billing. First, their phone system hangs up on your periodically, then when you finally talk to people they can't help and transfer you multiple times, and that's if they even understand what you're trying to say. I am currently trying to resolve a situation and have been on the phone over 30 minutes, listening to hold music as I have been transferred to speak with a third person. Such a waste of my time. AVOID BRINKS AT ALL COSTS!!!!

Cancelling Contract - their equipment was fine and the service was okay until I tried to cancel because we were moving. They said that I chose to relocate with them which is totally untrue. I wanted to cancel and was willing to wait my 30 days and pay the extra bill, even though I thought that was asinine. 30 days later we were still getting phone calls and they had not canceled our service. Now they are making us wait another 30 days because I had not "signed" anything, which I didn't know I needed to, initially. Total scam. If they thought I was going to relocate with them, why did they not contact me about installing a new panel?

Signed an agreement with a different company then that company was bought out by Brinks. We were guaranteed a monthly rate that has been raised several times. We were promised equipment that we never received. Their customer service department is the worst. We are locked into this contact with this horrible company. If you look on their website they are offering free equipment and monthly service $20 a month cheaper than I’m paying with used equipment. Don’t trust this company!

We purchased our security system (self install) from Live Watch which has since been taken over by Brinks. Our in home camera malfunctioned necessitating a call to Brinks. It was a terrible experience. We were on hold for nearly 60 minutes before getting through to someone who was supposed to help us. That person took nearly 40 minutes to determine what kind of camera we had. She then told us we would have to purchase a new camera. What happened to the warranty!? We are not satisfied with customer service, nor equipment performance. We're sorry we went with Live Watch/Brinks. After trying to submit this review, I had to change the scores (make them higher) because the system would not allow me to submit with honest score levels.

AVOID BRINKS AT ALL COSTS! I was a loyal customer of Brinks for 10 YEARS. I recently moved and wanted to cancel my contract. They refused, were utterly unreasonable, and charged me 10 months of fees for literally nothing: pure profit for them. Their agents are horrible humans reading from a script, unempowered to think critically and make decisions. They will swindle you into a contract and refuse to treat you like a worthy customer.

My husband and I have had Brinks service since 2004. Recently my husband died and I have needed to cancel my service. I called and talked to a representative and he ignored my request to stop service and kept trying to sell me additional services. Finally when I did get his attention as I told him he wasn't listening to me, then he gave me an email address to send my request. The email address does not exist. I called back and was told they needed a copy of my husband's death certificate! I did send that in with all the instructions followed as given. They are still charging me for service! I am older and feel that I am being taken advantage of and will pursue this as long as it takes. My daughters are involved and are turning them over to the BBB and contacting the Federal Trade Commission. Be aware!!

I moved over 2 years ago. We took all the equipment with us to our new house as advised by the representative. Once we were settled, we called to schedule having a technician install our alarm. Nobody has ever shown. I have called, time and time again, no alarm for 2 years yet, I’m still paying. I was told today, I could pay $900 and be released from my contract... seriously, I have paid thousands of dollars for ZERO SERVICE AND, I AM BEING ASKED TO PAY MORE...I WILL be doing a lot of reviews on every site I can find until someone takes this stealing serious.

I originally signed up for this service because my Ex was working nights and I was home alone with the children. when we split up I was the only one with a house and had to transfer the contract to my new home. Since then I have used the alarm system every once in a while. So I have called to cancel my service because after getting married again I don't need the service. However, I can't cancel unless I pay out my contract which would be around $800 out of pocket. I have now moved into a rental and don't even have a security system but will have to continue to pay for it because there is no way of canceling it. I also feel like every time I call them to ask a question or try and cancel the time frame for when my contract is up gets longer. I am pretty sure I have had this system for about 7 years and they still won't let me out of the contract. I would never suggest a system with a contract to anyone no matter who it is with. They are a was of money and I am also pretty sure my house was being monitored for fire and I set the alarms off multiple times cooking and never got a follow up. This people are a scam!!!!

I canceled my service in January. Not that I was dissatisfied, but a local company seemed a much better option to me. I specifically asked if my contract was up and would I be charged for another month of service. The company assured me that I would not be. In February I noticed once again I was charged for service. I called customer service expecting that maybe I could get that money back and was told I must have spoken to a new customer service agent when I called. Very dissatisfied with my experience.

Horrible customer service, and EXTREMELY deceitful and misleading when pursuing cancellation. Was with this company for nearly 5 years. Earlier this month I had called to cancel my account for personal reasons. The representative went through 1,000 questions asking WHY I wanted to cancel. Sometimes people don't want to share why, yet the representative would not let me be. After answering the million uncomfortable questions, I was finally e-mailed a cancellation document to sign. I signed it and thought I was done. A week later I receive a letter stating my cancellation is incomplete because my contract isn't finished until February. WHY WASNT I TOLD THIS THE FIRST TIME?! These reps have my account pulled up on the screen yet cannot state that my contract isn't up yet? I had to go through all of that hassle WHY? So I called today to address this and yep. Not only is my contact not up until February but I also have to pay the remaining balance. I will be billed. They could do nothing for me. Talked in circles. I told them I was extremely disheartened by the way I'm being treated and that I would go on all the platforms I could to give them a raw review of my experience. He was more worried about me doing that than helping me and making it right. Horrible customer service and treatment. I would never recommend this company to anyone.

Customer Service Experience - This company has the worst Customer Service Agents that I have ever encountered. How J. D. Powell ranked them high in that area is a mystery to me. The Agents are rude and very reluctant to let you speak to a higher level manager. However, I am sure that they are just following management directives as I spoke to a Supervisor and received similar rude service. And, invariably, when one requests to speak with a Supervisor or Manager, one is not available and/or on-site. I recommend that they use AT&T as an example on how to provide outstanding customer service.

I was with Monitronics who was purchased by Moni and then purchased by Brinks. I tried to cancel the service. They have written in their contract that you need to cancel 30 days prior or you will be billed another month. When you go to cancel they can also take up to 48 hours to send you the DocuSign that you need to sign. I had to call them numerous times to get the cancellation done, and then they charged me for another month. Make sure you know in advance you need to cancel or they will bill you for it with no help or exception even if you have been a customer for years. I think there are better options out there now.

I've been using Brinks (previously Live Watch) for almost 2 years. The sensor/system itself is already disappointing. The sensors fell off a couple of times, triggered the alert and brought us back home from far away. The response time from monitoring is also not as fast as they promise.

What really made me angry and motivated me to write a review is their tech support. I bought a garage sensor online and wanted to add it to the system, then we realized there is no adding sensor option on the panel which is supposed to have per their instructions online. Ok, here came the nightmare - we called their number at least 3 times per week, all have been transferred to tech support with no one ever picking up my call nor calling me back after I chose the callback option and left my phone number. The tricky part is the whole things happened one month before the cancellation became effective. And yea at this time, the service already got canceled and the sensor is never added to the system.

I called to their customer service department asking how you can help me add in the sensor, but the head of customer service Amber White kept telling me it is not their responsibility and they don't owe me anything since I canceled the service and not their customer anymore. Excuse me!!?? the sensor adding thing happened weeks before cancellation.

And this Amber White also told me I only have one choice which is to reactivate the service with a 36-month contract. Are you kidding me?? I would never ever use your service again. In addition to that, I'll spread my words as much as possible to keep people from choosing your service. And I trust the power of Internet a lot :)

This company does not care if the alarm is disconnected when disarmed. Apparently, no way of telling the alarm is not working without a customer to tell them. They can't find records of calling for disconnection. Will charge one more month after disconnection unless waived. They did not contact us in a span of 2 years to check on customer satisfaction, why there was no alarm activity in this time period, or try to get us to update equipment. Lord as long as draft goes through they will take that money! They do not care for customer satisfaction... Look at other reviews. These people don't care for their customers they just see the green.

My mobile app was not activating my alarm and arming it. When I called customer service you get a robot 3 times then get a person who asks you for a password phone number date of birth first name etc. Then they tell you the system is working fine and that the Alarm.com App is just not working at the moment. When you ask them to arm it for you since your app does not work they say that they cannot. When you ask for a better number to call in case of emergencies so you can get someone quick and not have to wait and answer all those BS security questions they tell you there is no such number. All in all, app does not work about 80% of the time. The customer service is a robot and it's extremely hard to get an actual person. They have no emergency number and will not even respond in a real emergency. Brinks is terrible to go with someone big like ADT that's what I will be doing.

A month ago, I was offered a home security packaged that included skybell HD door bell camera, smart thermostat, and image sensors. The tech came and installed only the IQ2 panel and sensor in both of my properties. . My cancellation time was for only 3 days after the contract was signed. I signed the contract after being told that installation payment needed to be completed before they continued. It's been a month. None of the rest of the equipment offered was ever installed because my home was not compatible. I tried many times to contact the people who sold me the system. They will always tell me they were sorry for the inconvenience and that they would contact the company to take care of it. At this time the company had already received their installation payment and first month of monitoring service. Nothing was done. My AC system was ruined while they tried to install the thermostat in my second home. I had to drive to that home 3 different times for partial installation, to continue installation, and then for my AC system to be repaired so they could continue the installation. I felt overwhelmed by all this so I decided to cancel the service. When I contacted BRINKS about cancellation, I was directed to talk to Skyline. After hours of talk from one person to another, I was told they would not cancel unless I paid $2159.64 for each of my homes. I explained that my cancellation decision was based on the fact that the company did not complete installation due to lack of comparability. I'm stuck with only with the components that are comparable but not the full package offered to me. They tried to negotiate by giving other equipment I do not want. They refused to cancel. I was told that collection will be contacting daily, through emails, texting or phone until I paid. I am so displease with the unreliable service. Why should I keep a system that does not work in my home the way it should. I really wanted the doorbell camera and thermostat. I was very excited about being able to monitor who/when packages were delivered at my homes and to control the thermostat using the app. Unfortunately, that's not what I received. They are only eager to install the IQ2 Panel so they can start receiving their money. Once they do, they don't care about anything else. Nobody should have to go through this. Now, instead of feeling safe. I am afraid that this have virtual access to my home. It's scary. When I contacted my bank to stop future automatic payment to Skyline Home Security. Another payment was submitted under the name BRINKS home security for a different amount. I contacted my bank again to stop payment to that company. I hope I don't have to go as far as closing my bank account. These two companies are not trustworthy. I DO NOT RECOMMEND this home security to anyone!

Do not use this company. I was a customer for over 15 years. I decided to cancel when I realized there were much more affordable and reliable alarm monitoring systems out there. Trying to cancel and work with customer service was a nightmare! They do not value their customers or keep up with technology and their equipment. They raised their prices but never gave me ANY notice!! So, I was left with a balance on my account that had been growing for almost 3 years!! Worst customer service EVER! Look into other options when needed alarm monitoring services!!

I placed my alarm monitoring service on hold when we experienced water damage and had to move out of our house to get it repaired. We knew we would not need service for about 8 months and I initially called to cancel my service but was talked into an account hold. The Livewatch agent said that they couldn't place an 8-month hold but they could do 6 months and I could call back and request extensions to get me to 8 months. During the hold period, the company sold and/or rebranded to Brinks. When I called back to request the extension, they told me that they couldn't extend it any longer, charged me $40 on the spot and told me that with the cancellation notice period I would be charged another $40. I told them that this contradicted what they'd told me and they could not have cared less. I now have $80 worth of charges that I am disputing through my credit card company. Tomorrow I'll be moving into my new house and I'll be using another company for my monitoring service. I recommend avoiding this unethical company.

On the FAQ page of the website it says: "Your agreement is for 36 months. We'll do everything we can to make sure you're happy with your new system, but you can cancel at any time in the first 30 days with no termination fee." And on the Bill of Rights page is says: "We love having you as a customer, but you should stay with us because you want to, not because you have to. That's why you can try our service risk-free for 90 days and cancel at any time during that period with no termination fee." And when I called to cancel after having the service for 3 weeks, I was told I was within the 30 days, and I could cancel without termination fee or penalty. However, now I’m told I owe $708.94 for the remaining 36 months. What company would do that – hold someone hostage and demand payment for 3 years of service when the customer has canceled after a few weeks? I just don’t get the logic.

We tried Brinks for a few months and decided this system did not suit our needs, Therefore, we canceled their services. We kept receiving a recurring bill on our credit card, albeit, we had already canceled a month prior. We filled out all the necessary information Brinks requested. but, to no avail. I was forced to call my credit card company each month to dispute the erroneous charge. I suppose I will have to do this each month until they set their records straight. After dealing with their customer service and having to argue each point and having them try to sell me another product rather than cancel, I will NEVER use Brinks again and advise future consumers to be positive they want Brinks services before committing.

Not the same company as when livewatch - and that's not a good thing Customer and Tech support has eroded considerable... would not recommend

I am in customer service and sales therefor I am not one to leave a negative review as I know the true impact, yet here I am. There is a problem when you clearly tell a company what you would like from them and they repeatedly tell you that they can provide those services. In the case of livewatch, they have a lot of problems. It is very simple and easy in business to just come out and admit when you do not have the services that your customer is asking for instead of trying to sell them on services they do not want. I personally spoke with multiple managers that work for this company and not one of them is able to provide the services they all spoke of. Apparently the largest growing county in the United States last year is not a metropolitan area in which they have any services within 75 miles. Do yourself, your friends, and your family a service and avoid doing business with them at all costs. There are too many other more reputable companies that can actually provide proper service. To think I left my house unprotected for an extended time to let them try and work out a solution. Yet I call a reputable company in I have a system installed within a couple days. I could go on and on why this company does not deserve an A+ rating but will leave it at this. When it comes down to it would you trust your families life or your own with a company that can not deliver on its promises??

Very poor response time. I became a Brinks Home customer when Livewatch sold out to them. I have been on hold for over 1/2 hour and still no answer. Time to switch to somebody else. Look elsewhere before you waste you money on these guys.

Monotronics owned our contract. They phoned and said we could get an upgrade to our outdated system, or keep what we have and get $10 off our monthly bill. We chose the reduction in cost. Then Brinks took over our account. We chose to go with another security company, contacted Brinks to assure we were not under contract. We were assured we were not under any contract. The new equipment from the new company is now installed and today we get a letter from Brinks stating we are under a contract and our only option is to pay them off! Really, what a ripoff!!!

I had the system installed in January 2018, problems started in July 2018 indicating a problem with cell or cell provider the signal is weak and keep setting off an alarm on my panel. To get service I have to pay $30 there is no warranty Customers be aware!!!

It's hard to beat the $500 - $600 equipment credit from real-time Amazon prices. The monthly monitoring rates are very reasonable, especially when subtracting the home owners insurance discount provided for having a monitored security system from the yearly cost of monitoring.

Brinks Home Security gave me a 3 year contract with an expensive cancellation penalty, then raised the monthly rate in my final year of the contract. I was never told they could raise the rate. This is fraud.

It’s just a gimmick! The equipment is terrible! I have had to have the “technician” and I use that term loosely, out multiple times. 50 bucks a pop. Replaced equipment. My water sensor in the basements has worked maybe 3 weeks since we got the system a year ago. If you have lots of extra money to throw away on a system that only works sometimes do it.

Setting up with these guys is a one way street. I have been trying to cancel the service for months. I've had reps promise me that my service was cancelled to just get another bill the next month. I have never had this much cancelling a service at any other time in my entire life.

Also, the equipment they gave me felt cheap.

I HATE BRINKS !!! THE CAMERAS SUCK !! I GET MORE VIDEOS OF CAR HEADLIGHTS THAN PEOPLE WALKING TO MY FRONT DOOR!! CUSTOMER SERVICE DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT!!

Two months into our contract and they have canceled the service. I just bought an entire security system, paid duties to have it shipped to me, had a few calls with support to get everything set up and working and then I received an email simply saying "your contract will expire in 30 days".

You get locked in and they raise the prices! Bad customer service, I have a system that I can't afford to get it fixed.

this company is total top off had contract with another company and was told have to complete this contract we will see but I will drop them like hot potato home get broken into their equipment Is not worth it, hire a PRO!!!