My DM used a Bay Alarm Medical alert system for four years, and the service seemed good. She never had to press her button for an emergency, but the system worked fine whenever we tested it, and we also got auto-calls and emails whenever the power to the base unit was interrupted.
Near the end of September we moved her into a retirement community that provides an alert button, so I called Bay Alarm to cancel her service. The rep sent me an email with a cancellation form at the bottom of the email message and instructions to return the signed form, which I promptly did. He also told me I did not need to return the equipment because it was outdated, so I could just e-cycle it.
As it turned out, that was the wrong form, and Bay Alarm neither cancelled the service nor contacted me about the incorrect form. I didn't know the service was still active until the beginning of November when I got an auto-call about the base unit being disconnected. Which was strange because we'd disconnected it at the end of September. Called them again, and the rep said he'd stop the auto-calls and make sure the cancellation went through.
But then a week later I got another auto-call. Called again and was finally told about the incorrect form. The correct form should have been sent as an email attachment. The rep sent another form (using the same email that had a form at the bottom...whatever...). But it turned out to be the wrong form again because it said I had to return the equipment. So, another phone call, and I finally got what should be the correct form, e-signed and returned it, verified again that they did not want their equipment back, and was assured all was well.
During all this I'd been put on many "brief" holds of 20-30 minutes each, for a total of 2-1/2 hours on the phone. I used some of that hold time to check out Bay Alarm on the BBB website. There were quite a few complaints there about cancellation troubles. I'll be posting there too if DM's credit card gets charged for another quarter's service this month. Or if Bay Alarm demands that I return their equipment, which is long gone. Had I know all this would happen, I would have kept it for a while just in case.
Near the end of September we moved her into a retirement community that provides an alert button, so I called Bay Alarm to cancel her service. The rep sent me an email with a cancellation form at the bottom of the email message and instructions to return the signed form, which I promptly did. He also told me I did not need to return the equipment because it was outdated, so I could just e-cycle it.
As it turned out, that was the wrong form, and Bay Alarm neither cancelled the service nor contacted me about the incorrect form. I didn't know the service was still active until the beginning of November when I got an auto-call about the base unit being disconnected. Which was strange because we'd disconnected it at the end of September. Called them again, and the rep said he'd stop the auto-calls and make sure the cancellation went through.
But then a week later I got another auto-call. Called again and was finally told about the incorrect form. The correct form should have been sent as an email attachment. The rep sent another form (using the same email that had a form at the bottom...whatever...). But it turned out to be the wrong form again because it said I had to return the equipment. So, another phone call, and I finally got what should be the correct form, e-signed and returned it, verified again that they did not want their equipment back, and was assured all was well.
During all this I'd been put on many "brief" holds of 20-30 minutes each, for a total of 2-1/2 hours on the phone. I used some of that hold time to check out Bay Alarm on the BBB website. There were quite a few complaints there about cancellation troubles. I'll be posting there too if DM's credit card gets charged for another quarter's service this month. Or if Bay Alarm demands that I return their equipment, which is long gone. Had I know all this would happen, I would have kept it for a while just in case.
