ADT Authorized Dealer Safe Haven Fined $125K for Deceptive Sales Practices
An investigation was opened after a whistleblower provided the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office with a Safe Haven training manual containing deceptive sales tactics.
(Image Credit: RomanR/stock.adobe.com)
Editor’s Note: This article about ADT authorized dealer Safe Haven originally published on Aug. 2, 2022. We updated the post on Feb. 12, 2024.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has condemned ADT authorized dealer Safe Haven Security Services for alleged deception and misrepresentations.
According to Red Lake Nation News, an investigation into Safe Haven was started after a whistleblower approached the Attorney General’s Office with a Safe Haven training manual that instructed salespeople to:
- Introduce themselves as being “from ADT.”
- Falsely tell consumers that the salespeople did not work on commission.
- Deceptively imply that a realtor or another trusted person at the consumer’s recent real estate closing should have told them that the salesperson would be coming to their home.
Reports from Consumers
The Attorney General’s Office also received reports from consumers that they were not provided with a verbal three-day right-to-cancel advisory, according to the outlet.
Due to these actions, Attorney General’s Office alleges that Safe Haven violated Minnesota consumer-protection laws, including Minnesota’s Home Solicitation and Personal Solicitation Sales Acts.
“It’s hard enough to afford your life these days. It’s a lot harder when door-to-door scammers prey on Minnesotans’ fears to sell them security systems with multi-year, costly monitoring contracts attached, and deceive or mislead them in the process. Some go even further and blur the lines between themselves and other companies you might trust to line their own pockets. That’s wrong and against the law and I’m here to put a stop to it,” Attorney General Ellison says. “I strongly encourage any consumer who has any concerns about a home security system they bought or were approached to buy to contact my office. We want to hear from you and we may be able help.”
Assurance of Discontinuance
Under the terms of an Assurance of Discontinuance filed in Hennepin County District Court, Safe Haven agreed to pay $125,000, which will go into the State of Minnesota general fund. It also agreed to require its salespeople to:
- Represent Safe Haven to Minnesota customers as an authorized ADT distributor/dealer.
- Affirmatively identify themselves as being from Safe Haven.
- Provide a verbal notification of right to cancel upon signature of a new contract and installation of a system.
- Not misrepresent any relationship or referral between Safe Haven and any individual in the consumer’s homebuying process.
- Not misrepresent their commissioned status.
Click here for the latest security industry legal issues.
If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!
Related Content
Security Is Our Business, Too
For professionals who recommend, buy and install all types of electronic security equipment, a free subscription to Commercial Integrator + Security Sales & Integration is like having a consultant on call. You’ll find an ideal balance of technology and business coverage, with installation tips and techniques for products and updates on how to add to your bottom line.
A FREE subscription to the top resource for security and integration industry will prove to be invaluable.
Hello, thank you for the article!
I have experienced the same thing with this company and although I cancelled my subscription before the deadline, Safe Heaven still charged my card and continue to harass me. You written in the article to contact someone for help but did not provide who to contact. Please advise. My name is Isaac and can be reached out to by email. Thanks again.
On Wednesday the 14th of June 2023, Save Haven Installer came into my home fully knowing I did not want any additional products or services that wasn’t already included with my recent home purchase. I made this clear with Jimmy the sales associate that had first contacted me, the gentleman who contacted me to set up the appointment for Adam the installer to come. Once Adam was in my home, I told him continuously I did not want it any additional stuff, he then he persuaded me with a “5-day trial period” and that with the purchase of my home I had a $500 certificate. When he installed these products, he handed me an iPad to sign somethings on Doc-u-sign and if you have ever used that before you know how you can skip everything to only where an initial or signature is needed. I did not see a “3-day trial” anywhere nor was that mentioned by Adam or the personal concierge Jeff that after the 3-day period I would be charge 75% of the total remainder of the contract. I just trusted the man who let into my home, I was also changed about $90 that day for this and gave them my card information.
These products included sensors on doors and windows, alarm system a doorbell camera, one smoke alarm and one carbon dioxide alarm, it was also supposed to include a camera facing towards the driveway, but he did NOT have this on him and said he will return later to install it. I have no use for these products because this home is not that large, and I find this area to be safe and secure after live lived here for over 9 years already. I contacted the Safe Haven on Tuesday the 20th. Mind you I thought it was 5 business days and when I spoke to Jeff my so-called personal concierge, he told me that Saturday was a workday for them, and Monday being a public holiday for Juneteenth was also. When I contacted him on Tuesday, I told him via email that I did not want to continue using the services and that I want it uninstalled. On Thursday while I was at work Jeff contacted me and told me for the first time that I would be charged the 75% of the contract, I asked him how much that would be, and he then proceeded to tell me that someone would be in contact with me with the numbers of the remaining contract. A few hours later a lady contacted me with no numbers, and I had told her that I am not paying, and I will be proceeding with Legal action, this is unethical and deceptive as a company to go about their business such as this. I want my stuff to be uninstalled and I want to end my contract now without having to pay this amount (a total of $1312.24).
So, you they can choose what they want to do but I will not sit so quietly, I am a single mom of 2 girls under the age of 8 and I work two jobs. I work way too hard to be taken advantage of like this!
Check out this link to cancel.
https://www.safewise.com/adt-cancellation/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20you%20can%20cancel%20your,company%27s%20money%2Dback%20service%20guarantee.
Hope someone see this and can help me out.
ADT -Safe Haven Experience
On September 29, 2023, the technician arrived at my home and conducted an assessment of the home. He asked me if I had internet service and I told him no and advised that it would be on the following weekend on October 7, 2023. He advised me on where he felt the best place for the equipment would be and said that I had to sign the agreement that was sent to me via email before he could start the installation process. I completed the form and he proceeded to install the equipment. He advised that he was having some difficulties connecting the front camera to the panel. He put the equipment in place and said that he would return on October 7, 2023, to complete the installation. I noticed the next day that he damaged the outlet where he placed the front camera on September 29, 2023.
I contacted Henry the sale representative on September 30, 2023, and expressed that was having second thoughts and didn’t want to continue with the installation or the service. He told me to give them a chance to complete the installation and that if I was still dissatisfied with the service that I could cancel it anytime within the next six months.
On October 7, 2023, a technician was supposed to arrive at my home at 4:00pm, I received a call around 4:30pm from a gentleman who said that he was on the way. A young lady arrived at my home around 6:30pm and stated that she was there on her off day to complete the installation. I allowed her inside after she presented her identification. She proceeded to assess the equipment and complete the installation of the cameras and the doorbell. I pointed out to her the damage that was done by the first technician that I discovered after he departed. Up to this point I was unable to monitor and evaluate the system. The young lady was unable to connect the driveway camera because she didn’t have a ladder tall enough to reach where the prior tech placed it. She drilled an excessive large hole in the wall that extended beyond the outlet cover and I later discovered that not only did she not place my screen back inside the window where she worked to attempt to install a camera but that she also completely broke the screen and hide it behind a storage bin up against the wall. She did not leave my home until around 10:00pm that evening and the equipment was still not completely installed.
I contacted Henry again requesting to cancel my service and for someone to come and remove the equipment. He told me that he didn’t have anything to do with that anymore after the initial installation. I told him that the equipment wasn’t fully installed and beg him to send someone to pick it up and cancel my service. He told me that I would have to call customer service and that he would reach out to have another technician come out to my home. I called customer service and spoke to Stephanie F. She cut me off while I was explaining all the problems that I was having with the system and said that I was outside of the 3-day window to cancel and that I could not cancel. She was rude and that I would have to pay over $1600 to cancel because I signed a contract. I attempted to explain the situation again and advised her that the system was still not installed or working properly. She told me that I was outside of 3 days to cancel, I asked to speak to a supervisor or someone else who could help me, she said that she was a supervisor and that was not going to forward my call because they were going to tell me the same thing she said. I requested over and over again to speak to someone above her and she refused. She said that another technician would be out to look at my system and that there was absolutely no way to cancel the contract.
The next technician arrived at my home on October 11, 2023, at around 6:00pm and attempted to complete the installation and evaluate the issues with the equipment not working properly. The technician attempted to cover the hole with a large electrical plate, and he patched the remaining gap however I still have to complete the repair to the wall. He also fixed the outlet damage that was done by the first technician. The window screen is still broken and unable to fit back into the window. He fixed the issue with the front camera and for the first time that camera worked. He looked and saw that the doorbell camera and rear camera were both severely pixelated and blurry. He checked the internet speed and did something to my router and advised that the speed was indeed enough to operate the camera. He said that he hadn’t seen this issue before with the camera being pixelated to that extend but ensured me that the internet was not the issue. He continued to work on the system, he uninstalled and reinstalled the system on the panel and on my cell phone. The equipment was still now working properly, and the pictures were not clear on the doorbell or rear camera. He saw that during the daytime hours, the rear camera and doorbell would show a black and white picture and that it would be pixelated and burry. He departed my home and said that it was nothing else that he could do but that he would express in his report that the equipment is not operational.
I contacted Henry, he cut me off and told me to contact Safe Haven customer service for guidance because he was tired of it and out of it from that point on. I called Safe Haven and requested to cancel the service and remove the equipment from my home. The lady whose name that I do not recall told me no because I was outside of the three-day window and could not cancel without paying my way out of it. I asked her to transfer the call to a supervisor or to another tier and she refused also.
The fourth technician arrived at my home October 16, 2023, and looked at the equipment and tested the internet speed, he said that speed for the doorbell was high enough to operate the equipment and that the towers that system used were Verizon and that it was not working because I was using AT&T as my internet provider. That didn’t make sense to me, so I asked him to write down his diagnosis. He also observed the cameras showing a black and white picture during the daytime. I showed him a lap in monitoring for days when I was out of town. He saw when I took my trash can out and placed it at the bottom of my driveway and departed my home with the alarm set to away. On that same day my neighbor pulled my trash can up my driveway and placed it under my steps however there is no footage or alerts documenting that activity. There was on one animal observed in my yard for two and half days while I was away.
I have contacted Henry the sales representative and safe haven customer service to cancel the service and to remove the equipment, they are still refusing to do so.
New home owner dealing with these idiots as well. The home I bought already has an ADT system installed (both the ADT system and the home are approx 5 years old), of course the pushy salesperson from Safehaven calls me to discuss ADT monitoring. Naturally he is giving me this whole schpiel to upsell me on new equipment advertising “free upgrades” or whatever and that it would be $65 a month with all the new equipment. I politely listened to him, and stated thanks, but I just want a quote for whats already here.
The tech was supposed to come out today to look at the equipment and give me a quote, but I woke up this morning to find that Safehaven had already charged me $130 without my consent. The salesperson “Shawn” told me I would only be charged if I decided to activate the system. When I contacted him about this he replied, “I’ll waive your install down to $99.99 since they ran it early” (guess he doesn’t know what ‘waive” means…). I firmly stated that no, I want to be refunded the $130 and I want to cancel the appointment for today, that I would figure something else out as I am not interested in their services if this is how they conduct business. Then his manager calls stating it’s only a “pending payment” and that it hasn’t finalized, and “no refund is necessary”. I said either way you charged my card and removed money from my account without my consent and without any services being rendered. The tactics are entirely inappropriate and I will be contacting my state board about this matter. Sorry you also had to deal with this.
I, too, was deceived bt Safe Haven. They said they were ADT and put in equipment, setting me up with a new credit account for what I thought was my monitoring fees. In actuality, it was the 3 year contract that was paying for my equipment that soon began to go off with false alarms. I later learned from real ADT people that Safe Haven had sold me equipment that the real ADT no longer used because they didn’t work well with new stronger wi fi. Tech people from ADT, not Safe Haven, game out 6 or 8 times, replacing equipment, batteries, etc. but to no avail. They cancelled my monitoring contract of $65 a month, but couldn’t do anything about my bank payment, $86 a month, that Safe Haven set up. So Safe Haven got their equipment money up front, I’m stuck still owing about $700 for equipment that never really worked correctly, and is still going off with false alarms, and Safe Haven will not return my calls. I will be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau.
This is a common practice of Safe Haven. I am in Nevada. The AG’s office would t help, Consumer Affairs sent me a template response, and so on. No attorney in Nevada would represent me either. I have had service since November 2024, Safe Haven refused to replace my equipment and kept sending installers out to check my sensors and cameras but they did nothing. March 2023 my alarm went off 15 times! My sensors says my windows are open but they’re not. My camera is monitoring my movement inside the home even after I created a security screen. I think they are watching me and I am not paranoid! As I type only the green light is on, but the read lights come on without my touching the system. ADT advertises a satisfaction six month guarantee but Safe Haven does not honor it even though the during the initial installment I was told they did. Then he said but you have to call customer service to negotiate the contract because Safe Haven has their own threee say warranty. The way the installer put it to me the three day warranty was for the equip which I purchased out right not the service! But he told his management team something totally different. Safe Haven and ADT have had class action lawsuits in 2022 and 2023. Maybe you can find an attorney in your state to represent you. They don’t represent folks such as myself.