Minnesota AG Calls for Cancellation of Home Security Contracts for Alleged Fraud
Two providers affected as consumers to get out of their home security contracts for allegedly being misled by a door-to-door salesman.
A salesman working for two area alarm companies has been identified for allegedly misleading homeowners.
STEARNS COUNTY, Minn. — Bring Me the News reports that Minnesota’s Attorney General, Keith Ellison, says he’s gotten consumers in Stearns County out of home security contracts after they were misled by a door-to-door salesman. According to the report, Ellison’s office announced that home security companies Skyline Security Management and Safe Home Security have agreed to their cancel contracts with customers in and around Stearns County who purchased their systems from door-to-door salesman Gary Harvey.
“Door-to-door salesmen and their employers are in the business of trust-building,” Ellison said in a statement. “They know they need to have your trust to sell you their products, particularly expensive products like security systems that are supposed to keep your home safe. When that trust is betrayed, it’s emotionally and financially painful. I appreciate Skyline and Safe Home taking the right step in canceling these contracts while my office does what we can under the law to hold Mr. Harvey accountable and make things right for consumers.”
The report continues: Harvey first worked for Safe Home before he was terminated and began working for Skyline. He would then revisit his former customers and attempt to get them to buy a new system and sign a new contract, Ellison alleges. Ellison currently has a pending enforcement action against Harvey for misrepresenting facts about the systems to customers, including that they could cancel at any time. In reality, the contracts customers signed locked them into a multi-year agreement that obligated them to pay thousands of dollars, according to the action.
The report concludes: Many of the customers Harvey targeted were elderly or otherwise vulnerable, according to Ellison. Harvey was previously convicted of fraud in Nevada in connection with sales to elderly people.
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About the Author
Scott Goldfine, Editor-in-Chief and Associate Publisher
Scott Goldfine is Editor-in-Chief and Associate Publisher of Security Sales & Integration. Well-versed in the technical and business aspects of electronic security (video surveillance, access control, systems integration, intrusion detection, fire/life safety), Goldfine is nationally recognized as an industry expert and speaker. Goldfine is involved in several security events and organizations, including the Electronic Security Association (ESA), Security Industry Association (SIA), Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC), False Alarm Reduction Association (FARA), ASIS Int'l and more. Goldfine also serves on several boards, including the SIA Marketing Committee, CSAA Marketing and Communications Committee, PSA Cybersecurity Advisory Council and Robolliance. He is a certified alarm technician, former cable-TV tech, audio company entrepreneur, and lifelong electronics and computers enthusiast. Goldfine joined Security Sales & Integration in 1998.
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