ADT Accuses Vision Security of Lying to Make Sales
Alleged training video shows instructor telling students what to say when they see an ADT security sign in someone’s front yard.
OREM, Utah – ADT has accused Vision Security, based here, of training its salespeople to lie in order to make sales, KUTV.com reports.
ADT sent KUTV, a local CBS affiliate, a two-minute video that they claim was shot in Arizona in March 2013 using a cell phone. The video shows an instructor wielding a clipboard talking to a class. A piece of paper on the clipboard reads, “Vision.”
The instructor, which ADT claims was a regional sales manager for Vision Security, tells his students what to say when they see a security sign in someone’s front yard that reads ADT, according to the report.
The instructor demonstrates telling a homeowner that he is there to upgrade that homeowner’s current home alarm.
“We’re with G.E. We are the makers of all the equipment that you guys have in the home,” the instructor acted out in a demonstration. “We do business with all the security companies. ADT is one of them.”
ADT lawyer Dave Bleisch tells KUTV they do not do business with Vision Security.
“It’s very clear that they’re being told how to tell lies to consumers,” Bleisch said.
The video reinforces complaints filed by homeowners from across the country. The state of Ohio sued Vision Security last fall claiming Vision salespeople lied to Ohio residents about the identity of the company, the price of the system, or that they were there to upgrade the consumer’s current home security system, according to KUTV.
Vision Security settled those charges earlier this year.
In Utah, the division of consumer protection has cited vision security. The citation refers to numerous complaints that Vision Security salespeople made untrue statements. The complaints came from around the country including Missouri, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia.
Lawyers for Vision Security refused to answer specific questions about the accusations made by Ohio, Utah or ADT citing ongoing legal proceedings, according to KUTV.
Speaking generally, Vision Security wrote, “In no way does Vision condone deceptive sales practices,” adding, “Vision has fired and fined multiple people.”
In a second statement, Vision Security said they did not authorize the training demonstrated in the video.
Vision Security Lawyer Bradley J. Weber also sent an email to KUTV with nine links to stories reported about ADT misgivings. Included was an article about how ADT was fined by the Federal Trade Commission earlier this year for calling paid endorsements, “independent reviews.”
ADT and Vision Security have been fighting in court. Vision settled a lawsuit filed in Florida earlier this year. A lawsuit is currently being fought in federal court with the video as a central point.
Recently, ADT said it would offer a $25,000 reward to anyone that is willing to testify or provide evidence that they were trained to lie in order to make a home alarm sale. The offer goes for an alarm company, not just Vision Security.
Vision Security has followed suit, announcing that they will pay $10,000 for information that that one of their people has broken federal or state sales laws, according to KUTV.
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