My doorbell might be the worst one to ring if you’re a slippery salesman who doesn’t play by the rules. Ask the sales guy who pestered me the other day. I bet he wishes he never stopped by.

At first, I talked to him through the glass. I rarely open the door for anyone except the pizza deliveryman. But he was one persistent son of a gun.

He told me he was from an alarm company. I asked which one, and he pointed to the logo on his sleeve — GE Security.

When I finally opened the door, he moved the notebook that he was holding against his chest, revealing his real company logo on his breast pocket — Pinnacle Security. I wrote about Pinnacle selling 60-month contracts previously.

I told him I already had an alarm system. He said my analog system wasn’t good enough.

“There’s a city ordinance in the works in Tarrant County where they’re going to require everybody to switch over to the new digital system,” he said. “That’s kind of what we’re advertising.”

There’s a lot wrong with that. He confused Fort Worth, where I live, with Tarrant County. Tarrant County doesn’t adopt alarm ordinances. The city does.

But I told him that nothing like what he described was in the works in either the city or the county.

“You can research it online,” he insisted. “I’m telling the truth.”

I told him he wasn’t.

“I promise you!” he said.

No, I repeated. It’s not happening.

“The honest truth,” he said. “I’m not lying.”

But he was wrong.

I asked to see his state license for door-to-door alarm sales.

Instead, he pulled out his company ID card.

I told him state law required that he show a license. He didn’t have one with him.

“You’re in violation,” I said.

“You gotta have it right now?” he asked.

Yeah, man.

“I’ve only been at the company for a month,” he said.

I identified myself as The Watchdog columnist at the Star-Telegram. Told him I wrote about his company in October. Seemed as if I knew more about Pinnacle than he did.

I went inside and fetched a copy. Brought it outside. Started reading excerpts aloud.

“Alarm salesmen and installers must carry a pocket card with their photograph issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Private Security Bureau. If they don’t have a card, they are not licensed to work in Texas.”

Hmm, he said. “I didn’t think I was breaking the law.”

He told me he was 23 years old, finishing up college in Arizona. This is a summer job, and he expects to return home in a month with his wife. He wasn’t doing too well in the new job either, he confessed.

No wonder.

Later, I checked with a Fort Worth spokesman, who confirmed that the city is not contemplating forcing burglar alarm users to switch from analog to digital. Why would it?

I looked on the Texas Department of Public Safety website and saw that this salesman did have a license. Perhaps his boss never bothered to give it to him.

Checked also with the agency, which investigates unlicensed alarm salesmen. In this case, I was told, if a complaint were filed, the company would be cited, not the salesman, because management didn’t give him proper credentials.

Looked up the company’s Better Business Bureau rating and saw that Pinnacle has the same F grade it had when I checked in October. But the numbers are worse. In October, there were 800 consumer complaints going back three years. Now there are 1,200.

Checked the Orem, Utah-based company’s record with the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, too. In November, the company was fined $6,000 for disobeying state rules. Among the violations cited was “indicating that a replacement or a repair is needed when it is not.”

Called Chris Russell, president of the Fort Worth-based Texas Burglar and Fire Alarm Association, who told me, “It’s very frustrating to hear a story like that because we try to warn homeowners of these types of sales tactics. I guess we haven’t been effective yet to put a stop to it.”

Contacted Pinnacle, where Chief Operating Officer Steve Hafen told me he would contact the Dallas office “to make sure we are not misstating or exaggerating facts.”

He added: “He should have been carrying that license. … There’s no excuse for that. … We’ll follow up with that office to make sure that all the representatives follow the comprehensive code of conduct we have in place.”

As for the salesman, when we said our goodbyes at my front door, I suggested that his best bet was just to boogie on out of my neighborhood. I watched as he stopped knocking on doors, at least on my block.

One down. A zillion more to go.

# # #

After the above Watchdog column first appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a former alarm salesman sent this confessional e-mail to the paper’s comments board:

Burnsengine wrote on 8/6/2010 1:02:19 AM:

When I moved back to D/Fw, I went to work for a major company that sells alarms systems. This kid, though I feel sorry for him, probably has little idea about the law. I didn’t.

This is likely what they trained him to do and say. And, in this working environment today, it was probably the only job he could get. When I left the company (after 6 horrible months), I realized that I too may have been violating the law.
These salesmen are trained to sell. That’s it. They are trained to say whatever it is they have to say to scare, worry, frighten, nag or break you down to make the sale. They are only given a brief summary on what’s legal and what is not at a local seminar. The rookies know very little compared to the veterans.. and the veterans don’t have time to teach anyone. I believed this was purposeful then, and I still do now.

Ignorance is bliss, right? I witnessed lie after lie from my own managers to my customers about their systems OR lack thereof. Leaving this company was one of the best decisions I ever made.

# # #

For Texas alarm customers

– Alarm salesmen and installers must carry a “pocket card” with their photograph issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Private Security Bureau. If they don’t have a card, they are not licensed to work in Texas.

–  To check whether a salesperson or installer is licensed in Texas, visit www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb/individual/individual_search.aspx.
To check whether an alarm company is licensed in Texas, visit www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb/company/company_search.aspx.

–  Texas consumers can complain to the Private Security Bureau at 512-424-7710  or e-mail: privatesecurityboard@txdps.state.tx.us.

–  If you have fallen victim to an unlicensed salesman, complain to the Texas Attorney General at 1-800-621-0508.

–  Alarm system companies in Texas operate under Chapter 1702 of the Occupations Code (the Private Security Act.)

–  Texas customers who have a complaint about a Utah-based alarm sales company may file a complaint with the Utah Division of Consumer Protection Web site at www.consumerprotection.utah.gov. Or call 801-530-6601.

TIPS

Be cautious about purchasing an alarm system from door-to-door salesmen.

Be wary of offers of free systems. Equipment and installation fees may be free, but don’t forget the monthly monitoring fee.

Check the company’s reputation before signing any contract. Get other bids and compare.

Ask for the company’s security procedures when an alarm sounds so you know how it handles your security.

Learn the length of the contract. Get the shortest possible.

The Federal Trade Commission requires a “cooling off period” of three days in which you can cancel any contract you signed with a salesman who came to your door.

Source: BBB

# # #

Dave Lieber, The Watchdog columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is the founder of Watchdog Nation. The new 2010 edition of his book, Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong, is out. Revised and expanded, the book won two national book awards in 2009 for social change. Twitter @DaveLieber