LEXINGTON, N.C. — Not everybody likes country living. The kind that takes at least 10 minutes to get to the nearest grocery store. The kind that involves more winding turns and dips than an amusement park roller coaster. There are however plenty of people that feel the exact opposite.
“Oh, I like it, it’s quiet and calm,” Bessie Holmes said.
Her Lexington home sits on a large parcel of land surrounded by trees and isn’t within shouting distance of anything but the animals that roam near it. It’s also the reason that Holmes and her husband decided to get a security system a few years ago.
“We had some car break-ins, the person came through the woods,” Holmes said.
The security system worked great, and the family didn’t have any more issues with break-ins or burglaries. Earlier this year she then saw a promotion to upgrade and get some cameras. Holmes called and the salesperson told her about the promotion.
“I kept asking if there was any cost and they said no,” Holmes said.
She was told the monitoring cost would go up about $10 a month but that’s it. Holmes had the technician come out and install two cameras and a doorbell camera. A month went by when Holmes noticed an increase in her monthly bill that was substantial.
The security company charged Holmes more than $1,400 to install the free system. “I was shocked,” Holmes said.
She called the company but was told she signed a contract and there was nothing it could do. Holmes said the contract was signed on an iPad and the salesperson only showed her page one and not the page with the costs.
A few weeks after trying to get the charges canceled Holmes reached out to News 2. We contacted the company and were told by an executive it would investigate the matter. We also asked them to send us a copy of the initial sales call.
A few days later we received a callback and we were told the company could not provide a copy of the call but admitted that the salesperson did not mention a cost to upgrade the system.
The representative told us he would reach out to Holmes and let her know they would cancel all charges associated with the upgrade and even lower her monthly bill.
“I thank (News 2) very much for stepping in and assisting me,” Holmes said.