GREENSBORO, N.C. — Mamie Bailey is not one for change. Bailey has lived in the same Greensboro home for 52 years.
“I like it. It’s been a great home,” Bailey said.
The house is home to so many memories Bailey isn’t sure where to start when thinking about all the magical moments shared inside the home.
A few years ago, after her husband passed away, Bailey purchased a home security system for protection. The system had several alarms that would chime or go off if someone entered the home.
If the system were armed, an alert would be sent to the company's headquarters and police would be dispatched.
“It was nice to have when I was out and came home. It made me feel safe,” Bailey said.
The contract was for 36 months, and Bailey decided she didn’t want to renew because she had found an alternative. Bailey reached out to the security company to let them know she wanted to cancel the policy.
“They said I had to write letters to get out of the policy,” Bailey said.
After sending the cancellation notice, Bailey purchased a new system and had it installed. The new system worked well, and Bailey figured everything was settled with the old security company.
About a month or two after sending the letters to cancel the old policy, Bailey received a bill for a monthly charge. She contacted the old security company and was told she renewed the contract.
“They told me I renewed on the internet,” Bailey said.
She asked to cancel the contract but was told it would be $1,200 to cancel the contract. It was right about them that Bailey contacted News 2 for help.
We spoke with Bailey and had her send us a copy of the contract she apparently renewed online. At the bottom of the contract was a signature with her name.
“My signature was there, but I looked at it and said that is not my signature,” Bailey said.
We contacted the security company, and it did confirm the signature was auto-generated. Bailey swears she did not agree to renew the contract and sent letters asking to cancel as instructed.
After about a week of trying to sort out exactly what happened, a representative with the security company called us back and let us know it would allow Bailey to cancel the contract with no penalty.
“I’m still rejoicing because that is a lot of money,” Bailey said.
It’s still unclear why the contract was renewed but Bailey is just happy it’s canceled.
As for auto-renew contracts, make sure you notify the company well in advance if you don’t want the contract to renew and keep a copy for your records if you need to dispute something.