Customers stuck in contracts they say they never signed up for: It is a common complaint online.
Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray says one woman found out she was locked into a home security contract for five years.
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When she looked at the signature on that contract, it wasn’t hers.
She was frustrated because she believes someone with the company automatically extended her contract for the additional five years.
The company told her she would have to pay more than $1,000 if she wanted to cancel it.
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For Katherine Allen and her husband, at one time, hiring ADT for home security made sense.
“My husband and I were traveling, and we wanted something to protect our apartment just in case,” she said.
When their 3-year contract ended in 2024, Katherine thought payments were on a month-to-month basis.
“I usually check on our bank account, and I kept seeing it come out and come out,” she said.
When they tried to cancel service, ADT informed them she signed an extension, locking her in for five years.
Katherine insists she didn’t sign anything. The electronic signature looks nothing like her regular signature, so she stopped allowing autopayments from her bank account.
That’s when ADT started sending bills in the mail, demanding payment and warning she could face “contract termination charges.”
She said over the phone they told her the charge to cancel would be more than $1,000.
“And they didn’t care. They said we signed this extension. No, we did not,” she said.
ADT has an A rating with the Better Business Bureau, but it gets just a 1-star out of 5 customer review rating.
Many of the over 10,000 complaints on the BBB are similar to Katherine’s. Some say ADT makes it difficult to cancel, while others claim the company continued billing even after they did cancel.
In a settlement with the Department of Justice earlier this year, ADT agreed to pay more than $1.3 million after the DOJ alleged the company imposed unlawful contract termination charges on at least 3,400 service members who received military relocation orders.
We reached out to ADT. The company didn’t answer any questions about the electronic signature for the contract extension, but sent this statement:
After reviewing Ms. Allen’s account and confirming the terms of the agreement, our team offered to cancel the service and waive the remaining balance of the contract.
Katherine said the account is now canceled, and she’s thankful to have it behind her.
“We don’t need it because we’re senior citizens, and we’re on a fixed income,” she said.
If you sign up for a service like this, make sure you get a copy of the complete contract and read it. It’s important you know exactly what the terms are.
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