Castle Rock Security Group

I see from other reviewers, I’m in the same boat. I called to cancel my service (they bought the contract from a previous monitoring company), and got the information I needed to do so (send it in writing), but was then told that my service had just renewed for another 12 months 13 days before. I asked if there was anything that could be done about this, and was told no. I then asked to speak with a manager. Neil came on the phone and was downright rude to me, saying that I could cancel and get «sub-​par service from a sub-​par company,» and that they would send out an invoice for me to pay the remainder of my 12-​month contract, which is nearly $ 500. I just filed a BBB complaint, and I’m also going to submit complaints to the NY Attorney General (HQ of the company), and I’ll also try to do the same in MD since that’s where I live.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Get out when you can.

Yep, I’m paying for an extra year of service because they did not receive my cancellation letter in time. they said they never received it.
Now it’s January, and I want to cancel before the May renewal date. Accounting told me I could cancel via email or fax, and so I sent an email. However, it looks like I need to send a scanned copy of a signed letter and then attach that to my email. Oh, that’s convenient when I don’t have a printer.
Why do they make it so hard to cancel? Because they want to lock you in for another year.

I still would give them negative stars if I could… but I want to post an update for others like me, out there searching for resolution with this company.
In addition to Unilocal and Angie’s LIst, I contacted the Cook County State’s Attorney (heard they were seeking class action), and also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in both Illinois and New York.
I received notification that Castle Rock responded to their second attempt at contact, and they cancelled our account and refunded the past due. I’m very happy this is resolved but still warn anyone against doing business with them. If it weren’t for my reporting them all over the place, they would not have helped us and we’d be out thousands of dollars.

My experience mirrors ZenRider X’s almost exactly. I note that the Attorney General of Illinois is suing Castlerock over this policy.
Do not under any circumstances ever purchase a security contract from this company or, if your contract gets sold to them (that’s what happened to me) get out at the first opportunity.
Send everything in writing when you cancel.
Bad company, unpleasant people, horrible customer service. What else is there to know?

Wow. This company is evil. Note their Better Business rating of F. I canceled my account via FAX (as the company requires) on March 7^th. I was told my account would be canceled 30 days after they receive the FAX. They claim they received the FAX on March 15^th. They charged me another month on ⁴⁄₁₈. I called to complain. They claim my billing date is the 15^th, and since my cancellation dates falls on my billing date, they have the right to charge me. Even though they are not providing any service for the next 30 days, I had to pay for it. Heck, they haven’t provided ANY service since I switched to them 3.5 years ago. What a terrible company. But then, just about every monitoring company seems to have similar issues.

CASTLE ROCK SECURITY OBVIOUSLY HATES THEIR CUSTOMERS AND WANTS THEIR CUSTOMERS TO HATE THEM.
Before I tell you why I state the above about CASTLEROCK SECURITY ating their customers, I feel I must explain that some of the fault here is mine. I did not cancel more than 30 days prior to the original contract end date. The original contract I signed THREE YEARS AGO had an auto-​renewal clause that states they will auto-​renew my contract for twelve months if I do not cancel within the policies. Okay. Fine. I did not know about or remember this clause from three years ago.
My original three year contract is actually due to expire in four days. I called them to cancel my service because I am getting a divorce and my ex-​wife and I are moving into rental apartments where we cannot bring the service with us.
Castle Rock Security’s policy is that if you do not cancel at least 30 days prior to the original contract end –date your contract is automatically renewed for TWELVE MONTHS… not month to month like any other service provider company I can imagine. And their policy is that if you cancel your service less than 30 days prior to the original contract end date then you are REQUIRED to pay for the service for the entire remainder of the new contract (twelve months).
Now, to be fair, I certainly can understand the auto-​renewal clause of the contract. It cuts down on expenses and overhead for the company and helps to maintain the relationship with the client and retains the contract at the same rate. I am not mad at their clause and if I were buying another home right now I would not have called to cancel I would have called to move the service… That’s right… I was actually a satisfied customer. I might have been their customer for the next twenty years. Now I will never do business with them again and I hope you will take heed of my warning and avoid this company as well.
To continue the story… I spoke with their customer service representative who told me that his only solution would be to cut my service agreement in half and only require me to pay for six months of the 12 month term. Now, remember, this is a services that I am COMPLETELY UNABLE TO USE. I cannot take the service somewhere else. In other words I have to pay them $ 240.00 to never do business with them.
I have worked in customer service, trained customer service reps and developed customer service training for much of my career. Never in twenty-​five years have I encountered such an uncaring business philosophy. For me, I can understand having to pay an extra month or even two from today because of the lateness of my cancellation notice. But to require six to twelve months of payments is completely absurd.
Other service providers often require a 1 – 2 year commitment for services but they typically have an unable to service clause that allows for the contract to be nullified if the subscriber moves to an area that the service provider does not cover. As described above, I do not own the property of the apartment I am moving into. I cannot bring this service with me. It is not even my apartment. I will be sharing the space with roommates.
Castle Rock Security does not care that I cannot actually use their service. They apparently only care about my money and so, they have lost me as a customer forever. What could have been $ 1,000s of revenue from me once I get back to owning a home again has now been capped at $ 240 of hate money.
Another thing to note: Many companies that maintain an auto-​renewal clause such as the one described herein will contact the client before the renewal date to let them know that the contract will be renewing for x months on x date. Contact us if you wish to alter the terms of your service, etc. Castle Rock does not do this. They bank on the fact that people will not remember the auto-​renewal contract clause from THREE YEARS AGO. This policy allows them to collect money for services they do not even have to provide (at least in my case).
I would have happily paid the $ 40-​$ 80 to close my account with them. Now that I must pay them $ 240-​$ 480 to close my account I am shocked and amazed that any company would behave in such an unfriendly manner and I certainly hope this review keeps people from using their service — not for the terms of their contract — but for their uncaring customer service policies.