CHARLOTTE — George Allen says it was the middle of the night, he and his wife were sleeping in their northeast Charlotte house, and that the home alarm started going off.
“The alarm is saying, ‘Basement door open, basement door open,’” he said. “I jump up. Grab my weapon.”
He told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke his security company, Brinks, called right away. He says the representative stayed on the phone with him while he walked around back to check out the basement.
“I knew it was somebody in my home,” he said.
So he says he asked Brinks to call 911.
“He says, ‘I can’t call the police because your permit number is invalid,’” he said.
Allen says that didn’t make sense.
A lot of cities, including Charlotte, require homeowners to register their alarms each year to cut down on false calls. Allen says he did that religiously and even showed Stoogenke digital paperwork showing his alarm was valid during the time in question.
According to the city of Charlotte website, “If you have an electronic burglar alarm system installed within the city limits of Charlotte or the unincorporated areas of Mecklenburg County, it must be registered. Auto, Fire, and Medical alarm systems are excluded. A permit is valid for 12 months from the date of issuance.”
But Allen says he didn’t have time to argue.
“You don’t know how difficult it is dialing 911 yourself, knowing that someone’s in your basement,” he said. “And when they’re on the way, I put my phone up, and I’m saying, ‘Come out, come out of my basement, come out, come out right now.’”
He says a woman appeared and that he held her at gunpoint until police arrived and arrested her. However, he still complained to Brinks for not calling 911 directly.
“I don’t have the words for it. It’s still terrifying. I’m still suffering from anxiety now,” he said.
Brinks emailed Stoogenke saying it did make a mistake and apologized to Allen, but stressed it was an “extremely rare” issue and that the company “fully resolved” it.
Here’s the company’s full statement: “We sympathize with Mr. Allen and his family for this distressing experience and deeply regret the incident. We know that customers trust Brinks Home with their safety and security and we understand that this incident has jeopardized our customer’s trust and we are doing all that we can to support Mr. Allen and remedy the situation. The Brinks Home customer service and technical teams have since taken action to address the extremely rare systems issue that delayed our ability to dispatch law enforcement to Mr. Allen’s home. The issue is now fully resolved and will not impact Mr. Allen’s service in the future. We have spoken directly with Mr. Allen to apologize and address any lingering concerns and to assure him that such an incident would not happen again. As a company, we remain committed to working hand in hand with our customers, like Mr. Allen, to resolve any issues or concerns and will continue to do so in the future.”
Allen says the company offered him six months free on its own. He says that after Action 9 got involved, it ended up reimbursing him for the entire time he’s been a customer and is giving him another year free.
If you have a home security alarm system, make sure you keep your permit up-to-date with police every year and that your company knows it.
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