Alarm company issued "cease and desist" order

Alarm Company Investigated By Cheryl Mercedes BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - The Louisiana Fire Marshal's Office is investigating an alarm system company out of Utah. Some customers who live in the Baton Rouge area say salesmen for APX alarms are knocking on their doors and insisting they try their product. One woman says her husband fell for the company's propaganda. "They got one on this street. They tried to get my neighbor, but he didn't want it." Shiny, reflective signs advertising APX Security Systems are popping up in Grace Wilkerson's neighborhood. She says so-called travelling salesmen with the company are begging folks to let them into their homes to talk about their alarm systems. "I saw them three days straight," she says. Grace says sales representatives are telling potential customers they have the best deal in town and they can take advantage of it only if they sign up that day. Grace's husband fell for it. "I don't know what all they told him to get him to sign that contract. They didn't give him time to think." By the time Grace got home from running errands, it was too late. Her old alarm system was boxed up and replaced with the APX edition, and a $99 installation fee and a first month service fee of $44 had been drafted from her bank account. What's worse, she tells us her husband signed a five-year contract because he was impressed with the system's bells and whistles. "He said they do this cell phone thing; if they cut your phone line, they can call you by cell." However, when the couple went to test the system, they were very disappointed. In the test run, it took more than a few minutes for the alarm to sound and Grace says it took even longer for the company to call and check on them. The Wilkersons called to cancel their contract with APX, but the company says it will take 30 days for them to uninstall the system. The couple didn't cancel their contract with their previous security system provider. So now, the Wilkerson's face two monthly bills for what appears to be exactly the same thing. The state fire marshal's office issued APX an order to "cease and desist" until its investigation is complete. So far, investigators found the firm had 15 unlicensed employees who installed nearly 325 systems across the state. An attorney for the company says APX is complying with the agency's request and will have everything in order by Monday.