Lone Star Security & Video

Unbelievably bad business. Bruce Boyer insults and threatens despite courteous requests to supply details of outstanding charges never agreed upon.
Lone Star was our security company for two years when a mysterious $ 540 charge appeared as past due. I was unfamiliar with the charge and asked what is was for. Bruce said look at the original installation service ticket and I would see the charges. I reviewed my pink carbon copy and did not see the service fees he demanded. When I asked for clarification, he emailed threats of a collection agency and that I was disputing just to avoid payment. I told him to send his copy, which showed his employee added line item fees after I had signed the agreement!
I pointed out he was trying to collect from an altered contract, which is an attempt to defraud. He didn’t care, said we owed the money and sent it to collection. All the time with insults and threats. AVOID THIS COMPANY. IF YOU DO BUSINESS NOW, CHANGE BEFORE YOUR HEADACHE BEGINS!

I agree with all of the negative reviews.
We decided to activate our alarm system with Lone Star only because the previous owners of our home in Sherman Oaks already had the system in place & the switching costs seemed too high — big mistake.
We had a number of issues with faulty sensors and problematic service. The technicians always showed up at least an hour late (oftentimes more) and always charged a fee for sub-​par service — things that should have been included in the contract.
Dealing with Rick and Bruce was a nightmare, and when I questioned Rick about the tardiness of his techs for a service appointment, his response was, in sum and substance, «What do you expect me to do? And do you really want to pick a fight with the people who are coming into your home?» Borderline threatening, and utterly unprofessional.
Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

I have had a LoneStar hardwired, satellite and landline security system for over 25 years. They upgrade the equipment when needed at a reasonable price. My family and business also have LoneStar systems. Their response time to alarms is very quick, very superior to the LAPD (which took 2 hours in the past, not a priority obviously). Occasional malfunctions occur with the system which they come out and repair (very old contacts for example). They have a low turnover rate of employees (my last installer 22 years ago is now head of field maintenance. I checked out several other companies and found their costs generally higher and do not provide the same quality of service (especially satellite service or private patrol response). The only break-​in over the past 25 years of having this at four homes and businesses has been at the business where the attempted robbers broke through the front plate glass window (after the 94′ earthquake), through the adjacent wood frame unit’s wall or through the ceiling vent (now alarmed as well). Sometimes, they have difficulty in finding a problem with older wiring which is why I will give them a 4.5 star rating.
I recommend LoneStar for peace of mind when one gets the full wired system with satellite back-​up and private patrol response.

This is the worst company ever. They have so many hidden fee. There was a problem with the system, i called and they come late and my shop already closed. A week later, a bill came and they charge for the siting fee (for doing nothing).
One day, the system keeps making noise and i called them, they cant turn it off and they said there will be initial charge to send tech over.
I sent a certified letter to stop the service 90 days in advance, make sure you do this step. They still bill me for the next term year, then i called, and they said will pick up the equipment on certain date (she didnt tell me there will be fee). They come a week early, and the person who pick it up give me a bill for $ 50 for pick-​up fee. I called the Reps who i talked to, she wasnt there. The Sales manager refused to help me, he told me to talked to Erica herself and i adked him to have Erica call me back, but she never call me back.
A month later, i received a bill and the bill went up to $ 65. I called again, and Norma told me that i should read on the contract, it said there will be $ 50 charge to pick up the equipment.
This company deserve no star what so ever. Too bad i need to give one star to post this review.

Be careful getting a quote from these guys.
They will trick you into signing a contract and lie to your face. Bruce is very rude and condescending
They came to our office and provided a quote.
We decided to go with another company.
Next thing you know we got a collections bill from an agency.
Now they are suing us for a service that was never provide and no equipment was ever installed.
STEER AWAY AND BEWARE. FYI Bruce is a real piece of work

Awful.
1. They’re supposed to ask for your permit before they install (they didn’t — nor did I know I needed one). City of LA said to hold them accountable for the police charges. Lone Star (LS) said fight them, they’ll cave.
2. Several installation problems, motion detectors weren’t working, installed too high, installed upside down, installed different ones. To their credit, they did keep coming out… though they no-​showed on 2 appointments.
I had enough, but looking at the 2 year contract term I signed, and seeing how these people responded (rude, condescending and in my opinion, without ethics), I decided to stick it out.
I haven’t had any current issues with them, but had enough of a bad taste in my mouth that I just opted to go elsewhere. I would advise anyone else to do the same.

Do yourself a favor and don’t even consider this B.S. company. I have never been so upset with any service provider as I was with these morons. Bruce is the biggest horses butt that ever came down the pike. He is very quick to sue everybody that cancels their service and will lie to the judge about anything and everything to try and get some money out of you as you flee from their ineptness. The people that he sent to my house couldn’t find their own asses with both hands. Believe me when I say, you will regret the day you even let this guy in your door.

Be careful with this bullcrap company, they will robbed you blind. They will charge you lots of false alarms, lots of hidden charges that you can’t believe. They are very rude and they will harass you if you dont pay them. They even file a complaint against me in the small claims court and they didn’t know that i am very excited to face them in court. I advise all other customers to come out and if they have an existing issues regarding this company. Lets get together and get the media or public attention about the modus of this company in order them to stop victimizing other innocent customers. The very bad part that happened to me was they insisted that i agreed for 1 year contract which i didn’t. I didn’t signed anything and i just continued the 3 months contract of the former owner of the house that i bought. We made an arrangement twice for them to get their equipment in my house but they didn’t show up and now they file a complaint in the small claims court and wanted me to pay for their equipment. It’s absolutely not fair and this is some kind of harassment. I will face them in court soon. Im planning on countersuing them right after the court hearing next week. I encourage other customers to file a necessary complaint if they have issues against LONE STAR SECURITY & VIDEO.

Worst service you can imagine. Don’t mind the attitude when you call either, it seems they go through many receptionists since there is only one that picks up the calls and one manager that is a coward, who won’t answer or return your calls when there’s a problem or you want to disconnect their service. If you use them, make sure the back up battery is replaced before you start service with them if you have an existing set up. If not, expect to pay about a $ 100 each time it runs out and deal with a very useless and u reachable staff. They were not flexible at all when we’ve only used their service for 5 months. I called to disconnect service and was asked by the coward manager to send in a written letter as to why and when to disconnect service. I’d give 0 stars if I could. I will report these company to the BBB and I hope others who’ve encountered this problem to do the same. Thanks for reading this review and please, do yourself a favor and look up another company. Cheers

I used Lone Star Security to install and monitor my residence for 3 years. I would not recommend. Here’s why:
Monitoring is pretty straightforward. However, Lone Star could never get it right. I had to change my initial «call list» and they would take the change in the office but it would never get changed with the central station. They would call my sister first who moved to Washington DC and either wake her up or miss her. She, of course, had no clue where we were. This resulted in several police dispatches to our house, which cost us money. Lone Star still wouldn’t do anything.
I decided to cancel service and they demanded my 3 year old equipment. I sent it back and they said I still owed them $ 240 for a smoke alarm that I had returned. And c’mon — $ 240 for a smoke alarm??? I refused to pay and they turned it to a collection agency. What a hassle.
Do not use this firm. There are plenty of other (better) choices out there

Have had alarm surveillance from this company for years with no complaints. Recently installed security cameras from Rich and his team. Very professional cleaned up after their work. Recommend their services to other people

Do not use Lone Star! They came and installed my system, it worked OK, but when I cancelled service things became difficult. Installers came to remove equipment, said there was nothing worth taking and left. Then I receive an invoice for $ 655 for the equipment that the first installer said was no good. Went back and forth with them for months with little to no response. I finally agreed to let them take all of the equipment just to get rid of them. When they did remove my Lone Star panel they couldn’t produce the old panel.
One thing I did find humorous is the wording of their invoices. It said if I didn’t pay by the date specified that I would «suffer the consequences». Who the hell writes a business document like that? Good stuff. I got a good chuckle out of it.
Worst company I’ve had the misfortune of dealing with. Stay away.

I am impressed by these guys. I am impressed at how bad they can be at running a business and still survive.
You would think some of these other bad reviews are exaggerating. After my own experience, I believe them 100%.
These guys are terrible at getting back to you, unless you’re a new customer. After they’ve reeled you in, that’s it. The messy installation, the poor communication, the bad service — all true. I am telling you — they are so unorganized, it is almost impressive that they can still get by.
Forget about asking for a manager if you need to talk to someone more reasonable. They are actually worse and probably less educated than some of the other staff. If anyone there actually graduated with a degree in business, that university’s program would need to be under serious review.
Stay away from Lone Star Response if you value your money and your time. There are better options out there. I would say that you get what you pay for, but the sad truth is that these guys aren’t even the best price in town.
I was foolish enough to want to support small business. Lesson learned: Never go out of your way to support a small business if you need to compromise quality.

Awful, a horrible company with nasty service.
I hired them when I purchased my new house. The system never worked well and went off several times costing me false alarm fees. When I canceled my service and replaced with ADT, they came and removed the system, left a large hole in my wall where a previous panel had been (they put this new panel in place of a previous functioning one that was there, so I was left with less than I started). I disputed their final bill out of good customer service and they proceeded to not care and threatened collections. I chatted with one of their supervisors Ruth Boyer, I’ve never talked to anyone more rude or less likely to care about a customer. This company is truly the worst company one could choose for your home and family.

Dont let cheap pricing fool you. Bruce and his team will get you in the long run. After my system was installed I found out for over a year or so it wasnt even connected to the monitoring service. Somehow the phone line was not communicating. Bruce gladly fixed it but charged me because it was out of warranty. I had to pay them for work they didnt even do the first time. Just recently I had asked for a key to replace my battery. They wanted a couple hundred dollars to replace a $ 35 battery from Frys. The problem was that I lost the key to the control box. I sent an email requesting the key. I called the next day and the Bruce said he dropped it in the mail. I didnt receive the key for 1−½ weeks and the letter was post marked a week after it was sent. I even called their after hours phone service and left a message and got no return call. To make things worse I opened up the control box and wires were everywhere. The control board, which is easy to short out, was wedged in by the battery.
If you can keep these clowns off your property and the system is working, than the monitoring company, which is a contractor of lonestar, make this is an OK deal. If you need customer service thats on time and polite, look elsewhere.
I sent an email into the entire crew and got only one reply from the service manager who pointed the finger at everyone else.
This is copied from an email that the owner Bruce Boyer wrote me (its obvious that he has no concerns for quality):
«I am not willing to charge more to do cleaner work, you are the one customer in a hundred who would know or care. As such we must work to what the marketplace demands and the marketplace is not interested in the level of work. We used to do it in the past, but changed from clean tight panel box installs as the cost we bore could not be recouped. Engineering wise you are correct, but if the money is not there it all falls down and there are NO panel boxes»
Another copy from an email: These boxes can fit two batteries if the rest of the pieces are cleanly attached inside of the massive box. I dont know what industry standard he is referring to either. Every electrical department of any hardware store sells zip ties and wire mounting fasteners. He even admits to the poor quality while the previous email he is not willing to to quality work.
«As an industry std we do not zip tie; I agree it is cleaner but not worth 30 min per and slows serv. As to fitting battery, boxes are made as small as poss so little rm.»

—WARNING—
Do not use this company!
Look at they’re 14 complaints on BBB website.
Look at there reviews on google maps.
Their good in the beginning for install but once you need any kind of service they are the worst. Took them almost 2 months to come and install an extra motion detector I needed, quoted me 220 over the phone but magically the bill jumped to 300 once the bill came in the mail. Every time I call to try to get a answer on extra charges.. . I get «I’ll pass this along to Rick he will get in contact with you» but he never did. Now I’m in collections thanks to these guys. Worst of all, system is still not working properly. Please do not use this company!

ABSOLUTE WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH IN ANY REGARD. I have been a homeowner for over 10 years and in all that time, I have NEVER encountered such appalling service (I should say lack thereof). I can’t even begin to convey my constant hair-​pulling frustration with this company from sales, to installation, to their bait and switch games. In a nutshell:
1. Initial installers were unprofessional, uninformed, did not leave proper instructions and materials. Did a poor job in every aspect.
2. The Regional Manager BRUCE is a joke. You will NEVER get him on the phone unless he’s reeling you in for the initial sale, then once you’re locked into a shitty contract, you’ll never speak to him in person again. He will dodge you and hide behind emails, the office personnel admit he will never respond to you in any way EXCEPT email. Ha, good luck with that.
3. The ONLY person who was ever remotely helpful was Ray, the Service Manager who handled some technical mishaps with the installation (hence the one star. There wasn’t an option for a partial ¼ star).
4. There are TOO many other companies out there that actually do care and provide good service to go with this one. I am a logical, reasonable person who’s interested in finding a solution where both parties can/​will compromise but they are UNWILLING AND UNINTERESTED in working with you.
PLEASE PLEASE STAY FAR FAR AWAY FROM THIS HORRIBLE COMPANY. You will be better off heeding my advice I promise.

Were do I began !!! These guys are Great.!! Everything started with me looking for a security system. Obviously I called around, but when talking to them they offered price options that would fit my range, not like the usual places where they just tell you a flat fee and leave you wondering what your paying for and what that even means. !! Upon the estimate on what would be done he showed me great areas I should be concern about too. I was pleased with the estimate visit and decided to go with them. I thought that was the end of it and someone will come in to install the system; I was pleased to know the the service extended out to the guys that came out and did the work. They took the time to make sure hat the connection was very discreet with no loose wires hanging around and that the system worked as I needed it to be. They took the time to walk me through the entire system to make sure I was happy with the work that was done. I would recommend this place to my family and friends. Another great thing about my experience is that it was done pretty fast so that it wasn’t a burden on my schedule. …

I have been with these guys for over 4 years now and I have nothing but good to say about them. I use them for my business and for my home. David is awesome and he is always available. I have called him day and night and he always answers his cell. They have a ton of options for you and can work with you even if you are looking for something short term or long. In my opinion they are the only way to go for an alarm company.
I also use their private patrol for my home since I live in LA county and we all know that the LAPD wont show up and if they do they fine you so I opted for their Private service and the one time the alarm went off by accident they showed up with in 10 minutes! AWESOME! LAPD wouldn’t have even showed up.
For business owners this is the cheapest option in the long run and they have great service. They call me as soon as the alarm goes off and ask me if I want them to send the police.
The best part about Lone Star is that you are dealing with a small company that knows you by name that offers BIG company service.

We just moved into a new house that already had a ADT alarm system, but I had heard Lone Star offered better service and a more personal experience. I never imagined how much better they are. David came out gave us a quote, two days later Anthony came out and did the install. They were both wonderful, explained the system. Prices were more than fair and we are very happy. They are the best.