Is this anyway to do business, read this case and relate to me all of the ethical issues involved. Identify the stakeholders and the ethical issues that each one face. Provide your opinion on what the XYZ company is doing with its sales techniques and what it should do to improve.

Names:

a woman named Kae will refer to herself as I

Jesses is a XYZ Security Company sales rep. Dalton is an installing tech

I wanted to let you know of our experience with an alleged XYZ Rep, Jesse, contacting my mother today. She is an 80+year-old woman, living alone. He knocked on her door and led with the fact that crime is up in her town (playing on her fears?) - and indicated her neighbor, Becky, had purchased a system. At times, implying that several neighbors had purchased from him. He has the tech with him, they can take care of it today and "save money." Simple enough, however, from what I understand, here it starts a downward spiral of poor decisions; especially in light of the fact that he supposedly works for a Security company.

1) Dalton, the tech was left at her home working while my mother went to get her dinner. Security red flag. I would think this was a liability to Dalton and to your company.

2) The credit card would not transact for the equipment / installation transaction, aka the "credit" application; and a bank account was needed for first payment on the equipment / installation loan.

3) It was end of day, and Jesse was concerned with obtaining the bank account information by end of day. So, he went to where she was having dinner. I can only assume to hurry her along. He indicated that he paid for her dinner (his choice) at the restaurant to help expedite the process.

4) At some point, the decision was made that she would ride with him to the bank, to obtain her bank account information. A Security Red Flag/liability.

5) A "strange" young man arrived at the bank with an 80 plus year old woman, for her to get her bank account info? This was a security red flag for the bank, and they contacted her family and reported it to police.

6) When the bank refused to provide the details, Jesse called me, with my mom in his vehicle outside the bank, requesting that I give him the bank account details over the phone. This, also, is a security red flag. I DO NOT give bank account information over the phone. He even offered to give mom the phone for me to tell her the details for him. Still a big NO; and even more of a red flag.

7) Attempting to pressure me, via phone, to provide the information. I'm not sure the urgency - could it have waited until tomorrow? I believe with a credit application you have three days. Is that no longer the case? I question whether, perhaps, it was too late in the day to start such a transaction? I requested (repeatedly) that Jesse send me information which I could review following work and family obligations. This would allow me to review the security products and services, company, etc. Jesse emailed a link, but only displayed an invalid link error. Another red flag.

8) At this point, the bank has called my brother, and the police have been alerted. My brother joined the call, and requested that the equipment be removed immediately, admittedly, in rather colorful language. Jesse pushed back. NOTE: Dalton, the technician was still at her home, according to Jesse. I can only assume he was unsupervised. A stranger in an 80-year-old woman's house, alone, doing what? This is a red flag and a security liability.

9) Jesse indicated that the equipment could not be immediately removed, that a payment was required, and that If no payment was forthcoming Dalton would not be compensated for his work. He was implying that it was our/my fault that Dalton wouldn't be paid? In addition, he "threatened" that it would affect her credit report / credit history. I'm not sure why the equipment would be installed without solidifying financial details; and why wouldn't you pay Dalton for work done on your company's behalf? That sounds like a wage and hour issue, or, at least, a potential union issue? Yet, the equipment was installed without first securing the appropriate fees or payment. I can only assume to attempt to coerce an 80-year-old woman into paying.

10) Jesse offered to let "Becky" a neighbor that purchased a system talk to me via phone. I don't know Becky, I have no idea whether it is Becky or part of a scam, and just because she purchased a system doesn't mean it is the right choice for my mom.

11) Requests to uninstall the equipment were met with refusal, and alternative solutions to review information and make an informed decision were met with pressure to provide banking information immediately. Again, with the "threat" that Dalton would not be compensated for his work, we would pay more later, or that it would affect my mother's credit reporting.

12) The police did arrive at my mother's home. I am not completely sure what transpired at that point?

13) AT some point, Jesse mentioned being from Arizona, Yet the phone number displayed as a Georgia number? He also mentioned Bentonville AR, yet he was in mom's home town.

14) Now, both my mother and I are receiving solicitation emails?

This scenario causes me to pause and question how much your representatives truly understand about security, liability, and your Company's values (hopefully, that is not a representation of your Company's values)? I had informed Jesse that I, personally, was familiar with XYZ; we had cancelled as soon as we could. Due to climbing fees, lack of support (frequently told to "figure it out," "you'll need to climb into the attic ..." or "visit the website for videos to self-service") and the fact that each service rep that did finally come to the house complained how the previous service rep(s) didn't do anything properly for things to work correctly. Literally had a service man here for 2 hours one day for an alarm issue, after waiting 2 weeks and numerous calls. He was loading his truck when the issue recurred, and I was advised that I would need to open another ticket and schedule someone to come out. It simply wasn't worth the time, effort, or money.

I would encourage you to educate your representatives about behaviors exhibited by scammers and make choices that not only represent your company's values, but also assume that their clients may have been scammed in the past 18 months. Their actions and words should align to those individuals feel safe.