About Us

Vivint and the Better Business Bureau (BBB)

At Vivint, we are committed to the highest levels of transparency. As part of this ongoing effort to keep you informed, we have compiled a list of frequently asked questions about Vivint and the BBB. While we recognize that there are concerns about our company because of our current BBB rating, we are confident that the following information will provide insight into why our rating does not accurately reflect the quality of our products and services.

How should you factor the BBB into your decision?

We applaud consumers who do their homework to understand the products and services they are considering purchasing. We know the BBB grade is a factor in that decision. However, it is only one of the factors. If you are concerned about the quality of our products, we would invite you to consider independent product reviews by publications that specialize in product capabilities evaluations.

For example, Vivint's Home Automation and Advanced Security packages were recently rated a Consumers Digest 'Best Buy.' You can find more reviews of our products here. We would also suggest that you consider the company's history in relation to customer service excellence. In 2011, Vivint was listed as one of ICMI's Top 50 Call Centers for Customer Service

(customer relationship management) award and others. A listing of recent customer service ratings can be found here.

The majority of Vivint's BBB complaints and government actions are related to our door-to-door sales program. If you have a concern about a door-to-door representative, you can contact Vivint's Director of Sales, Howard Cooper by emailing him at repverify@vivint.com or by calling him at 801.705.8079.

To ensure your sales representative is a certified representative of Vivint, you can verify his or her ID badge here.

What is the Better Business Bureau (BBB)?

The BBB is a non-profit, private commercial entity. Although the BBB has the word 'bureau' in its name, it is not affiliated with, related to, or associated with any government agency or organization.

How does the BBB make money?

As with any commercial business, the BBB depends on revenue from consumers to operate. The BBB generates revenue from fees it charges companies for its services as well as membership dues. To increase its revenue, the BBB actively solicits businesses (its customers) to pay membership

fees. One way that the BBB promotes itself is through 'alerts' or 'warnings' it issues about businesses or business practices. Issuing these notices gives it publicity and, therefore, promotes the BBB and its services.

What does the BBB do?

The BBB '[exists] so consumers and businesses alike have an unbiased source to guide them on matters of trust.' It tries to accomplish this goal by assigning grades based on customer complaints, time in business, company history, government actions, type of business, etc. (To see a full list of grading criteria, go here.)

The effect a complaint or government action has on a company's BBB grade is the same in the third year as it was in the first'even if the complaint is completely resolved.

What does being an accredited business mean?

Being accredited by the BBB means that a business has met the BBB accreditation standards, paid the annual accreditation fees, and made a good-faith effort to resolve complaints.

According to the BBB, 'Accreditation does not mean that the business' products or

services have been evaluated or endorsed by the BBB, or that the BBB has made a determination as to the business' product quality or competency in performing services' (About BBB Accreditation, www.bbb.org/us/Business-Accreditation, accessed 28 June 2011).

Is Vivint an 'accredited' business?

No. However, Vivint remains committed to providing exceptional products and customer service. Vivint has received awards and recognition from independent rating agencies, like Consumers Digest, that have

conducted extensive evaluations of Vivint's products and services. In addition, Vivint works closely with the BBB to resolve 100 percent of the complaints submitted to the BBB.

How does the BBB assign its grades?

The BBB reviews companies based on a number of factors and uses a proprietary algorithm to assign companies a grade from A+ to F. Several of the determining factors are left up to individual employee discretion. This means there is not a firm set of criteria for deciding how many points to deduct. Moreover, different BBB chapters rate companies differently based on varying or discretionary criteria.

The BBB does not adjust grades based on a company's selling approach. This means companies that conducted extensive evaluations of Vivint's products and services. In addition, Vivint works closely

with the BBB to resolve 100% of the complaints submitted to the BBB.

The BBB's grading system has been criticized by the media for inconsistent and unusual grades. For example, Disneyland, renowned chef Wolfgang Puck, and the Ritz Carlton Boston Common received 'F's from the Better Business Bureau (bbbroundup.com). There are also allegations that those companies that pay the BBB get better grades than those who do not. You can learn more about their grading system and these allegations by watching this 20-20 video.

Does the BBB grade itself?

No. The BBB does not grade itself or respond to complaints about the BBB. You can read more about the complaints against the BBB and its rating system by watching the20-20 segment above or by

reading this story about the Connecticut Attorney General's investigation into the BBB and this overview of its general grading practices.

What constitutes a complaint?

The BBB does not investigate complaints before posting them. Any complaint from a consumer about a company that is sent to the BBB is reported by the BBB as a complaint'regardless of whether or not the complaint is true or has merit. BBB reports also include complaints from individuals who may not be customers of a company. Even if the concern raised in the 'complaint' is resolved by the company and to the satisfaction of the customer, the matter is still reported as a complaint.

Also note that complaints against companies remain on the company's record for three years. The BBB, however, does not weigh complaints based on severity or relevancy. In other words, a complaint received one day ago is given the same weight by the BBB as one received three years ago.

What is a government action?

What the BBB considers a 'government action' depends on the BBB's discretion and can vary depending on which BBB chapter is grading the company. A government action under the BBB's grading system can be as simple as a minor infraction involving an employee's failure to properly complete paperwork or as serious as filing a major federal action against a company.

Once the BBB decides that a matter is a 'government action,' it will rate the severity of the matter based on a set of proprietary and often subjective terms. This rating determines how much the government action will affect a company's

grade. The BBB does not conduct any surveys or assessments to determine whether or not the matter will affect a consumer's experience with the company.

It's true: Vivint does have government actions filed against it. However, government actions are like everything else'they vary in scope and severity. For example, a minor government action (like the one filed against Vivint by the city of Kennewick, WA) can be the result of incomplete paperwork filed during the licensing process. This would be the equivalent of a city giving a consumer a parking ticket.

What is Vivint's BBB grade?

Vivint's current BBB grade is a C-. This grade is not based on an evaluation by the BBB of Vivint's products or services. In fact, the BBB itself has said that the number of complaints against Vivint in the past three years—all of which have been resolved—do not affect Vivint's grade negatively.

Vivint's grade is largely due to government actions and the rating that the BBB has assigned to those matters.

Here is some context for better understanding Vivint's grade:

The number of complaints that are listed for Vivint for the past 36 months is approximately 1,400. Considering that Vivint has more than 500,000 customers and has customer interactions with more than 10 million consumers each year, the ratio of complaints to customer interactions is very small.
A large part of our grade is based on government actions filed against the company. These actions vary in both scope and severity.

We take ownership of these government actions and have worked to resolve all of them with the states they were filed in. We have also made the appropriate internal changes in procedures and staffing to prevent them from happening in the future.