Life Alert

• CSAA Five Diamond Certified
• Free Shipping and Equipment Warranty
• Life Alert Monitoring Center
• Successful Services
• Family Notifications
• Multiple Emergency Services

CSAA Five Diamond Certified

Most medical alert companies should be CSAA five diamond certified if they want their monitoring center and services to be as safe and efficient as possible. The certification implies the company maintains a high-quality call center service.

It's not a requirement to obtain this certification in order to operate, so many medical alert providers aren't certified. It's comforting to know Life alert is certified and cares about taking those additional steps to ensure its medical alert services are exceeding standards. 

Free Shipping and  Equipment Warranty

Life Alert offers free shipping and a free equipment warranty. However, the duration of the warranty is unclear, so you may need to pay for an equipment replacement after a certain period of time. 

Life Alert Monitoring Center 

Being one of the largest medical alert companies in the industry, Life Alert operates its services with its own monitoring center. A significant amount of medical alert companies will contract with a third-party monitoring center. Having the response center be under Life Alert's direct attention likely makes for a more hands-on approach, which could be comforting to medical alert users and their loved ones. 

Successful Services

Since 2008, Life Alert's services have helped save more than 500,000 people. Having a successful medical alert service for so long and having the live-saving statistics to prove it is comforting to potential customers looking to put their safety in Life Alert's hands. 

Family Notifications

At the push of a button, the customer's emergency contact, along with an emergency dispatch unit, will be immediately notified of the problem. Your selected contact can be anyone, whether that is a family member, a caregiver, or a trusted neighbor.

Multiple Emergency Services

Life Alert also offers services for a host of situations aside from an occasional medical emergency. These include fire protection, carbon monoxide gas protection, home intrusion, mobile tracking through GPS, and a cell phone app. These services aren't just for seniors, either. 

• Three-Year Contract
• Expensive Service 
• No Automatic Fall Detection
• Few Equipment Details
• Negative Life Alert Reviews

Three-Year Contract

With a three-year contract, Life Alert locks customers into one of the longest contracts in the industry. Top competitors offer contracts that operate from month to month, which provides consumers the peace of mind of not having to buy out of a contract.

Having such a long contract in an industry that doesn't typically require them is concerning. The company's contract is also one of the most common Life Alert complaints among the majority of its customer reviews. Overall, consumers on our site are not happy with the long-term contract, and they find it difficult — and sometimes impossible — to get out of Life Alert's contract. 

Expensive Service

Because Life Alert is so well established in the industry, the company does not frequently rely on or offer discounts on its products and services. Although the company lists that it offers free equipment, shipping, and a warranty on its website, the Life Alert cost is one of the more expensive on the market.

Many medical alert companies have a similar offering of free equipment, free shipping, and a free warranty, but they also include no long-term contracts, free activation, and affordable monthly monitoring (as little as $19.95 per month). Life Alert, on the other hand, requires a three-year contract, charges upwards of $70 per month, and calls for a hefty activation fee of nearly $100.

Many Life Alert reviews also note that the company increases its prices without notice and relies on locking customers into a long-term contract of three years. We suggest making sure a long-term contract isn't something that is a deal-breaker for you if you're interested in Life Alert's services.

No Automatic Fall Detection

Many medical alert systems in the industry today offer automatic fall detection. Automatic fall detection is a medical alert capability that will immediately notify the medical alert company's monitoring center if a pendant wearer experiences a fall, even if they cannot press the button themselves. It's a way to give users peace of mind that they do not have to do anything on their part if they experience a fall; as long as you have on the wearable device, the fall will trigger help and the medical alert company will take care of contacting emergency responders.

Life Alert does not currently offer any products with fall detection capability. This is definitely a con of Life Alert, especially since most medical alert companies offer fall detection features. 

Few Equipment Details

The website offers next to no information on equipment details or company policies. In comparison to other companies that offer transparent details on multiple medical alert devices, this is concerning. 

According to the company's website, a Life Alert medical alert device does include the typical base station and a help button that can be worn as a pendant or a wristband, a backup battery life of 72 hours, and a U.S.-based monitoring service. It's also noted you have your choice of landline or cellular service, but no additional details are listed regarding package or equipment details.

There is no information on other medical alert service features such as two-way communication or a GPS unit built in for tracking. The website says there is on-the-go protection if you push the button on a "special cell phone button" but it's unclear what that is and if it is just referring to the Life Alert app you can navigate from your own mobile device.

To find additional information, you need to request a brochure. You can't request the brochure online or have it emailed to you; you instead have to call the company, talk to a representative, and request that a brochure be sent to you in the mail. By the time you receive the brochure, you could've already heavily researched, ordered, and received a medical alert system from another company that is more transparent about its services and has a more up-to-date process.

Most medical alert companies are upfront about their equipment and offerings online, even allowing orders to be made directly online, so it is worrying that Life Alert is selective about what little information it does share on its website and it's impossible to order unless you call the company. Unfortunately, if you're looking for convenience, that doesn't seem to be Life Alert's strong suit. 

Negative Life Alert Reviews

The majority of Life Alert reviews are overwhelmingly negative, many of them noting that the company locks you into a long-term contract (36-month contract) and then makes it extremely difficult (or refuses completely) to allow customers to cancel its medical alert services. Many customers also mention scamming tactics, including upping the prices without notice, having faulty equipment, and neglecting customer service quality. 

One customer addresses Life Alert as a scam: "It is a scam. Once you sign up [Life alert] uses every tactic to frustrate your ability to end the service...They get you to sign up for one amount and then jack up your monthly fee unilaterally."

Another frustrated consumer says something similar: "[Life Alert] locks you into a contract and makes it nearly impossible to cancel...This is just a scam to try to ring as much money as possible out of elderly people on a fixed income."

With such negative feedback, we highly suggest going with an alternative medical alert provider with positive reviews and a trustworthy reputation. 

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