Callers to CPI Security after CEO’s protest remarks face wait times of up to 24 hours

Calling CPI Security for customer needs? Expect a long wait, possibly an entire day.

Shawn Murphy of Charlotte has been a customer for five years. He called Monday to cancel his service and waited more than seven hours.

Murphy said a text update said there were more than 1,000 customers on hold.

A woman on Twitter who said she works for CPI said on Monday said there were more than 1,400 calls holding with eight-hour hold times. She also asked customers to “please just tone it down” because “our mental health at work is not OK right now.”

By Thursday, wait times were over 24 hours to cancel or make changes to an account, according to the prompt and an employee who answered in a different department.

Murphy said he no longer wanted CPI’s service after company founder and CEO Ken Gill’s remarks about protests in response to the death of George Floyd. Floyd died with a Minneapolis policeman kneeling on his neck for more than eight minutes. The death sparked more than 11 days of protests nationwide, including in Charlotte.

Queen City Unity leader Jorge Millares had sent a mass email to city officials and leaders calling for police reform. He posted Gill’s response on Facebook and called for a boycott of CPI Security.

“Please spend your time in a more productive way. I challenge your statistics,” Gill said. “A better use of time would be to focus on the black on black crime and senseless killing of our young men by other young men.”

In response to what Millares called “racist comments,” an apology from Gill was posted on the company Facebook page Saturday.

“I want to apologize for my response to an email from a former employee that failed to directly address the need for racial justice and equality in the wake of George Floyd’s senseless killing. I have listened to the feedback, and now more than ever realize the need for continued dialog to help end racism within our community. Working alongside our diverse employee base and community partners, I remain committed to being part of the solution.”

Millares said he worked for CPI Security for over a year but is not allowed to talk about his time there.

Murphy said he was happy with the company until now. He didn’t feel the company went far enough to make amends and would like to see some form of reprimand for Gill.

But Murphy is also frustrated with how the company is handling customers, and not just because of the long waits.

“They got us over a barrel,” he said. To get out of his contract, he’d have to pay the company $1,000. “I don’t feel right about doing that.”

Murphy said that, given the ethical misstep, the company should let people leave.

Several people commented on the company’s Twitter page that they plan to cancel their services. One said “his apology says absolutely nothing. I have two accounts with them and I’m canceling asap. Can’t even get through to cancel.”

Others asked: “How do we cancel with @cpisecurity if we are still under contract. Definitely don’t have any interest in paying my hard earned money to a known racist!”

“We are working hard to turn a regrettable moment into a positive change for our company and community,” CPI spokesman Dave Kozak said Thursday.

He said customers with 24/7 monitoring services are experiencing normal levels of service.

“Separately, our customer service center is experiencing longer than normal wait times,” Kozak said. “We are making adjustments to be prompt in addressing all account-servicing needs. We apologize for any undue delays.”

Kozak said the system allows customers to have call-backs.

“In some cases, these have taken up to one day – and we are working to shorten those delays. We also offer other options such as email or voicemail to cancel,” he said.

What CPI is doing

In a letter Kozak shared that was sent to employees Tuesday night, Gill laid out three steps the company is taking on matters of inclusion and fairness.

“These are just our first steps,” the letter states.

The first step is focusing on diversity and inclusion, working with outside resources and community leaders.

“Starting this week, consultants will help guide us through a process of discovery, assessment, and recommended actions to help us with inclusivity,” the letter states. “We will engage in a series of employee town hall and small group meetings to continue our listening and learning.

“We also created an internal email address for our employees to encourage constructive ideas and thoughts to flow to a central resource so we can take action based on their specific feedback.”

Gill’s company steps also pledge to make additional contributions to organizations that thwart violence and systemic racism and work to strengthen relationships between police and the communities.

Cutting ties with CPI

Millares has no regrets about sharing Gill’s message.

“If I could do it all over again, I certainly would,” he said Thursday.

He said Queen City Unity is partnering with other groups, such as Urban League of Central Carolinas and consulting firms offering a career assistance program for CPI workers who want to leave.

“We’re about making things right, not tearing things down,” Millares said.

Millares said the protest movement is showing people in the community how important equity is to say “we’re an inclusive city.”

Since Saturday’s apology, three Charlotte professional sports franchises — Panthers, Hornets and Knights — ended sponsorship agreements with CPI, as well as colleges N.C. State and University of South Carolina.

On Tuesday, the YMCA of Greater Charlotte said it will no longer name its new 14,000-square-foot Steele Creek facility after Gill.

Charlotte-based Bojangles’ also said it was ending services with CPI for its Charlotte support center and more than 300 company-owned stores.

Still, not everyone agrees. Millares shared some of their emails on Twitter.

“… Activists like yourself are gutter scum only looking to destroy what others in this country have built. Go back to Cuba!,” one said.

Another said, “It seems that you left your country to come here for our culture so you can change it back to the failure you came from. … We don’t want to be part of your failures.”

CPI Security is the largest security provider in the Southeast, according to the company website, and is licensed in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Alabama and Florida.

This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Callers to CPI Security after CEO’s protest remarks face wait times of up to 24 hours."