Contract traps & hidden fees

I spent 20-plus years in outside sales, so I know how the fine print works — it's written to be skimmed. A medical alert is supposed to give a family peace of mind, not a surprise on the credit card statement. So let's shine a light on the five traps that show up most, and name exactly which brands they hit.

Trap #1: The multi-year contract lock-in

The single most expensive mistake is signing a long contract. A good medical alert is month-to-month — cancel anytime. NCOA puts it bluntly: "No medical alert system should force a multi-year contract" (NCOA, 2026).

The big offender is Life Alert, which requires a three-year contract — the longest lock-in of any brand we track — and sells only over the phone, where NCOA's reviewers noted "pushy salespeople" and instances where "salespeople made false claims" (NCOA, 2026). Life Alert also offers no fall detection and doesn't publish its pricing online. If someone tells you a three-year commitment is "standard," it isn't — Bay Alarm, Medical Guardian, MobileHelp, and GetSafe all let you cancel anytime.

Trap #2: Non-refundable activation fees

Some brands charge an upfront "activation" or "programming" fee that you never get back — even if you cancel a week later. Medical Alert (Connect America) charges a $99.95 activation/programming fee that is explicitly non-refundable, and requires you to mail equipment back to cancel, with no product warranty offered (NCOA, 2026). Life Alert's reported activation/programming fees run around $247–$248 (NCOA, 2026). Lively adds a separate $35 activation fee on top of its $80 equipment fee (SafeHome.org, 2026).

Compare that with MobileHelp, which charges no equipment or activation fees on its main units (NCOA, 2026). When one brand charges $100 to "activate" and another charges nothing, that's a real difference, not a rounding error.

Trap #3: Restocking fees on returns

You'd think returning equipment during a trial window would be clean. Not always. A real customer told Yelp they were charged a $50 "restocking fee" by Medical Guardian even after following the mail-back cancellation process (Yelp, 2024) — that's a single customer account, but it illustrates a documented pattern. Lively charges a $10 restocking fee on cancellation within its 30-day return window (return shipping is prepaid) (NCOA Adviser, 2025). To be clear, Medical Guardian is still our top-rated pick overall for its response time and range — but knowing about a possible restocking fee lets you ask before you buy.

Trap #4: Leased-equipment return costs

Here's a sneaky one hiding inside "no-contract" plans. With MobileHelp, the equipment is leased, not owned — when you cancel, you must ship it back at your own expense, or the company bills you for the unit (NCOA, 2026; ConsumerAffairs, 2026). So a "cancel anytime" plan can still cost you money on the way out. By contrast, GetSafe equipment is purchased outright, so in most accounts it doesn't need to be returned at all — though sources disagree on whether the base console must come back, so confirm directly (SafeWise, 2026).

Trap #5: Device-replacement and "free replacement" fees

Watch the word "free." Lively told a ConsumerAffairs reviewer that its "free" annual device replacements actually come with an undisclosed $15 "processing fee" per device — a fee the customer said they were never told about upfront (ConsumerAffairs, 2026). It's a small number, but "free with a $15 fee" isn't free, and the pattern of hidden processing charges is exactly what a skeptical buyer should watch for. Aloe Care, separately, can raise your monthly rate at any time unless you prepay a full year, and charges a 1.5% late fee plus a 5% administrative fee on missed payments (SafeWise, 2026).

The traps at a glance

Figures pulled from the sources cited above and current as of July 15, 2026. Fees change — confirm on the manufacturer's site before you buy. See our sourcing standard.