Houston resident Lisa Leeson says she paid Comcast nearly $2,000 over seven years for an alarm system, only to find out that it never worked.

Comcast, it turns out, installed the alarm system improperly. Even though the alarm made a sound indicating that it was active when Leeson and her family set it each day, "It was unable... to actually call the police and/or Comcast once it was activated," Leeson told KPRC Local 2 Houston.

What did Comcast do after the problem was finally discovered? At first, the company offered only a $20 credit, before eventually agreeing to refund all of the money. "When Davis called Comcast's corporate office, a spokesman apologized, but not before he pointed to a line in Leeson's alarm agreement where she agreed to 'test her system' on 'a regular basis,'" the news station reported. "Chances are your alarm company requires the same, putting the onus back on you to make sure your system is functioning properly."

Leeson and her husband discovered the problem in February when they "came home to find their back door wide open," the station reported. "The only thing missing was the sound of their security alarm. It turns out a strong wind blew the door open, but their security alarm never went off. Leeson said when her husband called Comcast, a representative told him their alarm had been offline since 2007, the same year it was supposedly activated. A Comcast technician came to their home and confirmed the alarm was installed improperly."

"I'm a loyal customer and my thing is I don't mind paying for a service if you're providing the service, but they weren't," Leeson said.

Comcast customers can test their systems using the company's "My Account" smartphone app.

KPRC reported the story on May 28. The Consumerist and DSLReports followed up on it this week.

We asked Comcast this morning why the system failed to detect that Leeson's alarm wasn't working but haven't heard back yet. UPDATE: A Comcast spokesperson told us, "Comcast did not install this customer’s system. It was done by a company we purchased in Houston years ago. We were not aware until recently that the service was not functioning properly. However, we have been in contact with the customer, apologized, and credited the account."

Here is the KPRC report: