Vivint Smart Home

I thought we would have some problems. Our neighborhood is pretty quiet, but things change in every town and this is now getting to be more of the central part of town so it gets more traffic and people that we don’t know. We live in a little cul-de-sac and we have about five houses for sale. They just moved people in to rent them for a while ‘til they can get them back on the market. We lived here since 1974 and we do not have but one original neighbor anymore. This is a military town. A lot get transferred.

Vivint put the system in the same day. We’ve got the motion detector in one room that catches all the doors that come into the house if somebody walks a few steps. I don’t know if it’s still working or not. I imagine it has to have a battery and we can’t reach up there to do that. But outside of that, we’re doing okay. I’d like to have one of those cameras myself, especially if would be by myself for a long time when my husband goes on his fishing trips, and things like that. That gives you a visual but without having to open your door. We really appreciate what Vivint did. We’ve had the alarm go off by accident ‘cause we forgot we had turned it on and they still checked with us. I would recommend them. If they worked hard enough to get storm windows off, and then the indoor window, they will deserve whatever they can get.

The young fellow from Vivint that came and did the install was great. He was really careful with everything and he was very good at explaining to me what he was doing while he was doing it. Everything in the service has been great. I noticed that a lot of people in my neighborhood have been upgrading to security cameras, but I haven't really felt the need. I like the Vivint doorbell feature and that's been great. All in all, once the system is on, I set it and I can turn it off. I certainly don't think about it anymore.

We get a lot of summer storms in Alberta and we had no power for 30 hours one time. Vivint called me on my cellphone and said, "You know, your battery, you need to plug your system in." I said, "Oh, can't, sorry." And they were like, "Oh, it's been that long?" And I said, "Yeah, there's nothing I can do about it. I've got no alternate power source." So, we got to a point where I had no security anymore simply because of power. I don't know if there's something they should think about. I'm sure there's lots of places that these things happen, where there's extended power outages, so maybe a bigger battery life would be better, just like what everybody wants in their cellphones. Other than that, I have recommended Vivint to people.

I've spoken with credible technicians that are both on the sales side, customer service and the actual installation technician. There was one girl that did the majority of the installation who was far from professional. She drilled holes in the wrong places of my doorframe. She said those were just little holes and that they were not a big deal. But it was my house and that was a big deal. And whenever she ran the wires in the attic to one of my cameras, she didn’t bother to wrap them along with the rafters and formers up there. She just threw the bundle up over like boxes of Christmas ornaments. We didn’t find that out until a few days later when I went up there to get stuff. With the front door, she didn’t chisel everything out properly and we were having problems with it or cracks with the door from her work.

We had a lot of various serious problems. I finally got ahold of the regional manager. I told that this could be fixed today or tomorrow. Their people can come and leave all of their equipment in my house and put it back later. I also told the regional manager about the girl who did the installation and he told me not to worry. It would be taken care of and that he would send out his best technician. The stuff that was messed up was corrected and I appreciated that. The customer service in getting it fixed was immediate.

I also have the garage door monitor which sometimes randomly stops working and that isn't very helpful. But I like being able to look at and check out my house. We live down in Florida so whenever a hurricane comes here and we evacuate, we can check on our house. Overall, we're happy with the system. It's good. They are still some hiccups but I know that it's still a relatively new technology. I have recommended Vivint to friends. I told them that if they are looking at alarms and cameras, they shouldn't push Vivint out. They should at least look and see what they have once. It's a technology that other companies don’t have.

We’re also having a problem with one camera on the back. It’s kind of gotten loose and it’s hanging weirdly, but it’s still taking pictures. I called Vivint and the guy told me that I will have to pay $45 for someone to come out. I was standing there wondering and that was more than 45 minutes on the phone with them. They were telling me how I could do it so I don’t have to pay $45. So, I was climbing my chair in the corner with my camera. It was really high, and I was standing there trying to fix the camera. And the more I was turning it, that was when it came loose like that. And I told him, “It’s loose now. It’s hanging.” And he was saying, “No, you can fix it.” I couldn't fix it, so it’s just been hanging there ever since. Also, I just want to double-check my doorbell because it doesn’t work as well as it used to. But other than that, it’s fine. We had no problems.

The rep. was not as helpful. When I called to ask about the system and get a quote, I was not told that cameras can not be installed to a detached garage. The rep. even pulled up the satellite view of the layout of my home. The tech informed me if this detail, whiched changed the original order request and the number of cameras that were installed and how they were positioned.

Also, had an issue with the original appointment time. Was sent the confirmation for the wrong appointment time even though the rep. was told that I couldn't be home before a certain time that day. Contacted him to let him know. I was advised that it would be changed, but came to find out that it was not corrected. He just put a note in the system.

The tech that was scheduled that day, texted me letting me know they were on their way. I contacted him and we had to change the appointment to a later date due to the error made by the rep. Another, thing promised that was not fulfilled. Like I said, overall the experience was good. It was very easy to get a quote and customize a package according to my needs. The tech that did the work was very knowledgeable and showed how to use the system and equipment.

My only issue was the rep. I worked with. I feel he was too excited in making the sale, that he didn't advise properly and made promises that the tech was not able to follow through with. It could also be a bit of lack of experience or training. Not really sure which. I think if Hogan had a little more training or a refresher course, it would benefit him and any new customers that call in.