Vivint

During the installation, I asked the installation team about different things and they were helpful. They set up a couple of motions sensors and door sensors so if the door is open, it will let me know. They also detect glass breakage if something breaks so they put several motions sensors in. But, they could not help me out with my 20-foot square shipping container that I am using as a workshop. I asked them if there was any way to put a motion sensor. I was told that because it is a metal shipping container, it would block the signal. I also asked them if they can put like a contact system outside of it but they still said no. They would not be able to do it. I told them that if they put a system on the inside, all they need is like a little lead wire off of it for the antenna, drill a small hole through the wall, stick the antenna wire through the wall, then put a little silicon around it. It should go ahead and work for them.

I was told that they will talk to their technical support group and see if that would work. I never heard back from them so I got one building in my property that’s not protected. But I have installed my own security cameras inside and outside to help bolster, that I can bring them up on my phone and see what’s going on if I get an alert. I was originally very satisfied with their service but right now, not so much. I am having problems with my control pad in the house and if I leave the house, it’ll beep once at me. It won’t say whether it’s armed away. I have to reset it, disarm it then rearm it, and then it’ll say, “System armed away”. I also keep getting error messages on one of my key fobs. It says that it’s low in battery so I put new batteries on it but it still says that. I don’t know whether the key fob is going bad or not registering.

When I called Vivint, they told me that our panel is obsolete and when they get someone in the area, they’ll come by and will upgrade our panel. Since then, I haven’t heard back from them. However, when we get to speak to an actual person, it is not too bad. They try to help and they are very courteous and very professional. But I gotta go through several different prompts to get to an actual person on the phone and that could be improved a bit better. They called me a while back though saying they received an alarm when I left the house. I didn’t have my back door secured properly and when we had some strong winds, it blew the door open. I have their phone app on my phone that tells me that the back door is open and that it needs to be checked out.

I was about five minutes away so I went by and the police were just pulling up. They asked me if I wanted them to check the house. I told them I just forgot to shut the door real tight. They came in with me, no one was in the house and nothing was missing. They were prompt in contacting the police and I got a notice almost immediately on my phone. I also received a follow-up phone call from their reps about 30 seconds after I got the phone message. Their service, in that aspect of it, has been good.

The first installer was a lady who was very pleasant and she asked for permission before cutting into my wall. She asked me where I wanted it. She was very engaging and asked a lot of questions. Then we had to coordinate a follow-up appointment for my smoke detector. I was in the process of working on installing my doorbell and I didn’t exactly get what I wanted but I wasn’t unhappy with what I got. I have a two-story, and they wanted to do one thing, and I wanted to do another. It all centered around my doorbell but I finally said fine.

At the end of July, I had a problem with my equipment. After being on hold for a very long time, I finally got someone. After multiple calls, we couldn’t fix it and the lady said we needed to add something. I told her I didn’t need any more equipment and if we couldn’t get it resolved, then we need to take it out and I need to cancel my service. After three calls, I finally got a guy and he said he needed to push a software update. After they did that, my online cameras still weren’t working. So, I called back and the girl I talked to said that I was gonna need new cameras for upstairs and downstairs. I was going out of town so I would be getting the equipment after I get back.

I was delaying on installing it but in the meantime, I happened to check my bank account and more money than my normal monthly bill came out of my checking account. Vivint billed me without telling me that they were charging me for shipping to mail me the equipment. I told them I didn’t agree to it so they made it right. I wasn’t asking for anything other than for them to remove the charge because I should’ve known about it in the first place and I should not have been billed in the first place for their equipment because they pushed the software update, and it was their equipment. Aside from that, I haven’t had any problems and I love the new cameras that I got. They are great. Vivint has always been good and they were very responsive.

My biggest complaint is I had a problem with the battery in the panel. It said it wouldn’t charge. I kind of ignored it for a while and it would kind of come and go. So I finally called them about it and they said they would get a tech out to look at it. They said the battery was under warranty but they would charge me a service call that would be $99. But because it was still new they would make it $35 instead. Then it took them a month or so to get somebody out here.

The closest tech they had is out of Thompson, which seems kind of strange being a small town. He seemed very knowledgeable. But when he checked the panel he said it wasn’t the battery. It was a software problem. He told me that he would replace batteries and check all my sensors while he was here, which he didn’t do. He said he checked them through the panel and they were all working fine.

Also one of the features had changed. When somebody came to the door, it would record it and save it for a period of time. After a certain length of time it’s deleted, unless you promptly save it. I thought that was a nice feature if somebody stole a package on your front door or something like that and now, it had changed to where it didn’t record unless I ring the doorbell. But if it was live, you can watch it live. I asked the tech about that and he said they were having a problem with the sensitivity of the camera, which is adjustable. I had adjusted it to where I wasn’t having that much trouble. A little bit, once in a while, from either too sensitive and too light of a field, and it will pick up the wind blowing, whistles and things like that and see it as somebody approaching.

He adjusted that from the panel and then later on he said just to fix the battery or just to reboot the panel, which is not a big deal but it’s not supposed to be the way it works. Also it turned out that they billed me both the $99 and the $35. By this time I thought they really shouldn’t bill me at all because it wasn’t my problem. It was their bad but I haven’t called them about that. Every time I called them about something, they seem to be very responsive, friendly and cooperative so I expect that to be resolved without any problem. Other than that, the price of monitoring is high compared to others. I haven’t called them yet on that billing but I'm expecting that to be resolved because if it isn’t resolved, it’s gonna be a real sore spot.

Yesterday, I spent 37 minutes on the phone with them. I spoke to one person. All I wanted to do is buy another camera and get an appointment set up. I couldn't even get that done. I couldn't even figure out who I answered to. I worked retail before joining the military and so retail of the old is not the retail of the new. They don't get the whole concept of "Look, your customer is pissed off. You just need to shut your mouth and let them vent and then you move on and it will be good." For them it was, "How dare you tell me I didn't do my job." Well, they didn't do their job.

When we had our system installed at our new house it took four appointments for them to come out and do it. One time they called me to say, "Hey, our technician got hurt. He's not gonna be able to come out. This is the best we can do for another appointment." It was not a problem. I appreciate them calling me the day before the appointment so I'm not sitting at home all day waiting. Then that appointment, that guy never showed up. Then the next two appointments, still no one showed up. And then finally, I was able to get through and they got someone out there.

When you're speaking to them on the phone, you're like, "Who in this line of communication is responsible for this and why are you continuing to let it happen?" "We'll look into that." "Okay. Great. I'll expect the call back in 72 hours." "Oh, we don't call customers back." Right. So you're not going to look into it, I got it. Just don't lie to me, just tell me. I've been in the military now 20 years. If I were to talk to my customers or people that I have to report to the way they do, you'd be done.

I got locked in our old house. The alarm would not disarm so I'm on the phone with Vivint and they kept telling me, "You need to calm down. If you continue to yell at me, I'll just disconnect the call." So I started cussing at that. And that person on the phone started crying because of the things I've said and called them. Then when I got the supervisor on the phone, I said, "You don't speak until I'm done speaking. And this is what's going to go on. Don't you ever tell a customer who's trapped in their house by their alarm that they need to calm down and if they don't, the call will be disconnected. That's not a good thing to say or do to your customers. It doesn't work that way."

The manager or the supervisor or whoever, I told them, "Go pull that call back up. And I will wait on hold while you listen to it." So I actually got this manager to call me back after they listened to the call. And they were kind of, "I can't believe that happened. I can't believe someone told you to calm down when you were locked in your house by our system." When I call and deal with stupid people, I'm gonna tell you you're being stupid and you need to knock it off. People get offended by that and I'm like, "Well, maybe you shouldn't suck at your job and we'd be fine."

At the end of the day, their equipment and the monitoring are the reasons why I go back. Now, whenever I try to deal with them, I just do it through their online chat program because if somebody gets annoying, I could just end the chat and start a new one. We have two little kids and two thermostat. I love the cameras. I love the thermostat. Now on our new house, we actually bought the deadbolt that works off the phone. We bought the lamp control modules. Especially for me, I'm in military. I'm gonna be deploying here very soon. My wife can control a lot of things from the phone and make things appear completely differently.

I had some issues with some of the equipment but whenever they came out, they would always test it. And then a couple of the technicians have the mentality of "I'm not coming back out here for faulty equipment. We're just gonna give you new stuff." When I moved from my old house, they sent a technician to take all the old system down. He took a screwdriver to a metal door to pry sensors off. And then he cut the wires of the camera to take them down. So I kicked him out of my house. I said, "Get out of my house. Just get out." Then the dude literally peeled off down the street.

So it was a phone call with Vivint where I actually got a decent manager on the phone right away. The problem with most companies today, and Vivint's really bad about this, is that they will not give you a manager unless you spend 30 minutes telling the first person on the phone what's wrong only to then have to repeat it to the manager. They don't give their first line employees enough authority to take care of customers. That's one of the those things that I've noticed. With some companies, they do a great job out off, "Hey! No, don't piss off the customer, just do it."

At the end of the day, they've given me a permanent discount on my monthly bill now. They've given me several pieces of equipment for free. They're trying to be like, "Hey, we can't do money but we can give you equipment and we'll see if it makes it better." So all the equipment I have is actually all mine. I own every bit of it. They've gone out of their way to try and make sure everything's working and done right because you get a bad technician, then you get a good technician, then you get a technician who doesn't even know how to spell the word technician and you're just like, "I got to figure this out." But once you get through the management or to a supervisor of any kind, it just seems like a complete night and day transformation of the company.

Sometimes, using the app on the cell phone is a bit laggy, and you have to take an extra minute or two to make sure the system is armed. Also, the installers seem to be a bit over-loaded with work. That's good for them of course (I'm all for people working and doing something good for themselves), but for the customer, it's awkward. A team of two or three will start at your place, then another might show up to help out, then one or two of the original techs will have to leave because they need to go to another job, then the ones remaining might be visibly strained because they are in a hurry to get to their next job. In the end, in your politeness to not make their lives more difficult and let them get done, after they leave you realize you forgot to ask some questions. I know that's a mouthful. Just be focused, stay out of their way, and save questions until the end. Write your questions down.

Every home needs a security system so Vivint deserves a look. People I know also have it and they are happy. Make sure you get the certificate of install asap. I had to ask for it but I think they should have that on the day of, right there for you. It'll save some money on the homeowner's policy. And one more thing I did not like. They also don't tell you about the $75 fee for someone to come out if you have equipment issues. The way they get you on this is: Since you are purchasing the equipment from them (through the loan) they wash their hands! Now, it's between you and the bank. Vivint then comes in a egress to come out and help when you have equipment issues, for a modest fee of $75 per visit.

JUST MAKE SURE you don't let them go UNTIL THEY FIX IT or else they'll come out, troubleshoot, tell you everything "should " be good to go, and then leave. If the problem is not fixed, guess who pays another $75 for the visit? The disclaimer here is this: You shouldn't experience any problems, but problems do happen, so be prepared. (I have a friend who went through this. Heedless to say, she's not happy.)

The good news is, if you're away and someone comes around, Vivint will dispatch the police. The camera works good and you can see the person, talk to them, and even record video and take pics. Also, the equipment has smoke and fire technology. If there's a fire when you're away, they call the fire department as well. The app on your phone alerts you, wherever you are, if there is any activity around your home.

SECURITY & DOOR BELL CAMERAS: The cameras disconnect on their own almost daily and it is often different cameras so there is no rhyme or reason. They have a maximum load on their camera system of 5-6 units depending on your internet connection (we have the fastest fiber available 1000 down and 300 up, they claim they need 6 up per camera so we are far exceeding any of their requirements). Thus, for most residential properties they can't cover all the sides of the property leaving and have a doorbell and possibly indoor cameras as well as the system won't handle it. You will have significant vulnerability so why have a system that can't keep you 100% protected?

Even when they tried to "hard wire" the cameras in to prevent this; which really isn't hard wiring, they just put a small amplifier plug into another outlet in your house. This plug (ethernet to the plug instead of electrical wiring) takes up more space and looks terrible. They claim it uses your electrical wiring in your house once plugged in to improve signal, however it did not improve any operational abilities of my cameras and they still drop off daily.

A huge frustration is I can't tell you how many times I have left town and needed to let friends and family in to feed animals and check on my residence and the cameras and system is down. Worse is I can't see who is at the door to communicate and grant access if needed. One of the biggest flaws is you cannot reboot the camera itself remotely. If your camera goes down while you are out of town, it suggests to reboot the panel remotely which you can do (AND WILL DO ALL THE TIME WITH THIS SYSTEM) from the phone app. Once rebooted after 20 minutes the cameras will still be offline.

Next suggestion is to go to the camera itself, climb up the ladder yourself and unplug it or push a tiny button on the back to reset it. Obviously, this can only be done if you are at home so good luck keeping an eye on your house when out of town when this happens. Who really wants to drag tall ladders out and climb up them every few days to keep their property secure? Vivint will come out and do this for you a week or two later when you can get an appointment only to have them go down again hours or days later. Just be prepared to repeat the above process all the time if you invest in this system.

After nearly two years of constant calls, multiple associates spending hours searching for issues, as well as several replacements they still cannot make the system work as intended. I have had all kinds of area heads and installer managers standing around my house for hours talking to each other and calling their techs unable to figure out how to keep them connected. Their own team can't figure it out so I find it incredibly hard to believe they don't have a larger connectivity issue as a standard. They have even sent it to their developer/programmer division in the Midwest with no additional solution. Another flaw is the doorbell camera has zero adjustability, so angles and direction of view can't be changed. Only about 50% of the time does the doorbell work to where you can use the app and talk to the person. Most of the time the person has long walked off before I can communicate with them.

Door Locks & Sensors: The door locks and window sensors batteries drain nearly every month creating costly battery replacements. These are not standard batteries either, so be prepared to buy a bunch of costly watch type batteries, as well as odd size batteries of several types and keep them on hand. It is not a one size fits all system so keeping up with your battery inventory is part of the deal here!

Panel: There are regular panel upgrades as well as false alerts as others have mentioned. I have owned three different versions of their panels over the last several years. For the most part, the panels get nicer and easier to use. However, no matter what panel I have the different components dropping offline never improve. Even when I have paid to "UPGRADE" some of those components at the same time. You would think they would have a better connectivity to their products, but nothing ever changes. Pretty to look at, not 100% functional.

Thermostats: No idea what the deal is with the NEST thermostat connections. They are constantly offline and reconnecting. Recently we even received a written notice from Vivint stating something was changing and that they would keep us informed. However, we had the previous Vivint thermostats too and they had the same issues. We "upgraded" to the NESTS at our own expense of course and still have disconnectivity issues. We just walk to them and do them manually now and have nearly given up on their use with the panel and phone app altogether.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. You better be very tech savvy and be willing to deal with a SIGNIFICANT amount of down time. This will create issue for you meeting their service people repeatedly at your residence, repeating your issues to their team (chat and phone associates) and repeating your story over and over. This will take up a bunch of your own personal time so BE WARNED. The most critical issue here is my family security and home protection and this system flat out fails at that aspect.

The only reason I am still with them today is I have invested a significant amount of money into their system. I have tried repeatedly to get reimbursed some or all of my investment with them and walk away, but as expected, once you buy it and give them $60 per month you own it. You will not get what you paid for! My suggestion is to stay away from Vivint altogether, but if you just have to try it don’t buy too much. Start small with a couple pieces and see if it works! I suspect immediately after the install it will all look and work great but give it a month or two and see how many times it fails you.

As far as customer service, I have no real complaints as the people have always been pleasant on the phone so that would be my positive comment. However, after years of not being able to fix their own system, and their own acknowledgement that it doesn’t work properly at my residence; you would think they would take it back and refund me as a good business practice. However, they just keep wanting to replace parts and pieces and making trips with no results. If I could give it all back today I would. One of the worst investments I have made hands down. 3 cameras down today at my residence again today! Same old story... BUYER BEWARE!

The next day came and no one called. No one showed for that day's appointment so I contacted Vivint. Well come to find out my tech was fired. I was very upset so my sales guy said he was gonna stop by and talk with me which he never did. Rescheduled my appointment for the next Monday and no one showed up. Called Vivint, scheduled another appointment for that Tuesday. An hour after the fact of my appointment I called and they finally got someone here. The tech they sent didn't have the equipment to finish the job so I had to get again, make another appointment which you guessed it they never showed for that appointment either.

So I rescheduled again no one showed. Then I called and yet again no show. After several calls and finally canceling my service because I'm going into week number 3 of my system not being completely installed. I am now no show no call number 8. Yes that's right. I said 8. I can't make this crap up. If I could give anyone advice when it comes to Vivint it would be if they ever darken your door step slam that door and run!!! Worst and most unprofessional company I've ever dealt with!

Idiot buffoons tell me "it's not your score but, you have an over 90 days late". No I didn't! Now my credit report is 10 points lower from their hard inquiry and, they just said, "See ya!". Well screw you Vivint! I'm GLAD it didn't work out because you're 100% higher than Safe Touch and your customer service SUCKS! They refuse to remove the hard hit on my report, and they're incompetent liars.