High Tech Pet Store Reviews
Ventura, CA
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About High Tech Pet Store
- Easy installation process
- Keeps pets safe
- Good customer service experience
- Frequent product malfunctions
- High cost of maintenance
- Poor battery life for collars
High Tech Pet Store Reviews
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Reviewed Nov. 8, 2013
Do not be fooled by this company's claim that they want to make you their biggest fan. I purchased this door and had a large hole cut through stucco to have it placed. Soon I was having trouble with the collars not working. They sent several replacements before I had one that worked. Shortly after that I had the sensors in the doors fail and had to replace the sensors. At $35 per collar, you would think I could get one that would hold together. After all the companies make the product for a large dog. Finally, I purchase their MS5 collar which works only with the company's batteries, but at least has a screw to hold it in place with a large Boxer's play. That collar is at a considerable higher price of $69.00.
I don't know what I would have done if I had lost a dog to heat or cold exposure like I have read has happened with other unhappy customers. Obviously I consider my dog a member of my family or I wouldn't be spending over $500 for a doggy door. I worried about the power going out so got the entire back up battery system. Little did I know power outage would not be the problem but rather High Tech Pet product outage. Now I am stuck with a hole in my wall. I would love to convert it to a manual doggy door but I don't know how I would do that. This product sounds like a great idea but it is nothing but a pit in which to throw your money.
Reviewed Dec. 3, 2012
If their response to me as a customer is any indication, this company flat out does not care about its customers. They will not respond, even the link on their site that takes an urgent message to the President of the company. What a joke. After multiple attempts seeking help - there is nothing. If you can find any alternative to one of their products, I highly recommend you seek it out. High Tech Pets clearly preys on the likes of me who are too stupid to read the warnings of others.
Reviewed Nov. 1, 2012
This past summer was very hot in Maryland. The door had been working okay. I had a 2-year-old Rotty who knew how to use that door any and every time. We were gone for about 2 hours on one of the hottest days. My dog used the door to go out and go to the bathroom. As usual, she stays out there for a little while. Well guess what? The door did not work to let her back in and she died of heat stroke. I emailed the company and tried to call and received no answer on the phone and no reply to my email other than their auto reply email that someone would contact me. I purchased another collar for our new dog but now have a rule. On hot or cold days, we turn the door off and would rather have the dog mess in the sun room or kitchen than to be caught outside to die.
The installation of the door was pretty simple. We followed the instructions perfectly and it seems the door was too high for my first dog though she knew she could jump out the door.
Reviewed Sept. 14, 2012
I bought this underground wireless fence system (Humane Contain X-10 dog fence) several months ago and installed it. It worked great, for about a month. Then the collars started malfunctioning. They would either not shock the dog when they ran to the fence line, or beep and not shock the dog. My dogs quickly caught on to this and learned they can run right up to and through the fence without fear of shock.
I ordered new collars from the company, which they gave me free of charge. I am pretty sure I got refurbished collars because neither of them worked at all, let alone beep or shock. So they replaced them again, and again they were probably refurbished ones and they did not work. I finally tried to return the whole fence and collars, but they would not take them or refund me saying that it was past my 30-day return policy. It was probably 3 or 4 days past this time.
I said, "screw it," and shut down the whole system. Recently, I decided to give it another go since it was already installed and when I turned the system back on, it said there was a break in the loop. I checked the whole loop, tried with a test wire, etc. like they recommended and it was faulted out. I can't believe I spent over $300 on this system. I am completely, utterly, and irrevocably dissatisfied with this system. Do not waste, and I do stress, waste your money! This is how a company loses customers for life.
Reviewed Sept. 12, 2012
The door comes with the MS-2 Ultrasonic Collar. After several months of use, the top popped off the MS-2 Ultrasonic Collar and the battery fell out. My dog was trapped outside all day in the Florida heat. I'm lucky she didn't die from heat stroke. I called customer service. They told me that my dog had removed the lid! I explained that my dog was unable to remove the cap/lid. The lady in customer service said to me, "Are you saying the lid jumped off?" Perfect. I have to hear that when my dog is panting and drinking water like crazy due to a flaw in their product.
Reviewed May 2, 2012
I bought this on 10/20/11 for a new dog. I have had multiple problems with collars. I can never ever get anyone to answer High Tech's phone, but there is a company off Amazon.com who sells this product and they are very, very helpful. My door stopped working right now. I've tried plugging other items into it and they all worked. This has been nothing but trouble since the day I got it and if I still lived in CA, I would drive out to them and toss eggs all over their window. I don't understand how they can still be in business with such hideous customer service. What the hell do I do now since the dog cannot get in and out?
Reviewed Feb. 17, 2012
We purchased an electric pet door from this company less than a year ago. The door works well but the collar which is required to operate it continues to malfunction. We have replaced it three times in less than a year, at 40 dollars or so each time (plus shipping). Now the company does not even answer the phone, even though I have called during their stated business hours. My door is useless without the collar and I cannot even get them on the phone to order a new one. Yet, the website appears to be up and running and they are taking new orders, so someone must be there.
Reviewed Jan. 24, 2012
I bought the Large Automatic Pet Door. It has been nothing but trouble. The sensors keep failing. The internal mechanisms fail. The collars/transmitters will fail all the time. Even the upgraded one fails. I have been through 20 of them. At $36 each, do the math. Don't buy this, it is garbage and it will drive you crazy. Oh and by the way, the customer service is rude and unresponsive. I opened a ticket recently and nobody has responded.
Reviewed Jan. 23, 2012
It was stated that you were suspicious of some of the good comments, so I'll preface this by saying: I bought my system from samsclub.com and have gone through them and through High Tech with problems with the collars. (I also reviewed the system on Amazon.com, noting that I had bought it elsewhere. ) The electronic pet door and the underground system work great. I've added two other pets since I first purchased it, so I had to add more collars, which are expensive. When the first one stopped charging, I called Sam's Club as directed, and they sent another one out right away. Today, I called the High Tech customer service line, because a second one stopped taking a charge while the other was on the way, and I hated to call Sam's Club back, even though you ship the old one back. They immediately looked up the info and said they'd ship another collar. I asked if replacement batteries were available, and the lady said no, they're sealed in.
So, I've gotten immediate satisfaction with my problems, and think that's worth mentioning. It seems to be a very good company, and I love the automatic dog door you can get to work with the same collar as the underground fence. I added a battery to it, in case they manage to unplug it one day. It's impressive, I worried that if one dog with a functioning collar went through, and the next pet went through without a collar (or with a dead battery) whether the door would close. It's like an elevator door, it senses motion. I tried it with my hand before I'd let them go through it. It even says it's bulletproof.
Reviewed Jan. 3, 2012
Over 3 years ago, I purchased my first HC-8000 system. I am now on my 3rd unit except this time I purchased it directly from Hi Tech Pet. I received the system with no problem, but the collar was bad. I called and they shipped a replacement out to me. There was an attitude from the rep, but the collar came. The system still did not work so they said it was the base and they would send another one. I have not seen this base yet, and the original order was now over 3 months ago. I have been given every excuse under the sun as to why I have not received the base including tonight's call when the rep advised me that USPS is unable to locate my residence.
Odd, since I had received batteries and the original unit. Don't ask to file a complaint or speak to someone of authority, as you simply get patched through to an answering machine. I cannot tell you how many phone calls I have made to this company with absolutely no result. The staff has no clue generally about me even making an order. I repeat my situation each time I call. Once they said they got my entire address wrong. I constantly have to repeat myself to get a flippant attitude in return.
I have never been treated the way they treat me each time I call and can honestly say I have yet to have a good experience with them. I like the system overall (it has its bugs), but the staff, service and company attitude has resolved me to not recommend this system. I am a K-9 handler and have had many people ask about appropriate, safe and acceptable fences. I have told them about my experience with this company. All I want is this to be fixed. I have no trust that it will be done. I have put a lot of money into this system and it has tremendously inconvenienced my family and pets.
Reviewed Aug. 11, 2011
I bought a power dog door from High Tech Pet. It has been a problem from day one. The remote collar is the problem. It doesn't transmit properly and I even bought the more expensive one. I have put multiple sets of batteries in it and it still acts up. I'm about to be on my third and fourth collar.
Not to mention they do not ever call people back. I have asked for them to call me over 30 times and still no call. I have even put it in bold writing. They will send emails but that takes forever and you don't always get them. Not to mention the owner is completely rude and hard to deal with.
This company has the worst customer service I have ever seen and their product is substandard.
Reviewed June 16, 2011
I purchased the large dog pet door and within the first month, two out of three dog collars stopped working at the same time. They were good about sending out two replacement collars. Soon thereafter, the collars failed regularly about one a month. Sometimes, they were good and sometimes not about replacements. The real kicker was when I noticed every replacement I received was the lesser collars and not the waterproof, higher cost, Microsonic-2 Plus (MS-2A, the one recommended on their own site as a fix for multiple collar failures). I have seen no difference in the lifespan of either collar. I contacted them and despite acknowledging none of the replacements were the correct model, all the warranty department could say was that since my warranty was up, there was nothing they could do.
Reviewed Dec. 9, 2010
A couple of years ago I bought 2 Bark Terminator 2. Since that time they last about 2 months then just stop working. The good news is that most of the time they promptly sent me replacements. Of course for a product that costs $100, it shouldn’t last just 2 months. Half the time one of the two collars would not be working upon their arrival. This time when I sent the two collars back, they sent back only one, are telling me I sent only one, and tell me they won't do anything more until I show them my original receipt - which of course I don't have because I had to send it back the first time I needed a replacement. The little devices are clearly simple electronics and do not warrant the price tag they carry even if they did work. Their customer service is abhorrent as they just want to fight with me on the phone.
Reviewed Nov. 10, 2010
I have a PX-2 dog door purchased in 2008. I am on my third dog door. The first two were so hard to get parts or anyone to answer the phone that I just gave up and bought entirely new doors. This newest door has a built in battery so if power failure the door will still work. We happen to be sitting in our room where the dog door is and we have a new puppy. Well, the dog was playing with one of its toys and hit the adapter that was on the wall. Smoke started coming out of the buttons and you could see a flame flickering inside the panel.
We hurried and got a screw. My husband tore out part of our wall to get to the battery because it was still powering the door. We were very fortunate we were home or not sleeping because we could have lost our home. We emailed them right away to tell them. Never got a response back. Husband called, the rep said never heard of such a thing and only one year warranty. Just want consumers to be aware this could happen to their door as well.
Reviewed Aug. 30, 2010
I purchased a Human Contain X-10 wireless dog fence. Within a couple of months, the collar would no longer take a full charge. Customer service was great but sent me the wrong charger. After receiving the correct charger, a couple of months went buy and the collar would not take a full charge. Once again customer service was great and they sent me a new collar. In less than a month, the new collar would no longer take a full charge. I have asked for a refund and am told they will only send me a new collar, that I am past the 90 days for a full refund. After a year, they will no longer send me any replacement parts but offer them to me at a 50% discount. I just want my money back so I can buy a system that will work.
Reviewed Feb. 26, 2010
We purchased a PX-1 Medium Power Pet Door in November, 2009 and have had nothing but problems with the collar. The first collar quit working by the end of December. After repeated emails, attempted telephone calls to customer service (who for some odd reason never answered the telephone) and finally after taking my complaint to Sams' Club, did I get a response. A new collar was sent. Well, by Feb. 17th the replacement collar no longer worked. Since then, I have sent repeated emails about the issue and finally reached a customer support person on Feb. 25th who was rude and uncooperative at best.
She wasn't interested in knowing my support ticket number or the issues around the problem. She just read me the product script about how to fix the problem. I had already done all of her suggestions. Remember, this is my second time around with a collar that had identical problems to the first collar. I told her that I would gladly send back the two non functioning collars and would like a new collar sent.
She told me that a new one couldn't be sent until they received the non functioning collars. I told her that my dog could not go in or out without a collar and would she please send a replacement. She told me, "No. But I could purchase a new one and they would get it out the door today. Now that's customer service. If you can find another manufacturer of automatic pet doors, I strongly suggest you buy from them. The product quality is poor and High Tech Pet's customer service is horrible.
Reviewed Jan. 24, 2010
My Power Pet Door broke (again). I tried to contact the company, via the website support form and I received an email stating that my submission (via their own website) was filtered as spam and asked me to resubmit. I repeated this procedure several more times until I received a response from a technical support person. I replied to this response and the fiasco began again. I then called technical support and received a message the support center was closed even though the message stated the hours and I called within those hours. I then decided to email Nick Bonge, the president, who professes his admiration for his customers and profusely promises to investigate all issues and respond promptly. Well, I never received a response from dear Saint Nick (it has been four months).
I then received another email from a tech support person, who clearly did not know what she was doing. Then, after three weeks of trying, I was able to contact them via phone. Even though I did not express my frustration with the company, the tech support person was about as unfriendly as you can be, given Nick's professed gushing love for his customers. The technical support person’s goal, it seemed, was to get me off the phone as soon as possible. Although I doubted her diagnosis, I ordered the recommended replacement part for the door, installed it, and it didn't work. I then ordered the part I originally wanted, installed it and the door worked for about two months, then broke for the third time. It took me too many hours, over two many weeks and months to try to resolve these issues and fail. I feel they do not have any respect for their customers and I will not purchase from Hi Tech Pet Products again.
Reviewed Jan. 20, 2010
We've had nothing but problems with this company since 2007. We purchased a containment kit with wiring, collars and transmitter. All was fine for a few weeks and then the collars wouldn't work. We would call the company and they would send replacement collars. Then we started having problems with the transmitter. We had to purchase another one. Shortly after that, the replacement transmitter didn't work either. Now, we're having problems getting refunds for the years supply of batteries and replacement collars we've purchased.
Their customer service representative is rude and hangs up the phone. She talks over us as you tell her the problems you're having. Many times they don't answer their phones and you're stuck in the queue until in frustration you just hang up. No one will return our calls. We have spent many hundreds of dollars on their products and we are just not satisfied. Today was the straw which broke the camels back. When I asked to whom I was speaking, the operator hung up on me. We are very frustrated and don't know what to do with this company. We certainly would not recommend them.
Reviewed Nov. 18, 2009
Reviewed Oct. 12, 2009
Reviewed Oct. 7, 2009
Reviewed Oct. 4, 2009
Reviewed Sept. 18, 2009
Reviewed Aug. 21, 2009
I bought two of their progressive shock anti-bark collars. I tested them on my dogs with the "doorbell" test, and they seemed to work fine. I left them on for about an hour before I left the house for a couple of hours. When I returned, I found that the one collar had been continually shocking my dog non-stop to the point of severe trauma, as she had defected all over the house and all over her self. I removed the collar immediately when I got home. As soon as I pulled in the garage, I saw it continuously shocked her, even though she wasn't making a sound.
After I removed the collar, she trembled for a long, long time and hung her head whenever I walked by, for hours. Phone calls to the company president has resulted in nothing; there's no action on their behalf. When I took that collar off her, the contact points were really hot, indicating it just kept going off. How would he like it if I strap it to him and shock him to the point where he lost his bowels?
Reviewed July 1, 2009
I ordered a motorized dog door that fits into a sliding glass door panel and paid $633 for it! When it arrived, one of the adjustment knobs was broken off and the box was not damaged. After waiting two weeks for it to arrive, they now want me to send it back to them, have them fix it and return it. This will take approximately three weeks! I told them that I had to have this door, and Liz was very abrupt and said there was nothing she was willing to do about it. I told her that she could pay to overnight me a replacement and then I would send back the broken one. She got very snippy with me and told me to send an email to her company to see if the returns department would be willing to do anything. What has happened to quality and customer service?
Reviewed June 2, 2009
We bought one of High Tech's units for sliding patio doors about five years ago after raccoons were getting in through our previous cat door. We researched the options, decided High Tech would be best at keeping the raccoons out, bought it, and have actually been quite happy with it. Although it's had the occasional odd glitch with things like the door inexplicably not opening, it's worked well enough we haven't had to deal with High Tech's service people and face the nightmares other people are reporting.
I would suggest, though, two things in dealing with these jokers. One, document everything you do. Keep copies of emails, write down dates and times of phone calls and who you talked to or left messages for, summaries of conversations, that kind of thing. If you can, record your calls. It's evidence. Two, use a credit card, not a debit card, for your purchases. The legal protections are better. Then if you have a problem, if you don't get satisfaction from High Tech in a few weeks, do a charge back on your credit card. Your evidence of trying to settle things with High Tech will be important here. You'll likely get your money back, and if enough people do this, High Tech will lose their ability to take credit card orders. If that doesn't work, sue High Tech in small claims court. In most jurisdictions, it's cheap and easy.
Reviewed May 26, 2009
Reviewed May 10, 2009
Reviewed May 9, 2009
Reviewed April 15, 2009
We purchased this system to contain our dogs and have had nothing but trouble. The transmitter went first. We got that replaced. Now the collars will beep, but there is absolutely no shock or tingle to correct the dog from crossing the line. We want a refund on the whole system, the extra collar we purchased and all the batteries we purchased.
Reviewed Feb. 14, 2009
Reviewed Feb. 8, 2009
Reviewed Jan. 8, 2009
Reviewed Jan. 3, 2009
We purchased a large power pet door in March 2008. In the last few months, the door no longer works. Testing the collars seems ok and able to manually open the door, but collar sensors do not open the door anymore. This item is supposed to have a one year warranty. I emailed this company on 12/20/2008. Got what appears to be a form response that the tech support will usually contact within a day. Now it is two weeks, 6 emails, and 3 phone calls later. Unable to reach anyone via phone and no way to leave a message.
Reviewed Nov. 14, 2008
Reviewed Nov. 14, 2008
Reviewed Oct. 17, 2008
I am agreeing with the many others listed on this website. I purchased a power pet door, installed it in a new house, it did not work properly from the start. I fought to get new parts for it. They were shipped out two weeks after I requested them, only to install them and for the door to still not work properly. I have made several calls to Nick Bonge and Liz, only to be ignored and when I did get to speak to a person, she was very rude to me. I hope something can be done to stop this man and his company. This was an expensive lesson learned.
Reviewed Sept. 26, 2008
We ordered the Humane Contain 8000 online April 22, 2008 for $369.80. We were in the process of moving so did not set the product up until June at our new residence and at that time began training our dogs. Noticed problems with the collars (2) not responding with the same consistency for both dogs--in other words, one collar would go off within a few feet from the wire/line, the other would not go off until the wire was crossed. We attempted to work with the system to no avail.
In addition, the main unit began to malfunction saying there was no a/c power. So, at this point the entire system did not work and the time spent training the dogs was lost. Tried contacting the company by phone in early July only to have the phones hang up when waiting for the customer service rep. Tried to email through the technical support online at the website 2 times with only automated responses saying someone would get in touch but never did. My emails date back to July 21st and in those I complain about my previous attempts to get someone on the phone system and it not working (although in a conversation with the customer service rep that I did finally just speak to today 9/26/08 she said they were not having problems with their phones when numerous complaints here online say they were).
Tried to email the president Nick Bonge and those emails bounced back as undeliverable. I have left him a voice mail as well. Finally, Yvette Taffolla emailed me 7/24/08 after I had sent in 2 emails complaining of no one responding. She claimed not to have access to the emails that I had previously sent and to explain my difficulties again to her. It wasn't until 7/28/08 that I was advised to send back the products for replacement.
Products were sent back 8/4/08 and were not returned to me 9/22/08; almost 8 weeks from the time I sent them. The base unit is doing the same thing as when we sent it off. The collars appear to be replacement ones but becasue the base unit does not work we can not test them on the wire/line. We starting calling the company about these problems while still within the 90 day period for a refund for the products but because of no one answering the phones, the delay in getting a response from emailed complaints, and the nearly 8 weeks waiting for the return of the replacement products, that time period is gone. I called the company on 9/22/08 and (finally) spoke with someone who put me to a voice mail where I left a message without a return phone call.
As of today, 9/26/08, I am now told (as surprisingly I was able to actually speak to someone) that I could only get a store credit for other merchandise (which I do not want given my experiecne with this company now).
I am not only out the $370 but any of the training that my dogs received is of no value now not to mention the effort of putting down the wire, drilling holes in the walls, etc...
Reviewed Sept. 26, 2008
Almost five weeks later, I received a replacement control unit. That worked for about two weeks, then it failed as well as the second collar. It is now September I have yet to have a functioning system long enough to train the dog. I emailed them to request a refund and was told that I was past the 90 days return period. Rich.
Reviewed Sept. 16, 2008
update:
I filed a report with the Better Business Bureau. I FINALLY received the replacement transmitter and collars. However, by that point I had already bought a new system from a different manufacturer. I would NEVER install the High Tech invisible fence again at this point. It simply DOES NOT WORK.
I highly recommend that everyone file complaints against them on the BBB's website. They actualy did respond to the complaint that I filed there. That seems to be the only way to get this company to respond to anything.
I'm still out all of the money that I spent and I have a product that stinks. If this company isn't shut down, I swear to God....there is just no justice!
High Tech Pet Store Company Information
- Company Name:
- High Tech Pet Store
- Website:
- www.hitecpet.com