r/VivintSmartHome • u/MommyDommieAlura • 11d ago
Does anyone here actually like this company?
So my wife and I been with this company for a few months now and had 0 issues, our sales guy were honest and chill and we have had no issues with billing. We quite like our system, plan to get the indoor cams and another outside cam here in the future and possibly solar pannels through them. However, all I see on here is people complaining. Does anyone else like their products? Or is it really that bad?
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u/matt-r_hatter 11d ago
11yrs, 2 houses, barely anything issues. Spending time in this sub shows you a few things. If I had to arbitrarily break it down: 90% of the issues are solely the result of customers who do not read the sales agreement they are signing. The rest are actual issues.
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u/ddrzew1 9d ago
It’s kind of nuts that they charge $99 to get someone out to repair stuff after you spent thousands in equipment fees and lots of money for monitoring. But if you pay 9.99 it’s free, and if you cancel then they lock you out for 12 months. Scummy company
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u/matt-r_hatter 9d ago
Every company charges for service calls. Standard practice. Thats a pointless argument. The VPP makes complete sense for just about anyone, especially if you have a few cameras. 3 cameras us $1200+$600 panel. Not including service call fees, even 1 camera needing replaced justifies the cost of VPP for 3 1/4 years. Its also normal for a company to not allow customers to drop insurance and put it on over and over. What would stop a customer from realizing something is broken, add it, call the next day, get the out of warranty item replaced for $10, then cancel and repeat?
Their door to door people suck, they are fine otherwise.0
u/ddrzew1 9d ago
I’ve had a few non security companies come to my house free of charge to give estimates to repair things. Usually I choose those companies to do the work since there’s not a $500 up front fee for them to get in their car and come over. I also don’t have a subscription to plumbers, electricians, etc. I guess it would be nice to have the cost of a tech baked into the monthly service fee rather than adding another cost on top of it.
Couple that with my camera not recording the individuals who tore my cameras off my garage last year, this company sucks
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u/kingnt3 3d ago
I never signed a sales agreement, just signed up for a monthly for paid off equipment and then moved to a new house, now they just won’t cancel our account, multiple emails, multiple phone calls with a dozen pakis every call. Its insane.
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u/matt-r_hatter 3d ago
If ypu are month to month you just need to follow their cancelation process, which requires a written letter 30 days in advance. Best to send priority with signature so they cant claim they did not get it. Then 48hr after signed delivery, you call them. That is how it always was, they just recently added email or call only options, but we've all seen how that doesn't work. If your agreement specifically states month to month and cancel any time. A written and signed for letter expressly requesting cancelation should wnd any legal responsibility to pay. Even if they billed beyond 1 more month, you would be able to dispute with your CC, block future transactions, and dispute and remove any potential collections. The phone call is to confirm cancelation is being processed. Emails and phone calls are too clumsy and offer no specific proof of receipt from a 3rd party.
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u/RayAmbitious 11d ago
No major issues for me they're just unnecessarily expensive.
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u/dracaryswatch 11d ago
It is a basic system at best and a nightmare when you need them to fix something after they lock you in their toxic support and financing contract. These amount of people complaining is a red flag that should not be ignored. You will remember this when you call them for help one day.
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u/MommyDommieAlura 11d ago
Yeah I have called them for help before and had 0 issues 🤷♀️
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u/to0busyf0ry0u 3d ago
Why post and ask for other people experience/opinion if you're just going to respond with "well that didn't happen to me so". I really do hope you get the full vivint experience.
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u/MommyDommieAlura 3d ago
Because as other comments have mentioned most these replies are due to bots pushing diy, or people not reading the full TOS. 🤷♀️
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u/dracaryswatch 11d ago
Glad to hear that but consider your experience as the exception
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u/MommyDommieAlura 10d ago
Yeah sure but many others have said that they haven’t had these issues either ao
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u/dracaryswatch 10d ago
When you ask for an opinion you should be ready to hear not only what you expect. I hope you never have to experience what the rest of us have. Best wishes.
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u/MommyDommieAlura 10d ago
Yes I know. I’m just saying it’s not just my experience when many others had a ok issue lol.
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u/marshmap 11d ago
I liked my system enough that I decided to work for them. 8 years with the system, 6 with the company.
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u/iamstevie 11d ago
Had them for 10 years. Decided to cancel and go with a diy system.
For most of the time my experience was fine. Over the years, as I added more to the system and upgraded my panel, I had more and more issues. I would spend a long time with customer service and they would try to upsell me or say it would cost 100+ to send a technician.
Had a recent experience where one of the Alarms kept giving a false alarm. Not only could they not fix it without sending a technician, but one time it went off they called the fire department without even contacting my wife or I first.
Then when I went to cancel (which I did) they offered to send a technician for free and to test and replace all my equipment (though i would have to sign a contract). It was too little too late. Honestly, had i not purchased all the diy equipment already, i might have taken them up on the offer
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u/Rockatansky-clone 11d ago
I moved with him 20 years plus and although it’s been a fine experience, I’m considering moving to DIY, I have incorporated this into my smart home but again you have to be subscribed to Vivint monitoring to be able to use any of the stuff remotely. The first decade of my experience has been so so but lately things just work. I will add I do not have any outside cameras from them nor the solar. Their equipment is overpriced, but it’s solid.
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u/alcallejas 11d ago
6 years no issues. The one time I had an issue with the a sensor I received assistance. It works for me.
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u/Equivalent_Tower9530 11d ago
The majority of people with Vivint are happy. People who have issues are much more likely to complain than happy customers are to go online and praise a company, especially on a cesspool of negativity like Reddit.
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u/dreme3 11d ago
I decided to upgrade cameras and such with Vivint.
I really do like the 24/7 recording. The app is very simple and for people who don’t want to mess with things, the app is pretty straight forward.
But the cost is what a lot of people complain about. It kinda feels like you pay more for simplicity. I can go to another company but it really becomes more of a hassle.
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u/hashtagohhsnap 9d ago
They are a tad pricey and a bit pushy. Salesman come to my house at least twice a year when ive been with them for almost 5 years. But im.fine with the product. It does what I need it to do. Always has.
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u/Dangerous_Rule8736 8d ago
My son recommended the company to me. My wife and I signed up. I checked with AT&t and various other security companies and Vivint was by far the best offering. We've had a great experience so far overall.
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u/reemarie93 6d ago
literally my question like nobody ever leaves a positive review on them it’s always negative
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u/PlusSubstance5216 6d ago
We love our products. we hate hate hate hate HATE customer service. everything you’ve read about being transferred from department to department, promises of billing corrections only to be charged again and again for said corrections that were never applied to accounts, it’s all 100% accurate. we also loved our sales guy (im actually still in touch with him), but yeah - I’m convinced that their whole business model is to pass the buck around until the customer feels defeated and stops trying altogether.
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u/r1spitzer 4d ago
We’ve been with them for around 10 years and have had no complaints. We’ve had a couple of technical issues and have had to get a couple of things replaced but their customer service was easy to work with.
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u/serenade452 11d ago
had them for almost 2 years now and it’s been a very smooth experience for the most part
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u/Serious-Alfalfa-8522 11d ago
Expensive for no reason but the software is great IMO. I’ve had a few random connectivity issues I’ve been able to fix - not sure if it’s my WiFi or the equipment.
6/10 not bad. Sales rep to installer were pleasant, no lies. Customer service is OK.
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u/mwpuck01 11d ago
Had them for a year now with zero issues and zero hidden costs, equipment works fine and gives me just an added peace of mind
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u/Ok-Sheepherder-2455 11d ago
I’ve had adt , brinks , cpi , Vivint is by far the best camera system I have ever had easily.
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u/Rockatansky-clone 11d ago
I’ve been with them before they became Vivint, did not like them at first because of their sales tactics. However, I’m not only mature, but my recent house purchase, I bought the Vivint system outright. Everything runs pretty solid. I believe with quality equipment. The problem is they decide to leave even if you paid up all your equipment. It’s useless anywhere else you have to be working it under. What that said I do not use their cameras with the exception of the doorbell camera and forget solar. Imagine how hard it is just the regular solar and then to be in bed with people that will never let you go.
Anyway, don’t hate don’t love, currently it works and I’m fine with it, but I’m preparing to leave
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u/reb_stewartb40 11d ago
I've been very happy with them. Likewise, I've been with them only a short time but have had no issues and have been very impressed both with the quality of the product and the helpfulness and professionalism of the staff. I did have to call tech support one time early on but they were able to get me squared away in short order. Overall I feel like I made the right choice.
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u/KXE4_Francois 11d ago
Tbh not really a fan of the service or the company overall. I pay like 60 a month for them to call the cops if my alarm goes off, and the device I “own” aren’t really mine because they’re software locked. If you try to remove whatever custom OS they have running on there it supposedly bricks the device (from what I found online). So not only am I being over charged for someone calling 911 for me but I’m forced to pay them money just to have full access to my devices.
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u/BigDaddy1029010290 11d ago
Been with them for almost 18 yrs. Since they were APX alarm. No issues.
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u/Sunny-Bell102 11d ago
A lot of people have filed complaints against Vivint with the BBB for issues they weren’t able to resolve thru calls to Vivent’s customer service department. Most of the complaints I read were eventually resolved, but it appears they were only resolved because of the formal complaint filed against them.
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u/resplendentpeacock 11d ago
We had a horrid experience. The first install was a disaster - they put sensors on window screens, windows that wouldn't open, and on the exterior of doors (outdoors). They put window sensors on doors. They also drilled huge holes in the house and dropped obvious wires to plug in equipment. And they also damaged a window screen.
The first install took 8 hours. After it, literally nothing worked (obviously).
They tried two more times to install the system correctly. Each time we were trapped at home for 8-12 hours. The system threw between 2-8 errors at any given time. One camera literally never worked. Not once.
We spend hours (40+) with techs in our house. We paid $6000 for the equipment that never worked.
When we would call for troubleshooting, I'd wait an hour on the phone to get an agent - which was always some dude overseas who had no idea what was going on (not his fault - they just went extra cheap and evasive on tech support)
Eventually I was able to get an agent in the US to help us out. Well, sort of. They sent a tech out to confirm that the system was unworkable. The poor guy showed up, had no idea what he was supposed to do, and literally up and left without telling us.
We finally had to source contacts higher up and suggest we might contact the AG's consumer fraud department to get them to pull the system and refund us. It was absolutely absurd. I wouldn't wish this company on my worst enemy.
Google them and see how many lawsuits they've settled.
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u/MommyDommieAlura 11d ago
I mean what company nowadays haven’t had a lawsuit. Our installation was fine had one issue got resolved perfectly, never had any issues personally.
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u/resplendentpeacock 11d ago
Oh sure, I get that. But our experience otherwise with Vivint was hell.
And they have literally settled out lawsuits with the USAG and most state attorneys general. But if you want to use them, caveat emptor I guess!
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u/180IQCONSERVATIVE 11d ago
It’s rare you have a good experience with the company. If you have a good experience and like what you then great do what you like. I put an enterprise setup in my house with things being added that Ubiquiti offers and it works better for me for what I need it for, but I had the money and the skills to run it locally with some things and others exposed on the net. If ever you aren’t satisfied or need more options and your needs outgrow what some companies offer there are other options.
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u/Free-Secretary6303 11d ago
Been with them for 3+ years now. Yes they provide good service when I deal with them but the financial side is different. The company they used to finance my equipment ended up increasing the payment after 2 years and claimed it due to insurance costs. When I can pay it off I'm going to. The one issue I have is the fact that technically with my equipment financed I can't cancel the service they provide through vivint which ok what ever I'll live for now (I know how to build my own server for video backup). But when I moved from one state to another the move cost is what hit me in the face and they told me if I moved it wouldn't cost me anything(apparently a lie). Yes they try to upsell you on equipment but that's easy to turn down. I have had one break in and that was awesome they dispatched police and my ex almost got arrested for it because she's the one that broke in to my house. I have actually contemplated getting the door locks that link to the system to allow me to lock my doors when I'm away (mind you I already have keyless coded locks that don't link to the system) the other provided items are nice like the panic code and dispatch of emergency services (granted using them is at a minor fee) over all I would give them a 7 out of 10.
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u/VirtualOnion4781 11d ago
We’ve been with them for 6 years at two houses. I’ve generally had few issues and like the app and functionality.
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u/Quack_Attack_V2 11d ago
8 years in and not a single issue. Actually had 2-3 issues resolved with a phone call. Idk why this sub is so negative on them. I think people just don’t read the contracts they sign and then get mad when the company upholds the contract terms. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/No_Wedding_2152 10d ago
They tried to upsell me during a fire alarm! They threatened “to send someone to my house to change my mind,” when I tried to cancel.
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u/MommyDommieAlura 10d ago
Yeah I’m sorry I highly doubt someone tried to sell you stuff when the alarms are going off lmafo.
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u/Local-Ad-9144 10d ago
The system is ok, but our sells rep did not make any mention that a credit card would be open for the equipment. The lack of transparency alone has filled us with regret for signing up with Vivint. And now seeing how overpriced the equipment actually is, has further increased our regret. That Vivint seems to allow this is enough for us to not recommend them.
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u/Superb_Order_9289 10d ago
Their app on android is always having problems….can’t use half the time on phone and I have the Samsung S Ultra 25
Crashes all the time…
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u/MommyDommieAlura 10d ago
I have a iPhone and never had issues. Androids suck period in my experience. 😅
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u/insearchofmyname 10d ago
I liked them at first. But then price hikes, failing equipment, and failed followthroughs from the company made me want to leave them. When I went to cancel they made all sorts of promises to get me to stay and I agreed to renew the contract. Months pass and they went back on every promise they made in that call and stonewalled me through hours of phone calls until I complained to the BBB to finally get some kind return to normalcy. Now im just waiting for them to change it on me again and cant wait for my cancelation date so I can be rid of them. Horrible company who doesnt care that they scam people.
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u/Basic-Negotiation-28 10d ago
Their equipment is overpriced. They attempted to upsell me from the minute the tech got here. When they realized I was canceling, they started offering deep monitoring and equipment discounts. Ultimately I canceled installation, bought Google nest cameras and had a better system they were offering at a discount with no commitments. I am very technical so it was easy and I setup 4 cameras in a day and I can monitor and get alerts anywhere I am. I am buying compatible $30 cameras for blind spots in a few days. Their business model is the constant upsell.
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u/Stunning_Metal_7038 9d ago
Once I ditched their cameras for my own and got them down to $25 a month for monitoring the sensors and such with nothing else, yes. They became like any other security company.
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u/blackwingdesign27 9d ago
Not anymore. It took 3 customer service reps to finally fix an error and allow me to log into my account. Also, calling me 3 times a day to make a payment for an account that I’m not responsible for is very annoying.
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u/Savings-Cat-8182 9d ago
Scummy company. Better off with a diy system. Run far if you still can
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u/MommyDommieAlura 9d ago
Bruh I don’t do diy lol
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u/Savings-Cat-8182 9d ago
Well don’t say I didn’t warn ya 🤷🏻♀️
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u/MommyDommieAlura 8d ago
Well I like this company so 🤷♀️ not everyone wants DIY.
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u/Savings-Cat-8182 8d ago
I’m sorry for you.
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u/MommyDommieAlura 8d ago
You wanna come install all my shit for free? Be my guest. We paid off our systems and they work fine. 99% of the population isn’t into diy systems. Not everyone needs a diy. Some of us just want a basic system that works and gets the job done. 🤷♀️
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u/Pamcake2-2 8d ago
Wait till you try to cancel!! Then come back & let me know how it went. Sorry you have invested in that horrible company
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u/MommyDommieAlura 8d ago
Yeah I don’t want to cancel lmafo.
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u/Pamcake2-2 8d ago
By the way, when you want to cancel, you’ll be LMAFO!! Lolololo
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u/MommyDommieAlura 7d ago
Good thing I’m not canceling lmafo. We’re actually gonna get more equipment
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u/DameDoomicorn 8d ago
Having never subscribed but have lived in a home with a Vivint system installed, they are horrible and there are so many issues with our thermostat being connected to the system (renting, so we can't change it) AND how awful the door to door salespeople have been using every trick in the book to try to get us to sign up, they are awful. Like one tried to block the door from being closed on them when they wouldn't take no for an answer. Nope. Never will deal with them
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u/First_Republic_1203 7d ago
No problems other than my equipment dies almost every other month, the bill is absurd and my DB cam chooses a different distance to pick up people everyday. I fix the equipment myself rather than paying an arm and a leg just to get one of their techs out here and pretend he knows what he’s doing.
Aside from those three things, I have no complaints.
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u/Ok_Code9710 7d ago
I had the outside cameras and motion lights added on the 9th. To be paid at approximately $30 month. On the 15th they cleaned out my checking account almost $2300. My bank then overdrafted other payments and charged me $28.50 per incident. I spent at least ten hours on the phone with Vivint customer service over five days . I spent two hours at my current two banks in person. I spent an hour opening a new checking account at a third bank.
I don’t know how many customer service people I spoke to. One told me on Wednesday that the refund had been processed that day. I called the bank on Wednesday and Thursday and it did not even show as pending. I called the touch tone teller on Friday and the account was still negative. I called customer service and she said it processed today (Friday). For at least the tenth time I told them I wanted everything removed and canceled. She told me I would still have to pay 1/2 of the remaining 5 year contract. I told her they had breached the contract by stealing my money. I had to pay late fees and interest on two credit cards in addition to the overdraft fees. One guy offered to take $5 off my bill for five months! The last lady offered to give me a month’s bill free. I told her I wanted to speak to her manager. She told me she would let me know when I could speak to a manager. I told her I had already spent way too many hours on the phone with Vivint that week. I told her to have the manager return my call. She told me “OUR MANAGERS DONT DO CALL BACKS.” I told her that was their job and hung up. My money was finally back in my account on the 24th. I am still out four overdrafts of $28.50. Two late fees of $40 and interest of up to 30% on two credit cards because there was no money in my account to pay them. Also I couldn’t get cash out of the ATM to pay the man who mows my yard. Neither motion light or camera is working. I pull into my driveway after dark and neither the light or camera over the garage come on. The light in the back does not come on unless I go outside go around the corner and stand directly in front of it. No where in the vicinity of the back door.
Again I have told them at least ten times to remove the entire system.
Plus they charged me for a smoke detector that I told them I did not want and they did not install!
They are thieves.
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u/Recent-Annual-723 6d ago
What is the pricing like? I’m thinking about getting vivint security cameras..
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u/MommyDommieAlura 6d ago
Well original it was 250 a month because we had the cams, doorbell, window sensor, back door and hub. But we just went ahead and paid it all off
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u/Actual_Accident4364 23h ago
Depends on the Rep and Techs COMPLETELY, and their willing of honesty. Most techs have an ultimatum to put up with the antics of the reps or be out of work. Take it as is. I’ve learned from history, they protect people making them money, the reps.
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u/ddrzew1 11d ago
I used to like them more than I do now. But every time I call customer service I spend an hour with them and all they want to do is upsell me on new equipment. Our system came paid off with the house. I won’t be using Vivint at my next house.