r/VivintSmartHome • u/HUPlexy • 4d ago
Vivint is a scam!
I have been seeing a lot of posts about the “security company” VIVINT, and them going door to door in our neighborhood trying to sell their service. They even just recently came to our home and said they would take this to his supervisor when hearing what I had to say after I confronted the salesman selling to my neighbor, but still no resolution. When we moved into our home, we already had two outdoor cameras, a doorbell camera, and an indoor hub installed by Vivint. From the very beginning, we had constant issues with the outdoor cameras—they would disconnect, lag, or just stop working altogether. Within the first six months, we even had to have the doorbell camera fully replaced.
Vivint told us everything was under lifetime warranty and blamed the issues on our internet. So, We ended up switching providers to Starlink just to eliminate that excuse, but the cameras continued to go out monthly. After dozens of calls and supervisors, I was finally told replacements would be sent and that a rep would come out. The appointments were rescheduled multiple times last minute, but eventually a technician named Jesus came. We found out none of their devices have a “lifetime warranty” and they don’t even stand by their products for a YEAR! But only inform you of that when you lock into an agreement with them, and then all of a sudden they will Blame you for misunderstanding their initial lifetime warranty to get you to sign on.
He told us that our outdoor cameras and hub didn’t need to be replaced because we supposedly had “the newest and best.” Instead, he said we had a $1,700 credit for all the issues we’d dealt with, and suggested we use it on indoor cameras also while informing us that everything was Alexa compatible since we were replacing ring cameras. He assured us that whatever wasn’t used from that credit would go toward our bill or be refunded. We were also told this by the supervisor that scheduled this appointment and mailed out the replacement cameras per email and recorded conversations.
A few days later, I found out Vivint had withdrawn $1,400 from my account without any notice, bill, or explanation. On top of that, we were charged for something called a “VVR charge” that I had never even heard of, and the four free months we were promised were completely ignored. To make things worse, the cameras he installed are not Alexa compatible like he claimed they would be multiple times since we have many Alexa devices.
Since then, I have reached out countless times, spoken to numerous supervisors, billing, and customer service representatives. I even have emails and texts from Vivint confirming I was owed a refund. They refused to give us a breakdown of OUR bill and couldn’t explain to us why we were billed after being told we had a credit. Despite that, we have not gotten our money back, our system still disconnects even worse now, and our calls for help have been met with being hung up on, blamed for the situation, or told to “take our issues elsewhere” which all Has been recorded and being sent to corporate. Everything has had to be recorded because I learned how common their customer service lied, and sadly found HUNDREDS of posts on Reddit and Facebook AFTER we had this issue.
At this point, Vivint has not only taken our money under false promises, but we’re left with a security system that doesn’t even work properly. I will be sharing the emails and texts as proof. Please be careful if you’re considering Vivint—our experience with them has been nothing short of a nightmare and the “employees” that work for this “company” won’t help with anything.
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u/Chance_Sorbet_8016 4d ago
Vivint sucks. Get a refund for everything and run the opposite direction. Wish my husband never opened the door for them.
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u/AngryOneEyedGod 3d ago
Contact your state Attorney General.
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u/12121blah 3d ago
I think this is the best answer, I think corporate is just as against you as the salespeople.
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u/Most-Cow-7499 3d ago
I've had soooo many issues with them. They gave me a "free trial" & then wouldn't let me cancel. Been fighting it for months. I changed my debit card number, so they then opened a line of credit in my name. Good luck! Praying for you!
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u/matt-r_hatter 2d ago
You have stuff in writing, so they will take care of it. Just keep on them. Sometimes, they take a bit of pushing. As for the camera issues, they weren't lying. It most likely is your internet. Changing providers isn't going to necessarily solve the issues. One thing they don't tell you is you need both a sufficient up/downlink speed and a stable wifi connection with plenty of available bandwidth availability. What sort of networking equipment do you have? Do you have a basic home use router? How many devices does it support? How many devices are currently connected to it? Do you have a lot of bandwidth hungry streams at any given time, like video game systems, HD/4K streaming, etc? Are your cameras connected to a 5ghz or 2.4ghz SSID and is the SSID dedicated to the cameras only, that usually solves many issues. Does your router utilize QoS or band steering? All of those things will impact camera performance with vivint. Again, shame on them for not going into more detail when people sign up. Vivint equipment is really good equipment, that's the problem. It's not the ring junk that just works on any basic wifi. That's both good and bad. Without turning this into a TED talk on home networking. With most consumers, the basic is probably the better option. 80% of consumers couldn't tell the difference between their modem and their router, and i would guess 90% or more would have no clue how to properly set up their router to maximize its efficiency or determine when standard home use equipment isn't sufficient for their needs. 10 years ago, we watched DVD quality streams, browsed low grade videos on YouTube, and maybe had a tablet and a laptop on our wifi. Jump ahead to now and start to think of what many people have connected. Multiple computers, multiple cellphones, multiple tablets, your alarm, multiple televisions streaming 4k programming, dozens of smart plugs and smart bulbs, your washer, dryer, oven, refrigerator, the garage door openers, the vacuum(s), and a lot of people are still using that router from 10yrs ago. The equipment the ISP gives ypu isn't the greatest quality and is usually some all in one nonsense. If you have a data hungry house, you may need to look into pro-sumer equipment like Ubiquiti or at least a router designed for lots of devices and gaming.
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u/sarcxvicious 2d ago
It certainly doesn’t help when internet providers give you a combo modem/router that tries to automatically steer devices to 5ghz from 2.4ghz.
It took literally 4 hours of me being on the phone with Google and xfinity to correct the steering issue, and eventually I just went with Google pro routers to stop the insanity.
This is why professional installs are needed. Just not happy that Vivint charges so much for home visits considering that there is already a premium price tag for the service. Satisfaction guarantees would be nice IMO…or a certain number of home visits a year included. Yes I know about the VPP product, but I get so tired of monthly subscriptions. It’s all such a money grab.
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u/sarcxvicious 2d ago
Also lol…I didn’t finish reading your post when I commented on the combo router/modem. We’re thinking the same thing.
“Smart homes! …without the sufficient data processing power”.
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u/matt-r_hatter 2d ago
Honestly, I won't even use the ISPs modem. I have Spectrum. Their equipment stops at the box on my house. I ran my own line from the tap line on the house to my office where my server rack is, and all the hardware I have top to bottom is Ubiquiti. There's so much on my network. A regular consumer grade router would probably hang itself with its own power cord if I even attempted to use one. 🙃
Im normally not an extended warranty or extra insurance sort of person, but the vivint plan for $10/mo is beyond worth it. Im even beginning to wonder if you get different support when you have it. They specifically say thank you for being a premium support member or something like that when I contact them. I justified it based on equipment and service tech cost. The plan gives you lifetime warranty on all equipment purchased through them and free service calls. I think a service call is $150 now, which is absurd. A smoke detector is $100, a door or window sensor is $50. I have 7 smoke/co and I think 21 door/window sensors, plus the locks and all the other stuff. The panel is like $600. Plus all the cameras at $400ea and those goofy flood lights for them I felt I needed lol. Eventually a camera will need replaced, or other hardware will. A camera plus a service call is $500, even 4yrs of the plan is still cheaper. I paid for it all once. Im not paying for it again.
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u/Phxbirdlover 3d ago
You are lucky you got something in writing. I have asked multiple times and sometimes they email me the information. I feel like it's my word against theirs and they say they noted it but I still get charged for things I was not supposed to. Then it's another 3-4 hours on the phone to get that error cleared up.
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u/TheRemyBell 2d ago
Maybe that's what they meant when they said 4 months "without no cost". Double negative!!!
In all seriousness, I'm so sorry.
This is horrible. I hope they face legal action and I hope you succeed.
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u/Dry-Iron2361 1d ago
I remember being told we were getting lifetime warranties too but when the backyard camera stopped working and I called it in, I was then informed only the sensors were covered. That camera stopped working right after the 1st year. Vivint is the biggest scam and I can't believe they're still in business.
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u/oldmansvan 4d ago
I have nothing of importance to add, however good luck my friend. Vivint will do everything they can to ruin your day, stick to your guns.