Why does Smarthome/Insteon Customer Support SUCK?

[MustangChris04]

Does anybody encounter issues when dealing with Smarthome's technical support and customer service?

 

I've dealt with a ton of IoT companies in the past (Nest, Revolv, Smarthings, Kwikset, Wink, Ring, Leviton, Linear, Tyco) and Smarthome is definitely on the bottom of my list, even below the cable company! 

 

This thread isn't just about one bad customer service experience, but multitude of interactions with their customer service over the past couple years. I can't be the only one that feels this way!

 

The average hold times on any given weekday is over an hour. You might as well request the callback options and hope that you get a call back. Support might as well not even be provided on the weekend, as hold times are even worse. Long hold times aside, it would be worth it if you were waiting for a great experience. 

 

Every interaction I've had with a Smarthome representative has turned into a JOB for myself. Trying to get a replacement unit shouldn't be like pulling teeth. 

 

Have a defective switch? Sounds like an easy fix. RMA it, receive the new one, return it back. Think again...

 

Here is how the typical exchange works with Smarthome:

 

1. Call customer service and troubleshoot the issue. The representative determines that the device is defective and tells you to email the receipt to begin the return process. 

2. Email custsvc@smarthome.com with the receipt (while you are on the phone), let the representative tell you that there is a delay in their system and they won't be able to process the email for a few hours (even though you already received the automatic confirmation email).

3. You wait a few days after nobody has returned your email and decide to call in about the issue. You speak to another person and they tell you to email the receipt again while they are on the phone! (So basically the previous agent lied to you in order to get you off the phone as fast as possible to get the next person waiting in the 2 hour queue.)

4. They receive the email while you are on the phone and process an advanced exchange. They tell you "1-2 business days after the replacement order has been processed, the RMA and return label will be sent to you via email. You can then use those to send the defective sensor back for a refund."

5. You never get the return label or RMA#, even after waiting a week once the advance replacement order was placed. In the meantime, the original representative emails you back from your original email you sent with your receipt to tell you to call back in to process an advanced replacement. All without realizing that you had already spoken to someone and placed an order for a replacement! Absolutely no coordination between other representatives...

6. You email the custsvc@smarthome.com or customerservice@smarthome.com (each rep tells me something different) and let them know that you still haven't received your RMA or return label. 

7. You email goes unanswered so you decide to call in. You use the "opt. 2" on the IVR, for customer service (not tech support) and it says there is a 5 minute hold time. Yeah right! You end of waiting over 60 minutes and are not provided with a callback option. 

8. Not waiting another 60 minutes on the phone, you realize you could have gotten a minimum wage job at Burger King to pay for the replacement and not have had to spend as time and much work doing so. You give up on this JOB of trying to return an item so you take the easier route, dispute it with AMEX, get your money back, and throw the defective unit in the garbage. 

 

Now compare that experience to one that you might encounter with Nest:

 

Defective smoke detector? No problem! I'll overnight you a new smoke detector at no cost to you, all we need is a CC (which we will NOT charge unless we don't receive the defective one). You've already received the RMA in your email inbox and your replacement is on it's way! Your return label will be inside the box  

 

How about Kwikset: 

 

Z-wave deadbolt motor not working anymore? No Problem! Where did you purchase it from? "Home Depot". Can you please take a picture of the back of the lock on the door and email it to my direct email? "Sure, no problem". Alright, I just received the email, looks like a model 912, I'll be shipping you a replacement right now via UPS ground. Keep the defective lock and do not return it to us

 

I could go on and on about great customer service experiences from all these companies, just as much as I can go on and on about the disgusting customer service from Smarthome...

[oberkc]

I have had very little interaction, but my experience has been a little more favorable, if mixed.  With some individuals, I sensed a frustration (even anger) with (at) customers for being unwilling to pay the prices for these devices.   Also, early in my experience, I received a claim from a rep that they had never heard of problems that I was having, but I had trouble believing the claim given that my experience seemed commonplace based on smarthome forum traffic.  On the other hand, the only exchanges I have made are two (morninglinc and PLM) and both were closer to how you describe the z-wave experience and I was completely satisfied... No receipt required (purchased from smarthome directly I guess has benefits).

 

I must admit, however, that consistent automated messages such as "calling volume has been extremely heavy lately and we apologize for the delay" may work for a while, but not over the period of months or years and not every time.  I seem to see this with a few companies I deal with consistently.  Due to my limited need for technical support in recent years, I don't know how smarthome is in this regard.

[Teken]

Does anybody encounter issues when dealing with Smarthome's technical support and customer service?

 

I've dealt with a ton of IoT companies in the past (Nest, Revolv, Smarthings, Kwikset, Wink, Ring, Leviton, Linear, Tyco) and Smarthome is definitely on the bottom of my list, even below the cable company! 

 

This thread isn't just about one bad customer service experience, but multitude of interactions with their customer service over the past couple years. I can't be the only one that feels this way!

 

The average hold times on any given weekday is over an hour. You might as well request the callback options and hope that you get a call back. Support might as well not even be provided on the weekend, as hold times are even worse. Long hold times aside, it would be worth it if you were waiting for a great experience. 

 

Every interaction I've had with a Smarthome representative has turned into a JOB for myself. Trying to get a replacement unit shouldn't be like pulling teeth. 

 

Have a defective switch? Sounds like an easy fix. RMA it, receive the new one, return it back. Think again...

 

Here is how the typical exchange works with Smarthome:

 

1. Call customer service and troubleshoot the issue. The representative determines that the device is defective and tells you to email the receipt to begin the return process. 

2. Email custsvc@smarthome.com with the receipt (while you are on the phone), let the representative tell you that there is a delay in their system and they won't be able to process the email for a few hours (even though you already received the automatic confirmation email).

3. You wait a few days after nobody has returned your email and decide to call in about the issue. You speak to another person and they tell you to email the receipt again while they are on the phone! (So basically the previous agent lied to you in order to get you off the phone as fast as possible to get the next person waiting in the 2 hour queue.)

4. They receive the email while you are on the phone and process an advanced exchange. They tell you "1-2 business days after the replacement order has been processed, the RMA and return label will be sent to you via email. You can then use those to send the defective sensor back for a refund."

5. You never get the return label or RMA#, even after waiting a week once the advance replacement order was placed. In the meantime, the original representative emails you back from your original email you sent with your receipt to tell you to call back in to process an advanced replacement. All without realizing that you had already spoken to someone and placed an order for a replacement! Absolutely no coordination between other representatives...

6. You email the custsvc@smarthome.com or customerservice@smarthome.com (each rep tells me something different) and let them know that you still haven't received your RMA or return label. 

7. You email goes unanswered so you decide to call in. You use the "opt. 2" on the IVR, for customer service (not tech support) and it says there is a 5 minute hold time. Yeah right! You end of waiting over 60 minutes and are not provided with a callback option. 

8. Not waiting another 60 minutes on the phone, you realize you could have gotten a minimum wage job at Burger King to pay for the replacement and not have had to spend as time and much work doing so. You give up on this JOB of trying to return an item so you take the easier route, dispute it with AMEX, get your money back, and throw the defective unit in the garbage. 

 

Now compare that experience to one that you might encounter with Nest:

 

Defective smoke detector? No problem! I'll overnight you a new smoke detector at no cost to you, all we need is a CC (which we will NOT charge unless we don't receive the defective one). You've already received the RMA in your email inbox and your replacement is on it's way! Your return label will be inside the box

 

How about Kwikset: 

 

Z-wave deadbolt motor not working anymore? No Problem! Where did you purchase it from? "Home Depot". Can you please take a picture of the back of the lock on the door and email it to my direct email? "Sure, no problem". Alright, I just received the email, looks like a model 912, I'll be shipping you a replacement right now via UPS ground. Keep the defective lock and do not return it to us

 

I could go on and on about great customer service experiences from all these companies, just as much as I can go on and on about the disgusting customer service from Smarthome...

 

I had to hold back from laughing after reading your posts because it was so so-real! I believe your personal experience mirrors many others who have called in before you. I've learned to send in a e-mail first than follow up with calling in and using the *Call me back* method.

 

From past experience it just keeps my blood pressure down and not setting myself up to fail in the knowing the experience will be poor. From speaking to a few of the reps from customer service and tech support a few of them affirmed the same thing I already knew.

 

Joe Dadda has not provided the human resources to fill these positions. The call volume exceeds the man power on hand and there is no sign Joe Dadda is going to hire more people.

 

When you're making tens of millions of dollars a year on just one single product (Insteon) it has to make you take pause as to really how committed you're about service after the sale??? As most folks who have read my replies, rants, and feed back. They know I try very hard to provide honest, direct, and unbias feed back.

 

My personal interactions thus far over the years have been positive. I've had two RMA's for the infamous PLM failures which by the way Canadians are NOT afforded the same level of service as our American brothers are?!?!?!

 

ie. We do not receive a free return label for defective products. The return cost is born on the customer!

 

As MustangChris04 indicated the lack of communications between departments is so pathetic it actually makes some of the Government sites I supported look like Gods! We have all heard the famous *We have never seen or heard of this problem* really?

 

Part of me calls complete B.S, while the other half of me actually believes some of it.

 

Why??

 

Because you have some random guy who is getting paid $5.00 an hour to get yelled at eight hours a day. Do you really think he wants to read the forums to see if there is some epidemic failure going on? That is like some pizza guy who makes the product all day.

 

Do you really think he wants to eat a pizza at the end of his shift?

 

The reality is if anyone has ever rewound the time machine we call the Smarthome Forum. You will see there were at least 3-4 active Smartlabs / Insteon personal who interacted and provided feed back. Soon after the hammer fell and Joe Dadda mandated all employee's shut the hell up and refrain from posting feed back.

 

This *Cone of silence* has been pervasive for the last eight years. The only reason the public is seeing any type of API, Developer Docs, etc is because the push for HA has finally arrived. The one thing I have tracked very closely are the retail sites that have quietly started to drop the Insteon brand.

 

Or reduced their shelves and only list a minimal amount of gear via on line sales. I was in one of our Future Shops that were just migrated to a Best Buy, they had the Insteon bulb for $9.XX???

 

I asked one of the sales guys for 16 of these bulbs and he told me they were sold out? I said how could they be sold out if they aren't even listed for sale in any flyer besides a random posting on line?? After a few moments he conceded that it was some moron's idea to push out existing gear but noted it would not come back???

 

WTF???

 

I asked him what that cryptic reply meant and he indicated that any item marked as $9.XX is EOL. Meaning it won't be carried in the stores ever again? I asked him what about the remaining four items on the shelf? He said he didn't know but gathered the same thing was going to happen?

 

The reality is the following companies have dropped Insteon from their shelves and will soon later drop the entire brand as a whole via on line sales. They are Walmart, Best Buys, and some other random company that escapes me. In the HUB Pro thread I have updated the ongoing issues with this device.

 

Its like Smarthome / Smartlabs never learns from past mistakes and simply moves forward with a fuzzy brain that only a cocaine addict can relate to. The HUB Pro is such a complete and utter failure in every aspect that sales have been halted. In part to the inept deployment of the device and how it supports Insteon hardware. To the endless missteps of their smartphone Applications which seem to be wild willy in using the end user to be a Alpha tester???

 

After 7-8 generations of controllers one would think someone would grow a brain and learn! But as I have indicated before my belief is its not so much the engineers fault as it is managements. Everything comes from the top down and I believe 99.9999% of the ISY user base can affirm the following.

 

UDI is an extremely small company that is driven, focused, and listens.

 

The hallmark that I have seen, watched, read, and heard about UDI over the many years is *Learning and moving forward*. Everyone makes mistakes and in this company they learn from it and they do not repeat the same mistakes. Its fair to say they take all feed back good, bad, ugly, and even at times quite critical and objectively apply solutions to a problem.

 

This can not be said about Smartlabs / Smarthome . . .

 

Has anyone in 10 years ever seen, heard, read, a single reply from Joe Dada???

 

No???

 

Has he ever come out and thank the tens of millions of customers who have made his company so huge?

 

No???

 

Has he ever instructed one single person in the Engineering team to reach out to a customer with out being pushed to help them?

 

No???

 

People have to ask the question why??

 

I really can't speak for Michel but from my past experience my view is even if he became rich and famous and the HA Gods rained down endless amounts of cash upon his company. He would still be humble, open, and present in the forums answering questions, taking on service requests, and talking to customers one on one either on line or on the phone.

 

Why???

 

First in part this is HIS company and service after the sale is important to him. He is customer too and knows how it feels to be pushed off or simply given lip service. Walking in someones shoes almost always makes a person *aware, open, sensitive, and objective*.

 

Well, besides he's just a nice guy that likes to co mingle with his client base!

 

Ha . . .

 

At the end of the day some companies will never learn. They will never change and they will never really care either way. Because for them its *Profit before people* and sadly ten solid years is enough time to show a track record and history of a company.

 

The sad fact is when public shaming has no impact on a company, person, or team. You really have to ask yourself how much longer am I willing to support a company like that??

[MustangChris04]

That is good to hear that your experience has been more favorable than any of mine. I too sense frustration and a disregard for concern when I speak with their agents, which may be the culture of the company. I attribute all the issues with poor communication, lack of empowerment, and the inability to follow up due to poor management and not having systems in place to handle support appropriately.  

 

Today I spoke with an Alex. He was the best from SH I've dealt with! Although he actually expressed concerned and said "sorry" for my issue, the hold time was 2 hours, 11 minutes: http://screencast.com/t/rMn8548kN8j

 

I remember the community having a conversation about their support issues during the winter holiday of 2013. From what I was told, a lot of employees left and they cleaned house. They were promising more employees, shorter hold times, and better service. 20 months have come and gone, and I haven't seen any changes. 

[Teken]

Here is the photo I took the other day at Best Buy. As the sales agent indicated if you ever see this price ending in .95 it means it's EOL and won't be coming back to the store level.




Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

[MustangChris04]

You really have to ask yourself how much longer am I willing to support a company like that??

 

I think you've nailed it. With thousands of dollars in Insteon hardware, it is a shame to know that my next house will be using some other home automation technology. I don't want to get left behind if Insteon can't evolve with the rest of the industry.  

 

The home automation industry is changing and growing so fast that Insteon is going to be left in the dust. The only thing keeping me in this game is the ISY. If I did not come across the ISY, and UDI's involvement with the community, I probably would have moved onto something else. 

 

If they don't get their act together, you'll start seeing Insteon products in Big Lots, next to the Walkmans and Floppy Disks. 

 

 

Very interesting about the pricing at Best Buy. What a great deal! I haven't seen any Insteon products at my local Best Buy, only on their website. I actually haven't seen any Insteon products in any B&M store locally. I see them all over the internet: Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Tiger Direct, but I don't think those retailers actually stock the products, it's probably a drop ship or something along those lines. 

[Teken]

I think you've nailed it. With thousands of dollars in Insteon hardware, it is a shame to know that my next house will be using some other home automation technology. I don't want to get left behind if Insteon can't evolve with the rest of the industry.  

 

The home automation industry is changing and growing so fast that Insteon is going to be left in the dust. The only thing keeping me in this game is the ISY. If I did not come across the ISY, and UDI's involvement with the community, I probably would have moved onto something else. 

 

If they don't get their act together, you'll start seeing Insteon products in Big Lots, next to the Walkmans and Floppy Disks. 

 

Well, I won't lie if I see Insteon at the Dollar Store, Big Lots, or similar venues . . . Teken will be first in line and carts to follow!

 

Ha . . .

 

It should be noted my disdain and views should not be construed as all encompassing. Smartlabs makes some excellent gear that truly leads the market place. While others are simply half baked products that could be a game changer or be truly useful.

 

But the lack of focus, commitment, and the vision to keep going is what makes some of the products complete junk and useless on a basic level. One only needs to look at the following products which to date have not seen one single evolution to its name sake: Energy Meter, Synchro Link, I/O Link, Filter Linc, Remote TSTAT, iMeter Solo, etc.

 

The primary reason I continue to buy, use, and deploy Insteon over other similar HA products is the fit and finish. Style, features, and options, along with what I consider basic which is immediate status.

 

Almost every Z-Wave, UPB product I have played with and held in my hand simply reminded me of X-10 and cheap junk. I am sure as years goes on more devices will have a more refined look and feel. But as it is now I can't honesty say I would buy any of these competing products as they look and feel like crap. 

[Guitartexan01]

All of these issues are the reason I went with 95% Z-wave and I have not regretted my decision. My Z-wave devices work great and I only use a few Insteon micros switches to control the odd outlet. Think long and hard future HA'ers. You read it here.

 

 

GT

[oberkc]

I guess this explains why I don't see insteon at best buy any more. As a side note, while on vacation I was at a walmart and ran across a small sampling of insteon items, all marked to about a third of the original price. I stocked up on a few items.

 

Perhaps I am naïve, but I also don't see a conflict between "profit and people". Serving the customer well (however defined) leads to profit has been my understanding, as confirmed by my business-owner friends. Failing to do so leads to closing of businesses. I have no idea if smarthome is profitable (assume it is). If so, they must be doing something right. Despite the general disdain for the experience with technical support, we must like something here. Do we, simply, like the product so well that we are willing to put up with 2-hour waits? If so, is that a bad thing? Is producing a good product enough to keep the customer happy?

 

I also agree that it is the ISY-994 that keeps me hanging around and gives me hope that there is life after insteon, should the need arise (hoping it does not). While I continue to use insteon and add to my house, I can gracefully move to z-wave if insteon becomes unavailable for whatever reason.

[Brian H]

From what I have seen over the years. Starting in late 2005.

Their excellent support has gone way down, into the toilet.

Bean counters at their best.

Profit goals. Over happy customers that recommend them to new users.

 

Same thing happened to the Developers Group.

Excellent support even having access to Insteon Engineers.

Then you have to pay for consulting.

Now dissolved and all the stuff we paid access for is free for all to download.

[smokegrub]

Like others, I have found it difficult to contact Smarthome but, for the most part, my interaction with them has been favorable. RMA's were processed while on the phone and received by email before the call ended. Cross-shipped devices were shipped and received quickly. The only instance where my experience with the company has failed miserably is with two cameras. Some of you may recall the urgent message from Smarthome about the need to update camera firmware for security reasons. I did as directed and ended up with two cameras that were close to disfunctional. Rebooting was frequently needed and the motion sensitivity of the cameras became essentially useless. Whereas a setting of six once produced few false positives now a setting of two was required and then a person had to be essentially standing in front of the camera to elicit a motion detected response. I contacted Smarthome and they sent me two new cameras despite the fact that my cameras were out of their unrealistically brief warranty. The replacement cameras behaved somewhat better but still have the same motion detection problems and need for occasional rebooting when the image starts flashing. Subsequent contacts with Smarthome offered no help but neither did a post at this forum and the Smarthome forum. Wes, of MobiLinc, tried to resolve problems with connection to the cameras. He worked very hard and could not resolve the issues. Following replacement of the cameras thet connect better with MobiLinc but occasionally one of the cameras will take several tries before connecting.

 

I, too, am annoyed at the long Smarthome wait times but have learned to select the call back option. And, frankly, I get almost all my technical help here at this forum.

 

I am glad to see the HA industry beginning to blossom. Competition is always a great stimulant for improvement in products and service. In that regard, if Smarthome is "smart" they will begin improving both.

[AngelArs]

I have contacted them 3 times over the past 6 months, and each time they were professional and helpful. It does take around 25 - 35 minutes to get them to answer the phone though. Posting on their forum usually takes a day or two for a response, but it is always helpful. I noticed that they started selling their new HomeKit hub and then they puled it to fix the problems. Honestly, from everything that I've seen it appears they want to give good service BUT they are just under staffed. They need to hire more coders, phone operators and dedicated customer service reps, especially since the home automation industry is growing so fast now. I noticed that Micro Center is now selling their products too so if you're lucky enough to live by one you can always go there for tech support, and their prices are good too. I'll be getting a security camera from there this week. We'll see how it goes if I need any help setting it up.

[Grizzy]

I too have had 3 or 4 encounters with smarthome in the past 6 months, 3 RMA's.

 

KNOCK ON WOOD!! ..... I have to say I had a good experience. Wait time on the phone not more than 10 - 15 minutes. Customer service was excellent. No receipt or BS like that. They Just sent me a new one.

 

BUT , My experience has been , the customer service in the USA has dramatically declined in the past 10-15 years. Big surprise!

 

Don

[mwester]

Experience: dreadful, abysmal, simply awful.  Having been in tech support for a while in my career, I can sympathize with the poor guy with whom I was emailing - he was poorly trained, and had zero backup support from the engineering team.  I finally gave up on the issue.

 

My assessment, as some may recall, is that SmartHome has very few real people in their organization - they have all the hallmarks of a company that outsources as much as possible to offshore development (for hub and web software), and where they do have internal engineering resources (the hardware devices), those engineers are understaffed, and most likely have absolutely no care for the consumer end of things.

 

SmartHome will fail - the best thing for all of us is if they get aquired by a company that understands customers.

[Guest Digger]

SH Customer Service is pitiful at best.  Enough said.

 

I would guess that if anyone wanted to buy them for their Insteon they would shut the retail reselling business down and focus on Insteon. While outsourcing the firmware and software development is common it really only works well if properly managed (we do it at work for a few applications/products). 

 

There are so many hardware failures I don't think that they have control of their quality assurance.  I suspect that the mfg sources their components and substitutes to save cost and increase their own profit as a contract mfg. But that is a guess (I am Component/Compliance Engineer and I suspect I am right).

 

There is potential but they need to get their act together.

[paulbates]

Some truth in all of this. My experience more parallels Grizzy's.

 

I started buying Insteon from smarthome in 2006. Had a few problems and returns, no questions asked. As time when on, and I could buy elsewhere, and I did. I think Smarthome supported a return from a sale that they didn't make.

 

I can trace my problems with SH to mid 2011. Customer Service and product quality both went south around then for me. I had 2 keypad lincs with the beeping / flashing problems then. I also was an initial Insteon Hub 1 user and 2441TH user. Both products released into the wild way to early. I eventually got an updated hub and they gave me a leak sensor as a consolation prize.

 

The 2441THs had the notorious ignitor spike / lock up problem, well documented on this board.  Smarthome was convinced my furnaces were the problem. Some truth in that, but...I had used standard honeywell tstats for 10 years and RCS X10s for 10 years and never had them 'lock up'.  I returned the 2441THs and went back to the RCSs and X10!

 

I've pointed out the negative here, but overall I am very happy.  Most of my original 12 inlinelincs and lamplincs from 2006? Still working away. That's my knock on wood....(especially those buried inlinelincs)

 

The learning is, I am very cautious of new types of Insteon products, especially products that require multi-industry knowledge beyond electronics, like HVAC. I either choose a different path, or wait and watch what happens.

 

Paul