Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Now that I've had this base unit, along with 2 extra hose timers, I have to say the B-Hyve APP almost makes it not worth buying these. It takes quite a while to figure out how to navigate the APP, mostly because there is no logic whatsoever to the pages and controls. First thing you notice when setting the system up, is the APP asks you whether you want to use "Smart Watering" or not. Even when you select NO, it still turns on Smart Watering, and good luck figuring out how to turn it off. Many users don't want Smart Watering, nor the "Weather Sensing" functions, as they rely on buying extra equipment, or on the National Weather Service to supply a deadly accurate weather forecast - NOT. Those functions aren't necessary for most users, when you really just need a remote-controlled system, that you can put in MANUAL override (called Rain Delay) on the days you don't need to water. Yes, there IS a way to select Rain Delay, but if you have multiple devices, you have to spend several minutes switching device control, then doing the same time-consuming process when you want to cancel the rain delay. There should be a way to set ALL devices to Rain Delay mode with one command. I contacted customer support, and they are not only ignorant about how their own devices work, they don't want to listen to any suggestions. Their system is designed around using their weather sensing and Smart Watering systems, but when you poke around online, you see that almost all of the customers that try to use these systems run into all manner of problems. Basically, the system is too complicated with too much false info that prevents watering when you really need it, and/or won't let you turn it off when you don't. Orbit - FIX YOUR APP !!!!! Follow up - when I did Live Chat with Orbit about these problems, I told them my intention to give this product a negative review on Amazon. Within 2 hours after the chat, my B-Hyve online account and APP account, along with my ability to control my devices, miraculously disappeared, and any association with my 3 devices was wiped out. Seems they don't like to hear that there are any issues, and their method of dealing with a dissatisfied customer is to render the products you own useless. Follow up No 2 - I called Orbit and via multiple phone calls, worked my way up to the Director of Customer Support, who admitted to me that they had researched my LiveChat session, and that a LiveChat supervisor had screened my chat session, and because I had mentioned that I was so unhappy that I was considering returning the products and leaving a poor review on Amazon, as punishment to me, he deleted my account, knowing that it would cause me a lot of hassle to set up everything again. No account = no control of devices from your phone. WHO DOES THAT?? Did he think I wouldn't notice this or call him out on this? I'm sure he felt good for a few seconds after he hit DELETE, but if he was my employee, I would have fired him on the spot. The Customer Support supervisor reassured me that Orbit is a "good company" and that the bad apple employee would be dealt with properly. Yeah - RIGHT. I wasted about 4 hours of my time setting everything up again, only because I made a suggestion for improvement of their APP. They also assured me that they are aware that most customers are unhappy with the APP, and that they will be re-designing it soon. So far, I have to say these B-Hyve products are innovative and good products in concept, but when the method to control the automated functions that you pay extra for, doesn't work very well, it turns these high-tech devices into cheap manual timers. They finally re-assured me that they are very welcoming of comments and criticism and want to improve their products. If this is true, then why did an employee punish me for doing exactly that ????? Again - FIX YOUR APP !!!!! FOLLOW ON - Spring 2019 Started my system up for the season, worked fine, until I got an e-mail from Orbit suggesting I update software on all devices. Now, nothing works at all, and went down the tear-your-hair-out Customer Service experience again. Just took a sledge hammer to all 3 of my Orbit products.