Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

You should know this is my first time writing a review - good or bad - for anything in my life. I often find people who review products on a regular basis to just be incredibly inept and bratty, so if you think that also, this is the review you should read. I am a very new customer to Simplisafe 2, having only bought the system about 15 days ago. I had been looking for an alarm system for my NYC apartment after suffering a burglary last summer. After searching online for an effective but inexpensive system I stumbled upon Simplisafe. It was initially appealing because not only was the cost reasonable, but it allowed for an easy installation too. I don't have a phone line set up because I just use my cell anyway and I figured a wireless system would be much easier and cheaper to set up for that reason. I'd heard about how many popular alarm companies up-charged in the installation process and was hoping to avoid that. Simplisafe looked very promising after reading a ton of positive reviews on amazon. Even the poor reviews didn't seem too alarming as I noticed many were complaints really due to the customer's ineptitude - not Simplisafe. I called Simplisafe to ask them a few questions of my own before ordering and was content with their responses. The only thing that worried me was that Simplisafe is not liable if you suffer a burglary and the armed system does not respond - so you can't blame them if your system doesn't work properly for any reason outside of their warranty. Their reason being because it is a DIY (do-it-yourself) system, they cannot guarantee that the system was properly installed. I figured this might be a big problem if I ever wanted to sue Simplisafe for stolen possessions, but I figured based on reviews that if it was installed correctly to begin with, it wouldn't be an issue, plus I have renter's insurance. I was a bit skeptical about getting a DIY system because I didn't really know much about them and didn't know anyone who had one but I thought given the money I would save, the ease with which other reviewers said it was to install and what seemed like a sound system, I would at least try the system because of the 60 day money back guarantee. Just like many reviews said, the package came very quickly (about 2 days) and I installed it with no problems. The instructions were straightforward and I spent the 3-day practice mode testing the alarm to make sure sensors, etc worked and that the alarm went off when it was supposed to. I got the system on the heels of a 5-day vacation which I figured would be a great practice/trial run. Even though it's more expensive I signed up for the $25/month interactive monitoring package which allows you to have online access via computer or cell phone of your account where you can arm/disarm the system as well as check the status of the alarm and review time-stamped logs of when the alarm was disarmed/armed and by who etc. I thought it was a great feature and since there is no obligation/contract, I knew that I could switch the plan to the cheaper basic $15/month monitoring plan when I returned from my trip. The online account worked great and was very easy to use. However, when I returned home from my vacation, I opened the door ready to disarm the alarm and nothing happened. The keypad stated that it was in "away mode" still but it had not recognized that I'd opened the door. I promptly closed the door and reopened it and still nothing happened. I then tried to press "off" on the keypad and enter my code, but after entering it, it would do nothing and go back to saying "away mode." I'd come back home late from my trip and as I live in an apartment, did not want to set off the alarm and disrupt the neighbors, but reluctantly decided to purposely set if off by walking in front of the motion sensor. Again, nothing happened! Outraged that my alarm system wasn't triggering, I called the monitoring station to find out if they knew what was up. Since they don't work for Simplisafe they could not help me with this technical issue and advised I try using the keychain sensor, but that didn't work either. I even tried my trusty online account but it too stated that it could not confirm the status of my alarm and timed out. Simplisafe does not have any tech support after normal business hours so I had no one to call about this. I couldn't believe that after all that testing and double checking, that it didn't work when it actually needed to. So I'm stuck with a system that is literally stuck on away mode and have yet to figure out how to disarm it. My only guess is that perhaps its malfunctioning because of the heat. It was sweltering in my apartment when I came home, but if that's all it takes to keep the system from working properly - that's not going to fly. I've heard of other customers getting faulty alarms but never for this reason so you can add this one to the list. I'm calling them tomorrow to request a full refund. Unless they can give me a decent explanation for why the system and all its sensors did not work after only 5 days of the system being active, I cannot in good faith rely on this system to protect my home and possessions. It's just not reliable and I've really lost confidence in the system. For those who were curious about Pros and Cons... PROS: Very easy to install and delivery was fast - everything was correct and the extra units I ordered were there. The sensors were easy to mount and I made a few mistakes so I was glad to have extra 3M strips in the package. The interactive monitoring online account was easy to use, very straightforward and made it easy to adjust settings, check status away from home and set the alarm. I loved the log that told you who and when the alarm was armed or disarmed to the minute. And the texts to my phone with these alerts came in immediately so I knew I could leave the house and get constant alerts. If you assigned a name to each code you programmed, it would tell you who actually armed or disarmed the alarm which was cool. When I initially called to inquire about Simplisafe, the gentleman on the phone was nice and had enough patience to answer the page-long questions I had about the system before purchasing. He never pressured me once to buy right away and even suggested using a more basic package based on my needs instead of trying the up-sell approach. When my system failed and I called the monitoring service, even though they couldn't help me because it was a tech issue, they answered on the 2nd ring so it was good to know that if you needed to contact them for any reason, they're a phone call away (I called at approx 11:30pm EST) CONS: Keypad has a backlight for the screen but NOT the buttons - i thought this wouldn't be a big deal, so what turn on a light, but when you're hands are full its a little annoying to have to put stuff down, turn on the nearest light and then hurry to enter your code. The Motion Sensor is not a motion sensor - its a heat sensor. This makes a huge difference if you don't have central air or something - if the temperature rises a lot in your apartment (uhh like in the summer...when I would argue most burglaries occur) chances are this thing won't trigger properly. It also doesn't have a light on it to tell you when it actually detects something like most motion sensors do. The only way you would know if it was working properly is by putting it in test mode and having the base station tell you when the motion sensor was triggered. No 24hr tech support - This would have been nice in my situation. I don't blame the monitoring company for not being able to help with my tech issues - that's really SimpliSafe's job and they should have at least one 24hour support service - phone, live chat, SOMETHING! Sensor Naming feature does not work the way you think it will. Yes if you have the more expensive monitoring plan you can name each sensor whatever you want using the online account. But if any one of them triggers the alarm, the keypad still can't tell you that same name you programmed- it will still say sensor 1 or whatever. I'm not sure if the dispatch people could tell you though, I have not had a chance to try that. The free keychain sensor gift is really bulky and I would not put it on my keychain for that reason. The WORST part about the keychain is that Simplisafe advertises it as an easy way to arm and disarm your alarm. However, when you press the off button it actually turns the alarm off WITHOUT asking you for your code first. Which means if I LOST the keychain and someone else tried to get access to my apartment, they could turn the alarm off without needing anything else! That's incredibly dangerous! It also keeps the owner from having the chance to type in the silent alarm code to contact dispatch if a burglar is already in your home. The owner would have to use a panic button in order to get help which may be difficult if someone has a gun to your head watching your every move... just saying They do not hold themselves liable if your alarm system does not trigger properly during a real burglary. This is because its a DIY system and even though they have that "3-day practice mode" and the "test mode" feature that allows you to check if dispatch is receiving signals from your base station, they still will not give you any monetary compensation if the system fails. Unless of course fault can be found in something they cover with their 3-year warranty - like a broken base station or something. So I would still rely on good home/renter's insurance if you're looking for monetary replacement of stolen goods. I gave this product 2 starts because I know 1 star is the worst and I honestly loved the concept and thought they had made vast improvements as a response to poor reviews from their first Simplisafe system. Also because I haven't had a chance to talk to the Tech team about my issue I don't want to rule out the possibility this system failure was somehow my fault.