Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/31/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a full security system from Abode in ***************************************************************************************************** monitoring for the system to operate. This was a large reason for my choice in this system. In Feb 2023 I was having a small problem with the system and out of curiosity I 'upgraded' my account to a paid account to see if the problem would be improved. The problem was not improved and I did not renew the monthly subscription. Now that I paid for the monthly subscription for exactly one month, all of a sudden I cannot access the same features that I have had access to for years since I purchased the product. Now all of sudden I am told I was on a legacy plan and it cannot be changed back. There was absolutely no disclaimer regarding this. At no point in trying the subscription was I told that I would lose access to the same features I have always had and have to start paying monthly for the same thing. The company just keeps telling me they cannot fix it and how they have to charge to continue to do what they do. Weird they did not have to charge me since I invested in the system. At this point I want a full refund of every single product I have purchased from them that I will gladly return. It is insane to own a product for over three years to have the features intentionally disabled to force you into a monthly subscription.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/02/2023

  
  This customer has already been handled internally, and there was no requirement to raise a BBB complaint.
  
  The customers claim to the grandfathered 'Legacy' Plan was valid and has been restored.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/05/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********. I will express that it took several hours of communication to have this issue resolved and it was only resolved after I shared that I had filed this complaint. Stating that raising this complaint was not necessary is not accurate. However they have restored my services and I am now satisfied. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/01/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased an outdoor siren and expected it to come as shown in the website photos. Unfortunately, the siren came NOT as described - it came with a very large logo and the words "abode" on the front. Not only is it unsightly, we do not want to broadcast the alarm system we use to potential burglars. The photo on the website does NOT have any logo or name pictured. We would not have purchased the item if we knew it came with the logo and alarm system name on it. We want to send the item back, but the company is forcing us to pay for return shipping in order to send the item back, even though the product was not as described/pictured. We would like a FULL refund for this, including return shipping.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/17/2023

  We have located and supplied a siren without the logo.
  
  The customer is free to retain the siren with the log as well - as it is not being returned there is no return shipping charges.
  
  We do not see any further action required here.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/31/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have been paying for an annual subscription on an Abode security plan which offers cellular backup in case my internet goes down, it can still protect my home. Abode has stopped providing me this service without my knowledge nor have they ever tried contacting me to let me know it stopped. It stopped due to the device they built using 3G cellular, which has been getting decommissioned by mobile networks. They made no attempt to notify me the service was no longer available. The system does not report any issue under any system faults. When I called to complain they explained they rely on the app to "notify" the customer when they turn on/off their security system with a warning that GSM cellular is unavailable. This notification was turned off on my account, so there were no notifications on my account. This is the only place this problem is reported when a customer turns their system on/off, nowhere else. I have tried to resolve this issue with the company but they refused to offer any kind of credit on my account despite the fact they have not been providing the service I paid for. I have been a loyal customer since 2018, paying my subscriptions annually on July 4th of every year in the amount of $80. I have no way of knowing how long their SIM card has been inoperable, nor will they tell me, even though they are the ones that provide the service. I suspect it's been off and inoperable for longer than they care to admit. I suspect many customers are in a similar boat without their knowledge and paying for something they're not getting because Abode is making no attempt to reach out to their own customers and instead using the arm/disarm as a means to "notify" them their devices will no longer be supported with the assumption that warnings are turned on. The representative I've worked with thus far has been *******************.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/18/2023

  The 3G shutdown is something out of Abode's hands, with no indication of what areas are being switched off when.
  
  We have worked directly with this customer to come up with a viable solution moving forwards.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/20/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Most recent issues are purchasing there new doorbell camera on 11/13/22 after reviving it I am not able to add the camera and use it. It is a problem on the company's end. After continued troubleshooting they have a ticket open, that's all they can tell me. I have purchase this camera due to the last outdoor camera failing, and being told by the company "they don't support that camera anymore" this is only because it was a junk camera and they don't want to replace it. Almost every camera I have purchased from them 8 have has some kind of issues and more often then not requires weeks of troubleshooting on there end to resolve the problem.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/15/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/30) */
  We are continuing to work with the csutomer on this ticket

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/27/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased two Abode alarm systems over the past 4 years and all was fine. Except now, they want to charge me $6.99 per month to be able to receive push notifications on my iphone regarding specific alarms I receive. I now receive the following "An Event has occured in the System" whenever a door or window is opened, or the alarm is placed in a different mode such as Home, Away, Standby. This is unacceptable as I now don't know what event has occurred. Only an active alarm is sent via push notification.
  
  This is not fair as I purchased the system with Abode indicating the self monitoring feature is free of charge, not the $6.99 per month they are now trying to collect.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/02/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I paid for a number of their security system parts by credit card and was informed of the price. I later received a notice that there would be additional tariffs, so I immediately cancelled the order. I did not receive or see the products. Abode was in total control of the delivery company and the company falsified the delivery cost amounts. And ABODE made the decision to wait an excessive amount of time to process the refund despite several messages to them expressing my dissatisfaction with the long wait. I expect therefore the full amount that I paid to be refunded. They eventually repaid some of the monies due to me but would not deal with the change in currently caused by their delays. I last spoke with their support staff by email on 2022-10-01.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/11/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/11) */
  For any ************* orders, the consumer is responsible for any ************** fees required to ****** a product. This is set out and explained at the checkout process.
  
  We do not specify a set amount for this, as it differs for each purchase, but terms are clearly set out on purchase.
  
  The consumer in this case rejected the delivery due to the ****** costs, and we eventually received the delivery back, upon which we processed a refund for the full amount.
  
  USD$467.24 was the purchase amount on July 12, and we refunded USD$467.24 on Sept 7.
  
  Full amount of purchase price has been refunded - any difference ****** would be due to exchange rate, for which ***** has not control over nor is responsible for. As a ** company, we do not have the ability to trade or refund *******
  
  We have provided a full refund to the customer.
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 12, 2022/11/01) */
  Hello. Kindly reopen this case. I see a note about the business letter, however I have not received this response from the business yet. Thanks.
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 12, 2022/11/01) */
  Hello. Kindly reopen this case. I see a note about the business letter, however I have not received this response from the business yet. Thanks.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 21, 2022/11/15) */
  There is nothing more for Abode to action - we have refunded the full amount in USD

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/09/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchase 2 outdoor abode security cameras over a year ago but did not get around to installing them till last week. I work in an IT based field and am extremely versed in setting up systems like these. I was aware when buying the IP cameras that range would be an issue. To be clear my house is only 500 sq feet but has three floors. It's square footage would be considered small by American standards but even still I knew range would be an issue so I bought a tplink Poe extender for my modem and placed it 3 meters from the IP camera I purchased from abode. I set the camera up outside and it is unable to maintain a connection for longer than 5 mins despite the WiFi exetender only being 3meters away. I have tested the WiFi speed outside just under the camera and it's upload and download speed is sufficient for the camera to function. I have a 250 mg line and the WiFi generally ranger fron 40 to 60 mb. I got onto abode support and they had me on chat for 4 hrs trialing basic run throughs designed for people who don't know what they are doing. After 4 hrs they support specialist on the other end could not give me an answer as to why it wouldn't work. To clarify further, I bought the abode outdoor camera 1 on early release. I bought 2 of them as they were on special offer. Since then abode have released an outdoor camera 2 in less than 2 years and a cursory check on Reddit will show you that these cameras 1s never worked. They just took the early adopters money to develop a better product and left them for dead. I now have two small square plastic paper weights that cost 400 dollars. I urge you to look into this as what they have done is transparent to anyone who will look. I don't denigrate this business lightly. I have the entire alarm system and love it but what they have done to their customer base with this product is shameful and should be looked into. Thank you for your time.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/30/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/14) */
  On review of the purchase history of the customer, the items were purchase in the US and shipped out via a 3rd party internationally, which therefore falls outside of our Warranty/Return policy.
  
  We have an open ticket with the customer and will work directly to find a suitable resolution.