It's been fun but

I’m sorry Wyze, but this is goodbye.

I know that this letter comes to you on the eve of the Holiday of Love here in the US, but there is no better time to express to you my loss of love over you. It’s time, it’s time for me to let go. I initially was curious to see a ~$25 camera’s performance as I was trying to build out my own home security/monitoring. There were initial concerns as your cameras didn’t support the IP-Camera technologies (such as the ONVIF Dafang-Hack). This makes it hard for me, a security-conscious individual to accept that my camera info may be exposed in a hack or breach (cough cough, like someone had…). I mean, hey isn’t it bad enough you retain my CC info from my purchase instead of making it transactional (seriously though, why keep it if there’s no subscription?)?

As if getting past that wasn’t bad enough, there was the concern that you were sharing my data with China. I mean, I get it, there are contracts in place. But those are to protect you, not your customers. Ok, so you took a stand here and separated ties. This means your customers lost out on a valuable service, person detection. Again, as a security-conscious individual, not much of a loss. And even so, in the long run, you were able to return the service. Cool. But now you want to charge me for it? Yeah, ok, I guess. I mean, yeah, you’ve got to make money too. I get it. But let’s return to this as I’ve been covering this chronologically from my experience.

Let’s then talk about the rapid growth plan. Because this is, to me, the largest failure on your behalf. I mean, I feel for Gwendolyn. I’ve witnessed her almost single handily manage this unruly (at times) community. But I gest. This Community was my savior for a while as Wyze seemingly burst at the seams with new products. Alright, um, a scale. Sure, that’s what I want? Well, maybe not. But I’m sure that there are plenty of folks that do! But you know what, let’s gloss over the individual products, let’s talk about the fact that there were, what, ~12-14 new products since I jumped on board to this little camera company. Only 3 of those roughly 14 products happened to be cameras. Hmm, ok. I mean Samsung and LG make TVs that do laundry and help to keep your food fresh. Again, I kid.

What really pushed me to get off the proverbial couch were the issues I started to experience. I mean, I understood the fact that you now want to charge for person detection. And look at that, it aligns with the fact that you now are offering 24/7 security. Great. I hope those sensors work better than your v1 add-on kit. Because I know for a fact that I’m not the only one with issues there.

So I guess this leaves me to my last point. Wyze Support. I know a pandemic certainly hasn’t helped. Hiring freezes, loss of sales, product research and engineering, cash in, cash out. I’m no economics major, but I’ve had a class or two here and there. What I do know however is customer service. Yeah, it starts at the beginning of the relationship, but it’s also what helps to carry the relationship to the next level, or product. What I’ve witnessed, however, is something that is a little less than desired. I’m not just talking about your Support team, but we’ll get to them later. Your product features and quality lack the quality control that really resonates with me. I understand that you are trying to bring quality products to the masses at reasonable prices, but myself and many others on this forum have openly admitted that we’d be more than happy to pay a few extra bucks. for a little better quality that has been proven to be of a minimal increase in; production, design, development, and manufacturing.

But, when all is said and done, my heart is not quite done being broken. I, like many others here, are at a loss when it comes to your customer service. I’ll be short here. It’s been over a week and I haven’t received a single reply from your Support team. Not even a “we got your message” has graced my inbox. You’ve left me on read. I’ve been ghosted.

Fear not, for like Gloria Gaynor, I will survive and so will you. Unfortunately, though, this is the end of our journey together.

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Same sentiment here. When I unsubscribed from CamPlus after having a multitude of issues (and trying every fix possible), I told Wyze pretty much the same thing in the feedback box about why I was unsubscribing. As of now I have 4 cams that don’t even detect motion anymore, let alone send a notification. They are useless. I am currently exploring a replacement system. Wyze, you really blew it.

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Also, probably good to note that just after posting this, I received a reply. 10 days later, but I did get a reply:

Screen Shot 2021-02-12 at 2.27.33 PM Screen Shot 2021-02-12 at 2.27.41 PM

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I stopped reading when you said they severed ties and took a stand and therefore lost person detection. That’s not even close to what happened.

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dang, i’m slowly getting to that point with my cams as well. thankfully i’m able to utilize the RTSP firmware, but i get not everyone else can, and the base product should work as advertised. it does suck as a person who has told others to buy a wyze cam for the features at their price point to see so many people not enjoying the main firmware releases. makes me glad i instead play with them on the “beta” firmwares and do other things.

at the very least, grab yourself a usb-a to usb-a male-to-male cable, load up the webcam firmware, and you’ve now got a 1080p webcam :slight_smile:

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Some posts were removed or edited that did not follow the Community Guidelines. Please flag posts that violate the guidelines so the moderators can respond appropriately.

Key points from the guidelines to keep in mind:

  • Remember to criticize ideas, not people
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Somtimes We Disagree

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@Customer, thank you for your opinion, but that’s not what I said. I understand the reason that the relationship ended. I just didn’t think a post about why I am leaving didn’t need to dig up all of the details on it. Regardless, I still appreciate your input.

@dadarkgtprince, yeah, I’ve told countless people that I believe the cameras are great. And I still stand by that. But sadly, they are not for me anymore. I’ve long been a tinkerer. But I am getting to the point where that’s just not what I want when looking to manage my ‘sudo’ home security. Again, security conscious person over here…

Lastly, @Loki, thank you for all you do. I know moderating a forum is not always that easy. Your efforts are appreciated.

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It may not be what you meant. :blush:

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Well, I am sorry to see you go but understand. Thank you for putting together such a thoughtful post and I’ll send it over to the team. I hope that our paths will meet again someday and that we’ll be the company that’s right for you. :slight_smile:

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I feel so much of this. It started out recommending cameras, now scales and sprinkler controllers later with no support and broken firmware, I’ve decided to not actively recommend Wyze products. It’s been fun while it lasted, but I’ve pretty much given up hope on the Wyze thermostat ever getting updated to fix numerous glaring issues

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I’ve stopped recommending Wyze products as well. Wont be buying any more cameras and have no interest in scales, headphones, etc.

Continuous problems with notifications, the person detection mess, buggy firmware and app… yah, I know that you get what you pay for. I’m willing to pay more for better quality products, software and support.

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@UserCustomerGwen , thank you! And thank you for all you do here in the forums! You are truly appreciated!

And @angus.black, I know what I said. I think the problem is that people are getting caught up in the points that bothered me and maybe missed the follow-through:

And even so, in the long run, you were able to return the service. Cool. But now you want to charge me for it? Yeah, ok, I guess. I mean, yeah, you’ve got to make money too.

I understand why Wyze separated ties with the initial supplier of person detection. It was not my intention to solely bring this up without addressing that they did bring it back. And, I do understand why Wyze chose to commoditize it. And to be frank, I don’t blame them. After all, they did allow for the pre-existing/early-adopters to ‘set their own price’ for the service. Kind of cool, kind of forgiving. I guess what has me soured here is that neither my app (iPhone) or the web interface recognize the price set. Nor after having to remove and re-initialize a camera has it recognized the original option I’ve selected for person detection. But, read into it as you (or others) will.

I am more than happy to have a peaceful exchange. I just initially wanted to get this off of my chest as it was bothering me for some time now.

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The way you wrote this paragraph made it look like you were saying Wyze severed ties with China which caused the loss of Person Detection.
That’s all @Customer and I were referring to.

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And there is no other way to read it. What he or she said was flat out wrong. So I stopped reading something that couldn’t be trusted. Complaining about something that never happened is just silly (and misleading to others). There are plenty of real things to complain about.

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In regards to the OP and his CC, anyone with at least limited security consciousness would know to never use your CC number online. Use a Virtual Account Number (VAN) or something similar. Citi uses VAN’s, BofA uses Shopsafe etc. Most CC companies offer them now. You just create a card whenever needed, it can have a limit or not, it can be reoccurring charges, or not. I have been using them since 2001. I use them to pay utilities, insurances and everything else that you can setup online. -Bill

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I guess I’m an exception. 8 cameras later and 5 of those outdoors (not even the outdoor model) here in frigid Illinois and everything just works. V1-v3. I’ll count my blessings.

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Another satisfied user here. I know other systems are more secure, more features, better support,… BUT they are also 10-20x more expensive.

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I find funny that the first post (it’s time for goodbye) is written by someone who sounds quite technical… I come from a technical background myself and my company sells and installs expensive IP camera systems… I find really funny that someone can expect the same features from Wyze cameras as they would have with a high-end system. [mod edit] You paid 25$ per camera and you find the right to complain…[mod edit] We have 5 cams and we couldn’t be any happier « for the price » quality is bang on with the money … exceeds most of my expectations and hey… at that price … you shouldn’t even have room for complaints. Just my opinion. If you want to have a legit right to complain… maybe you should think about what you have invested in this system first… then reassess. From another Canadian satisfied customer … who, on this day of love, still loving our cameras.

MOD NOTE: Post edited to conform to the Community Guidelines.

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Hang on, his final complaint wasn’t about the cameras, it was about customer service. So yeah, at the price point, the hardware is good, It works etc. But if you have a problem and you don’t get replies, that sucks. I tried out the Ooma camera, which seemed cool and easy and low impact, but when I had a problem with the Android app and they said “sorry we can’t fix your problem”…I mean, what kind of response do you expect? If you don’t WANT to or CAN’T fix the problem, you start with apologies, you don’t just say “bugger off.” So customer service is job one, always has been, always will be. And that’s what the OP is talking about.
BTW, my V2 is still working fine, and I’m playing with it and have had no problems with CS.

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I too am having issues with my 5 cameras not detecting motion! And I subscribed for a year of person detection also, which rarely does that work! Oh, but I sure do get ALOT of vehicle motion! (Every single car that goes by!!) Very unhappy and I’m looking to replace all my Wyze security cameras, I’m not feeling AT ALL secure!!!

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