SimpliSafe Reviews

The initial set up is not bad, however tech support has degraded to very low since I purchased their system in 2017. When a product fails they send you a refurbished product which to date has a higher failure rate than the new product. If the base station fails, they send you one where they want yo to open the base and correct wiring issues! When that fails they send you a refurbished one and you do the same tasks again only to fail again. If you can get a new replacement base state, you are better off, however then you need to get to a good manager so they can "exchange" the base without having to completely set up the system one sensor at a time. One manager agreed that one-by-one set up is not necessary when replacing a base station. The next manager said they don't know how to switch to a new base without setting the system up as new. If you have a lot of sensors you will be climbing ladders, crawling to push every sensor button like first time set up. Their security concept is great but their tech support has such limitations and they stated "that's because you chose a DIY system" In closing, when the system works, it works well...When you have tech challenges things degrade quickly. Good luck.

The company seems to have made an effort to fool customers into signing up for a monitoring program when they first set up an account. Undoing it takes some effort on the phone and requires you to set up a new "location" and leaves you with a ghost location for the system that confuses the hell out of you until you figure out what's going on. You can hide it but as you work with their primitive app occasionally you will still be asked to "reactivate" that location (reactivate means monitoring). If you don't elect monitoring, as you use the app you are pestered incessantly to subscribe to monitoring. Setting up the cameras and devices is not nearly as simple as many reviews suggest. Once you do have it set up, the app provides very limited control - worst, you cannot set times for when the cameras trigger an alert, just wether they alert for "home" or "away". Yes, I have the system working for monitoring my detached garage but I wish I'd gone with PoE cameras that allow for motion detection like I have for my house. More expensive and more installation fuss to run a wire but I'd have way better control. I can't imagine using and depending on the SimplySafe system to protect my house.

Good: 1 - Online ordering makes products easy to obtain. 2 - Products are wireless, so they are very easy to install. 3 - Monthly monitoring prices are very reasonable. 4 - SimpliSafe does not require a contract. You purchase their equipment, install it, and they will monitor it for as long as you continue to pay the monthly monitoring fee. 5 - The no frills app is very easy to use. Bad: 1 - SimpliSafe does not have outdoor cameras. 2 - SimpliSafe products are proprietary. The company will not monitor any other smart home devices you may have. Its app will not integrate with smart home devices. 3 - If you need additional products later (e.g., that second keypad for the garage door), shipping charges for non-package orders are very high. 4 - The no frills app is, well, no frills. You can turn your system on and off, confirm your devices are working, and see motion recorded by your cameras. That's about it. 5 - (This one is the reason for the 2-star rating) Customer service is unresponsive. Calling for technical support gets you hold music for about 10 minutes, then the phone will ring once before disconnecting you. In other words, even if your patient through long hold times, my experience is that you won't get through to a person. They will respond to emails, but response times are long and responses aren't likely to be useful.

I just returned my SimpliSafe system for a full refund. One of the most frustrating experiences of my life. I was so excited to install and use it but their technology is rife with problems, errors, and frequent calls to tech support. I gave up after a month. Here’s what happened: I bought one of the basic turnkey system which includes 3 door sensors, motion sensor, base unit with keypad, doorbell cam and one additional indoor cam to monitor my dogs when I’m not home. Installation of the sensors, the base unit and keypad was simple but I couldn’t get the system to activate and had to call tech support. The support guy told me the problem was that their software didn’t work well on an iPhone and that I could fix the problem by “Taking a sledgehammer to my iPhone”. After spending two hours on the phone with him and having me do the activation from my PC rather than my iPhone, the system still wouldn’t activate. He told me to keep trying and call them back in 24 hours if It still didn’t work. It didn’t so I called back the next day and spoke to a woman this time who managed to fix the problem in about 30 seconds. Then I tried to install the doorbell cam. After a few tries I got it to work and was able to monitor the front door. But when I tried using voice to communicate with visitors that didn’t work at all. I then called tech support who told me that this was a known problem and a software update coming up in two weeks would fix that problem. Then a few days later the camera stopped working properly and I once again called tech support who tried trouble shooting the problem before determining it was a bad WiFi adapter in the unit and had to be replaced. I got a replacement in 3 days and installed the new one that worked for about a week before it began to also experience the same problem as the first one. Meantime the indoor cam wouldn’t install. There was a steady yellow light which shows an error and the unit would not install period. I called tech support again and they told me that this was also a known problem and they would send me out a replacement cam which they did 3 days later. Once again I tried to install, got the same yellow error light and discovered they sent me yet another bad camera. This was on the same day the second doorbell cam failed. At that point in total frustration I sent back the entire thing and am waiting on getting my money back. On the plus side, the sensors and the basic alarm seemed to work fine. Their cams are a disaster. Their tech support is mostly good - B+ although I did have to wait about 15-20 minutes during some times of the day. My sense is their technology is just too buggy especially their cameras.

We’ve had our system for 1 year. We’re on our 3rd base station (bs) and the 2nd SIM card for the 3rd one. The 1st bs had a T Mobile SIM card and never had a good signal, then it just stopped working. We were sent a replacement bs (refurbished I later found out). It stopped working on the 2nd day. They sent a new bs and after two calls to tech support they figured out the SIM card (now Verizon) wasn’t working. This means no communication remotely and can’t add PIN codes. We’re waiting for a new SIM card which they said we’ll receive in 2-4 days. They offered 1 month of service for our trouble. Maybe SimpliSafe should have their equipment made in the great USA instead of China! A fence and a couple of German Shepherds would be better!

We have owned our SimpliSafe system for two years. Setup was easy using the guide, however, I have experience with commercial alarm systems so might have been a little easier for me. We have had an issue with the free camera losing its settings and going off line randomly. I guess the camera was worth the price. The most annoying problem, and one that SimpliSafe has still been unable to fix, is a message that says: "Warning, wireless interference detected!" We get this every time we arm and disarm the system. Sometimes it repeats itself twice. I have turned off every wireless device in the house and we still get the message. After numerous calls and hours on the phone with SimpliSafe's tech support, they finally gave up and sent us a new memory module. This was after talking to several different tech support people and having to tell them the same story and going through the same procedures the previous techs had made us go through. Apparently they don't believe you that you've already done the procedure...three times before. Like I said...hours on the phone. This all started right after one of their software upgrades. I couldn't seem to get them to believe me, but once you have the upgrade, you can't uninstall it. We also had one of the wireless key fobs (the type with the five year non-replaceable batteries) go dead on us after a year and a half. They did send me a free replacement key fob but I had to mail the dead one back to SimpliSafe, I guess as proof that I wasn't trying to scam them out of a free key fob. Overall, aside from the glitches, I think the SimpliSafe system is pretty solid. It would be great if they could work the bugs out. The system is easy to setup and easy to control. I think it's worth the money. I can only compare it to my old Visonic system that I loved, but died of old age. Like anything else...Caveat Emptor.

Yes, I am saving money every month. NO, I would never buy from Simplisafe again. Yes, it is easy to install, but NO, it is not reliable. Be warned, if your house is over 1500 sq feet, you are going to have a nightmare trying to get these wireless devices to talk to each other consistantly. You will have to move the keypad from one wall to another, one room to another, still you get OUT OF RANGE errors randomly. And, the monitoring people have trouble following the instructions you give them. THEY RUINED MY THANKSGIVING VACATION BY DISPATCHING THE POLICE TO MY HOUSE TWICE IN 2 DAYS EVEN THOUGH THE INSTRUCTIONS WRITTEN IN MY ACCOUNT GIVE SPECIFIC ORDERS FOR WHEN TO DISPATCH AND WHEN NOT TO DISPATCH.

I have had the system for 4 years. I installed it myself in less than 2 hours. It suits my needs well. I've had some issues because I spend 4 1/2 months away from home each winter and that's when problems seem to occur. The system sensors are all battery powered and batteries get old...problem is that you don't know when. I've had some inconsistent issues with my base station and connection to their dispatch. It has to do with whether you have access to VERIZON or T-MOBILE in your area. If there is an alarm event, the base station triggers a call to one of these cell providers (depending on the cell module in your base station). Sometimes there is no connection to the cell provider...and no one seems to know why. Initially, service was very good and I was really happy with the system. Now, their customer service is ATROCIOUS. Wait time on the phone is 45" with BAD music and time updates that never seem to update (like you're always last in line on the phone). I set up a scheduled time for the next morning with a "rookie" customer service rep for 9:00 a.m. the next morning...they never called. I knew she was a rookie when she had me dismantling the base station while I was on the phone. They hadn't updated their records from 2 years ago when I had base station problems. The "rookie" was flat out guessing on what to try next. I was just about ready to scream, so asked for the next day appointment. Since they never called, I have been trying to use their "contact us" (and we'll get back to you......yeah, right). ….to no avail. I kept trying to reset my "blue light" and "red light" base station conditions using their instructions (I received them during problems in the past....when they did have customer service). I tried over and over and finally it worked and the system is functioning again, but I don't know for how long. It is now time to head south for the winter....I'm not feeling confident about this system, especially this year. It's too bad that these people have run this company into the ground (judging by the reviews there's a lot of really unhappy folks). I picture the owners living comfortably in Jamaica without a care in the world.

The system works fine but do not make any mistakes during the install or you will end up with dozens of false device entries on your account page with no way of deleting them. We bought this system for our home two years ago and have been trying to contact Support ever since, not once have they responded. You spend an average of 45 minutes waiting on hold just to be hung up on or told they can't do anything about the extra devices. We have sent emails every couple months or so to try and work through the issue that way as well, they don't even bother to respond. So the two stars are for the cost and ease of installation but their customer service is among the worst we have ever dealt with in any category. I do NOT recommend anyone purchase this system simply because they will never respond to any issue you ever have.

We've had our system for just under 3 weeks and since then, this company announced it was distancing itself from the NRA and would be discontinuing all discounts to NRA supporters. That in itself is discrimination but not they are not answering questions or concerns we have about this system or their unfair business practices. I've sent several emails and posted to their Facebook page without response. Here is the latest: "Your lack of response to customer's questions about distancing yourself from the NRA and discontinuing the discounts is certainly discrimination against NRA supporters. It's disgusting. Guns don't kill people........... people kill people and you are penalizing and punishing a huge sector of your clientele (and future clientele) that hasn't done anything wrong. Do you think these crazies that committed these horrible acts are NRA supporters? I very seriously doubt it. If that's the case then all the murders committed on a daily basis in Chicago, Baltimore, L.A., and other crime-laden cities run by liberals is also the NRA's fault? Perhaps THAT is blamed on NRA supporters too? That's insanity. Criminals don't support gun laws, don't buy guns legally, and could give two hoots about any of us that support the 2nd Amendment or the NRA. SimpliSafe should be working with the NRA to help protect Americans from crime rather than against it. As usual with liberals, your logic is twisted and totally anti-American." Businesses like this one should never put themselves into the middle of a political issue and/or public debate, particularly if they are unwilling or unable to justify their actions. In this case, I no longer feel I can trust the safety and security of my home and family to a company that does not back my Constitutional rights under the 2nd Amendment. I have requested an RMA and prepaid shipping label to return our system under their 60 day returns policy and all I receive from them are canned email responses that do not answer or address my questions or concerns. I cannot in good conscience recommend this company for that reason alone, politics aside.

Until today, I have had positive experiences with SS. I woke up this morning and found that my garage door was wide open all night. I had armed the alarm from the bedroom, with apparently no problems or notifications that a door was open. The system allows arming with any door or window open with only a brief message from the base which may be in another room and unheard. My expensive ADT system, whatever other faults it had (mostly rising prices) was much better at this. It allowed the arming with open doors, but with explicit commands.

Had Simplisafe for years. It is very simple and needed no interaction with customer service. Then I moved and needed them. I spent 7.5 hours on the phone over 7 different conversations and they still could not get a system set up. They put you on hold for 20 mins at a time hoping you will hang up. I didn't, just multitasked until they came back on the line and were surprised I was there. I finally just cancelled and am looking for an alternative right now. You roll the dice with simplisafe....

As with many other customer complaints, customer service stinks. The recording says the usual "we are experiencing heavier than normal call volume," blah, blah, blah. However, I was hung up on twice after waiting for a total of 26 minutes. Typical. I am sure if I pushed 1 for new customer, a rep would have answered within a minute or two. But once they have you, forget about customer service.

Poor customer service. Been hung up on 4 times, used 2 phone lines to try and talk to service. I have a cameras that does not work (6 that do work). Called as new customer finally got a real person "GENNIS" a supervisor and was putting me to front of the line at service, on hold for over 30 minutes. finally gave up. Will cancel my 2 auto pay accounts and maybe someone will call when money stops! What a poor way to run a business!!!!

It is as advertised - easy to install. But, customer service leaves you on hold forever. If you don’t use there monitoring the base unit flashes bright blue non stop- might as well leave your front door standing open. It is a signal that your not linked to a call center and are open for a burglary. Even though u own equipment u must use only their monitoring- no other option.

For many years I was delighted by Simplisafe but these last 8 months it's been one problem after an other and hours wasted with various service persons. I have often been told that technical department is working on the issue( apparently blaming Apple IOS updates for the problem...) If the simply safe system is incompatible with Apple's new IOS customers need to be told.

Equipment does not function as advertised. The motion sensors went off when our 60 lb. dog walked through the room. (which caused false alarm fines in the county that we live in!). Customer service was horrible. Returned our system for a refund. They had our system for almost a month before they refunded our $350.00! Would NOT recommend this company. Cheaper is certainly not better when it comes to your family's protection.

Components are average. Already the camera does not record despite being on the phone with simplisafe on 3 occasions for at least one hour each time in order to fix this issue. The 2nd time they told me they would contact their supervisor and would call me back in 3 days. No call back. When I finally called back, they had no idea what I was talking about. Had to go through the same questions and process again, still could not get the camera to record. Sensors always give me an error reading. 2 stars because it’s better than nothing I guess.

The system was easy to install, they don't have heat detectors for my garage area but systems works ok. The HUGE problem no one has addressed is that you can arm the system with a door open and does not alert you. This happened when one of my Grand children left a basement door open. Customer support says there is no setting to change so this cant happen again.

I bought a package on sale that has more items than needed but a better price than a custom package. SIMPLI instructions need more details. It should be stated clearly that unused items need to be deactivated otherwise the system does not work. It would have also been helpful to know that each security item has a specific number to keep a record of where each device is. I called customer service 3 times (first two calls I hung up in frustration) and waited for over 30 minutes to speak to a representative. SIMPLI UNACCEPTABLE

This security system was very easy to install and seems like it will work. Although, when I do a test, the dispatch center takes 30 minutes to call. When I asked them if this was a real break in, would it take 30 minutes, they said, "hopefully not". This is very concerning! Not to mention, every time I call customer service, I wait on hold for 45 minutes. I recommend not going with this company.

I did love simplisafe until my cable company updated wifi from the 2.0 and simplisafe only runs on 2.0 and it doesn't seem like they are going to upgrade anytime soon. If you don't have 2.0 I would suggest going with a more updated company.

Super expensive upfront and is OK if it works. If your base station decides not to connect to your Wi-Fi anymore, good luck getting anyone from SimpliSafe to help you reconnect it. Basically threw away $900. Really unsatisfied.

Customer service has No IDEA what wifi 6 or WPA3 is. Not good for a home security company. Simplisafe will only connect to wifi5 or less or wpa2 or less. No WPA3. I found this out on my own as no one at simplisafe has this info. Sad that a home security company has uninformed employees and worse that the system doesn't use the newest wifi security

Setup was easy, however, felt I was misled to think g I could self-monitor my home. Nope! They gotta charge you that monthly fee, if you want to see activity on your phone. Two thumbs down.. Returning equipment!

System is user friendly but if anything goes wrong forget about customer service. I’ve been on the phone now for 1 hour and 45 min. I’ve spoke to someone for 5 min who put me on a “brief hold”.

Extremely easy to install, .easy to use The sensors allow small pets to roam freely without setting the alarm off. Customer service is top notch.