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I was a backer for this project on Indiegogo, they are awful! The devices simply don't work and the customer service is awful, they have now started to delete

I was a backer for this project on Indiegogo, they are awful! The devices simply don't work and the customer service is awful, they have now started to delete any negative comments on the project page. The devices that shipped differed from the ones that we backed and the team refused to listen to the backers. The devices also shipped late. Steer clear people.

easytiger 13y ago
Ouch, this needs critical mass to work at all. Otherwise it is fairly valueless
- CheckHook 13y ago
  Even then they would be useless as my (and many other backers) devices only connect the once and then disconnect forever. Its a real shame as this is a great idea but the company behind it is crooked.
  - kenrikm 13y ago
    Their software is terrible, I wrote an iOS App in less then a day that was better then what they provide. The longer oval beacons themselves were actually not the issue. just really, really bad software.
rasz_pl 13y ago
Are you thinking of sticknfind? http://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/sticknfind-bluetooth-low-energy-(ble)-tracking-tags/ http://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/sticknfin... or is trackr just as bad as those?
- ronaldx 13y ago
  As the parent describes: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wallet-trackr-find-your-wallet?c=comments http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wallet-trackr-find-your-wa...
  - CheckHook 13y ago
    Actually it was a different campaign by the same company, Phone Halo. As you can see from the link you posted they have let down the backers of that project too. Here is the project I backed: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-items http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-it...
- CheckHook 13y ago
  Nope this is the exact product I backed, the Indiegogo page can be found here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-items http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-it... The comments page would also be worth a look if the company had not removed the negative ones: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-items?c=comments http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-it...
seeingfurther 13y ago
I've known these guys since they came up with the PhoneHalo idea and won a UCSB business/tech competition. "refused to listen" "steer clear" "company behind it is crooked" Those are epic accusations from a 2 month old account. This technology is hard and these guys are working their asses off. I'm sure it's buggy and there are issues but WOW just WOW with your vitriol. I hope the HackerNews community downvotes these baseless accusations.
- CheckHook 13y ago
  A look at their project page on Indiegogo (before they started deleting comments) would validate everything I'm saying. There are many reasons for me and many others to feel the way we do about this company. The original product offered had no branding and included support for android devices with bluetooth 4.0. Some time after funding was completed backers where contacted regarding a design change and a choice of options, all of which included the company logo on the front of the device. Many backers voiced their concerns with this as the device would no longer be inconspicuous to would be thieves who could easily remove it. Those concerned backers were completely ignored and the logo was put on regardless. There were many delays in shipping the product, this along with a lack of communication left us backers feeling like we'd been had. Eventually we were told that the products would be shipped, after more delays it turns out that the team decided to use our money to go to CES, money I feel should of been spent on improving the product as they don't work. Now that the products have shipped Phone Halo has decided to drop support for android devices that are not running 4.4, which is currently 2.5% of android devices. Although this does not effect me I feel it is extremely dishonest for those with other android devices who backed the project. Also how does the age of my account devalue my opinion?
  - cgherb 13y ago
    Updates for reasoning behind all of our decisions was made public, we fulfilled perks to our backers, and have been continuously upgrading devices plus apps based on user feedback. It's called a start up and yes, things change. As to your account and that you only choose to comment only here and have no other submissions, it leads me to question who you are and if you actually are an indiegogo backer. If you are, if you shoot a mail to support at phonehalo.com, they respond within 24 hours and have resolved 99% of all issues.
doomrobo 13y ago
I got one of these for free at a tech convention and I had a pretty bad experience with them as well. The wireless setup process is a nightmare.

easytiger 13y ago

Ouch, this needs critical mass to work at all. Otherwise it is fairly valueless

CheckHook 13y ago
Even then they would be useless as my (and many other backers) devices only connect the once and then disconnect forever. Its a real shame as this is a great idea but the company behind it is crooked.
- kenrikm 13y ago
  Their software is terrible, I wrote an iOS App in less then a day that was better then what they provide. The longer oval beacons themselves were actually not the issue. just really, really bad software.

rasz_pl 13y ago

Are you thinking of sticknfind? http://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/sticknfind-bluetooth-low-energy-(ble)-tracking-tags/ http://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/sticknfin... or is trackr just as bad as those?

ronaldx 13y ago
As the parent describes: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wallet-trackr-find-your-wallet?c=comments http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wallet-trackr-find-your-wa...
- CheckHook 13y ago
  Actually it was a different campaign by the same company, Phone Halo. As you can see from the link you posted they have let down the backers of that project too. Here is the project I backed: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-items http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-it...
CheckHook 13y ago
Nope this is the exact product I backed, the Indiegogo page can be found here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-items http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-it... The comments page would also be worth a look if the company had not removed the negative ones: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-items?c=comments http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stickr-trackr-find-lost-it...

seeingfurther 13y ago

I've known these guys since they came up with the PhoneHalo idea and won a UCSB business/tech competition. "refused to listen" "steer clear" "company behind it is crooked" Those are epic accusations from a 2 month old account. This technology is hard and these guys are working their asses off. I'm sure it's buggy and there are issues but WOW just WOW with your vitriol. I hope the HackerNews community downvotes these baseless accusations.

CheckHook 13y ago
A look at their project page on Indiegogo (before they started deleting comments) would validate everything I'm saying. There are many reasons for me and many others to feel the way we do about this company. The original product offered had no branding and included support for android devices with bluetooth 4.0. Some time after funding was completed backers where contacted regarding a design change and a choice of options, all of which included the company logo on the front of the device. Many backers voiced their concerns with this as the device would no longer be inconspicuous to would be thieves who could easily remove it. Those concerned backers were completely ignored and the logo was put on regardless. There were many delays in shipping the product, this along with a lack of communication left us backers feeling like we'd been had. Eventually we were told that the products would be shipped, after more delays it turns out that the team decided to use our money to go to CES, money I feel should of been spent on improving the product as they don't work. Now that the products have shipped Phone Halo has decided to drop support for android devices that are not running 4.4, which is currently 2.5% of android devices. Although this does not effect me I feel it is extremely dishonest for those with other android devices who backed the project. Also how does the age of my account devalue my opinion?
- cgherb 13y ago
  Updates for reasoning behind all of our decisions was made public, we fulfilled perks to our backers, and have been continuously upgrading devices plus apps based on user feedback. It's called a start up and yes, things change. As to your account and that you only choose to comment only here and have no other submissions, it leads me to question who you are and if you actually are an indiegogo backer. If you are, if you shoot a mail to support at phonehalo.com, they respond within 24 hours and have resolved 99% of all issues.

doomrobo 13y ago

I got one of these for free at a tech convention and I had a pretty bad experience with them as well. The wireless setup process is a nightmare.