Let me start off by saying that recently (well the past 4 months) I’ve been having so many outrageous issues with this stupid pos SmartThings v1 where I’ve literally gone from a customer that tries to sell SmartThings to everyone in the world and thinks it’s the best thing since bread to the opposite end of the spectrum of someone that utterly and incredibly despises the pos for not working and always failing.
Throughout the glory phase of SmartThings (which I’ve had for a couple years now) it was working great with a few very stressful moments of Philips Hue light integration but that was a while ago meaning that sometimes it would attempt to flag the lights on/off but the lights wouldn’t do anything.
Now recently (meaning past 4 months), my doors won’t unlock/lock when we come home or leave (even though the app states we have arrived or left). Some of my lights won’t turn on when motion is detected at all (even though the app states motion is detected). I have MagicHome or whatever it is called nowadays which allows SmartThings to work and perform actions based on if before or after sunset/sunrise and NOT ON sunset/sunrise which the SmartThings developers clearly seem to not understand as a BASIC home automation concept where I want actions to be performed based on if it’s AFTER sunset and I am home, simple phrase. Some of the time the stupid SmartThings WILL actually state that I left but then trigger the wrong mode such as “Bedtime” instead of “Away - Night”. The whole sunrise/sunset crap never even works anymore so I just leave my lights on 24/7 which pisses me off because the system should be working and turning them off.
And worst of all, and the most frustrating experience I have probably ever had in my life with devices such as these is the incredible terrible and disgustingly bad iphone app. I mean this thing is so bad, it makes me sick. Before the app wasn’t great but it was “somewhat” easy to use. In this stupid new(er) version, I have no idea how to freaking go to a door lock I have and set it to alert me when the door is opened. Or even turn a light on when motion is detected. Why do they make this sooooo difficult or hide it behind what feels like 50 selections. No idea with this stupid app and I have tried everything. Do you have to install a 3rd party thing for it, wtf? Before it was as easy as just going into the device. Just simply look at the reviews for the app in the iphone app store, I mean version after version it’s really that bad and they still dont do anything about it. I seriously think it’s the worst app in the store at this point.
Ultimately, while what I wrote above is the nice version of what I truly wanted to say, I am downright disgusted in how they transformed a device that was working for over a year, well “somewhat” but manageable working, into a giant worthless rarely if ever working pos.
I mean, where did they go wrong? Even more frustrating is that they send out emails about new products and new this and that yet with all the people having so many issues (definitely not just myself), that just fuels the fire even more.
I just want this stupid system to work, that is not hard to ask after I have put hundreds and hundreds of dollars into this system with devices (which luckily are compatible with other systems at this point) to work.
Very frustrated but more disappointed, I really don’t know why I even waited this long, I just look at the thing and shake my head side-to-side with disappointment.
I haven’t even submitted a support ticket also because of the several people I have always heard complain about the lack of service which just screams at me…“Don’t waste your time” but whatever.
I hope someone else actually reads to this point and gets the warning to stay away from SmartThings.