Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Whistle Labs's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Whistle Labs

  114 Sansome St, Suite 1000 San Francisco, CA 94104

• 

  Whistle Labs

  1355 Market St Ste 210 San Francisco, CA 94103-1314

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:03/04/2023

  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.

  We purchased the Whistle ************ collar and tracker last summer directly from their website. We paid around $110 for the device. The device is designed as a plastic GPS module with plastic teeth that twist firmly into a metal bracket on the dog collar. The first time we went to remove the device as designed and instructed to charge it, one of the plastic teeth broke off deeming it unusable. When we called Whistle, they offered to replace it. We received the replacement. Unfortunately as soon as we went to remove it as designed to charge it again, it broke the exact same way. When we called to have the now reoccurring problem addressed, they blamed it on faulty plastics acknowledging the problem. When we asked them for a reasonable solution as now they were trying to send us our third unit, they suggested we purchase their new unit that doesn't contain the twist design at full price. They also made clear that the only thing they would be willing to do, even after acknowledging that there was a flaw in the design and material that caused it to break, was to replace it with an equally faulty device until the one year warranty from the original sell date was up. At which point even if there was a record of the same reoccurring defect, they would cease to replace it or address the problem. They refused to refund us or give us a credit towards the unit without this flaw cause it was after 30 days from the original purchase date, even though the flaw would not be discovered until after that when you went to charge the unit as the battery lasts around a month. We are left with a product that we cannot use as designed, as using it as designed causes it to break and be unusable, with the only solution being to replace it with another equally faulty unit until the warranty is over and we have no solution at all.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/28/2023

  Type:Customer Service 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 got a push notification that my Whistle Go wasnt connecting to wi-fi. The device actually wasnt transferring any information to the app, including location services. I didnt receive an email regarding a failure in the device.I contacted ********************** **. Over 4 days and 16 emails I was given troubleshooting tips, then asked a series of questions and photo requests, not giving a reason why. Over this time, the ** rep provided incorrect information and asked for information I had already given. I asked if there was a phone number to call because this was not an efficient way to solve the issue. They never responded.On 02/28/23 they told me my warranty was out on the device and there was nothing they could do. They did not mention that they were unable to troubleshoot the issue, so this development was a surprise.****** was purchased 02/03/22. It shipped 02/04/22. It was delivered 02/09/22. The device stopped working 02/20/23. I did not realize until 02/24/23 and immediately contacted customer support. I mentioned these dates in a follow-up email, noting if I started using the device 02/09/22 and it stopped working 02/20/23, that is only 11 days out of warranty. They informed me that my warranty began as soon as I ordered the device and I didnt reach out until 02/24/23, so sadly that is out of the 2-week grace ****** we offer for issues this close to the warranty.Ive been a customer since 2019. My 1st device worked for 3 years, then I was informed I needed to purchase a new one because my current one would not support the network upgrade. I was offered a small discount. Whistle did not have control over the network upgrade, but they certainly took advantage and profited. This new device failed after a year. Based on customer service I was provided, Im not even sure they have technicians that are familiar with the hardware and app so they can provide troubleshooting.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/16/2023

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  We purchased a Whistle dog gps tracker continues to malfunction. We have contacted Whistles Technical support multple times who is unable to help us with the issue. We have asked for a replacement as the item is under warranty. They will not issue a replacement as we requested.I would like them to contact me before I disupte the charge on my credit card.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/03/2022

  Type:Customer Service 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 both the tracker and the collar. The tracker came off of the tracker and after being a 4 yr customer on my first dog the company is refusing to replace the tracker that fell off because their collar failed after 4 months on my puppy

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/20/2022

  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 have been a Whistle Labs customer for several years.Daily, i receive messages that the tracker is unable to connect. Unfortunately quite often when i most need it. I have sent notices to the company via email, text and on social media..Despite reaching out he issue has not been resolved. All times this happened, I have been withon good cell phone coverage. I'm fearful that when the tracking functionality is needed in an emergency, it will be unavailable or unreliable. I pay for a monthly service, which I am NOT receiving.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/26/2022

  Hi *******,

   

  We are sorry to hear about your experience and we are happy to help. We can see that you are still in communication with us and working on a resolution. Initially the issue was the app you were accessing was outdated. This will cause issues with the device and the way it communicates. We can continue to work with you to resolve your issue or you are more than welcome to cancel your service if you are not satisfied. Thank you!

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/23/2022

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  We've been a long-time customer of ********************** but just found out by going on the app that the *** has been out since February. We thought we had piece of mind if our dog got loose, but that is not the case and may not be for you. This product is set up so that you don't need to go to the app daily or weekly; it's simply supposed to notify you when your dog gets loose. Not only did Whistle not email us to tell us our *** was going down back in February 2022 due to ****** 3G service discontinuing, but they continued to take our monthly subscriber fee. I've seen in other responses that they said they sent emails regarding this, but that is simply NOT the case.Further, if they sent an email, Whistle should have required an acknowledgment (on the website or in the app) that the customer knows the *** will not work. Then, if Whislte didn't get an acknowledgment from the customer, they should have called, texted, and sent an app notification - IT'S THAT IMPORTANT - and startling that someone in this business of keeping dogs safe doesn't understand that.In addition, how do you keep charging a subscription for a product you KNOW doesn't work? I would imagine that's some sort of fraud, but I'm no lawyer. Even today, 9/23/22, customers are paying for Whistle and do not know the *** doesn't work. Whistle, step up and start notifying your customers with calls, texts, app notifications, and emails that your service for certain products does not work, and get customer acknowledgments!

  Business Response

  Date: 09/27/2022

  Hi ****,

  Thank you for reaching out! We are very sorry to hear about your experience but thank you for letting us know. We apologize that you did not receive any of the emails sent out about the AT&T 3G shutdown and how it was going to affect our service. We really appreciate you taking the time to reach out and let us know how we can improve for the future. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns or if there is anything we can do, please give us a call at ************. Thank you! -*****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/27/2022

   
  Complaint: 18121160
  
  I am rejecting this response.

  What are you doing with the current customers that do not know their GPS is not working and did not receive an email from you? There are unprotected dog out there RIGHT NOW that your product is supposed to keep safe and anyone looking at the BBB would love to know how you're going to handle the situation.

  Are you going to cancel the subscriptions that do not have GPS service and refund their money?  How are you going to notify people now and in the future when GPS stops working? Will you ask for acknowledgements?

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

  Business Response

  Date: 10/07/2022

  Between June 16, 2020 and May 31, 2021, we communicated with Whistle 3 customers in a series of emails notifying them of the need to upgrade their device to a ********************** Go Explore, Whistle FIT, or Whistle Switch. This change was necessitated by the discontinuation of AT&T's support for 3G devices on their network. 

  
  In total, we sent 5 emails in the series and used targeted messaging to communicate reasons to upgrade their device depending on their app activity. 

  We offered $20 and $30 off for a Go Explore in two separate emails, and $15 off a Whistle FIT.

  
  Attached is an example of 2 of those email communications.

  Our goal was to reach as many of our customers as possible in a timely manner. We also took any learnings from this issue and will do our best to improve any similar situations that *** arise in the future. Our customers' concerns are of paramount importance to use and we will strive to do everything we can to learn and improve. 

  Our customer service was in contact with the customer and offered solutions to remedy the complaint.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/08/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/13/2022

  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.

  Beginning in February, without warning, e-mail, mail or otherwise, Whistle cut off service. I did not receive a phone call, email, or physical mail informing me of changes that my device would no longer work, despite taking monthly payments from me for almost 2 years.How can you operate your business without ever informing consumers that their device would no longer work due to a whole network shutdown?

  Business Response

  Date: 07/21/2022

  Hi ******,

  This is ***** with Whistle. Thank you for reaching out and letting us know about your experience. We are so sorry to hear that you did not receive any of the emails that were sent out regarding AT&T shutting down their 3G network in February of 2022. We would be happy to offer you an upgraded device and discuss this further. I was able to locate an account, with the information provided, so we will be reaching out to you. Again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused but thank you for letting us know about your experience and allowing us an opportunity to make it right.- ************** 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/05/2022

  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 have been a customer of ********************** GPS Pet Trackers for several years now. At the end of last year, they were informing us by email and via their app that we needed to upgrade our Whistle devices, because the 3G technology that our current ones used was not going to work any longer. On 11/25/21, I purchased a Whistle GPS + Health + Fitness from Amazon for $111.24. It worked fine when I got it, but has been having problems intermittently for the last several months. I contacted Whistle about this by chat on 6/28/22. The customer service representative ******* M followed up by email, asking for a picture of the Whistle, which I provided. After an email exchange (downloaded to Word and attached here), I was informed that the problem was that my internet provider **** had upgraded their internet protocols from IVG4 to IVG6, and that these Whistles only work with IPV4. ******* M informed me that there was nothing Whistle could do to help, because this was a problem with my internet services provider (that is, that **** did not provide us with the option of staying with the older IPV4 internet protocol. I believe this was deceptive advertising when Whistle sold us the Whistle GPS + Health + Fitness as an 'upgrade' prior to the 3G network going away in February. Whistle knew at that time that the internet protocols were going to be moving to IPV6 technology, and knew that these devices were going to experience 'intermittent issues' (per ******* M's emails) on IPV6 to which there were no remedies. Whistle offers a one-year warranty but is offering no help with this, an 'upgraded' device that has become obsolete in less than six months. I am therefore asking for a refund of the price I paid for this Whistle that no longer works.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/11/2022

  Hi Ashley,

  Thank you for letting us know about your experience with your Whistle device, we are sorry to hear that your Wi-Fi is not compatible with the upgraded device but we are happy to help. We will be reaching out to you, to get this resolved. Thank you! -*****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/11/2022

   
  Complaint: 17523039
  
  I am rejecting this response because: this is no response, that theyre going to be reaching out to me to resolve this. I have already reached out to Whistle for a resolution, and the results of that were attached in the original complaint as the copy of the email thread with Whistle customer service.

  Their upgraded device is already obsolete with IPV6 WiFi. I repeat, this is not a problem with my WiFi. They developed these things knowing that all WiFi was moving to IPV6 and that their devices were not going to work with that.

  Their devices are under warranty for a year, and they have admitted there is no way to fix this and that they have no plans to do so.

  Therefore I am asking for a refund. That is the resolution I will accept.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/01/2022

  Hi Ashley,

   

  Thank you for letting us know. We are not able to offer you a refund on the purchase price of the device, as it was not purchased from Whistle, it was purchased from Amazon. We would be more than happy to offer you a refund on the monthly subscription. 

  Thank you,

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/03/2022

  Type:Customer Service 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 4 total whistle devices since mid April, the first 2 I bought the wrong model by mistake, I had no problems getting them to refund the money from that purchase, however I have still not received return instructions or the return labels. Then I tried the devices I needed (gps tracking).absolute junk, they listed my dogs home in the middle of a lake somewhere in *********, and were completely useless anywhere else I tried them, constantly sending errormessages to my phone even though we have great WiFi and ***** Now since May 2 I have been sending emails and trying to reach them on their live chat, all to no avail. Not one response to any of my 4 emails, live chat is another joke as they always claim the system is having problems.Finally for the past 3 weeks I have been calling them and speaking to the customer service, again its always the system is having problems or well send you an email to start the refundThis company is absolutely awful to deal with and Im tired of the excuses, they owe me around $230.00 and I believe they are trying to stretch this past the 90 days so I wont be able to get a refund. Terrible customer service, hard to believe they stay in business.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/07/2022

  Hi ***********,

  Thank you for bringing this experience to our attention. We are sorry to hear that you have had a bad experience with Whistle but we would be happy to get this issue resolved for you right away. We will be reaching out to you to get this taken care of. Thank you! -Laura 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/08/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************