ComplaintsforSpotOn Fence

• Initial Complaint

  02/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought the spot on fence satellite collar in april of 2023 and paid 1200 dollar for it before tax and shipping. It is now February 2024 and have been paying a 10 dollar subscription fee every month. They actually double charged me for the first three months but did back pay me. This collar simply isnt reliable to keep your pet safe. Time and time again my dog has left the boundary and thankfully hasnt been hurt. I expect a **** of a lot better quality collar and service for that price. Through all the troubleshooting no progress has been made to make this garbage collar operate correctly. Now after a year of issues after issues im outside of the warranty timeline and they will not refund my money for the product they charged me so much money for, that simply is unreliable and will eventually get my beloved dog killed or at least hurt.

  Business response

  02/20/2024

   

  Mr. ****** purchased his SpotOn collar in April of 2023. The collar comes with a one-year manufacturer's warranty. Mr ****** reached out to our support team a few times for assistance with connecting the device and troubleshooting. In January 2024, we issued him a postage paid shipping label to return the unit to us under warranty for inspection and potential repair. He has not returned the collar to us.
  
  Purchase amount was $1340.90 before taxes. This included 2 optional monthly subscriptions that were subsequently refunded. The net purchase was $1,243.53.
  
  We would be glad to work with Mr ****** and repair the collar if he returns it to us. Our return period as clearly listed on our web site is for 90-days. Mr ****** is many months outside of the return period, but still within the warranty period.

   

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  11/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased two (2) collars from Spot On. The system simply DOES NOT WORK. I check, double check, and triple check the system. And yet, it doesn’t work. Ever. 1. Its as though I work for the company with amount of time and effort I have put in and am still expected to do. 2. This is a premium product and does not work. I simply expect it to work. It cannot find a the satellite, or before it was the “forest mode” was on, now its reboot this and that. I don’t work for Spot On. 3. Despite my efforts to be reimbursed by the company, they refuse. Now, after almost another year and 20+ more running away events, here I am with a system that does not work. 4. This collar is now causing personal harm. My children and I worry anytime we leave that the dogs will run away. This morning, after triple checking them, my dog was returned home by a stranger. This is the 3rd time in the last 7 days. 5. The entire neighborhood is upset as I “cannot seem to keep my dogs in” and they have now threatened to call the police. I expect my money back. Simple as that.

  Business response

  11/20/2023

  We have reveiwed ** ******* concerns and have communicated a resolution with him to refund one of the collar's he purchased. He was well outside the 90-day return window as well as the1 year-warranty period. We tried troubleshooting various times with him and in the end our system is not a good fit for  him and his family.

  Customer response

  11/29/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 20857478, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *****

• Initial Complaint

  08/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Purchased 5 collars for 5 new puppies we took in, all under 5mo old. I have to agree that they hide their complaints and after further research must agree that their customer service after taking your money is pretty horrendous. Of the 5 collars, one was refurbished/sold to someone else prior to me, as can be proven by the subscription that was attached to it. At first they tried telling me it was new, then later said it went to another customer before me. 2nd one was defective from the beginning, a "fatal error" and would need to be replaced with a refurbished one. After using the collars for around a month, woke up to find none of them working. 5 dogs, 40 acre farm, in the process of teaching boundaries and the collars stopped working. Called the company and they told me there was something wrong with their server and it could take up to a month to fix. That was also the weekend that one of them decided to venture off the farm, with the other 4 in tow. No ability to track them, gone. Ended of finding them, but after that how can I trust this product? I was about ready to return them because of quality issues, but then to find they couldn't even keep their back end systems running, which the collars are entirely dependent on to work? I'm sorry, but for something that costs more than the latest iPhone I had to find something else. All the collars look exactly the same, so I marked the first initial of their names on the inside of the collar. For this, they charged me $150/collar for a total of $750. I even addressed this with their customer support staff in which they have a recorded ticket. The guy said it wouldn't be a problem and a dry erase marker takes it right off. I have to assume they put a new piece of rubber on my collars and sent them off to another unsuspecting customer the way they did me. If they kept up their end of the bargain, sent me NEW collars, and spent the money to keep up their infrastructure I would have kept them I expect a full refund.

  Business response

  08/02/2023

  I spoke with the customer on 8/2/23 and provided a full refund of $750 and apologized for the service experience.
  There was writing on the dog collars which is normally not covered under warranty. He had been advised to clean them inaccurately by us and we have owned this issue. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased this collar in March 2023. I did not set the collar up until moving in May 2023. The collar worked with minimal issues until the end of June/early July 2023. I have had issues with the boundaries not working. I was initially told to delete a home zone due to heavy tree coverage possibly causing the collar to incorrectly believe my dog was inside. This did not resolve the problem. Upon contacting costumer service the second time I was told that the poor collar performance was likely due to poor cell coverage and that I could exchange the collar for a Verizon collar. Unfortunately, I wrote our address on the collar with permanent marker and was told they would not be able to exchange the collar. Within this email I was told that the collar would still work as advertised but the tracking may not perform well due to poor cell service. However, the collar does not provide static feedback or any feedback when my dog crosses the boundaries at times. I sent a 3rd email/message to costumer service stating the continued issues and have received no further contact. The collar is approximately 4 months old and does not work as advertised at the cost of $1200.

  Business response

  07/24/2023

  Thank you for reaching out about this issue. We apologize for any confusion caused during the previous customer interactions. We will assign your case to one of our senior agents, who will be reaching out to verify the issue and, as needed, process a warranty claim for the collar per our regular processes. We apologize for any frustration met throughout this process.

• Initial Complaint

  07/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  5/7/2023 I purchased the spot on collar. Paid $1,390 I followed the training program with my dog, and everything was going great. The product is a wireless dog fence which sends tones to the collar when the dog crosses. For the initial phase of training you keep your phone with you, and your phone mimics the sounds of the collar because the collar makes a very low noise not as loud of as the phone and you have to be able to hear it for the training. After about 5 weeks he was ready to be done with training and no longer use the phone app, well it turns out that he does not hear the beep on the collar. He did great when we are with him and the loud beep comes out of the phone, but once he is off the phone and on his own he does not react the same. On 6/15/23 I reached out to the company to let them know I wanted to take advantage of the 90 day money back guarantee since my dog can not hear the collar. They told me that the dog does in fact hear it because their ears are sensitive. 6/17/23 they responded They did not even take the time to ask me any questions about my problem just proceeded to say that my problem can’t be real. 6/24/23 I emailed again letting them know I was not satisfied with their answer. 6/26/23 They emailed me and asked me to check the fence boundary and provided instructions to which I replied and let them know the fence boundary was working great. No reply. 7/3/23 I emailed once again letting them know the fence boundary was working fine. Still no reply.

  Business response

  07/11/2023

  We appreciate the customer reaching out to us. He is still well within his return period for the collar. To file for it, please follow this link to our returns page to file for a return. ****************

• Initial Complaint

  06/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I ordered a collar on 4/3/2023. Collar was shipped to be on 4/10, delivered 4/11. I did not open & activate the product until 4/12. Upon doing so, I discovered that the size large I ordered did not fit well (size medium & large collars have overlapping sizing). I requested an exchange to a size medium on 4/13. On 4/21, exchange to a medium was mailed. The exchange was delivered to my house on 4/25. It is important to mention that my dog was neutered on 4/18, so I had to leash walk him and keep him sedated for the duration of his recovery until 4/28. Therefore, I could not begin using the medium until 4/29. Upon removing the collar from the box, I noticed the box was damaged, but I did not overly inspect the product. On 5/16 my collar began not connecting to the GPS mapping. Upon inspection, I noticed the area attached to the contact points was cracked—I believe this was a manufacturer defect in the plastic resulting in the crack as there is no other way the damage could have occurred. My dog is quite lazy. SpotOn allowed me to submit a warranty claim on 5/17. The warranty claim was approved on 5/24 and the replacement collar was sent back to me (without a choice). I received the collar on 5/26, but did not activate it until 5/27. Upon trying to activate, the collar has not worked properly & I have been in constant contact with SpotOn. It would not charge and has had nonstop GPS tracking issues. I emailed on 5/27 and stated I wanted a refund. On 5/31, SpotOn told me via email I could get a refund and sent me the link to process. I followed the instructions, received an approved refund request and mailing label. Then, was emailed hours later retracting their directions and stating I was now not able to get a refund because of the prior warranty claim (again cracked item was manufacturer issue &defective) which was the first time I was ever told such. They’re refusing to honor their own instructions. I’m paying for a product that doesn’t even work because of them.

  Business response

  06/08/2023

  Thank you for contacting us. We would like to extend our apologies to the customer and will accept the product back for a full refund. Based on our information, it appears she has created a return label to have the product come back to us prior to the cancellation done by our team members. Please use that same return label and RMA number, and once it is in our facility I will begin our processes for a refund. Please note: it can take up to 10 days from the date of receipt of our product to process the refund. 

  Customer response

  06/08/2023

  
  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

  01/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We ordered 2 collars May 18th 2022 and finally received them July 2nd and July 8th. Since then they have been sent back at least 4 different times with a 5th time in the process. First, the seals failed on both, then one stopped connecting, the other one then stop charging. Not to mention when we got one back from them, they had the wrong serial code in it resulting in not being able to connect the collar. Now this time, our other one stopped charging. They want to say that this time it's because of a tiny tear by the button. I get that my warrenty doesn't cover dog damage but they tried telling me there were bite marks. It's not a bite mark it's likely from dogs rough housing, like dogs do. If we haven't had so many constant and similar problems in the past, I wouldn't have a problem but he company doesn't seem to care, they just want your money. I was told last time in December that we would be getting a NEW collar due to all our problems but they sent us the same collar, just fixed(again). My warrenty is up in June and we are scared that these problems are going to continue and we are going to get screwed. These collars are not worth it. Now they want my to pay up to $750 for a small scratch in the collar that may have resulted in it stop charging which with the companies track record, I doubt it. The company seems to expect you to pay $1500 a collar and just deal with all the faulty equipment till your warrenty is up Well I feel I have given them more than patience and understanding. When I ask for a phone number to someone higher up, I get nothing. I have only asked to extend our warrenty which I feel is fair after all the problems we have dealt with due to faulty products. After doing more research now, I realize that they hide all their negative reviews and I'm disappointed. Company show no remorse or care for the customers. The picture is of the "bite mark" that caused the charging issue. The other collar that stopped charging a month ago had no marks.

  Business response

  01/27/2023

  We have contacted this customer directly and discussed their ongoing issues. We have agreed to solutions privately and are bringing her units in for further inspection.

• Initial Complaint

  12/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I helped my son purchase this virtual perimeter fence for his dog. He lives on a large property in a small town in NM. I flew out to help him set up the fence and assist him with training the dog. He has had much difficulty with the product especially since the wireless network has upgraded from 2G to 4G. At this point, the system is basically useless and does not enforce the boundary for the dog. Recently, she got beyond the perimeter and was missing for over a day. Thankfully she had been picked up by animal control before she was injured. According to “customer service” the company insists that he upgrade to the new collar at an expense to hem of $500. My concern is that they sold him a product that they knew would be obsolete within a year. All he wants is to protect his dog. Making him pay to make $500 more to make the system work seems unfair given that they knew the system they sold him would not work for long since they recently upgraded their collar to fix the problems he is having with the original collar.

  Business response

  12/16/2022

  Hello,
  Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to respond to the customer’s complaint. The customer originally purchased two of our first-generation collars in February of 2020, more than two and a half years ago.

  In September of 2021, we received requests from Susan to cancel her cell subscriptions with both of her collars and canceled them at that point in time. We also received a request in February of 2022 from her to transfer ownership of the collars to another individual.

  The customer had full functionality of the collars for the duration of her use, then gave the collars away after she had owned them for two years. When she contacted us recently, to the best of our knowledge, the customer had transferred ownership from herself to other individuals. Based on this alone, she would not have qualified for any of our upgrade programs.

  However, in an effort to maintain a strong customer relationship, our customer service agent offered her the same opportunity to upgrade the collar as every other customer who purchased in 2020 was offered, an upgrade cost of $500, which many other happy SpotOn customers have made.

  We will continue to honor that $500 upgrade option for the customer. 

• Initial Complaint

  11/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 5/26/21 I purchased the spot On collar for my dog for nearly 1500 dollars. Since then I’ve had nothing but issues. I had constant issues trying to make a boundary and getting it to save and then less than 6 months after my 1500 purchase I lost access to why I bought the collar over the competition in the first place. My ability to track my dog, as well as the notifications of breaking containment and many many other sale points and pitches stated my the company. Now I can’t connect my collar to the computer even to update to the newest update. Like others I get offered the standard 500 dollars to upgrade the collar to a new generation, just 6 months after I spent nearly 1500. Unfortunately, I financially am unable to afford this and feel left out to dry. How can you promises all these features and then just take them away a few months after spending 1500 dollars? I also see that I’m Not the only one who lost the ability to do the software update to the collar.

  Business response

  12/16/2022

  Hello,
  Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to respond to the customer’s complaint. The customer originally purchased his first-generation collar on May 26th, 2021.

  The customer contacted us in April of 2022, asking if he was about to lose tracking functionality on his collar. We informed him that, due to the 3G shutdown, it was possible he would be losing tracking functions, but he was not being charged for them, and we could not determine when he would lose those functions as the networks had begun to shut down the networks throughout the area. At that point in time, we advised him we would be able to offer him an upgrade for $500 and a year of free tracking, a retail cost of $95.40. He indicated he was glad there was an upgrade program, but he was unable to afford the upgrade costs at that time. We had not heard from him until this complaint.

  In the complaint, the customer also indicated they were unable to update their current, Gen 1 collar on their computer for an update. As a service, we do offer software upgrades if the customer can ship the collar back to us for a service fee of $50. It’s worth noting, however, that this last collar update only transfers the ability to adjust static correction levels on the collar itself; it does not restore any tracking functions that are tied to 3rd party cellular services that have been mandated to shut down by the FCC.

  We will continue to honor that $500 upgrade option for the customer. 

• Initial Complaint

  11/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased the first SpotOn collar January of 2021 (the old version). It had constant problems, wouldn't charge, wouldn't turn on etc. This collar only worked for around 4 months. After a lot of time and phone calls, the collar just sat. SpotOn came out with a new version that they promised was better. I ordered the collar in May and set it up a few weeks later. About a month in, same problem with collar not charging or turning on. Had to call in and have them help me get through an update. The collar worked for another month or so, and then I found it laying in the yard. It had just come apart at a seam and fallen off! I had to send the collar in for warranty repair. They fixed it and sent it back. Less than two weeks later, I go out and the collar is not on my dog. I am assuming it fell apart again. I have looked for it for hours. SpotOn says there is nothing they will do to help, but they will sell me another collar. I have ALREADY spent $2000.00 on these collars, and SpotOn has a faulty product that they don't stand behind. I paid for two years of cell service for a collar that I don't have!

  Business response

  11/14/2022

  Thank you for allowing us to respond. The customer contacted us about the collar first experiencing issues on October 4th. As per our warranty policy, we asked for pictures, and send a return label to take the collar back for inspection on October 5th. We received the collar on October 11th and began our inspection process. We made the determination that the collar was originally manufactured prior to certain updates in our processes, and those older processes led to a slight increase in collars experiencing the same malfunction as the customer experiences. Based on that inspection, we made the necessary repairs to the customer's collar, including using the updated processes that have, to date, resulted in no other errors of the same time occurring.

  We notified the customer of the repairs on October 13th. When the collar left our facility it had passed every inspection process.

  The customer contacted us on October 26th, indicating she had lost the collar. She had thought it was a similar issue she had experienced before, however, as mentioned above, once a collar has completed our updated manufacturing processes, we have never experienced the same issue. We were able to find the last known location of the customer's collar based on the GPS coordinates before the collar lost power. We did give those coordinates to the customer and attempted to guide the customer to that location. At the same time, we reminded the customer that the warranty is still valid for her collar, and that if she found it we would continue to honor the warranty. In the meantime, however, we can't determine if the reason the collar is lost is because of a defect not detected in an inspection less than two weeks prior, or because of other damage done to the collar that wouldn't be covered under warranty.

  For instances where collars are lost in this capacity, we do offer to sell a refurbished collar for $750. The other option, if the collar is found, is to inspect the collar and continue with the warranty process. We'd like to offer the refurbished collar to the customer for the price, and also reiterate our willingness to inspect the collar for any defects if it is found.

*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. ↩