Whistle Labs

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: I should not have to pay for a service that was repeatedly sending me incorrect information when Whistle has acknowledged that the notifications were false I have an email that shows all the communications Whistle sent me and screen shots of the notifications that were in the proper format but the system will not let me attach them Is there another way to send them to you? The emails also show no one ever told me the problem was with both of the trackers which seems to be rather odd because the trackers were purchased several years apart (one was an upgrade when one broke) The problem is with their network but they will not admit it When Whistle took over Tagg in they issued months of credit to all customers for the very reason I am complaining about I also have documentation on that that I can provide.Sincerely, [redacted]

Our Limited Product Warranty states it "does not include accessories even if identified by the "Whistle" trademark, trade name or logo"In addition, it also states "Whistle, to the extent permitted by law and except as otherwise specifically set forth herein, provides its products 'AS IS'" Therefore, we are under no obligation to replace the collar attachmentThe customer referenced that our Limited Product Warranty states "the company is responsible for 'sending new or refurbished customer installable replacement product or parts' and that we 'will not be charged for the product or part and shipping costs'" This is in reference to our "DIY Service" and not applicable to our accessoriesIn accordance with the [redacted] and implied warranty is only applicable in case a written warranty is not providedWe have a written Limited Product Warranty available at Whistle [redacted] In addition to the above noted details of our warranty policy, the product is not sold internationallyThis customer is in Canada and we continue to provide to support regardlessWe attempted to compromise with the customer and offer a reduced shipping charge of $but the customer refused the offerWe are within our published warranty guidelines to not provide a warranty replacement free of charge and stand by offered resolution

In order to determine the customer has a faulty device and requires replacement we do have extensive troubleshooting that is required The customer initiated the request on 2/6/ At the time the customer did not have the equipment to complete the troubleshootingWe sent a follow up email requesting a contact number to reach out and complete the necessary troubleshooting The customer replied on 2/7/stating they would not be available until late and they would try contacting us the next day We emailed the same day with detailed instructions of troubleshooting the customer could do prior to speaking with us We did not hear back from the customer until 2/13/Once the customer followed up on 2/13/we moved on to the next troubleshooting steps, which was pictures of their device and set up The customer replied on 2/16/17, without pictures, requesting to return their device We advised the customer we would need to complete troubleshooting before proceeding with a return At this point the customer had only completed the troubleshooting we requested via email and not responded to our request for pictures but the customer felt they had completed enough troubleshooting They replied on 2/18/with the pictures we requested and shortly after responded asking for instructions to return the product We replied and let the customer know they were out of the day return for refund period, however they were still within the one year warranty period On 2/18/we offered months of free service if the customer would allow us to finish the troubleshooting that had been started The offer for months of free service was accepted by the customer 2/20/and a request to return the device for replacement We replied on 2/21/explaining we still needed to complete troubleshooting We did not hear back from the customer until 2/26/at which point they advised they would do the troubleshooting and also wished to speak with a supervisor The customer and the advocate agreed to a time and day for a call but we were unable to uphold that due to an outage of our servers that impacted many companies We followed up on 3/1/and when the customer replied she requested a supervisor due to the fact her device had not yet been replacedA supervisor contacted the customer within the set time frame A replacement was sent on 3/5/and the free months of service offered 2/18/was added to the customer's account We do have required troubleshooting steps and processes to ensure it is a faulty device and warrants a replacementWe try to make it as easy as possible for our costumers while trying to follow our established process

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 7, 2015/12/07) */ We apologized to the customer for the difficulties they had reaching usWe have had a big response from our WhistleGPS pre-order customers and we are replying to each of our customers as quickly as possibleWe only had emails from the customer that we received to which we repliedIt is also the reason for the high hold timesWe understand the frustrations the customer may have experienced in reaching out to usIt is our goal to create the ultimate customer experience and we failed with this customerWe offered to speak with the customer to change their experience to a positive one and left a voicemail but we never heard back via phoneThe customer did reply to our email requesting the refundWe replied with the confirmation of their refund and sent a separate confirmation email from our refund systemWe received a reply of thanks from the customerWhile we offered to speak with the customer, as per their request, the offer was never acceptedWe have responded with this complaint by meeting their desired resolution of refund Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 9, 2015/12/14) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) They refunded me as requested after many unsuccessful attempts to reach themAlthough the company has offered to apologize by phone, I do not feel this to be at all helpful as the horrendous experience with them has affirmed my decision never to recommend or purchase their products againI would like to add this comment to the complaint

After speaking with one of our executive leaders, we will move forward with replacing the collar attachment for freeThis will be a one time courtesy as we do not sell our product internationally, only domesticallyThe replacement was sent to the address listed on this complaintInformation regarding the replacement order has been sent directly to the customer via our internal ticketing system

The customer reported their issue on 4/ We provided troubleshooting steps to the customer via email After explaining to the customer that the activity only updates every hours or when docked the ticket was escalated for additional review on 4/ It can take up to hours for our technical team to review and respond to an escalation There was a delay in the customers escalation but we did reply back on April We offered free months of service for the delay in a response on our side Per our technical lead "This is a customer education pieceWhistle GPS doesn't update until tracker communicates, she notices activity update when tracker communicates the,n not throughout the day Educate customer the activity will only update when tracker leaves the zone/beaconWhen tracker is pagedWhen tracker is powered offWhen tracker is docked." We replied to the customer with the update from our technical team and the free months of service This customer has an annual plan and paid $up front for the service The two free months were added in the form of a coupon that will discount the automatic renewal of the subscription If the customer is unhappy with the discount on the future renewal, we can refund the equivalent of months to the customer from the $ As it stands, there is recent activity on the customers account, through today, and there has not been a request for cancellation so we would be unable to refund the entire $ If the customer would prefer to cancel service we can do so and refund the full amount for the subscription

Tell us why herThe issues experienced by this customer were not related to the migration from Tagg to Whistle servers, as the notifications occurred well after the transition took placeThe two months of free service referred to was offered to customers who had questions or concerns around the time of the migration, and was not given to every customerAs with cellular phones, the quality of coverage changes from time to time, and that is not something we can controlOur continued efforts with the customer to troubleshoot her devices were to eliminate any possibility that the issue arose from the deviceHowever, it was determined that new devices would be the best resolution, and a loyalty discount to upgrade was offeredThe customer declined this offer, and we proceeded with the requested cancellation at the end of the paid term.To summarize, the issues experienced by this customer are not related to the network or service, but due to the age of her devicesWe maintained continuous contact by both email and phone to resolve her issues as quickly as possibleA loyalty discount was offered and rejected by the customer, and her subscriptions have been cancelled at the end of the term

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)Whistle is not compliant with consumer protection law.The key phrase of the Limited Warranty provided in Whistle's response above is: "Whistle, to the extent permitted by law"It is illegal for Whistle Labs to negate or vary the consumer protection legislation of other jurisdictions by way of its Limited Warranty, and to enforce this upon its consumersWhistle's Limited Warranty is inconsistent with our jurisdiction's applicable law.See Whistle's Limited Warranty below:> SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY OR CONDITION MAY LAST, SO THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS DESCRIBED BELOW MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU TO THE EXTENT THEY ARE INCONSISTENT WITH YOUR JURISDICTION'S APPLICABLE LAWTHIS LIMITED WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS, AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS UNDER STATE, FEDERAL OR OTHER APPLICABLE JURISDICTIONAL LAW.As outlined in Whistle's own warranty, we are located in one of those jurisdictions that "do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty may last"Thus, the fact that their Limited Warranty holds otherwise, whether regarding accessories or the device itself, is irrelevantTheir statements about shipping costs are accordingly inaccurate as well.As Whistle's own warranty states, "You may also have other rights under applicable jurisdictional law." We are aware of our rights for an extended warranty and free shipping, and are seeking that Whistle Labs respect those rights.Our jurisdiction's applicable law provides that, "unless otherwise agreed, the expenses of an incidental to putting the goods in a deliverable state shall be borne by the seller."Just so that this point is perfectly clear, at no point in the Limited Warranty did we "otherwise agree" that we, the buyers, are responsible for shipping costsIn contrast, Whistle's own Limited Warranty states that the company is responsible for "sending new or refurbished customerinstallable replacement product or parts" and that consumers "will not be charged for the product or part and shipping costs"At no point is there any mention of the buyer's responsibility for costsThus, on the basis of an alternative agreement that the buyer will be responsible for shipping in Whistle's Limited Warranty, and based on our jurisdiction's applicable law, my understanding is that the charge for international shipping falls in the seller's court.Insofar as Whistle attempts to avoid the consumer protection obligations at issue internationally, this is not permittedWe purchased our Whistle product directly through Whistle, as a vendorWhistle was aware it was an international sale, and shipped the product to us internationallyWhistle should not be allowed to profit from international sales while avoiding its associated responsibility for consumer protection obligations.Further, as the accessory is barely letter-sized and of minimal weight, the $cost of shipping we were quoted (as well as the reduced shipping fee of $25) seems exorbitantIt might be worthwhile to look into alternative shipping options so that Whistle's adherence to the terms of its warranty, and compliance with consumer protection law, is not financially prohibitive for the company

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because:customers as a whole are unable to unsubscribe on their own; and the system in which they use to authenticate uses an unsecure SSL protocol, which leaves customers open to WAR attacks / system attacks.
As an industry, where PII is regularly captured and manipulated we should not allow a company to capture raw, transaction data that is not obfuscated.
Sincerely,* ***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/12) */
Searched for customer's order and found that they purchased the Tagg GPS Plus Master KitThis included the hardware only and did not include any serviceHis order confirmation was : Thank you for placing your order with Whistle on 07/12/
You'll receive a tracking number as soon as your order shipsOrder XXXXXXXXXX Xx Tagg GPS Plus - Complete Kit Total $USDShipping address
*** *** Wise Place Gloucester, Massachusetts XXXXXIf there had been any service included in it would have been listed along with the hardwareThe other option for the customer would have been to selected the biennial plan at the time of activationHowever, he did notThe plan the customer selected the monthly planThe subscription service started 8/13/but he was not charged until 11/26/15, when the replacement device was activatedAfter a thorough search of his account we cannot find a payment or record of the biennial plan the customer thought he hadTheerefore, the customer will remain on the monthly plan and there are no refunds owedIf the customer wants to convert to the biennial plan we can do so and he will be charged $

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/12/07) */
We apologized to the customer for the difficulties they had reaching us. We have had a big response from our WhistleGPS pre-order customers and we are replying to each of our customers as quickly as possible. We only had 2 emails from the...

customer that we received to which we replied. It is also the reason for the high hold times. We understand the frustrations the customer may have experienced in reaching out to us. It is our goal to create the ultimate customer experience and we failed with this customer. We offered to speak with the customer to change their experience to a positive one and left a voicemail but we never heard back via phone. The customer did reply to our email requesting the refund. We replied with the confirmation of their refund and sent a separate confirmation email from our refund system. We received a reply of thanks from the customer. While we offered to speak with the customer, as per their request, the offer was never accepted. We have responded with this complaint by meeting their desired resolution of refund.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 9, 2015/12/14) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
They refunded me as requested after many unsuccessful attempts to reach them. Although the company has offered to apologize by phone, I do not feel this to be at all helpful as the horrendous experience with them has affirmed my decision never to recommend or purchase their products again. I would like to add this comment to the complaint.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/17) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted], COO
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@whistle.com
We have offered the customer a full refund and are currently providing her with free service for 2 months due to issues she has...

experienced and an additional full year as part of a special offer we extended to pre-order customers. While we did have a number of critical bugs when we first started shipping the new Whistle GPS product, the vast majority have been addressed, including most of this customer's concerns. We have repeatedly tried to reach out to the customer within the last 2 weeks but have not heard back regarding whether she would like to return her device for a refund. We are more than happy to process a refund for any customer who is disappointed with our product or service.

On 6/9/17 the customer emailed "If we cannot get the tracker working, we will likely go ahead and cancel." and this was not taken as a definite request to cancel and therefore the subscription was left active. Our response to the customer was "In regards to you current subscription, you are paid...

until 7/23/17 so if you did want to cancel there would not be any prorated amount refunded due to the subscription being close to ending. Let me know how the tracker does respond and how you would like to proceed and I am happy to assist you further." We were asking the customer to confirm the request for cancellation and the functionality of the device after troubleshooting. There was no further communication from the customer on that ticket  to indicate the subscription should be cancelled nor did they indicate whether the troubleshooting worked.  The customer reached out to us in August via in app support once the charge had occurred to let us know at this point that the device was not working and the troubleshooting was not successful. We authenticated the account with the customer and cancelled the subscription as of 8/29/17. As per our terms and conditions the subscription is non-refundable. However, we do have a 30 day grace period once the renewal occurs that will refund the subscription in full. Because the customer did not contact us within the grace period, nothing was refunded. A partial refund was approved but never extended to the customer.  Because there was no additional communication from the customer to confirm the request for cancellation before the subscription ended or before the grace period ended a full refund is not going to be offered.  A prorated refund of $85.28 has been completed.

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID[redacted], and while I am not fully satisfied by this remedy I am sick of dealing with it and will mark it "satisfactory." Sincerely, [redacted]

After speaking with one of our executive leaders, we will move forward with replacing the collar attachment for free. This will be a one time courtesy as we do not sell our product internationally, only domestically. The replacement was sent to the address listed on this complaint. Information regarding the replacement order has been sent directly to the customer via our internal ticketing system.

Our Limited Product Warranty states it "does not include accessories even if identified by the "Whistle" trademark, trade name or logo". In addition, it also states "Whistle, to the extent permitted by law and except as otherwise specifically set forth herein, provides its products 'AS IS'"....

Therefore, we are under no obligation to replace the collar attachment. The customer referenced that our Limited Product Warranty states "the company is responsible for 'sending new or refurbished customer installable replacement product or parts' and that we 'will not be charged for the product or part and shipping costs'" This is in reference to our "DIY Service" and not applicable to our accessories. In accordance with the [redacted] and implied warranty is only applicable in case a written warranty is not provided. We have a written Limited Product Warranty available at Whistle[redacted]. In addition to the above noted details of our warranty policy, the product is not sold internationally. This customer is in Canada and we continue to provide to support regardless. We attempted to compromise with the customer and offer a reduced shipping charge of $25 but the customer refused the offer. We are within our published warranty guidelines to not provide a warranty replacement free of charge and stand by offered resolution.

The customer contacted us on 3/29/16 with a complaint that she was unable to cancel service from our website or application. We replied on 3/30/16 with an offer to cancel service pending the customers verification of the last four of their credit card on file or the base station id. The customer is...

required to provide one of these methods for authentication purposes and the credit card is not required. We also offered a month of free service to try to troubleshoot any troubles the customer was having in an attempt to retain their services. The customer replied to us the same day saying she would not provide the last four of her credit card on file. We reminded the customer in our last reply to her on 3/31/16 that she could also authenticate her account by providing the base station id which is not a violation of security and policy violations that she previously referred to. We have not had a reply from the customer since our last attempt to gather the account authentication. As we have not received the required account authentication the service is not yet cancelled. We will reach out to the customer to obtain the necessary information.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:  I should not have to pay for a service that was repeatedly sending me incorrect information when Whistle has acknowledged that the notifications were false.  I have an email that shows all the communications Whistle sent me and screen shots of the notifications that were false in the proper format but the system will not let me attach them.  Is there another way to send them to you?  The emails also show no one ever told me the problem was with both of the trackers which seems  to be rather odd because the trackers were purchased several years apart (one was an upgrade when one broke).  The problem is with their network but they will not admit it.  When Whistle took over Tagg in 2015 they issued 2 months of credit to all customers for the very reason I am complaining about.  I also have documentation on that that I can provide.Sincerely,[redacted]

The customer reported their issue on 4/13.  We provided troubleshooting steps to the customer via email.  After explaining to the customer that the activity only updates every 24 hours or when docked the ticket was escalated for additional review on 4/18.  It can take up to 48 hours...

for our technical team to review and respond to an escalation.  There was a delay in the customers escalation but we did reply back on April 25.  We offered 2 free months of service for the delay in a response on our side.  Per our technical lead "This is a customer education piece. Whistle GPS doesn't update until tracker communicates, she notices activity update when tracker communicates the,n not throughout the day.  Educate customer the activity will only update when tracker leaves the zone/beacon. When tracker is paged. When tracker is powered off. When tracker is docked."  We replied to the customer with the update from our technical team and the 2 free months of service.  This customer has an annual plan and paid $95.40 up front for the service.  The two free months were added in the form of a coupon that will discount the automatic renewal of the subscription.  If the customer is unhappy with the discount on the future renewal, we can refund the equivalent of 2 months to the customer from the $95.40.  As it stands, there is recent activity on the customers account, through today, and there has not been a request for cancellation so we would be unable to refund the entire $95.40.  If the customer would prefer to cancel service we can do so and refund the full amount for the subscription.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/10/21) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted], COO
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@whistle.com
Although we were not able to honor the original pre-order offer due to product changes, we have since extended a revised offer to our...

pre-order customers of a discounted product price and a year of free service. This is a value of over $120, and as such, we feel a meaningful attempt to make good on our promise to customers who pre-ordered a WhistleGPS in 2014. Please note we did not charge customer's credit cards at the time they placed their orders and have only charged those customers who have purchased the product that is currently available on our website. If this customer did not receive the revised offer, they can contact us at [redacted]@whistle.com.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 10, 2015/10/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)