Customer service people, I have found to my dismay, have no idea what CamPlus does. I wish Wyze could do something about that, but with labor shortages being what they are, I tend to doubt it.
Most recently, for instance, I had a query about the “pet” detection available under CamPlus AI. it works very well picking up animals. Fine. The animals it picks up tend to be deer. I noticed that I could establish a “rule” so that when a pet event comes along, the siren sounds. Might work to shoo away deer! My question was simple: if I set up such a rule, how long with the siren sound?
I posed this question by email. The customer service person had no idea what I was talking about. It was as if I was talking in a different language. He threw at me canned responses. I clarified. Didn’t help. I clarified again. Ditto. I asked to escalate. He refused! I was asked to rate him. I sure did.
In short order I found the answer in these forums. This is not the first time I’ve found customer service people who have no idea how Cam Plus operates. It’s really off-putting, definitely not one of the better aspects of owning Wyze cams (which I love, by the way!)
@Grav
I am sorry you have had a poor experience with customer support. I have not tested it myself but as far as I am aware the siren duration is 30 seconds.
Yes that was the response that I received in the forums. Just to give you a taste of how my dealings with customer service went, here is my initial exchange of emails, verbatim:
My query: I have Wyze v. 3 and Cam Plus. I am considering setting up a “rule” in which the siren would be activated when an event is triggered by a “pet.” If I do create such a rule, how long would the siren sound? Can I control the length of the siren? Thank you.
The response: "Thank you for reaching out to the Wyze Wizards team. I understand that you want to activate a Siren for your pet. My name is [redacted]. I will be happy to assist you.
For your pet just got to Smart AI settings detection and turn on pet detection. We don’t have yet a specific option to create a rule only for a pet.
But thanks for sharing, I’ll let our product team know, but the best way to get ideas on our official Wishlist is through our forums where users can post and vote for feature requests. Our product team provides public updates as ideas and requests are reviewed. Take a look and post your idea or vote for similar ones so we have better visibility.
*You can visit the Wishlist here: Wishlist - Wyze Forum"
[end of Wyze response]
Huh? Can you believe it? I’m sitting there, staring at my app, setting up a rule for a pet event, and this guy has no idea what I’m talking about. And he is PAID to respond to customer questions!
Perhaps worse, my frank feedback on the above (and future timewasting exchanges of a similar character) received a response that my response would be shared with [redacted]. It’s very discouraging to deal with customer service people who know nothing, and this is not the first time.
Oh man, that is rough. Either a major reading comprehension issue or a major “I don’t care” issue. Either way, you asked two clear questions:
a) V3 Camera default length of siren?
b) V3 Camera siren-length customizable?
And got sent to the wishlist forum. Eeeek.
I’m assuming they aren’t using US residents for support so we can’t help out that cause.
I don’t mind a little bad reading comprehension. But this guy hasn’t a clue about a subscription service he is supposed to support I was telling him about CamPlus, when he is supposed to be the “expert.”
Even IF he misunderstood your problem as “I want to setup a siren to alert on a ‘Detects a pet’ trigger” he responded by stating:
We don’t have yet a specific option to create a [trigger] rule only for a pet.
But actually you can do that in the app right now.
Oh, so it was a customer support miss because
(a) they didn’t answer your two actual questions because they
(b) mistakenly believed pet detection triggers weren’t possible
Yep that’s right. To make matters worse, to this day Customer Service hasn’t acknowledged that this rep wasted my time due to his ignorance. Instead, after one-starring the guy in requested feedback (and describing the problem). I got an email indicating that my views would be shared with the agent. iow, they probably share his ignorance of CamPlus.
The problem is it’s probably not his fault. It’s very unlikely that Wyze provides each CS agent with each product to use, test and play with. They are probably given user manuals, scripts and update logs.
So if Wyze Engineering (QA or Software Dev or whoever keeps the manuals up to date) somehow missed the inclusion of Pet Detection trigger then the agent would literally have no way of knowing the system had changed.
In my experience, it’s far more likely for engineering to forget to update customer service team (via wiki, script or technical manual) than customer service to be ignorant or not check. It is possible but I think it’s more likely a communication breakdown.
Wyze used their investor funding to outsource their Customer Support to a contract call center in the Phillipines. They have no working knowledge of the hardware, no working knowledge of the software, no working knowledge of the ecosystem. All they have are the scripts and decision tree charts provided to them by Wyze. Then Wyze updates everything, introduces yet more bugs trying to exterminate all the old ones, and the Phillipines doesn’t have a clue that an update even exists.
There is no Technical Support Department at Wyze. But, if they actually produced a stable ecosystem, they wouldn’t need a big one.
There were posts I read here in the forum, perhaps from an AMA or Fireside Chat or Town Hall or whatever it is Wyze does… Back when they secured the funding. The indication was that one of the main focuses of the funding capital was to improve the CS. We are experiencing that improvement.
UPDATE EDIT:
Here are the details I was referencing:
Beyond that, most of my “opinion” (yes, I do acknowledge it is my personal opinion and not a statement of fact) is derived from my personal experience with the “Wyze Wizards” of Customer Support and having read a very significant number of other user experiences posted here on the forum reflecting a shared experience.
Two of the main focuses I interpreted, heard, or saw in writing in the two links posted were 1) Improve Customer Service, and 2) Reduce Cost. Outsourcing would certainly reduce costs and, theoretically with the right partner, improve support.
IMO, they missed the first target and need to dial in for windage and distance.
At a recent Reddit AMA, it was acknowledged that Customer Support was lacking. As Wyze has become more of a mainstream player in this space, I am confident this will change. Wyze is aggressively hiring, and I hope Support gets some badly needed improvements. I hope they don’t take too long; poor support can turn people away from using the products.
Please try the forums first, and then contact support. I found it helpful to very clearly explain your needs, assuming no a priori knowledge of the function. I would say, that it is not typically a Support role to create rules for customers, but they should know what they are, where it’s documented, and where to get further assistance.
I personally doubt very much that customer service will improve. This is a bargain product, a good product, but the savings have to come from somewhere. It’s a bit like the early pc makers. Customer service took a hit and never recovered.
Secondly I suggest that people go back and read my exchange with the rep to avoid misunderstandings. I did not ask the rep to formulate a rule, and my query was clear as glass.
Yes, sorry. I was making a generalization when I should have read more carefully. I still think the “bargain” mentality will change - based on VP comments. While they want to generate as much revenue as possible, they have to come-of-age and play like some of the other players. TBH, SW support can be horrendous, but some have at least tried (Chatbots, FAQs, Forums, etc), but unless you invest in Knowledge Based Support, and training for the support team, it’s going to probably suck. But we’ll see.
