You are correct. Wyze has gotten too big for it’s own good…
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Thanks for the responses from both you and @WyzeDongsheng . I am extremely glad you all took the time to read what has been posted and provide a response. @carverofchoice provided an eloquent response and one I believe was hard to read. I could not have said it any better and can’t add to what was stated. I strongly believe that Wyze can become one of the top Smart Home contenders, if not the top most.
I traversed this technology from SmartThings, Hubitat, and a few earlier devices and services, but Wyze won me out in the early days with the Wyze Cam v2. My main goal is to use Wyze as my main ecosystem which I primarily have done. I still use Home Assistant, but that is because of some shortcomings with Wyze Features related to Rules and Sensor Groupings.
Like @carverofchoice , I own most if not all of the devices, matter of fact myself, @carverofchoice and @R.Good have had a friendly competition on who had the most devices. I think most of us have a few backup devices stashed in a Wyze Drawer or Cabinet, in case it is needed or to help other as well. As @R.Good stated, this is more than a company to us, it is a family. I have stated in the past, I am proud to be part of the Wyze Family, even if it is a small part.
If you decide to have an in person discussion, please count me in on it. I think this would be great.
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this thread…right here…this harkens back to the begining…this strikes right at the heart of being friends with your customers…I can’t name a single other company that asks…let alone listens AND responds at such a level and in such detail.
there will always be complaints, it’s the nature of the beast, but this thread alone reminds me why I am happy to use these products and honored to be a part of such an amazing volunteer team.
and of course, if there is an in person meeting know that I will meet up with my brother @R.Good he lives fairly close, and between the two of us i’m sure we could get out west pretty darn fast! it was such an honor to meet everyone and have a blast last time!
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Thank you all so much to express your ideas and concerns during what’s undoubtedly a very busy week as you prepare for upcoming holiday. We loved and learned from all of the thoughtful responses here and will work our 
s off to improve in all the areas you have highlighted. Happy Thanksgiving!
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i hear ya…since i don’t subscribe I get popups. Constant plugs and upsells for services and plugs within the app. Under Monitoring, DEALS, Account. you don’t get full functionality unless you subscribe.
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Hopefully you give us a chance to turn you back into a very satisfied customer.
I started years ago as one of those volunteers and I agree with what everyone has said we need to get that family feeling back again and we can start that by taking these words seriously and acting on them. As others have said this was shared among the ENTIRE company and has sparked a lot of much-needed discussions.
We want to hear from everyone, not just the superfans so thank you for telling us about your experience also. I agree that putting product out and then not supporting them is not an optimal experience, it is actually a horrible experience if you end up having as issue.
Thank you to everyone who has given feedback and please keep giving it,
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First, my apologies for posting in so late. I have been out on the road all day trying to get it all in before the holiday break and a few days off. But, I have been watching this thread since the original post, so all the emails of replies have been read to me thru my BT Headset. I thought I was going to have to recharge several times.
Thank you @bubbamahan for the topic post that has sparked such great discussion. Thank you @WyzeMatt for asking for a no-holds-barred open invitation for opinions and ideas. Thank you @WyzeDongsheng and @WyzeDave for taking the time to listen and respond. It speaks volumes about your dedication to the Customer Experience when you participate personally in feedback discussions that aren’t the most pleasant to hear, are difficult to navigate, and not the easy button types of issues to solve. Thank you aso to @WyzeSteveM, @WyzeLogan, & @WyzeJasonJ for personally participating in the discussion and listening. More of these types of Town Hall topics on a regular basis with Wyze decision makers would be a great way to get feedback from Wyze customers and develop Focus Groups for particular issues.
I came to know Wyze some time after the initial viral product and services launch. I wasn’t in the market for cams nor was I searching for any. I was in need of a simple DIY Home Security System and was looking specifically for one that was Self Monitored. I was absolutely driven to find something that would keep me from paying the corporate home security giants. In my extensive product search and comparisons, I began to realize that most offerings were not going to perform in the way I wanted. As I began to review the offerings for DIY Monitored systems, I came across the Wyze HMS and it checked off more boxes than all the others while also beating the monitoring subscription price. I purchased it during the Pre-Sale. Since installing it, I have not once been disappointed in its functionality, short of a few yearnings for some additional automation integrations. When I learned that I could integrate cams into the HMS, I was intrigued so I bought a few. They came with the 14 day Cam Plus Trial. I was blown away by these little V3 Cams and Cam Plus. I bought Cam Plus Annual Subscriptions for each cam before the trial expired. I found genuine value at an incredible price with Cam Plus. I was so impressed, I ordered more cams. Then bought more at a local retailer, then ordered more. Every one was subscribed to Cam Plus and I was happy to pay for what I valued… no cooldown, full length video (which seemed to be much longer back then), and accurate AI. When @carverofchoice introduced me to Cam Plus Unlimited, I was over the moon ecstatic. From there on, without the worry of any additional subscription fees, My cam purchases ballooned. I wasn’t looking for cams but their value became very apparent. All of my cams are used as Security Cams. They are critical to my early warning perimeter surveillance plan. For the most part, they have not disappointed.
What has disappointed me is the shift in focus that left my other Wyze products in an uncertain limbo. The HMS, Thermostat, Vacuum, and Router(s). I was one of those customers desperately waiting for Smoke/CO detection integration as my insurance company will not accept “listening” devices even if monitored. But, I was a customer willing to pay for it since I want the security they provide more than I want the insurance discount. Because of this, I am one of those customers who will be buying a system and hub, with annual monitoring thru Noonlight, from another company. Moreover, I would have paid more for the equipment than what they are asking and twice the annual monitoring fee because it provides a valued service.
Also disappointing was learning that the Wyze Home Automation Ecosystem is now essentially DOA with the cancellation of all projects that don’t stream video. When I learned that the No-Neutral Switch was killed, I bought 6 more of what I am already using. Those retail for over $45.00.
So, since everyone has been giving their 2¢, some much more, here is my 3¢
The Customer Experience: I have said many times before, it doesn’t matter how incredibly insane the price is, or how phenomenal the AI is, or how advanced the hardware is if the Customer Experience isn’t sleek, intuitive, and responsive. The only window into Wyze is the App used to access the tech (and now Web View). If the App provides for the sleek, intuitive, and responsive experience there is no reason to go elsewhere to access it. The tech provides functionality, the app produces the Customer Experience. The App needs to be a focal point of improving the Customer Experience. But, this isn’t all.
Customer Support. Need I say more? Probably not, but I will. Customer Support and the SOP employed to distance customers from human interaction has eroded the Customer Experience. It is one of the more posted complaints in the Forum. When customers do have a problem, running them thru a complicated maze to get help isn’t improving their outlook on Wyze and erodes the Customer Experience. Sure, it may reduce the cost for CS, but does it pay off in the end when customers leave with higher blood pressure than when they started with a problem? I realize that the need for CS encounters has exploded with Wyze growth, but rather than treating the symptoms by using a bot to screen encounters and grind down customers, shouldn’t the focus of the cost reduction be centered on the disease that caused the cost explosion in the first place… hardware and software that just doesn’t work, or worse yet products that used to work but now don’t because of what appears to be lax Quality Control? I tend to buy more expensive alternatives in the market that are proven leaders in longevity and reliability. For me, not worrying about what the next update might break is worth the added cost.
Automation Interoperability. Wyze is not the only ecosystem out there. It will never be the only ecosystem out there. It will never supply every IoT device needed in everyone’s home. For Wyze customers to get a warm and fuzzy feeling about their Wyze products, their Customer Experience has to be enhanced by the ease at which they are able to interact with their Wyze products through the popular automation integration platforms. Several have been mentioned already above, but Alexa and Google Home are at the forefront for most users. Without comprehensive interoperability through these automation platforms, Wyze products are just another proprietary ecosystem that doesn’t play well with others.
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I am happy with the gear, just not with the direction they veered.
Cuz don’t speak as eloquently as these others, I will use quotes from forums long ago.
“Thanks for reading my mind and putting my abstract, random thoughts into concrete, meaningful words. Next, could you please compose something to send my Mom?”
Jayne Cravens, Program Manager, Virtual Volunteering Project, University of Texas
“The most frightening thing about an electronic whisper is the fact that it becomes a gigantic roar before some notice it.”
Luis Marinho Falcão, Director, Ogilvy
Interactive -
Bubba
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Jonathan Peterson, Technical Consultant, IBM eBusiness Services - “End-users talking to developers, manufacturers talking to consumers, dogs and cats living together, Mass Hysteria, human sacrifice. Employees have long since learned that they’re commodities, but the corporations that commoditized their employees seem to have forgotten that selling commodities is a miserable way to make a buck.”
Larry Belling, Communications Consultant, Cap Gemini - “Knowledge is a drug. Just say ‘KNOW.’”
Bubba
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I have several cameras out of service due to wyze poor functionality. Wyze upgrades app and camera degrades. Supose to have free people recognition with free 12 second clip then I could go to the camera card and see more if needed. Now only picture. I too am looking at alternatives. No intention of continuing to feed a dead horse. I certainly can not recommend wyze as a security camera for many reason’s, lack of reliability being the greatest reason.
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@carverofchoice I am a new guy who recently joined wyze. After reading your post over and over again. I’m so touched and grateful. I will try my best let the company become a company that our valuable and be loved customer expected!
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Welcome to Wyze! I’m glad you read Carvers post, and I’m grateful you will try to make changes because of it!
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Thank you very much @carverofchoice. That was very well written and covered everything.
You do understand that you are now the official Liaison between the world and Wyze now right? 
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I’m with you on that and they place the buy the plus service right over the return button so you can’t help but click it. Pretty rotten if you ask me.
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I’ve been using and buying some Wyze products for several years, but I won’t be purchasing any new ones. The cameras are fine for just a toy but not for any real monitoring functions…too unreliable. I have a home monitoring system, but never implemented an actual monitoring scenario since the product was a joke. I did use the sensors for automation but gave up on that since too many functions are tied to the subscription. I still have some plugs and bulbs. The plugs are mostly in place to reboot the cameras.
I will slowly replace the cameras with Amcrest, which for about the same price, come with POE and smart (read person and vehicle) alerts via email (which is perfect since I don’t have my phone glued to my hip). They work with a local DVR and SD cards, no internet required. For sensors, switches and outlets, I’m using YoLink (for the range) and Kasa (for local control and reliability). YoLink also has smoke detectors, water valves and real sirens that all work. They also released cameras recently.
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It’s hard to top what @carverofchoice put. That was a lot of passion and effort, so I’ll just sign as someone who supports their views.
I’ll add … I adopted Wyze because it was decent hardware, with decent support, and at an incredible price. I understand (as I’m sure most of us did) that for that value, there was going to be some hiccups – products from Wyze almost always launch in a feature incomplete or Beta state. My Wyze Vacuum, a helluva deal at the time it launched, took about 6-8 months for them to add everything the original Amazon listing had featured and get it up to par.
But we accepted that, because it was cheap, and it worked. But you can only make so much on value-priced hardware, even if you’re just rebranding from an OEM product … there’s just not a lot of meat on the bone to make margins, and I get that. The switch to subscriptions was inevitable from a business perspective, it has to be done. The Wyze subs are still incredibly cheap compared to what I’ve seen from competitors.
I’ll give a recent purchase example, the Doorbell V2. Priced at ~$45 but has features that compare it to some $99 models, it’s a value … but most of these are locked behind the paywall, which still isn’t bad if you buy annually and expect to get a couple years out of it. It’s not a bad value proposition if you plan ahead. The risk from the customer side is that you buy annual and the product dies beforehand, with it being your only CamPlus. This is clearly still a beta product.
However, along with the subs seems to have come a drop in quality that I’ve noticed. The Pan Cam V2 I bought … I went through 4 replacements before I just binned it – long threads exist on various platforms discussing the issues with that model. There seems to be reputation now that Wyze products are temporary or will break. This may have been fine when Wyze was a value hardware company, but now they’re trying to get reoccurring revenue so their products need to hold up longer. Customers are not going to accept limited-lifespan hardware and subscriptions. It seems like that by the time products reach their desired feature set, a new version launches, and it starts this seemingly-endless beta loop all over again.
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they also make the camera give false detections so we are forced to pay a subscription
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Yeah I’m done with them. Paid for the cloud service and it never worked more than half the time. Pain in the ass goping around reset them all when you change internet service. Chinese money and engineering at it’s best!
Hi
I am a VERY new guy to join the WYZE-world and for very specific reasons: the Cam Pan v3. It has most of the stuff I am looking for in developing a new branch of using PTZ-cams over a distance, namely teaching&sports coaching. I dug into the older reviews of WYZE and was amazed by the dynamic and active relationship to your customers - that convinced me that they could be the first to add the needed functionalities to their product.
I bought the cam for testing it out.
Then I stumbled into the demands for subscription…
Then I read the aggravation on these forums.
Then I almost lost my hope and started surfing the net for something else.
but then I read the open letter by carverofchoice and the response
My hopes are on a rise again - please work this out. There is an incredible heap of junk out there - do NOT become that!
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Not sure about engineering in China, but the majority of goods do get manufactured there. Cheap labour and parts. I got one dud for a camera which was sent back and received a refund. Otherwise IP video camera and doorbell are decent so wouldn’t give up on them (yet). However, their subscription plan and marketing needs to be done differently.
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