Vivint Home Security Reviews: What are People Saying?
A summary of the diverse reviews regarding Vivint Home Security
Home security is an area that few people compromise on to protect their families. You want to choose a reliable product to keep your home secure that will alert you and the authorities when danger is present. For that reason, if you're looking at this company, Vivint Home Security reviews are an essential starting point when shopping for a reliable and recommended home security system.
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We will save you the time and effort involved in finding a reliable home security company with dependable installations and great customer service, by going through Vivint Home Security reviews to see what actual customers have to say about the product, its use, and the service they have received from the company.
Smart Home is the home security arm of the larger company that also owns Vivint Solar. We'll take a look at how it compares to some of the other players in the industry to see if we can make a recommendation. All review scores are accurate as of the writing of this post.
#1 Overview of Vivint Home Security Reviews
To start, we'll take a look at some reputable review sites to see what actual customers have been saying about their Vivint Home Security experiences.
Best Company: 3.3 out of 10 (76 ratings)
Yikes.
According to this group of customers, which peg the company firmly in the "Below Average" category as a whole, you are not very likely to get a great experience with Vivint Home Security. With only 76 reviews, there isn't an incredibly large base of reviews to compare, but they do have a strict registration and moderation process that should keep the reviews here high quality.
Let's take a look at how the star ratings break down to see if there is more texture to the 3.3 rating.
- 0 Stars: 40%
- 1-3 Stars: 25%
- 4-6 Stars: 7%
- 7-9 Stars: 10%
- 10 Stars: 15%
This breakdown makes the 3.3 look generous, as a full 65% of reviewers gave the company three stars or less. There are some scattered positives, but having this much of a majority in the negative is a pretty clear indicator that you aren't likely to get a great experience.
Consumer Affairs: 4 out of 5 stars (1,741 ratings out of 5,746 reviews)
If you were getting discouraged from choosing Vivint Home Security after reading those reviews from Best Company, then you might find Consumer Affairs to be a little more encouraging. As you can see, the rating flipped in the other direction. With over one thousand reviewer ratings, this scoring is much more robust statistically. According to this site, you are likely to get an "Above Average" experience.
- 1 Star: 17%
- 2 Stars: 6%
- 3 Stars: 6%
- 4 Stars: 12%
- 5 Stars: 59%
Breaking down the ratings paints an even better picture of what you might expect. A full 71% of reviewers gave Vivint Home Security either four or five stars which, considering that more people would be inclined to go through the trouble to leave a bad review, should show that this company has real potential.
Best Home Security Companys:
6.8 out of 10 (Their score)
2.3 out of 10 (based on 1051 user reviews)
Since this is a home security review roundup, we took a look at BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com, which has reviews for Vivint Home Security and a host of their competitors.
According to their site, they use a system of review and moderation to ensure that only real comments make their way through to the rankings. With over one thousand reviews, just like Consumer Affairs, it looks like this would be a good source of knowledge about what to expect from Vivint.
The 2.3 out of 10 user-based score is very alarming. This ranking would suggest that you are likely to receive a "Well Below Average" experience by dealing with Vivint Home Security. Let's give the company the benefit of the doubt, however, and check to see how the rankings break down.
- 0 Stars: 54%
- 1-3 Stars: 24%
- 4-6 Stars: 2%
- 7-9 Stars: 6%
- 10 Stars: 12%
Looking at the score this way, we can see that 78% of reviewers gave the company 0-3 stars while only 18% gave it 7-10 stars. There was not a lot of room left in the middle for customers with only an average rating. In some cases, they loved their experience while most of the time they found it incredibly unfavorable.
#2 What are these Vivint Home Security reviews really telling us?
They say that history tends to repeat itself and that is why online reviews are such an important part of any major purchase. Anyone willing to share their opinion on one of these review sites is likely very passionate about that comment, and it is possible to see candid language about how people are feeling.
With these Vivint Home Security reviews, two review websites paint a very negative picture while one paints a very positive one. If we are looking at these numbers as a prospective buyer, it could leave us feeling very confused.
To understand how to interpret these ratings, remember that Vivint is a huge company servicing over 20 states with different service and installation teams in each location. Reviewers on these sites used different people at different times, and with so many variables, it's impossible to say with certainty what kind of experience you should expect.
We recommend checking with your local community to see what kind of job is being done right next door, so to speak. The simple fact is that some employees of any company are not going to care about their job, nor are they going to look out for the customer if something goes wrong. It's also true that there are great people out there that honestly want to ensure that any customer they touch has a very good time and finds value in their product.
Let's see if we can find some trends within the reviews, and highlight the pros and cons of Vivint Home Security.
#3 What are the typical complaints about Vivint Home Security?
While comments are broad and varied, many users complained about the long contracts, equipment faults, and poor customer service with Vivint. Here is a comment over on Best Home Security Companys from one reviewer about the lengthy contracts :
Vivint is a horrible company. Please do not sign your life over to this nigthmare [sic]. Expensive, poor service, predatory sales practices and lies. They lock you into a 5 year contract at $5500…. [S]alespeople tell you that you can cancel and will only need to pay for equipment, but that is a lie. You will have to pay the entire $5500. Their so called “Loyalty Department” will laugh at you for trying to cancell [sic] and demand the full amount of $5500. This company should be close[d] down and we can stop them by not signing up for new contracts.
Another comment from Best Company relates to the defective equipment and poor customer service offered by Vivint:
We had a Vivint alarm installed in October, by November it didn’t work and would be 3 weeks before a tech could come. We were still billed for the month that it didn’t work. at least 2-3 times a month the system went offline and took an hour or so with customer service on the phone to fix it. Multiple time[s] a tech had to be sent out (they charge a fee that we weren’t told about). Each time it was out we also had no doorbell. Several techs were an hour after the scheduled window. A few didn’t fix the issues. After over 20 calls, 3 panels, and 6 techs (the last didn’t show) all in less than 8 months, Vivint finally agreed to cancel our contract. Now lets [sic] see if the tech shows on time to pull the system.
Finally, a complaint from Consumer Affairs explains their negative customer service experience:
The customer service is very stressful for the customer. They tell you one thing and never do what they say. You have to go to many people to get issues resolve[d] and you can never get back to the same person, even if you [get] his or her badge number. Just unacceptable. Hope I never have to deal with company anymore in life.
#4 What are the typical compliments about Vivint Home Security?
Although there were lots of great things mentioned, many people highlighted the professionalism of the installers, effectiveness of the system, and prompt communication when there was a problem.
A customer from Best Company talks about the quick response the system provided:
We have had Vivint for over 4 yrs and are very satisfied with their service. Have never had any bad things happen but did set our alarm off twice by accident ( Didn’t get to it in time to turn off coming in our house ) and they called immediately to make sure everything was ok
Here is one from Consumer Affairs complimenting the professional installation crew:
We are enjoying the convenience of our Vivint Security System! The installation process was professional and quick! The installers were very courteous and friendly. We were extremely pleased at how well they cleaned up after themselves! Their explanation of how to use the system was exceptional.
A final comment on Best Home Security Companys raves about the system's effectiveness in catching a criminal:
Neighborhood in Memphis had a series of break-ins… our Vivint system ended the spree. We caught them and all our neighbors are switching from their ADT. Caught red handed.
#5 How do Vivint Home Security reviews compare to other similar installers?
Any company is only as good as the people who work there. For a company as large as Vivint, it is impossible to avoid encountering a sleazy salesman, an installation team that cuts corners, or a customer service representative that doesn't know how to fix the problem. For comparison's sake, let's take a look at a couple of reviews from a similar company in the home security market, ADT:
Here is one from Yelp about ADT's faulty equipment:
Horrible service and equipment! They installed…pricey equipment and after one day, half of the sensors weren’t working. Called for assistance and they [scheduled] for a technician visit and they did not show up. When I called after the scheduled time, they said they couldn’t come and wanted to reschedule. Canceling their service!
And another one from Consumer Affairs about their poor customer service:
ADT has been an awful experience to work with. I was in the process of a move and they shut off my service too early and were horrible to work with to set up in my new location. Once they admitted they made a mistake in shutting my service off too early, they told me they couldn’t fix it. It was their mistake.
Eventually, they said they would fix the problem, but never did. The people I worked with were clueless to the issue and just gave me standard answers that didn’t help.
Considering that both of these complaints showed up frequently with Vivint Home Security, either one of these comments could have just as easily been for that company as well. With any business, there will be both warm praise and angry ranting, as different customers are relating to their personal experiences.
If you don't believe me, check out a couple of our articles on SolarCity and SunRun reviews - both of these solar installers see very similar ratings and reviews!
#6 Should you choose to do business with Vivint Home Security?
After reading these reviews from real customers and seeing the ratings from each of these review sites, it looks like it will be difficult for us to make a solid recommendation for this company. Two out of three ratings had Vivint Home Security not even breaking the halfway mark regarding customer satisfaction, and this would indicate that you are not likely to have a positive experience with the company.
It should be noted, however, that just because there are lots of negative reviews for this company, it doesn't mean that there aren't good ones too. These people wouldn't be writing glowing reviews if they were not genuinely happy with the product and service that they have been receiving -- and many over at Consumer Affairs did just that. These people could be your neighbors, or they might be in another state.
Moving forward, you'll need to take your time and do some local research. Ask for names of the contractors or the names of those spoken to in customer service. You never know what you might find out!
While you are talking to local customers or sales representatives, be sure to take the time to ask any questions you can think of about the product and service offered. You might have a unique situation that needs to be addressed before they can give you a quote. You might wonder what happens if you sell your house while still under contract. The time to get answers to those questions is before you sign a financial commitment.
As always, let us know in the comments about your situation, your experiences with Vivint Home Security, and anything else on your mind!