Tingfire Reviews 37

I got a call 2 weeks ago from this company statingI had a fire hazard I was told it was one plug possibly so they set up an electrician to come out their choice well their reviews for that electrician were horrible so I canceled so some lady called me from that company and said how really good they were blah blah blah so I said okay I waited almost 5 hours for the people to show up they never did now realize I'm having almost a heart attack because I'm scared my damn house is going to burn down and it made me physically ill so I called another electrician at 1:30 he was there at 3:00 he couldn't find anything so you get on the phone with this company and they go check this check that whatever so all of a sudden now I need a new outside box and a new inside box which total would be around 11,000 I'm freaking out people I go to church and pray I call a man who used to do some work for me who work for Alabama power and it been in the business for I would say at least 30 years he referred me to a young man I called him The man had said he dealt with these people before and he would see me before he came out a friend of mine whose husband has over 40 plus years of electrician service came out thoroughly went through said there's nothing wrong with the box either inside or outside so the other gentleman came out did another thorough investigation there is nothing wrong with my boxes or my home and neither one of the two gentlemen charged me I want you to know that the first people that came out we fixed the plug where the man said that was the problem well they put in outdoor plugs which is okay but they cost $162 for two and I had four put in not knowing because I'm trusting people I sent all this information to t i n g I am still getting scare tactics I sent them all this information I've sent it I can't even remember how many times now I know it's over seven they said they would pay the labor I sent them an invoice for the first electrician that came out no money just scare tactics Don't fall for it people The last electrician that came out said that they did the other people that he had worked with had them scared to death too and nothing was wrong please beware

Great Customer Support from Ting!
After many months of flawless operation, my Tingfire inexplicably would no longer connect to my WiFi. Blake in customer support worked closely with me to isolate the problem. After unsuccessful attempts were made to connect the sensor, Blake at Ting Fire expedited a replacement sensor, which I easily and successfully installed. Ting was with me to ensure to keep my house safe with their device. Thank you, Blake!

Ting saved our home and appliances by detecting an issue with our utilities company junction box...there were burned wires.

You have to buy a device, but that device only comes with one year of service. You can renew that service for $50, but you have to renew before the year ends. The day the year ends, the device bricks itself. There is no way to reactivate it in the app and the renewal link they send you no longer works. Instead, they send you an email to throw out your device. Can't get any less user friendly than this. No wonder this company is the successor to Weather Bug.

I have had my sensor for a few years. Moving it from outlet to outlet when told to with no issues setting up until August. We had 3 power surges in a matter of 30 minutes. Everything in the house reconnected to the WIFI except the Ting sensor. I have made numerous attempts. Emailed their customer service numerous times to get the same email instructions back, which I’ve followed 10-15 times to no avail. I have attempted to call their customer service to get a recording that they have to call me back. They returned my call the next day while I was at work. I’m clearly calling after 5:30 p.m. PST because that’s when I can discuss this with their representative while I’m at home near the sensor. This is the worse customer service I have ever received from a company. Clearly they don’t want subscribers and definitely don’t want referrals.

For the first year I really liked this device. Right after they charged me for the second year, it stopped working. I have spent over an hour on the phone with their supposed tech, and I have reset the device 10 times. I have used multiple iPhones, and setup WiFi networks just for this device to use alone. Nothing works. Their support system seems to be drag it out until the customer gets frustrated and throws the device in the trash.

I received my TING through the State Farm Ins program. It was easy to install and has not provided even one false alarm during the two weeks since I installed it. Several of my neighbors have utilized the free program for more than a year. None have noted any problems.

I got Ting through State Farm. Everything was good until my unit went off. Got a phone call from ting advisor and he had me do a couple things in my fuse box. The next day I called them because I hadn’t heard anything on the following day. I never received another call for a week? The first 2 days I was afraid my house would burn down. After the 7 day of no contact about my fire hazard. Had my Sons friend over after I cancelled and it was my refrigerator causing the problem. He knew it when he heard the refrigerator turned on. I bought a new refrigerator and I am good now. Never again, how can they call you and scare the shit out of you and then never make contact with you for a week.

they detected a problem but didn't notify me till the next day. we ran a load test with a space heater for 5 hours nothing. They called again two weeks later at 9 in the morning to tell me they detected something for a half hour at 12.30 the night before. there is no issues in my house and it would have burnt down before these people even notified me of a problem. the device and program is horrible.

I’m convinced this is a bullshit service. My sensor constantly goes off-line. I would say it goes off-line every other day. How is that supposed to help detect potential fires? Also, I had a space heater plugged in and the outlet turned brown. My sensor was working at the time, but didn’t notify me. I find it hard to believe this company is legit.

Received Ting via State Farm. Ting notified us of several brownouts over the last few days. Our electricity finally went out and we called First Energy, The meter box was melted, red hot and smoking. First Energy cut our electricity at the pole and told us to call an electrician. We were seconds from our house being engulfed. I am truly grateful for Ting.

Read the reviews & Instructions very carefully like installing within 10 days even if it takes 11 to get it you have violated the contract. (“YOU ARE LEGALLY CAPABLE OF ENTERING INTO ENFORCEABLE CONTRACTS”) It must be very close to your router, just because all your devices can hook up within 50 feet don’t expect it to work at half that distance. It ONLY works on a single circuit, where most homes have 20-30. We violated are contract as we did not get it within the time it is supposed to be hooked up then we couldn’t get it close enough to hook up to the router. If all of that wasn’t bad enough the false alarms were constant, yet we were told that not to be the case & it could effect our insurance coverage. We paid to get our electrical system fully tested & there were no problems. Please read the instructions very carefully as you will give up a lot by agreeing. Our electrician showed how to have something similar that will detect EVERY circuit not just one with no contracts,“memberships” plus constant false alarms. It’s amazing how State Farm wants to monitor how you drive & what you do in the privacy of your own home plus just about anyone can get into your wifi through this device as they can by what they offer to put into your car. If you feel comfortable after reading every word on both contracts have at it.

I could never get mine to work and then I discovered that the funding for whisker labs, the company that makes the Ting fire device, was led by State Farm Ventures after the company was spun off from Earth Networks. That means State Farm Ventures which is the investment arm of State farm, owns a good part of the company that makes the device. This makes me believe that of course State Farm will get their money back after the initial 3-year free period and that they have access to the data that's gathered by whisker labs. It generates a lot of false positives and if your house was built after 1998, you have afci outlets in your house which stands for arc fault circuit interrupters. These Outlets stop an arc fault from being a problem and actually do something about it. The Ting device does nothing but notify your smartphone with sometimes minor voltage fluctuations. I wouldn't get one because State Farm will use it to raise your home insurance rates based on faulty information.

I installed the Ting electrical monitoring device about eight months ago. I have State Farm insurance and Ting provides free to State Farm customers in some states like Virginia where I have my main residence. But in Delaware, State Farm is not allowed to provide for free, so I paid for it & installed in my Delaware "vacation" home where I spend about half of my time. About 3 years ago, as I was upgrading to a new heat pump, a DELMARVA Power Co. workman discovered a serious fire hazard using infrared gun (550 degrees) in a connection to the electrical panel installed by my home builder. My townhouse and other connected townhouses could have caught fire. So I had a really good reason to buy a Ting.
My device constantly goes offline for hours and days even though no power outage is responsible. I have moved it from outlet to outlet in the same room where my network modem and router are installed. Then, I get constant reminders that Ting is not connected to my wireless network, so no TING information. I have other security devices connected to my network installed in the same room that do not report continual outages that last hours and days. I have contacted Ting Customer Service about six times, the main message from them is, move it to another outlet. Yes, I do when I am in Delaware but I still have numerous outages. Of course when I am at my Virginia home, I can't move it. Bottomline: if you get it free, fine, you may benefit and I have read some of the very favorable customer reports. But TING Customer Service's position is, it's my problem and they are not willing to refund my money or replace it. BUYER BEWARE, DO NOT PAY For TING (+$100), Customer Service does NOT stand behind the product.

(Update at end)
Out of the blue, I get an email from my home insurance carrier State Farm informing my that they have collaborated with this company to provide FREE monitoring of my home electricity that could detect conditions that could cause electrical fires. It operates through a dongle plugged to a receptacle that transmits various data back to the Mother Ship. The data is stored, analyzed and if significant abnormalities are detected, the user is contacted. Normally there is an upfront cost for the device, then annual service fee but State Farm will provide it free for three years. I presume this is experimental with them, to determine its effectiveness in reducing house fire claims.
I, of course, was VERY suspicious. Insurance companies offering gifts? Never to be trusted. In this case, I actually read all the agreements and terms of service. One especially bothersome part is that Ting reports your data back to State Farm and if there are unremediated hazards. They are also EXTREMELY vague as to how this device works AND what exact faults it detects. BUT ... my tech geek curiosity got the better and I signed up. Just installed the device yesterday.
As their materials state, it requires you to have a cell phone with WiFi and Bluetooth, a WiFi router, internet access and email account. Installation was reasonably fast and painless. Google app store, download app, install, open app, set up account (they verify email), ensure WiFi AND Bluetooth enabled on phone, follow app's instructions and then plug the device into a directly wired receptacle (no power strips, etc).
So far the app shows two real-time graphs: voltage and something called "Hi-Fi" which they do not explain clearly but appears to be a measure of noise on the line. They say it takes seven days of monitoring to establish a baseline.
Notes:
- No desktop app; Android and iOS phones only
- No integration with any home automation system
- MUST plug into a receptacle directly wired to the breaker panel with no interference in between
- They will pay up to $1,000 for an electrician to visit and repair a detected problem
- They will provide support if problems originate with the electric utility
- They send a weekly report of problems detected including power anomalies including spikes and outages
For now, this is in the early stages for me and I am cautiously optimistic that it might be useful and not open a nightmare with an insurance company. I will keep updated.
Update, December 19, 2024: It has now been a year (really flew by) since my initial review. The thing has been a big meh. It had not caused any problems and appears to work just fine. It has not reported any problems with my electrical wiring and did successfully capture and report a couple brief power outages that I was aware of. So ... I can NOT opine as to how effective it would actually be in detecting significant internal electrical problems. Would I pay for it beyond a first year to see if my wiring was buggy? Probably not. Will I keep it plugged in as long as SF pays for it? Sure, why not.