Whistle Reviews 2.582

Terrible service. Awful customer service I've witnessed. Average product no better than their competitors. A company that I see now also doesn't care about it's environmental footprint or it's buildings effects on local residents. I'll never use them again

I have had this product for five years. Here is the net: it sucks! Cant find a phone number to call on website. If dog gets
Out it is 20 mins before it connects. Poor product. Spend another $500 to $1000 and get something that works all the time.

Product doesn't work, app doesn't work, customer service is terrible

This company has terrible customer service, and their policies are extremely dishonest. A year ago I reported a device missing and they continued to charge for a whole year of a subscription on a device I did not have. Even though I have original copies of the email stating the device was gone, and they can confirm that the device had no tracking data for the past 12 months, they refuse to refund their mistake.

After my internet provider updated my router my Whistle stopped working. After spending two weeks trying everything the support told me to do over email they said that they I needed to get a new internet service provider or I needed to get a Wi-Fi extender so I can change certain Wi-Fi settings that my router didn't allow me to change. Mind you - these settings are basically Wi-Fi 5 settings which are very old and would slow down the Wi-Fi service for the rest of my devices. It would make my faster Wi-Fi (that I pay for since I work from home a moot point). I bout the Wi-Fi extender that I chose with the customer service person on the phone and confirmed all settings were correct. After trying to setting it up and still failing - they let me know that this one won't work because I can't edit the WPA2/WPA3 setting.

After additional failed attempts and no real clear help from them I asked for a refund and will be going with a different dog tracker. It is absurd that Whistle is not planning on updating their hardware to meet new Wi-Fi specifications and I predict that this will continue costing them customers. I understand that they want improved battery life but they could provide alternatives. It would be great if they could sell a Whistle Wi-Fi extender (similar to those that are used for Hue light bulbs or Ring home devices). These allow the signal to be converted in the way needed for the devices to work. It seems they have no plans to so I will not be working with them anymore. two years subscription and hardware cost down the drain.

I have had it for three years and I had to buy a device three times. After about a year it stops working and when you try to track your dog, it always says that it cannot find it. if your device breaks, customer service only option is for you to buy a new device. They don’t even offer a discount with an active membership. I lasted with the company longer than I should have.

I purchased a Whistle Health in February 2023. Unfortunately, after a few months of trialing it, I found it too big and heavy for my small dog. I had bought it in-store with a free three-month trial, then extended the trial to the annual plan for 2023, hoping it would work out. When it didn’t, I set it aside with plans to revisit or donate it.

Fast forward to today—I noticed a $40 charge from Whistle on my credit card. Looking back, I realized I had also been charged last year. Assuming I had missed a renewal notice, I checked my email. Nothing. No renewal reminders, no payment confirmations—just marketing emails and battery life notifications until December 2023, then radio silence.

TL;DR: Whistle charged me for two years without a single renewal notification.

I contacted customer service to request refunds for both years. While they refunded the recent charge, the rep—who was more interested in arguing than assisting—refused to refund 2023’s charge. I asked for proof that renewal emails were sent or even the sender address. After putting me on hold, they returned with, “We confirmed they were sent, but we can’t provide any details.” Essentially: Trust us, but we won’t show receipts.

Companies like Whistle are exhausting. This is the definition of dark patterns—sneaky auto-renewals with no transparency or regard for customers.

I actually liked the product and had been contemplating purchasing the new Whistle device—but after this experience, absolutely not. Whistle has turned a satisfied customer into a critic. I guess the $40 was more important to them.

I bought this to travel and hike with my dog, but ran into a lot of problems. The first was that you have to have a safe zone with a Wi-Fi network that you are generally in to keep the battery on the Whistle from running down in approximately 24 hours. I have a mobile network, which solved that particular issue for me, but buyer beware. If you were planning to do overnight hikes or camping off-grid, it’s just going to keep running down. But I wouldn’t recommend it for traveling anyway, because…

The main problem that I had with this is that the GPS tracking simply doesn’t work. It doesn’t work in urban areas, it doesn’t work in suburban areas, and it certainly doesn’t work in rural areas. We traveled all around the United States and it never successfully tracked the device, not even once. Even surrounded by fantastic 5G signal, the app could not locate the Whistle device.

It also never sent any alerts when my dog would exit a safe zone that I would set up via the app. Sometimes it would alert me one to two hours after my dog had exited and re-entered the safe zone, but more often than not it never notified me at all. On multiple occasions, she went and visited neighbors or was off exploring in the woods without the device notifying me that she had left the area.

When I contacted customer support, it was endless unhelpful emails, and a complete and utter lack of accountability. They refused to replace the device and kept insisting that the device was working perfectly “according to the information on [their] end.” I sent screenshots and lots of detailed information… Ultimately, they informed me there was no possible way they could consider a refund after the first 30 days, but wanted me to continue helping them troubleshoot the problems.

I canceled my Whistle subscription and bought a Tractive GPS, which worked very well right out of the box. I don’t know if Whistle paid people to positively review them or what, but their product is basically useless. You can’t even get an accurate summary of your dog’s activity, since the GPS has no idea how far your dog has walked at any given time.

I would highly recommend staying away from Whistle. I regret buying it, as it was a couple hundred dollars thrown into a black hole with wasted time and frustration.

The app is always disconnecting and giving false activity readings from my dog. For example it would say she was active for 60 minutes but in reality she hardly left the couch:/ when I tried to cancel I can’t find the phone number on the website because there is none. You have to go through the email which is slow and I prefer speaking with a live person.

I WAS a customer for years and one of my dogs died. When I went to activate my other dogs tracker and add a brand new one I couldn’t. I can’t do anything on my account and the customer service person that I spoke to was less than helpful. I bought two brand new devices like an idiot thinking it would work. Nope! They lied and told me for the inconvenience they’d give me two brand new subscriptions (I never activated them and guess what they’re gone!) then I moved and tried once again to activate them and can’t get into my account bc I don’t have the same credit card number and they basically told me to go fck myself. So now I have two brand new devices that I can’t even use. The customer service is awful and they don’t even know what they’re doing at all. I’m glad I wasted my time and money on this product that I can’t even use!!!!! I can’t return it either go figure. Whistle is a bunch of thieves that steal hard earned money and lie and when you actually need help they don’t help you. I’ll be telling my 8K followers about my experience and EVERY vet and shelter as I’m a trainer and will NEVER recommend this product. Unreal…

We canceled our whistle contract several years ago and subsequently canceled our subscription. They are still trying to bill my credit card for the fee even after I canceled my old card and somehow they are getting my current card number that they have never had on file. Its almost impossible to cancel with these people.

Bought two batteries and only one works! They won't return and won't refund my subscription! Horrible customer service asked to speak with the manager was refused. The battery only lasted one day. They boast a lifetime warranty but not on battery. Hung up on me, and discontinued a chat in the middle of trying to tell them the problem with the battery.

This company is a scam. They refuse to replace a defective device which is less than 6 months old. They refuse to provide the phone number of their legal department. They refuse to provide the name and address of their Custodian of Records which is the officer of the company who accepts court summons when they are sued by angry consumers. Their product is shoddy and their business practices are sketchy at best. STAY AWAY FROM WHISTLE, they are DISHONEST and their products don’t work.

After having been a customer for almost 9 years, I never had many issues. But any time I did, customer service was always great. I bought a Whistle Go to replace the older whistle in 2020. Last year, 2023, the lugs on the back broke off and I could no longer attach the device to my dogs collar. I bought a replacement. It stopped working a few days ago. I called customer support to be informed that since April last year, there is only a 6 month warranty provided. I would have to buy a new device. It seems like there is a new direction in this company, and it is not customer a friendly one. You'll see many complaints of the newer devices failing within a year, just after the 6 month warranty is up.
Needless to say, they have lost a loyal customer and now I see better cheaper alternatives out there.

I didn’t even have the unit for 4 days and my dog somehow got the base and unit off of her collar and chewed the unit. It no longer works. I contacted Whistle and was told that I’d have to purchase another one because their warranty did not include damage done to the unit by my dog, which I get, however, it should not have been able to come off of her collar in the first place. It wouldn’t have been chewed if it stayed on the collar. Also, one of the metal sides was slightly bent so not sure if that defect caused it to come off. We bought this to monitor her scratching due to allergies. If it’s able to be scratched off, that’s a defect. Paying $70 for something that only lasted 4 days is a joke. Don’t buy if you are trying to monitor your dog’s scratching. It’ll come right off and you’ll be out $70.

We tried our first whistle gps device several years ago and it worked perfectly. Now, several years later, we got two new puppies and “thought” we were purchasing two “Go Explore” gps whistle devices like the first one we bought - but the two new ones are not consistently tracking operating as we had hoped.

Customer service has tried to help us “fix” the ongoing issue, but oftentimes, our pups have run away with no notification from the two newest whistles around their necks whereas, the original unit purchased years ago continues to work pretty well. We are told only having one cell tower in the area, and possible issues with our WIFI, are at fault but we cannot solve the issue.

Recently, my husband walked both pups on leashes outside the safe zone -both with the newer whistle models -while I was out of town. We both only got a notification that one pup was out of the safe area even though they were walking side by side. He walked them again the next day, again, we were notified one dog -not two-had left the safe zone. This time the notification was for the other dog.

Yesterday, I was working in my studio with all three pets with whistle devices right there with me -some inside the studio and some outside in a fenced area. But, I suddenly got a notification that a pet was 700 ft from home. I panicked, ran outside looking for the pet but the whistle gps couldn’t locate her (same wifi as the house) - so I returned to the studio only to find the pet was sitting right there-sleeping.

Today, our female pup got away and ran far from home. I clicked “find your pet” but got nothing-the gps kept buffering and told me nothing of her whereabouts. I jumped in the car and chased after her, but still no notification from Whistle that she had left the safe zone. I finally found her about a half mile from him. After she was safely back home, I got a notification from whistle saying it couldn’t locate her and to try back later. A few hours later it said she was home.

The company has a 30 day window to get your money back so if you do go for the whistle Go Explore unit, be sure the units are working for you, consistently, within the 30 day refund period.

I bought Whistle for my 2 dogs and in less than a year the devices stopped working. I called them and they said that the only option was to purchase a new device since it was out of warranty (6 months warranty). I bought new devices for both of them and again both devices stopped working in less than a year after the purchase (8 months to be precise) and again I was told that the only option was to buy new devices for both of them. The second time the device was also not connecting with cell phone network so it never sent notification to my phone when they left safe place.

Does not stand by their products. I bought a whistle switch and had nothing but issues. I was sent a replacement, which worked for a week or two, and then it had the same issue the previous one had. At that point after talking extensively on the phone and via email with their customer support, I asked for a refund or a replacement with a different model, but I was refused. They kept blaming my WiFi settings even though it was not my WiFi settings, because my other dog had a different model of the device and it had no issues. After their completely unhelpful responses and refusal to replace or refund the device, I gave up. It is sad because I previously would have raved out them since I did not have issues with my other dog’s device. I used to recommend them to friends and family all of the time, but based on my experiences with the whistle switch and their complete lack of caring and assistance, I won’t recommend them any longer. Do you want to know what their solution was? For me to pay full price to buy another device…

Terrible customer service! Product broke and they basically told me too bad! Offered me a month discount on the service! lol I won’t be needing service cause I will not waste the money to get another one to just break. DO NOT PURCHASE!

In concept it’s great and ok when it actually works, but it SUCKS for service and RARELY works when we need it to!! We live in a *slightly* rural area and we have highly escape oriented dogs (we have fulll surround 5 ft high fencing and one always finds a new way to jump out). I always have at least 3 out of 5 or 4 out of 5 cell reception bars and no issue with my cell. But whenever one of our dogs escapes, Whistle always says it’s trying to activate GPS and literally 15 minutes goes by and nothing! It times out and can’t track them!! By that point my dog can be 2 miles away hit by a car or attacked by a coyote or in such a remote area i’m not going to be able to get them. It SUCKS and i’m so fed up with their crap connection they blame on everything else. I’ve been a customer for years with both new and old devices (bought 4 now) and it’s gone way down hill. DONT BUY. Try Track it or another service - i’m switching.