Author Topic: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags  (Read 41776 times)

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Offline Rasz

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #25 on: May 17, 2013, 07:15:17 pm »
I will wait to see if they actually will support Android.  They should have said that it doesn't yet support it and it was for Apple only.  What a waste of money.

just chargeback (broken on delivery) and buy again _if_ they finally support your phone. Otherwise you just gave them money for nothing.

Chargeback is the only thing that can hurt them.
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Offline notzippy

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #26 on: May 22, 2013, 06:06:02 pm »
Look familiar ?, for some reason I thought this was a unique "invention".. haha, explains why there are clones http://igg.me/at/ButtonTrackR/x/1733288



If your looking for the manufacturer it is here, maybe you could invent your own and call it a <fill in the blank>....
http://www.blueradios.com/hardware_sensors.htm

 

Offline hkgpss

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #27 on: June 10, 2013, 04:23:09 am »
Hi others, I placed my order in as early as Feb, and recently checked their web site which told new customers that product would be shipped in 2-3 days, but I have never ever received the products from them?!!! What are they actually doing? I am a customer from Hong Kong.
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #28 on: June 11, 2013, 07:55:24 am »
Put simply, they lie to get money from customers as soon as they can.
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #29 on: June 24, 2013, 11:23:10 am »
So, they started selling them on Amazon.com, reviews aren't great:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CC6OD7Q/

http://www.amazon.com/Stick-N-Find-Bluetooth-Location-Tracker-Set/dp/B00CRITFYU

There is also a fundable funding campaign started now:
http://www.fundable.com/sticknfind?utm_source=newsletter
 

Offline amandatk

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #30 on: June 24, 2013, 06:09:16 pm »
I saw a link to this forum, and am surprised at some bad comments here. I have 4 Sticknfinds and they all work. I have never had a product like this, and they help me. I do understand its new technology, and the app is getting better and better. Cybergibbons: What did they do to you that you hate them so much? It seems you are really trying hard to bad-mouth them.
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #31 on: June 24, 2013, 07:54:26 pm »
Their behaviour isn't acceptable. They have been dishonest in several respects, and show no signs of changing. Taking almost $1m off backers and delivering a product this variable with such bad customer service isn't on. There's nothing here that isn't factual, and they are free to come and respond. They simply delete as much negative opinion as they can, and there appears to be no channel for us to complain.
 

Offline amandatk

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #32 on: June 25, 2013, 01:24:06 am »
What behavior? What did they do to you? How were they dishonest? I must say, that after reading your posts, I got scared, and thought I was missing something. But to be honest, the product works. I went to their indiegogo campaign, and the app they delivered is much better than the one they posted there. Sure, there are people with htc phones not happy. Is this your case? It says it supports Android phones that support Bluetooth 4. Are there any BT4 accessories for HTC that work? I have a Fitbit, and its not supported yet by htc.  I have an S3 phone, and got the stickers before the app was released, ok, i had to wait some weeks, But it works now. And I must admit, the app keeps getting better.
 

Offline cthree

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #33 on: June 25, 2013, 05:45:41 am »
If they made specific claims which they did not deliver on you should demand your money back, period. You bought these things on spec and if that isn't what you got then you must get the money back. It is not legal to sell one thing and deliver another, indiegogo or not. If you were just dazzled by the shiny marketing jazz then shame on you I guess.

That is what crowdfunding is, buying on spec. You are buying a promise and that is all, it is what it is. If you want a product and not a promise you need to go to a store and buy one. The only thing that matters when buying on spec is the spec. Did they deliver on the promises made. If they said the range was no less than 50m and it only works to 10m then you get your money back. If they say up to 50m range and it gets 10m then technically 10m less than 50m so it's within spec.

If the things didn't work then they are out of spec and you need to get your money back or get them replaced with in-spec devices. The risk of disappointment when buying a product which hasn't been tested and has not track record is very high. You should know that going in. It may take some time before all of the problems are worked out. Early birds may get the worm but are the first to be eaten by cats.
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #34 on: June 25, 2013, 06:16:13 am »
It's all here in this thread.

1. They openly stated that the product is "pre-release" (this hasn't changed, or at least they haven't told us). They are selling them retail without telling buyers this. 
2. They say they will ship in 2-3days, and they take at least a few weeks. But they'll take cash for priority shipping as well.
3. It's very obvious that the way they describe Android compatibility is not adequate. What does "supporting Bluetooth Low Energy" mean? The Nexus 4 and HTC One have chipsets that support BLE. There have been countless people who have been confused by this as it isn't clear. Fitbit and others don't have an issue with being honest. The retail packaging is even more ambiguous.

All of these could be fixed by better communication, yet they haven't fixed it. It's not like people haven't been asking them.

To preempt responses to these:

1. This isn't about the crowdfunding, this is about them selling them retail without warning consumers that they don't work. A significant number of people have bought them, then come to the facebook page and seen that they are a work in progress, and been really quite unhappy about it.
2. There's absolutely no excuse for taking money for a product that you can't ship. "Available in 3-4weeks" would solve this. I can't see why you possibly wouldn't change this. All it is doing is annoying customers who then post complaints who then get complaints deleted. There's still some people who ordered them in Feb and they haven't got them...
3. It's very easy to be clear on which phones are supported and which ones may be in the future. Consumers who know phones in detail might understand what "supporting BLE" means, but the large number of people complaining would indicate that this isn't a good way to describe it.

Why do they chose to continue to not clear up these issues? Is it because they'd rather take the cash and hope that customers just let it go?

You've also got the fact that for a lot of people they don't work. The range is so low and they are so unresponsive that they are useless. I can't work out why some people are happy - is it product variation or are some people easily pleased?

I don't get what you mean by "What did they do to you?". I wrote the first detailed review of the product that wasn't just a regurgitated press release, a large number of people have commented and been in contact about how unhappy the are about the product. Is there something wrong with trying to get that resolved?

Like I've said, they are free to come here and respond to criticism.

cthree - they've not responded to 12 emails requesting a refund. Paypal investigation underway.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2013, 06:47:20 am by cybergibbons »
 

Offline amandatk

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #35 on: June 25, 2013, 02:28:43 pm »
For starters, I am getting decent range. I have a 2 floor house, and I can pick my keys from the second floor. I would say its easy 50 -80 feet away, but there are walls in between, so my guess is that line of sight range would be more. I also noticed that when I removed my phone case, the range greatly improved. Someone had posted this somewhere, and I had my doubts, but with my case on, the range was far more limited.
So, to understand you are mad at Sticknfind because they sell a product that doesn't work? Mine clearly works. You are mad because the shipping times are longer that posted? Is this a reason to call them dishonest? I know that Android really sucks at supporting Low Energy Bluetooth. Yet, my Samsung phone works. Someone posted that they are now beta testing Motorola. This means what? That they are releasing Motorola soon, I guess... Good for them. Did you expect them to hold my order and thousands more orders until all Android phones work? I would have done the same. As I mentioned earlier, my Samsung phone was not supported when I got the stickers. I had to wait some weeks for Samsung support. Apple phones had the initial support.

Finally, I must say, that Sticknfind, that is a not a known company, funded this product from Crowdsourcing. Funded. This means that without the Indiegogo campaign, there would be no product. I have their product. It works. Crowdsourcing worked in this case.
How many companies have tried Crowdsourcing and failed to deliver a product? They just disappeared...And how many that did succeed, had massive delays?

Cybergibbons: What is your agenda? From the massive posts you have made, it seems you are not interested in getting your units fixed, but rather destroy Sticknfind. A small company that made a cool product, that no one did before, and works. Clearly they have more products and ideas up their sleeve.
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #36 on: June 25, 2013, 02:48:01 pm »
So, to understand you are mad at Sticknfind because they sell a product that doesn't work? Mine clearly works.

Mine and many others don't, their action is to ignore complaints and delete them. It's great yours work, but it clearly indicates there is some serious issue that means that some people get 10ft range and others 80ft. Over 100 people have communicated with me who have had problems with the tags not working properly.

They are still "pre-release" according to themselves, and they sell them in shops without telling the customer that. How is that honest?

You are mad because the shipping times are longer that posted? Is this a reason to call them dishonest?

Yes, it is. "Ships in 2-3 Days" and then taking weeks or months, and charging for priority shipping? Why is that not dishonest?

I know that Android really sucks at supporting Low Energy Bluetooth. Yet, my Samsung phone works. Someone posted that they are now beta testing Motorola. This means what? That they are releasing Motorola soon, I guess... Good for them. Did you expect them to hold my order and thousands more orders until all Android phones work? I would have done the same. As I mentioned earlier, my Samsung phone was not supported when I got the stickers. I had to wait some weeks for Samsung support. Apple phones had the initial support.

They put a slip of paper in the packaging saying you could find the app in the Play store, which was clearly false. The retail packaging still is not clear on what is supported, neither is the website. They did not know any other phones would be supported. Turns out only people who can upgrade to Android 4.3 will get support, so you are at the mercy of your carrier.

So easy to just be transparent on this, but they aren't. It's not even like it was just at the outset, they still haven't made this clear.

Finally, I must say, that Sticknfind, that is a not a known company, funded this product from Crowdsourcing. Funded. This means that without the Indiegogo campaign, there would be no product. I have their product. It works. Crowdsourcing worked in this case.
How many companies have tried Crowdsourcing and failed to deliver a product? They just disappeared...And how many that did succeed, had massive delays?

Sorry, I don't get your point? Because other people are worse, we shouldn't care about StickNFind being awful? Why do you think it is acceptable to behave like they are?

Cybergibbons: What is your agenda? From the massive posts you have made, it seems you are not interested in getting your units fixed, but rather destroy Sticknfind. A small company that made a cool product, that no one did before, and works. Clearly they have more products and ideas up their sleeve.

There's nothing that hasn't been said on these posts - it's all in the open. You seem to also be spending a lot of time writing posts, what does that say?

I'd like them to correct these points and stop treating customers like shit.
 

Offline baljemmett

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #37 on: June 25, 2013, 03:06:17 pm »
*sniff*  *sniff*  Beginning to smell like astroturf in here...
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #38 on: June 25, 2013, 03:25:02 pm »
I'll be direct to amandatk - what agenda do you think I have? You are implying that I have one, so you must have some idea of what you mean.
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #39 on: June 25, 2013, 03:48:43 pm »
Bal - I'm willing to believe people are genuine, I've found that people in the US seem much more tolerant of poor customer service than the UK when it comes to tech products. It might be due to much weaker or muddled consumer protection law.

But, based on the likelihood that there are shill reviews on Amazon, it's also plausible that a bit of astroturfing is going to be going on.
 

Offline daviddavid

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #40 on: June 25, 2013, 06:01:24 pm »
I have also the Stick n find discs. i got 10 stickers and they great.  use with iphone 5.
i read this forum, and I must agree with Amandatk. I cannot stay quiet. I think cybergibons try hard to speak bad about stick n find. Product is good. He seemed to be looking hard with magnifying glass. too hard! I think he work with competition company.
 

Offline Bored@Work

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #41 on: June 25, 2013, 06:07:01 pm »
I have also the Stick n find discs. i got 10 stickers and they great.  use with iphone 5.
i read this forum, and I must agree with Amandatk. I cannot stay quiet. I think cybergibons try hard to speak bad about stick n find. Product is good. He seemed to be looking hard with magnifying glass. too hard! I think he work with competition company.

Now tell me, why don't I believe a single word you write?
I delete PMs unread. If you have something to say, say it in public.
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Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #42 on: June 25, 2013, 06:23:32 pm »
That's pretty easy to sort - I don't work for a competitor or anyone who manufactures electronics. If you've got some kind of proof, I'd like to see it.

But the issue isn't that the tags can work. It's all the rest of the points made, which in summary is treating customers like shit.
 

Offline Legit-Design

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #43 on: June 25, 2013, 07:04:39 pm »
http://cybergibbons.com/category/reviews/sticknfind/

They still haven't sent you replacements? Instead they just blocked you from everywhere? :palm:
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #44 on: June 25, 2013, 07:14:50 pm »
They blocked me very early on, pretty much as soon as I sent them a summary of the survey responses.  Several others as well.

Not really sure why as the Facebook page still looks awful, and blocking twitter is totally pointless.



 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #45 on: June 26, 2013, 05:16:26 pm »
Hmm, so today there is a big StickNFind press release and over the last few days it seems like there have been many more customers posting about being very happy... someone has also said that they are moderating all new posts onto the Facebook page.
 

Offline Alterego

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #46 on: June 30, 2013, 02:41:12 pm »
Hi Everyone.

Like a lot of people, I find it quite confusing that unhappy customers like cybergibbons are all furious and have valid reasons and justified empirical evidence for it. However there still are a few positive reviews about the product too, to be working as advertised. Maybe the are now improving in the production deficiencies in the latest manufactured batches, however a recent buyer's review on Amazon.com (during June-2013) doesn't says so.

Now SnF have also released their SDK a day or two ago, dont know what sort of improvement to expect now and in what time frame, will anyone ever be interested to work on it or not.

Reading all this , I have decided to wait and see if SnF can improve on their hardware malfunctions and satisfy existing early clients, plus at the same time lets see if any software improvements can make it better. I do love the idea and surely would want a couple for myself.

There still are a couple of other similar products available but mostly are mainly for iOS platform. A similar project on Indiegogo ended two days ago with quite some funding. They apparently have the same kinda promises, however fall short of SnF due to the fact that they dont have a blinking LED on the tag itself, which can be quite useful in low light situations.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/button-trackr-find-lost-items

Lets see who wins with a better product design, customer satisfaction and enhanced software utility.

If anyone has a better idea to suggest then I would be more than happy to listen.
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #47 on: July 01, 2013, 05:28:46 am »
The people behind trackr sent me another tag which worked much better than StickNFind. Range still wasn't as good as I would have liked, but it was consistent and usable.
 

Offline Alterego

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #48 on: July 01, 2013, 12:38:54 pm »
The people behind trackr sent me another tag which worked much better than StickNFind. Range still wasn't as good as I would have liked, but it was consistent and usable.

Thats good to know. Could you please share the information about the Button Tackr as follows :

1. Does trackr has a LED light.
2. Does trackr has a buzzer alarm.
3. Does trackr has motion vibration.
4. How feature rich is the Android software for trackr.

Guess they would start shipping in August, I have already suggested to the project runners some of the queries I have, hopefully if they are able to embed them in the commercial batches produced.

Thanks for your responses.
 

Offline cybergibbonsTopic starter

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Re: StickNFind Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tracking tags
« Reply #49 on: July 02, 2013, 07:48:48 am »
I don't know about trackr. The Audiovox insite I got sent (for free) were better than StickNFind by a long way:
http://cybergibbons.com/uncategorized/a-review-of-audiovox-insite-ble-tracking-tags-a-competitor-to-sticknfind/

They had a light, a buzzer, I don't think they detected motion. The app had less functionality but it all worked - importantly it didn't bother with the pointless range concept.

The big difference was response time (instant, always) and range (all over my house, and 95% of the time a usable distance).

I tested the latest IOS and Android software yesterday. Only 1 of my tags is working, took about 5-10 minutes for it to pair the first time after multiple attempts. Range is still only 10-20ft most of the time, and they still take 30s-5m to respond.
 


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