Caleb S.
Whistle...A step backwards from Tagg
I was recently forced into purchasing a new device because my original Tagg device (before Whistle bought them out) would no longer be supported due to Verizon discontinuing the 2G network service (no fault on Whistle here). I was excited to get a new device with new features and sprung for the collar as well. What I found was that the new device has worse battery life - the old unit would get between 4 and 30 days depending on how often we got away from the home base or had poor cellular signal with the average being 2-3 weeks between charges going out for at least 2+ hours per day on a walk. This isn't a huge issue, but I found that when the Whistle Go Explore is on cellular that it consumes roughly 5% battery life for every hour you are away from WiFi, so you need to keep the charger handy. I have also found that the quality of the unit isn't as great. Using the collar they provided and putting my dogs rabies tag on the provided loop, it would constantly strike the unit and cause deep scratching. Over time I'm sure this would lead to premature death of the unit. Using my own collar this isn't an issue, but it took years of using my Tagg device before it had nearly as much damage to it as this unit received over the first week of use. The flashlight app is a gimmick at best, but when I tried it out, it would constantly lock up the app and either fail to turn on, or turn on and leave it impossible to disable. I found if you force close the app and try again, it would usually work correctly after 3 or 4 tries, but it was really a gamble if it would even work whether on bluetooth connection while my phone was on WiFi, or Cellular. Never once was I able to get it to work on the first try or in less than 3 minutes of trying to use the "feature." When I contacted support about this they claimed there are no known bugs and didn't offer to troubleshoot. Accuracy has went down as well. With my Tagg unit I found that on average it would be within 10 feet or so of where my dog was. With this unit in track mode, it frequently shows her over a block away from where she's actually at and on more than one occasion didn't alert me that she was gone until we were over 15 minutes away from the house. I realize it updates every 6 minutes, but the Tagg would alert you immediately when it disconnected from the base, so this is a huge step backwards. Even when we have excellent cellular coverage, this device doesn't perform as well as my 4+ year old Tagg device. The insight reports that are advertised for the product to show how often your dog is licking/scratching are not only not supported (per their support team), but they even went as far as to claim this feature doesn't exist - even when I provided a URL to their website which states it does. I found these reports didn't exist in the app or within the weekly digest email and was part of the reason I purchased the Go Explore. Lastly I had issues from day 1 with the order and their support team. I was told on their site I couldn't purchase the magenta color because it was out of stock, so I purchased the green option, only for them to tell me 8 days after purchase that it's not available to ship. During many conversations with support I was offered a free month of service for miscommunication and was told I would receive $30 towards service credit as part of the promotion for being forced into an upgrade. Not only did neither credit make it to my account, I was told I was wrong when I asked them about it and after I showed them the email for proof, they stated they would return the $30 to my credit card and it would take 3-5 days to show up. Over a week later and it never showed up. I believe the Whistle acquisition of Tagg really pushed this company back instead of forward, and have elected to return my device and look for a company that values being honest and my business. The amount of time I've spent with support on these issues is ridiculous and they've provided zero actual assistance during my time of troubles. I wish Whistle the best and really hope they appoint someone to product management who can properly guide them forward as they release new products, but I will no longer be a part of a dishonest and unhelpful company.