HOOBS Inc. Arvostelua 133

When it works, it works. But when something inevitably happens, contacting Hoobs is a terrifyingly frustrating, appalling experience.

Recently Hoobs introduced a new iOS app which requires that the user account be migrated to some sort of a cloud-based environment. This alone raises a lot of eyebrows, as requiring cloud connection for running what is in its essence a local service makes zero sense. But what made this an undeniably sh*tty experience is that the entire rollout was half-baked, and judging by the overwhelming negative response a lot of users had their devices bricked.

The responses provided by Hoobs suggests that there is some sort of AI-driven bot that tries to summarize the customer’s email and digest it for the support agent. I sent 36 separate messages, of which 29 received the following response:

“I can see you sent a message but the message failed to load, may you please reword & resend.

If you have any questions it's OK to reply to this email, and your ticket will be updated.

Thank You,
HOOBS Support Team”

And in the rare instances my emails miraculously made it past the AI trolling, it was clear that the agent only read the most recent email, is not familiar with the case, and as a result provides a response that is idiotic at best, and maliciously dismissive at worst. It is the most maddening support experience that I can think of. This is, without a doubt, a company that is struggling to maintain its current product line in addition to swindling a lot of people by taking orders (and payments) for an upcoming device that keeps getting pushed back. Hoobs is a good idea in the hands of utterly inept team, and the only way forward is an acquisition by someone who knows what they are doing.

For what it’s worth, it’s interesting to see that they put more effort in defending their sh*tty operations in feedback forums than addressing the issues that warranted the negative feedback.

Just upgraded to HOOBS 5.. Took 2 tries before it actually updated and it sucks that there is no support for German like before. Overall not bad, definitely faster than the previous app but took them forever to release it to box users and I'm still waiting on the pro to arrive

They finally got there sh/t together and released the new apps.

Got the HOOBS box recently to connect my Ring doorbell to HomeKit. Pretty straightforward setup - just plug it in and follow the instructions. Interface is simple enough, found the plugins I needed without much hassle. Now I can use Siri with my doorbell and robot vacuum even though they're not officially HomeKit devices. Been working fine so far, no issues. Good solution if you want to get non-HomeKit stuff working with your Apple setup.

Just received my Hoobs (white) box after finding out I can't connect all my devices natively to my iPhone. Has been working great since I set it up. Will recommend.

Sadly I have to join the growing group of people who have been badly let down by Hoobs. I ordered their product in July 2023, paid for it in full, and it was to be delivered in a few months. Then it got delayed, and delayed again but we were promised all back orders would be delivered by August 2024. It seems no one on the back order list has received this product still and when you contact the support desk, they say “they don’t know when products will ship”. I have formally requested a refund and they just fob you off with another “we don’t know when we will be shipping”.
Frustrating to see that they are still accepting back orders and insisting on payment up front - for a product that now has at least 16 months of back orders to work through.
DO NOT BUY FROM HOOBS

Update 8 Nov 2024 - Great that you are offering a refund. However I have been requesting a refund for weeks now and your support team have been extremely unhelpful.

Update 10 Nov 2024 - I have already logged several support cases requesting this refund and they have not been actioned. However I have just sent another one through, hopefully you are able to get this processed now please.

THIS COMPANY IS A SCAM!
DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THEM.

After waiting over a year for my "HOOBS Pro", I have received nothing and their support refuses to issue a refund. I have disputed the charge with my cc company and will now do everything in my power to shut this SCAM down.

*** UPDATE ***
After I called my credit card company to dispute the FRAUDULENT charge from this SCAM company, suddenly they tried to issue me a refund! Wow! For some reason they weren't willing to issue a refund the first 10 times I asked them to, but now that I have taken some action against them and they know they can't issue a refund... now they're willing to try.

SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM
DO NOT BUY A "HOOBS Pro"!
DO NOT GIVE THIS COMPANY ANY MONEY!

SCAM!!! BECAREFUL!!! THEY STOLE MY MONEY $400

I ordered Hoobs Pro more than a year now! Still didn't get the item! I contacted them for a refund! They said your refund "your request is in queue for our office to handle" it has been two month still in queue!

Ordered Hoobs Pro in June 2023, however to this date I did not receive the unit. Disappointing.

Ordered a HOOBS Pro and after 12 months I am yet to receive the item.

Multiple emails sent following and only offered a web link to a delayed August 31st ship date. After the 31st and again no item shipped have heard crickets.

Addition 1: I have reached out to HOOBS as was requested in their reply here and have received no further information and my multiple requests for a refund over the last month have been ignored. Order #62597

Addition 2: That is rather selective, I’m my recent request (in all I’ve received nothing but copy and pasted replies about how the unit will be shipped) I’ve asked that I’m either shipped the unit and I’ll wait for the software to catch up or I’m refunded. In the most recent recent reply there is no acknowledgement of my requests. Just refund me, Order #62597

Originally (or if you had asked me about a year ago) my review would have been 5 stars, because Hoobs is an awesome product and was working really well, The integration with my home security system particularly was such incredible help! One day I came home from work to find my hoobs devices unresponsive on the home app. I went on the desktop app to check and there were errors. Upon investigation with Hoobs support and much back and forth it was decided I needed to reflash the memory card. I tried doing it but it still did not work. SO frustrated I set it aside and didn’t touch it again for several months. Last week I unearthed the box from my e-junk pile and decided to give it another go. Once again reflashing was problematic with Balena, so I switched to Raspberry and it was a breeze, but now lo and behold, the system powers on but the ethernet port seems to be dead! Honestly, for $250 bucks, this should perform better, not to mention last longer and not put me through all this work. I shouldn’t have to unscrew open my device in order for it to work, your support team should’ve offered to replace this broken device a long time ago, like most support teams do when their product is failing. Now, more than a year past my purchase I doubt you will (but if you do, then this review will be properly updated, only fair)! SO yeah, three stars because it’s a brilliant product, but not five because it’s giving me a headache for the ages!

ABSOLUTE SCAM!!! DO NOT BUY!! I bought a box to see if it would work for me. It doesn't! barely any of the configurations actually work. So I requested refund instructions, they gave me the complete run around until they finally gave me the instructions. I sent the box back in March.. it's not the end of may and they have yet to issue a refund. I just submitted a BBB complaint and disputed it to my credit card.. because now they have the box and my money!! Do not buy anything from them!! Support is horrible or nonexistent .. and good look getting any customer service. Save yourself the headache and move on! .

Purchased to control my garage doors via MyQ which is listed as a certified plug-in. Spent too much time trying to configure. Once I got remote assistance they informed me MyQ no longer works but I cannot get a refund.

Worst support I've ever experienced, no further development or bug fixes for months. The support always just tells me that they would contact me. Unfortunately, even this hasn't been the case for months. Questions remain unanswered. I strongly advise against purchasing products here!

Very bad company, I ordered my Hoobs Pro March of 2023… today I’d feb 3, 2024… still no device or response to many emails.

Ich habe eine hoobs box bestellt die aber leider meine Ansprüche nicht erfüllt hat und ich sie deswegen zurückgeschickt habe. Der Support und vor allem die Rücksendung sind allerdings grottenschlecht. Ich warte seit Wochen auf mein Geld und werde immer wieder vertröstet.

Purchased the new Hoobs Pro in August 2023 and still waiting for delivery.

Communications almost non-existent

Like everyone else they held our money hostage and no product. Seems like they secured money before product and now they can't provide what they sold. I am expecting them to go under before I get my product.

Customer service is not updating customers on orders that are 4 months past due and their support is sending the same 2 templates as reply which aren’t providing any information nor reply to my questions..

You have to pay for fast track delivery 20 Euros and then it takes more then a week to come to your house! I am really angry because it says 1-3 days!