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Keep your money in your back pocket and do not entertain buying this system.
Says im still at home when i’m 120mls away.
Now gone offline so is unresponsive,their “customer service” & I use the term with gritted teeth just say its the sim which works in everything else I try it in.
Very expensive torch because thats the only thing that works on it.
Had a Vanolarm for around 2 years, always found it very cheap quality, internal sirens are pointless and nowhere near loud enough. Alarm has gone off numerous times and failed to send texts etc to my phone, I’ve personally been in my van and forgot to turn the alarm off numerous times and it’s still not been triggered, it worked when it felt like it even though batteries were new and system charged. Gave up using it for 6 months as I found it a waste of time money and batteries. Thought I’d give it a try again today, ££££ spent on new batteries and new 1p mobile SIM card and £10 credit only to find the gps/torch tracker had packed up and would not go online. After spending hours and hours trying to get a result and numerous unanswered emails to the support team I have finally given up. Got in contact with someone from the Vanolarm team via Facebook messenger (weird) to be told the SIM card will be faulty and not sending outgoing messages. Put SIM card in a spare phone and it worked fine. The company are useless and I shall chuck the rubbish system in the bin and fit a decent wired alarm system to my van. Anyone wanting one of these I would recommend that you don’t buy one, just avoid Vanolarm and save your money
l have emailed them twice now re a problem with the tracker. The reply l got this morning was very sarcastic and told me they do not do customer service on Christmas day and always reply to emails. Just BS. Told me to check my spam folder. The emails were not sent on Christmas day one was sent last week and the other a few months back. No reply, so don't expect any help from them when it goes wrong.
Customer service is terrible and lazy. I haven't fully explored this product yet but I wanted a professional receipt (email or pdf) but instead they send me a screenshot of a transaction also with their phone battery status and unopened whatsapp message and other apps they have on their phone, not exactly what I want to see. I send another email asking for a pdf and not a screenshot, but they still send another screenshot and beg me to just accept a photo. With regards to their product, I had noticed the unit frequently goes offline which I need to investigate more. After seeing so many negative reviews I also wish I looked on Trustpilot first before spending £170 on their product. I stuck their logo sticker on my VAN which i will be removing as I do not wish to promote a poor company such as this, should have just gone with VANMATE, and if anyone else is checking this before they buy, please AVOID this company also.
The self installed Vehicle security system
8-9 THE Terrace, Church St, HU15 1NJ, Welton, United Kingdom
Keep your money in your back pocket and do not entertain buying this system.
Says im still at home when i’m 120mls away.
Now gone offline so is unresponsive,their “customer service” & I use the term with gritted teeth just say its the sim which works in everything else I try it in.
Very expensive torch because thats the only thing that works on it.
Date of experience: December 19, 2024
Had a Vanolarm for around 2 years, always found it very cheap quality, internal sirens are pointless and nowhere near loud enough. Alarm has gone off numerous times and failed to send texts etc to my phone, I’ve personally been in my van and forgot to turn the alarm off numerous times and it’s still not been triggered, it worked when it felt like it even though batteries were new and system charged. Gave up using it for 6 months as I found it a waste of time money and batteries. Thought I’d give it a try again today, ££££ spent on new batteries and new 1p mobile SIM card and £10 credit only to find the gps/torch tracker had packed up and would not go online. After spending hours and hours trying to get a result and numerous unanswered emails to the support team I have finally given up. Got in contact with someone from the Vanolarm team via Facebook messenger (weird) to be told the SIM card will be faulty and not sending outgoing messages. Put SIM card in a spare phone and it worked fine. The company are useless and I shall chuck the rubbish system in the bin and fit a decent wired alarm system to my van. Anyone wanting one of these I would recommend that you don’t buy one, just avoid Vanolarm and save your money
Date of experience: January 03, 2025
l have emailed them twice now re a problem with the tracker. The reply l got this morning was very sarcastic and told me they do not do customer service on Christmas day and always reply to emails. Just BS. Told me to check my spam folder. The emails were not sent on Christmas day one was sent last week and the other a few months back. No reply, so don't expect any help from them when it goes wrong.
Date of experience: December 26, 2024
Customer service is terrible and lazy. I haven't fully explored this product yet but I wanted a professional receipt (email or pdf) but instead they send me a screenshot of a transaction also with their phone battery status and unopened whatsapp message and other apps they have on their phone, not exactly what I want to see. I send another email asking for a pdf and not a screenshot, but they still send another screenshot and beg me to just accept a photo. With regards to their product, I had noticed the unit frequently goes offline which I need to investigate more. After seeing so many negative reviews I also wish I looked on Trustpilot first before spending £170 on their product. I stuck their logo sticker on my VAN which i will be removing as I do not wish to promote a poor company such as this, should have just gone with VANMATE, and if anyone else is checking this before they buy, please AVOID this company also.
Date of experience: December 24, 2024
Very easy to buy from their website and alarm was delivered promptly.
The alarm is very easy to fit and set up the SIM card. Excellent video instructions and FAQs
Date of experience: October 26, 2024
Reply from Vanolarm
Thank you Nigel for your real life review, very much appreciated. The Vanolarm Team
Very easy to set up and it works very well instant message to phone when activated
Review date 20/11/24
Date of experience: November 20, 2023
Reply from Vanolarm
Thank you Christopher and we are delighted with your review. If you need any assistance please don't hesitate to contact. Best regards The Vanolarm Team
Ive had the system a couple of years. Its easy to use and operate and if you read the intructions properly you wont have any issues with the vibration or sound settings. My van was stolen from a council car park and I saw it being driven away. I rang the police and whilst on the phone I utillised the app and tracking device. Police were with the vehicle within 20 minutes and it was recovered. For the cost this is a decent bit of kit !
Date of experience: November 05, 2024
Hands down the WORST customer service I’ve ever encountered.
The system is cheap with a cheap unreliable app. The siren does not trigger other units and barley loud enough to hear outside the van.
Been trying to send this kit back for the past 6 days but have yet to hear from them! No phone number to call and Facebook messages is not exactly professional!
I would highly recommend you walk away from this kit, or type in eBay bike alarm and you will see the identical kit for less money.
Date of experience: October 30, 2024
This system and company is terrible. A waste of money that doesn’t work. The company have never once gotten back to any of my emails. Can’t get a response to return or discuss with them about the product.. Waste of Money, bad customer service etc etc.. STAY AWAY.. spend the money any buy a proper tracker…
Date of experience: October 01, 2024
Bought this system due to the good write up. Received the system and found a problem just when opening one of the boxes with trouble trying to open the battery compartment. Due to this I instantly raised a return request. The entire system was sent back as received. they then tried telling me that I wasn't going to get a full refund as there was damages, I had removed the SIM card and activated the system of which was all untrue considering I had only opened one of the numerous boxes. They are trying to scam people by the looks of it. I've been left with no choice but report this company to Trading Standards and go to the small claims court to recover the money they refuse to pay me back.
Date of experience: August 23, 2024
Had the system just over 3yrs and today it died. Blue charge lights have finally stopped working and now it won’t charge. The unit has been a temperamental (me being conservative with my language here) son of a gun over these years. Tracking/geofencing is a gimmick to the point my van is outside but according to vanolarm it’s 2miles away, no 400m, it’s in the sea🤬 made it to the Isle of Man once. I’ve mounted the unit on rear doors, side doors, on the bulkhead but sim communication has always been spasmodic at best. Next to a window in the cab seems to work the best but this has not been ideal for me as the sounder units are in the back protecting my tools. Never been able to buy accessories (an extra sounder unit for the front) to compliment my existing set, another full system was my only option. IOS app is a joke, really it is. Low battery 10% constant notifications and false alarms, especially vibration, led me to un trust this system to the point of altering communication to my mobile phone as my 1pmobile account had used “a lot ££££” more data than expected. Now I’m looking at purchasing a rivals system to protect my van and tools rather than reinvesting in a replacement. Buyers Beware of the real possibility of being disappointed.
Date of experience: September 28, 2024
Great product!! I brought Vanolarm as extra security on my Campervan and have set up the vanolarm as per there video for a Campervan instal. I’m really happy with the product and works as its stated on there website, it has only been installed for 2 weeks. But very impressed so far and can’t understand the other reviews, maybe in 6 months I will have different opinion, but for now an excellent product and great value for money!
Date of experience: July 05, 2024
Had it a month now wont call the smart alarm when sirens go off
customer services not so good just send links over and over again
no helpline
ive put back in the box on shelf in the shed
Date of experience: June 14, 2024
Just purchased a replacement siren/dector unit. The original unit (one of four) stopped working after 24 months. The replacement will not pair with existing key fob, after several attempts. The replacement key fob is still a low quality plastic unit, which breaks very easily, when attached to a key ring. Waiting to see what Vanolarms response is. But seriously considering dumping this system.
Date of experience: May 30, 2024
EDIT: updated after 6 months of ownership. Downgraded from 3 to 2 stars. The sirens fall off the doors, no notice on battery failure. The controller despite being always plugged in occasionally it decides to stop charging, mobile signal is sketchy at best.
ORIGINAL:
The product is disappointing in many ways, but with some perseverance it’s viable, it’s really a case of you get what you pay for!
The system is two independent parts, the sirens and the gps. They sell it as a feature but in reality, it’s a bodge that these cannot be controlled together.
The system relies on the main device hearing the sirens, or any other loud noise, this creates multiple false alerts. The best idea is cancel the door and vibration sensors and leave the listening sensor active only.
The door sensors are simple £15 units from Amazon, search for bike alarm
The main unit, while ok is seriously let down by the app.
The app (AnyTracking) is designed as a GPS tracker and not an alarm. Settings for disarming are not front and centre, like you would expect from a system designed as an alarm, it requires multiple clicks and around 2 mins work to disable the three sensors… this is a long time while trying to get in.
The app settings don’t display correctly e.g. open the ‘audible alarm’ option and it’s always highlighted as off, even if it’s on, open ‘alarm mode’ and there’s no indication on what’s currently active!!!
The names of the options are clearly not for a vehicle tracker and take some getting used to. e.g. Local Alarm Horn is for the Main unit beeping and shoudl be disabled really for a tracker.
The setup guides and videos miss a lot, I think with more info at this stage many customers would be happier rather than writing the system off.
There are some features that simply shouldn’t be used by default.
A lot could be improved in this area.
I bought a system with one main unit and 3 sirens, pairing the sirens to one remote is...painful... at best, it might be good if they were supplied configured as one system to start. Opening the sirens to remove batteries is god awful too.
The app is currently reporting the system as battery 1% at last checkin and now offline, the battery indicator on the main unit is showing 50%. The system doesnt appear to work while being charged, thus meaning there are period of time where you unit is unprotected. The main unit battery has lasted around 2 weeks.
Would i buy again, unlikly, i'd rather spend more next time and get a better system, it was silly for me to not read reviews first.
I'll likely keep this for a time, I have a lot of costs with a new Motorhome and i'll look to replace this in a year of two.
I could send it back for refunds, but the restocking fee's mean i cba!
Date of experience: May 28, 2024
The demo videos this scammer makes so good. But he don't no much about what he's talking about theres no sos you have to pull the tab to activate the shed alarm sorry door alarm. Also save your money there 10 pound on ebay and you can buy the body tracker on its own. So two systems brought together and non of them are ment for the purpose. This guys just init to make a quick quid
Date of experience: May 22, 2024
Reply from Vanolarm
With 9.5k highly satisfied UK customers (our return rate is only 1.8% where average industry ecommerce returns rates are 6%-8%, which we feel proves how reliable and liked Vanolarm actually is) we feel scammers is wholly inappropriate for a review. As a video that goes online on social media advertising we only have a few seconds to get everything across (30-60 secs). For a system with so many protection protocols this is obviously very difficult, so we edit to the main benefits. Pulling the battery tab on the siren alarm is really insignificant to the whole utility of the device, hence why not shown in the edited video. We obviously ensure our website, to which ALL our ads are directed to, has a full FAQ's page for customers to review their needs and the utility of the system. In terms of ShedOlarm, we own ShedOlarm and of course across of our business look to utilise common parts to keep costs down for the customer (this his how we are 50% less than our nearest like for like competitor, saving our clients £100's compared to the average £500-£1000 retro fit system). Sirens are just one component of the system with the smart GPS device being the key system, ensuring the customer receives instant notifications, allowing the customer to listen in, set seperate vibration alerts, set wi-fi fencing, Geofencing and of course GMS and GPS tracking. By no means can a Vanolarm system be purchased on Ebay or anywhere else for £10. Vanolarm is fully fit for purpose and to be fair we even offer a money back guarantee is your Van is broken into or stolen whilst fitted with a full active Vanolarm system (tbh, we can easily offer this as we have never received a single report of a vehicle being stolen when fitted with a fully active Vanolarm). Sorry you feel Vanolarm only justifies a 2* review :-(
I have charged my unit for 8 hours,,but after putting it back into van,,it still says battery 35%,,,I am baffled,,,,,,,it looks like I am wrong,,,,after 24 hours it now now shows 100%battery,,,
Date of experience: May 14, 2024
Reply from Vanolarm
Hi, it sounds as if your device may not have any mobile network connection. If the device is offline, it can't connect to the main server and update the current battery status (only reporting its last known battery status when last online).
Firstly this is not a van alarm, the alarm is obviously not designed to be installed in a car or van. It is a self contained alarm built in to a torch that is more of a personal travel alarm. The door sensors are nothing to do with this unit and do not connect to it in any way. They are stand alone alarms that look like shed alarms and the main unit will only send a message if it hears them go off. The main unit has no permanent power supply and has to be periodically charged by usb. The remote controls do not arm and disarm the main unit but work the shed alarms so the main unit will send you messages when you enter unless you turn it off separately via the app. When arming the system you will need to push the button on the main unit as this can not be done from the app and also arm the shed alarms with the remote. To sum up its not a convenient system and I will be looking to replace it as soon as I find a better one.
Date of experience: May 11, 2024
Reply from Vanolarm
Hi Terry, we're sorry you feel Vanolarm is only due a 2 * review. You state Vanolarm doesn't link the soren alarm sensors and the smart alarm together, however as a point of security protocol it is designed to listen out for the siren units to sound. In this way blue tooth blockers etc wont effect the system and alerts will still be sent. The whole system is advertised as battery only, for good reason, again it prevents anyone hacking into the vehicle electrical system and disarming the alarm. In terms of the main fob not controlling the whole system, again this is by design. As we know most vans are stolen by breaking into houses and stealing the key fobs in the first place, Vanolarm prevents this with its two protocol security system . Regatds arming the system, everything can be managed via the App. Tbh, we're not sure if you've been through all the help videos etc or are a competitor?
We note your changes to your review following our reply. We dont chase reviews like many others may as we are delighted that with 9.5k UK sales to date our return rate is only 1.8%. Industry averages are 6%-8% so we know how liked and reliable Vanolarm really is. We'll never satisfy everyone, yet who does? PS we own Shedolarm and in order to keep Vanolarm costs at least half that of our neareast like for like competitor we utilise parts across our range yet always ensuring they meet the security needs intended.
I bought to have peace of mind for my caravan. I paid £107 with delivery.
I followed the step by step guide on the website.
On the first day I had several false alarms , and by 10 days I had over 30 alarms.
Once returned I was charged nearly £50 in charges, which included another charge for the sim card even though they said to keep it. They charge for using all the devices and £15 plus vat admin fee.
I would never use this company again.
Date of experience: May 09, 2024
Reply from Vanolarm
Hi Anthony, As you know via our correspondence prior to you returning your goods, stating they were faulty, we advised in our email that Admin charges would be chargedbfor used goods if found not to be faulty. We also ask you to read the return policy which we sent a link, which clearly shows the reduction in refund value if goods are used. Unlike some that will not refund used goods, we still do. The goods you returned, you said were faulty and would not turn off, hence why you were returning them. Our test engineers tested your item and found the smart alarm still had its own internal vibration sensor active. This means when you pick up the smart alarm to turn it off via the button, alerts are sent to the user and the on/off button becomes non functional for 60 secs. This is to ensure nobody can switch the smart alarm off without your knowledge, helping to keep your vehicle protected. You can of course, as we did, turn the smart alarm off via the App (in all eventualities). The admin fee was for testing your used alarm that was found to be working. As we can not legally sell returned items as new the other costs, allow for this. In terms of the sim card, again we clearly stated, if used, we can not refund this item, as it will be registered to you etc, we suggest keeping it so you can use your £10 credit (if returned, we would have to still deduct this cost for reasons stated). To be honest we're not sure what more we could do, especially as the goods were used , not found to be faulty , we advised you of possible costs before your return and still refunded where others would not. 😪
Bought my 3 piece vanolarm on line… end of 2022… can be a little tetchy at times…
But for me.. it’s been good value for the money and still going strong…have it on a £6 a month recurring payment with a phone network provider… so don’t remove sim… Happy Days..
Date of experience: May 06, 2023
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