Wow. Customer service. It still exists.

Jun 5, 2019, 1:49 PM

Ok, so I purchased this from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Blink-Outdoor-Security-included/dp/B07MMZF2BF/

Introducing the all-new Blink XT2 outdoor/indoor home security camera with cloud storage included, 2-way audio, 2-year battery life. Amazon official site.

Cousin-in-law had the system for a few years and liked it. Thought I'd bite the bullet and get one. But they were coming out with a new system, so I pre-ordered it and it was delivered. Well, it was less than stellar. The hub for the camera system could not reach the router more than 10 feet away. Installed cameras. Video was good, but the wireless signal sucked. Also couldn't schedule each camera to arm or disarm, so had to move one. They missed several deliveries on the front porch, and were not good. So I wrote a bad review. Then I get this email from some guy named Peter Besen from Massachusetts. Says he's the CEO of Blink Security (now owned by Amazon), and says he wants to send me a free extra camera and also provides his email and a phone number and says to call him and he will help. Naturally I'm hesitant because it obviously was spam/scam or whatever. But then I realized my Amazon info is private, so there's no way he would know my email address from my review.

So I called the number. Some guy answers and says "Hello". He was in a car on bluetooth driving, I could tell. Asked for Peter Besen, he said he was him. Ok......I'm VERY hesitant now. I explained my problem and it was a similar problem others are having. He said he wanted to help and to call him back when he got to work. Called again. He asked I send him the serial numbers from the camera and hub unit, which I did. Figured that was safe. Call him and he answers again. This time he's talking to some guy in the background. They send test firmware codes to my cameras so I can use the SSID of my extender on the ones with the weak signal. This improved one camera, but one camera still had a weak signal.

SO....guy's going to send me another ROUTER EXTENDER, and two more cameras to install and set up. FREE. I am to call him back in 3 days after they arrive and they will see how the signals are on the new cameras. All I gave this guy was the serial numbers off the cameras. He had my mailing address and email because he works for Amazon. That's it. Oh, and my wifeless SSID (NOT password). All pretty safe stuff. But it was legit because I could see the signal increase when the cameras changed, and I could see them sending the signals with the LED light blinking. He could tell the names, numbers, and settings I had in the app, so if it was a scam, they hacked the cameras. No SSN, no bank account, he has my cell number I guess. No address, he had my email address, no DOB, no other fishy stuff. He knew I bought the system. I'm about 95% sure he's legit. Guess I'll know in 2 days.

Anyway, not sure I'd recommend the system, but they have hella customer service. It's great if you have a small place and the cameras are no more than 20 feet from the router. Big house I'd pass for now. But I was literally a guinea pig for new code so if you have an extender like I have, the camera can choose between the router or extender for the best signal. They're also adding scheduling for each individual camera which was my other big issue in my review.

Anyway, I still am skeptical if I actually talked to him or someone else, but this is the guy:

http://fortune.com/2016/01/08/ces-blink-camera/

One of The Hottest Gadget Companies at CES Started Out as a Chip Startup

The Blink wireless camera, which is a cheap competitors to the Nest cam, started out as a chip company before its founders switched gears.

Anyway, Jeff Bezos paid attention and Blink was purchased by Amazon because of the low-power chips and cameras they used.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-m-a-chips/exclusive-amazon-paid-90-million-for-camera-makers-chip-technology-sources-idUSKBN1FW0BI

Original email came from an amazon.com address, and I checked the headers. It came out of amazon, that much I can confirm too.

This would be the first email from the CEO of a company I've received that's been legit (well, that wasn't part of my job), and he took time (a good 45 minutes) troubleshooting with me, not some guy from India in a call center. #Impressed.