Most reviewers were let down by their experience overall. People frequently complained that customer service was entirely unhelpful, leaving callers waiting on long holds or refusing to assist end users with technical problems. Consumers also experienced continuous system failures, poor software performance, and extremely frustrating difficulties regarding passwords, remote platform access, and third-party installation services. Many disappointed buyers felt that the expensive equipment failed to justify its overall cost, leading to widespread regret regarding their purchases.
Some reviewers were happy with certain aspects, mentioning that specific hardware pieces looked nice and functioned adequately for the price paid.
Let me first say DO NOT BUY HIKVISION ITEMS, I can't leave a minus star review. But as far as service goes.. Trust me . It's a minus 5 STAR REVIEW... customer service is the worst I have ever come across... I purchased there flagship cameras 16mp turret dome cameras 10 x £280 , 1 x nvr pro at £600+, 2 x 10tb hard drives £700+, 2 x tandemvu at £550 each... cat 6 cable , all connector and back plates..I had it all installed... now when I emailed them about my ptz dome camera... I was told... kind if rudely... they don't support end users... IS THAT A JOKE OR WHAT... they refuse to help me with tech support because I was not a company... yet I paid all my hard earned cash amounts to over £5000 .. TO MORE OR LESS BE TOLD TO GO AWAY.. how rude,disgusting behaviour, for a manufacturing company as big as hikvision... what a joke... I should of brought cheaper and got better customer service... and then they have the check to close the case ... DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY..... DISGUSTING BEHAVIOUR .. THIS IS A MINUS 5 STAR REVIEW...
Our work unit was "upgraded" to a newer hikvision model. Now it records motion outside of the set detection area and unlike pir its impossible to view the area and what its detecting while its detecting it.
Another feature before was set motion and then set a separate schedule with an alarm this was useful as between 11pm to 5am we need a buzzer to alert us. Now its impossible to do. Because its using software not PIR the system cannot handle both it prevents me doing so. The system has a button for pir the cameras are the old ones with PIR yet PIR is greyed out with no way to set it. Awful system made overly complex.
Simply the worst system I ever tried. It is a system built to prevent the user from using it. The app has the most unfriendly functionalities I have ever seen. If you change your WiFi, you are simply finished. Two installers worked 3 hours twice to try and re-set it and they couldn’t . Their technical assistance is not existing. It simply doesn’t work and you run the risk of being locked out of your own house. DO NOT BUY IT.
Technicial support is terrible. They just want respon
Technicial support is terrible. I have called technical support 9 times in 7 days, submitted a technical form describing my dvr connecting issues. They emailed me back stating that they have closed my tickets because on no response from me. I am still trying to reach them
Worst CCTV brand. Cameras keep freezing or for fail to connect with server.
Passwords are needed every time a camera gets disconnected.
Passwords get lost after the camera has been installed for a few years and there’s no choice but to buy a new camera if a cable breaks.
Nice hardware poor software and remote system access
Nice hardware (well some of it), terrible software and remote platform access. I have had a system for 8 years and around 2 years ago, Internet Explorer was withdrawn from service and after this my problems started. Hikvision are incapable of catering for the mainline platforms such as Chrome and for 2 years I have been unable to access my system on my PC. During Login there appears a request to download and install a plugin. This does not and never has worked at all. New camera that has smart tracking is impossible to set up. Youtube videos on the subject are all rubbish
The cameras work but after paying for an expensive system the quality of the images, especially at night, are very disappointing. We were told that they would be much better than Ring but that is not the case.
Don't waste your money on this product/company. Had system set up on both home and office. The worst end user interaction. Can't get any help to get a password reset for a unit that was installed by "professional" installer that has since gone AWOL. The recovery email in non accessible. Extremely difficult to deal with. DO NOT recommend this company. Stay away!!
Rang hikvision due to a minor problem with the playback facility losing the time and date, after waiting in the queue for a while I eventually got through, their operator wouldn’t talk to me about it saying I would have to get the installer round so they could talk him through the problem which in turn would cost me a lot of money.
Can’t believe their attitude to helping the end user who keeps them in business.
Guys your sales contact form on your website is garbage, why make it so difficult for someone to seek advice for a potential purchase. I will take my business elsewhere. 20 mins going around in circles no thanks.
Unbelievable, got a costumer support and tech team and even when you state you got no longer a chap coming, partly as he was dreadful and blocked you from everything so you can't even change the timer that has got wrong, they tell you to get somebody out. Great for £100 plus. All I needed is help to unlock the system. Get more help from the internet
Hikvision support Europe is non existing, unless you join there partner program and let them decide wear you bye from. If you don´t do as told, you can go f..k yourself seems to be the attitude. Now we gonna change from 12 years with hikvision to another brand that is not connected to this dictatorship-company.
A Fatal Security Flaw: Thieves Can Literally Steal the Evidence
I recently invested heavily in a professional 16-channel Hikvision system, but it has a fundamental, fatal flaw that every homeowner needs to understand before buying: it does not back up video to the cloud.
Here is what that actually means in the real world. Let’s say a burglar breaks in at 3 AM whether you are at home asleep, or even away on holiday. The system detects them and sends a notification to your phone with a couple of still pictures. If you are asleep, or your phone is on silent, you miss it. Meanwhile, the thief unplugs your DVR and steals it. When you wake up, all you have are those still pictures. There is no moving video. Why? Because when you click the app to view the footage, your phone physically connects back to the DVR in your house to stream the video. If the criminal has already disconnected the box, your phone has nothing to connect to, and you see nothing. Even if you woke up in time to watch the video live on your phone, it doesn't save it—once the thief walks out with the DVR, your evidence is gone forever. What is the point of a high-end security system if a thief can just unplug it and erase their crime? A cheap £30 doorbell camera handles this better.
The "Authorized" Dead End
Hikvision operates behind an "Installer Only" wall, refusing to provide direct support to the people who actually pay for their products. You are forced to use an Authorized Installer, but the system is so poorly designed that my installer—even after consulting Hikvision’s own technical department—was completely unable to provide a working cloud video solution.
The Expensive "Solution"
I eventually found a workaround, but it means wiring ANOTHER box into the system (creating another potential point of failure). You have to spend £240 upfront on this box just to achieve cloud backup in the first place. On top of that, it costs around £5 per camera, per month to upload the alerts. For a 16-camera system, you are looking at £80 a month! Even for two or three cameras, it is wildly expensive for something that should simply be included with the base DVR.
The Bait and Switch
To add insult to injury, older Hikvision systems used to allow you to upload to Dropbox or Google for free. Hikvision intentionally disabled that system to push their own proprietary Cloud—but their cloud isn't even available.
The Verdict
There are plenty of amazing systems available these days. Don't make the same mistake as I did and find one that IS secure !!
The poorest customer service possible. Try to get some help by phone and wait 30+ minutes to get someone on the line. Then I'm told they won't help me reset my doorbell password so I can use it with my HanWha/Wisenet NVR. I do recommend buying HanWha instead. The e ir service is top-notch!
AVOID AVOID AVOID. Its bad enough that the support is awful and the reviews here are shocking but I bought a £200 camera plugged it in and connected to the Hikvision App and it came up with a warning "This camera has a security issue that might allow access to your network download the update immediately" I went to the page on their website for this issue to find my camera missing so I emailed Hikvision, they asked for proof of lots of things which I got together and then I got a reply back we do not assist customers please use an authorized engineer. I emailed back and and said it was a brand new camera and there is a security issue surely they should assist, all I need to know where the firmware was and they replied to say they would not assist. They then emailed to say the case was closed. As this is a security issue they warn about and the response received clearly indicates that Hikvision do not care about their customers security.
Having purchased a new Accusense CCTV box with hard drive, there was a constant bleeping, which I could not eliminate, contacted support to ask for help and they refused as I was an end user, so I had to pay and get a local company to come in and look at it ! absolutely awful customer service. Happy to take your money when you purchase but don’t want to give you any backup help even for the simplest of things that would’ve taken two minutes over email or the telephone!
HIK are selling total junk, rubbish.
Out of 4 outdoor cameras 3 have failed due to condensation in the lens. They are 3 years old.
My recorder failed after only 3 years. I will NEVER go near HIK again.
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