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.
I acquired an NVR with an unknown passord. 4 hrs with tech support and they gave up. I bought another NVR, 3 hrs with tech support - could not get it working.
Tech Support - very nice people, but after both incidence they said "call and installer" --
Hikvision was already installed in the house I purchased. What horrible design & software (this coming from an engineer)
I have both Ring and Hik connect cameras. The HIK are a piece of ****. AVOID at all costs and they are brand new. All hard wired (so wifi not an issue). - impossible to connect. Different cameras give different error codes ; out of 6 I have 2 working. I have set it for human recognition only - well guess what it records every single fly and bug that flies by ..quite often I can even re-watch the play back as I get error “number of streaming channels too high”.(and I’m only viewing 1 camera).my electrician (who recommended HIk to me) fired to fix it but even he has no idea what’s wrong. I can even add some of the cameras to the system.
RING cameras work perfectly and so easy to set up.
SUCKS. Impossible to navigate if the system goes off-line. No easy way to solve anything. Like 40 people wrote 40 ways of getting it back on-line and everything is like you need a tech degree to figure out and none of it works. I'm ripping out this sucky camera and replacing with the $65 security camera I got on Amazon which is super easy to use, never goes down, and never has had a problem with the app. In fact, I added another of the same Amazon camera to existing one, and 1-2-3, it works. The recording is clear, the audio is great, the history and replay user friendly. HikConnect is the most UNUSER FRIENDLY STUPID OLD TECH DEVICE! AVOID!
I called because my cameras were offline and the customer service was so great. A nice young man named James walked me through everything I needed. I'm really appreciative of the service. They were not automatically trying to upgrade me or make me spend any money. They took the time to help me diagnose and solve the problem.
Recently had Hikvision DVR and cctv cameras installed. I have no complaints over camera quality etc. My big issue and it should be with anyone purchasing their cameras is- customer service!
It does not exist! There's a helpline and contact via e mail. We had colorvu smart hybrid light cameras installed. The issue being that when it gets dark, the lights come on and stay on, all night. Not just when there's a detection. Our installer who is one of their accredited installers could not rectify the problem and Hikvision asked for them to be able to take control of cameras?! They would not give the info? I have spent over a month with numerous E mails explaining the situation with their Tech Support division( Jaspreet) for them eventually to say they do NOT offer support to end users!! They are happy to selk equipment to you but not to assist? There's something very suspicious about this- why such a secret they can not help?! Will not purchase anything again from these- AVOID!
Unable to connect the front of the street device. The Hikvision tech is asking to buy a computer/laptap with connection to the internet with cable. WIFI does not work.
The cameras are great quality, but their software is a nightmare to use, so complicated. Wish I had spent more time researching before choosing Hikvision. And as others have said there is no support at all from them.
30 plus minutes waiting for service call answer asking two things.
One: Why is the timing out of sync across devices?
Two: How to playback in higher speed (not real time).
To be told, no can't help you with that, we only speak with installers.
So there is no helpline?
Their kit is good quality but a nightmare to set up, especially the access control. HikVision won't support end-users. They only support their installers, despite their kit being readily available to the public. You only find this out if you need support.
The door entry system is a joke as it won't alert the app when people call in good time. It could be several minutes, by which time the visitor has gone, or not at all.
Save your money and buy any cheap system off eBay or AliExpress, it won't be any worse.
Absolutely useless. No propper instructions, impossible to set up your self. Which we had never got it installed. Nothing but problems. It seams to be set up so that anything you want to do you need to get a registered service agent in to do it which means waiting and then paying £££ for their time. They don't want the owners to be able to operate anything themselves. Absolute scam, please don't make our mistake and steer well clear.
total rubbish!!!, never use this system!!, spent hours trying to get the platform access to 'online' no email responses, no one to answer the phone, and wanting to throw it into the bin, better to buy the components and install yourself, I did, as the installer wrapped out house in wires, I did a better job myself after he had gone!!!
Bought a second hand dvr of facebook that was lock with passcode and password and I emailed support this morning and all sorted gotta say fast response fantastic customer service and would recommend hikvision just down to the support they offer and for there fast response very impressed welldone hikvision 1 proud and happy customer
We had a Hik-Connect system with 2 cameras installed in January 2023. For a few months it worked fine (more or less) Now it no longer sends notifications when there is a line crossing. It doesn't show it on the log either. The live view is OK but little point if it doesn't send alerts.
Also there is no way to fast forward through playbacks which seems ridiculous. Did try to contact them but they don't take faults from customers and closed my case. Many reports on website saying they have the same problem.
Very dissatisfied.. expensive mistake, honestly save your money..
Finally, Hikvision is gone, smashed into oblivion.
I cannot express in words the relief when we finally had all of the Hikvision devices removed from service at our property. Add to that the pleasure I had in taking every item, including the NVR, placing each on a big rock and smashing them with our heavy mall. Watching each item smash into many un-usable little pieces has finally brought to an end their involvement in our security. Good riddance.
Could be considered a scam company.
They have a "contact us" page which they don't even try to pretend is working. Messages cannot be sent from their web forms and they'll never reply to emails. Their software is outdated and requires you to install questionable software that require more permissions than they should need. Normally a web browser connecting to the camera should have been enough.
My experience with the DS-KV8413-WME1(B) has also been a nightmare. At some point they released a firmware update that promised the device would work stand-alone with phones, so I purchased it with 2 indoor stations hoping I'd use one of the other buttons to make calls to my phone. It would work for a few hours and then there would be no video on the phone call, just audio. Then they released a firmware that fixed this issue but blocked the previous feature of calling to a phone without an indoor station. At least that's what I think... it's not like I can contact them to ask if there's another way for this to work!
Camera quality is great however a security company can call Hikvision, change your contact info to theirs and you can't change it back. You can 'buy' the equipment but you cannot 'own' it. Also if you forget your password, forget it, you're best off to buy a new user-friendly system. Customer service is non-existent at Hikvision.
Camera's are oke, however the AI human and vehicle detection are really not made good.
Lots of false alerts.
Even line crossing gives false alerts when there is a shift in light. It does not do any effort to see if it is human, car or a car driving by and the light crossing the line.
Software can be way better.
Nvr system gives a lot of noise and could be produced in a better form factor with better airflow.
Support is not present.