Comments on: Weiser SmartScans: Pre-Owned and Faulty at Home Depot

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 25 May 2010 10:53:05 +0000

What a piece of garbage! It worked great for about a week. My wife hated it from the outset. Kids had trouble with it. I could get it work after three or four tries. It quit all together after that. I reset it. It worked OK for a few more days. I quit using it but grumbled every time I thought about how much I spent. I reset it again awhile later. Still no luck. Just tried it again and it will scan to enroll, but now will not engage the deadbolt or initiate a scan to unlock. It is a real piece of garbage. You’d think a company like WEISER would stand up and do something about this. Works great as a regular deadbolt though!

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:45:20 +0000

Unkle: No salt in my wound, friend.

I do hire skilled trades, especially for projects that exceed my skillset (this one did not).

I didn’t need a locksmith in this instance, I just needed a product that worked as advertised. Seems you’re more interested in lamenting the fact that people don’t hire skilled trades anymore though, which is fine, but if that’s the case, I have a suggestion for you.

Given the current DIYer trend, many would call this “changing with the times”. If you’re a professional plumber/locksmith/electrician and business is slow, I would recommend getting involved and helping out these DIYers instead of tearing ‘em down.

For skilled trades frustrated (annoyed?) with the DIYers out there, I can suggest two approaches:

The smart-ass approach. This feels pretty good and will probably make you feel better about your trade and the lack of business in the short-term;

The helpful approach. Engaging with DIYers on the various websites and forums in your local city (eg. Homestars.com).

The first approach is a self-serving (and quick) adrenaline hit to your ego. The second suggestion could earn you friends, additional business, and respect.

By: unkle

unkle — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:03:31 +0000

So this is a little salt for your wound: Why not get proper results from a locksmith shop ?
Forget box store advice on what should be asked at a true security pro – your LOCAL locksmith. No hassels, no pressure and the correct product for the application . This should be a lesson for all you ”box heads” – quit being cheap time / gas / wasters. Jeez, gotta love you home handyman locksmith/plumber/electricians out there- you keep the box store world turning!!

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:16:35 +0000

Well Saturday night while at my local HD in Halifax I decided that I should replace the lock on my frontdoor, as the one that is there now seems to want to freeze, and does everytime it gets cold… While there I saw the Biometric lock on sale for 130.00 so thought hey maybe somethng cool, it warmed my geekish heart. Issue was that all they had was brass and I wanted knickel, the floor person checked the computer and stated that at the other store they had 7. Went to the other store (Halifax V Dartmouth NS) and sure enough they had em alrighty. While talking to the guy there he stated that as to the product it appears some have no issue with them, and others have no issue. I took that to be a challenge. So on Sunday I installed the product. It took a bit of a learning curve for swipping but to be honest the install went great, the cable connecter was a quick connect so that was simple enoough and programing was easy. My wife has found one issue so far, she won’t stop playing with it…..I suspect batteries will cost me any savings I had until the novelty wears off. Sorry to hear that you all up in Middle Canuckland are having issues, but here in NS, the HD people are great, and helpful to the MAX……

By: Ron H

Ron H — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:49:41 +0000

SOLUTION!!

Ok after pulling all my hair out due to a weekend and not being able to call Weiser I have the solution many have talked about in the above posts. Why people havn’t posted the solution is beyond me.

RESET WEISER SMART SCAN:

1. Highlight the Admin and press the check mark
2. Now the system will ask you to swipe finger, instead press the down arrow 3/4 times until it asks for the factory code
3. Now press the Up Arrow and a capital “A” should appear
4. Press the right arrow and up arrow again till you see a lowercase “a”
5. Repeat step 4 until you see “Aaaa” or “Aaaaa” (depending on the model)
6. Press the checkmark again and your lock will be reset!

Now hopefully all of you will more hair than I do!

By: Meghan

Meghan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:59:30 +0000

My husband just bought one of these locks at a Newmarket home depot and we cannot get it to work as it has been locked by a previous user. We will be returning it tomorrow.

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:40:57 +0000

I purchased this lock as well, and the first one did not work. The ribbon cable was damaged (by a previous installer?). I did return (to Home Depot) and got a new one the second time around. Still the lock is problematic. I am a techno geek – why else would I by one of these, but even I find the lock frustrating. Certainly this is not the level of quality one would expect from a consumer product.

The number of returns to Home Depot must be a red flag. They cannot possibly know about these problems. Weiser is silent on this issue. They have not updated the product since the original design. I can only assume they don’t care.

By: Cliff

Cliff — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:18:49 +0000

Mike;

How many people do YOU think wre hiding behind the grassy knoll in Area 51 when the US did not land on the Moon???

Sheesh…..

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:07:44 +0000

@Mike: That can’t be true because then a homeowner would be unable to setup the lock then!

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:57:17 +0000

Some burglars are buying the locks and scanning their print to admin so that they can then go for a walk in the same neighbourhood as the home depot and then they can just open the lock and rob you while you are at work. Easy to do and no damage or noise.