Tracker thoughts?

[Hils and Glenns]

Hi
We've got a tracker that we inherited with our van. We've never had a tracker before so not sure what to expect of the service.
When we went to France and Spain. The tracker stopped working at Folkestone when we parked up at the chunnel.
No one contacted us to say it wasn't working and I only noticed a fortnight later.
I rang them and was told the tracker was out of warranty and so we would have to pay £70 to get it fixed. Roll on 2 months and when we're on the train coming back we get a call from the tracking company to say our van is moving without the ignition on.
Low and behold it works again when we're back in the uk. I've just called them and they have the van in the right place and have no idea why it didn't work in Spain. You'll have to pay £70 to get it fixed is all they say.
To be honest when I call them it sounds like its two lads in a shed doing this for a bit of a lark but actually it seems to be a large multi national company. Is this normal service for a tracker? Do you think its broken? Not sure what to think myself

 

[pappajohn]

Sounds to me like it only works on a phone signal and has no GPS.
Relying on location by proximity and triangulation to phone masts in the UK only.
GPS will be worldwide.

 

[Landy Andy]

I would say you have a SIM card in the device which has roaming turned off so won’t work anywhere other than then uk.
What make is it, that will give others experiences of them
Test it a few times and see how quick they respond. What service do they offer? Just phone call, or police notification, self tracking?

 

[Hils and Glenns]

Hi pappajohn and Landy Andy
Its a scorpion tracker. I know it has a sim card in it because when I spoke to tech support he said they had contacted the sim supplier to ask why it didn't work but hadn't got a response. I've told them I want a response. If roaming has been turned off then I don't think I should be paying to get it fixed. I was told they would look into it but no response so far which seems to be the norm for them.

 

[Landy Andy]

I don’t think you will need to pay to get it fixed. Just contact sim supplier and ask if roaming is on or off on sim. That will confirm, or not, what we are suggesting

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[Hils and Glenns]

I don’t think you will need to pay to get it fixed. Just contact sim supplier and ask if roaming is on or off on sim. That will confirm, or not, what we are suggesting

I don't know who the sim supplier is. I've just looked at one of their ads and it says GPS as standard covering 100% of Europe. Sorry if I sound gormless. I don't understand it which is why I'm asking on here. Does the GPS work with a sim?

 

[Landy Andy]

Who do you pay each month Scorpion, or a phone company?
I’m assuming from your above comment it’s Scorpion, so they must be paying sim provider. But if you are paying Scorpion and they can’t explain system and sort out why it wasn’t working it’s not fit for use.
If you are paying for a tracker then I would want it to work in all scenarios, otherwise is not worthwhile.

 

[Hils and Glenns]

Who do you pay each month Scorpion, or a phone company?
I’m assuming from your above comment it’s Scorpion, so they must be paying sim provider. But if you are paying Scorpion and they can’t explain system and sort out why it wasn’t working it’s not fit for use.
If you are paying for a tracker then I would want it to work in all scenarios, otherwise is not worthwhile.

The annual cost has been paid in one lump sum to scorpion by the previous owner. I've asked for a refund as I agree its not fit for purpose but they wont give me one because I didn't pay for it even though it was part of the deal when I bought the van. I'm pretty fed up with them now.

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

Does you insurance company think a tracker is fitted?

 

[Hils and Glenns]

Does you insurance company think a tracker is fitted?

Not sure. We're insured with Comfort.

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[cliffanger]

We inherited our Scorpion tracker, but since Safeguard told us the premium wouldnt be reduced despite having one on the van, we probably won’t be getting the subscription renewed. Also saves on mileage - the return trip home when you get the phone call to say the vehicle has moved, because you’ve left the plastic thingies at home ....

 

[Hils and Glenns]

because you’ve left the plastic thingies at home ....

What are the plastic thingies Geraldine? I don't think I've got any.

 

[cliffanger]

They are little black plastic things - the size of an After Eight mint and if you leave them at home when you drive the van away you get a phone call from Scorpion after you’ve driven approximately a mile from home!

 

[Hils and Glenns]

They are little black plastic things - the size of an After Eight mint and if you leave them at home when you drive the van away you get a phone call from Scorpion after you’ve driven approximately a mile from home!

Hmm we haven't got any of those. Even so we got a call when we were in the chunnel on our way back. Maybe the system is different.

 

[andy63]

Just a quick read.. forgive if ive missed something..
I dont think it's normal for a tracker to be transfared on sale without the new owner paying a fee to the tracker company..
Same as the existing owner wanting a tracker transfared to a new van...
My enquiries indicated it wasn't cost effective ..that was with global telemetrics..
If its been installed a while there's usually a more up to date system with more bells and whistles ..
I paid for lifetime use while i owned the vehicle but they kept coming at me for money ..saying it was out of warranty and if i wanted continued trouble free cover it would cost say £80 odd pounds for another couple of years...
Likewise when i informed them when i was going abroad they tried to sting me for around £80 for cover there... I politely declined that offer as well..
Just info and my experience of one tracking company..
Andy

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[Allanm]

Might be an idea to look for a different tracker. There are plenty about that work very well.
ours cost us about £60 with a 12 month subscription for about £50. ( I’m just remembering so might be a few quid out).
works all over the world with real time tracking, you can set different alarms and notifications and it doesn’t mess about with your vehicle wiring. Simple battery connection and you hide it where you like.
Ive got two.

 

[cliffanger]

Just a quick read.. forgive if ive missed something..
I dont think it's normal for a tracker to be transfared on sale without the new owner paying a fee to the tracker company..
Same as the existing owner wanting a tracker transfared to a new van...
My enquiries indicated it wasn't cost effective ..that was with global telemetrics..
If its been installed a while there's usually a more up to date system with more bells and whistles ..
I paid for lifetime use while i owned the vehicle but they kept coming at me for money ..saying it was out of warranty and if i wanted continued trouble free cover it would cost say £80 odd pounds for another couple of years...
Likewise when i informed them when i was going abroad they tried to sting me for around £80 for cover there... I politely declined that offer as well..
Just info and my experience of one tracking company..
Andy

Ours was transferred to us with no money to pay, but we won’t be renewing it.

 

[Hils and Glenns]

Just a quick read.. forgive if ive missed something..
I dont think it's normal for a tracker to be transfared on sale without the new owner paying a fee to the tracker company..
Same as the existing owner wanting a tracker transfared to a new van...
My enquiries indicated it wasn't cost effective ..that was with global telemetrics..
If its been installed a while there's usually a more up to date system with more bells and whistles ..
I paid for lifetime use while i owned the vehicle but they kept coming at me for money ..saying it was out of warranty and if i wanted continued trouble free cover it would cost say £80 odd pounds for another couple of years...
Likewise when i informed them when i was going abroad they tried to sting me for around £80 for cover there... I politely declined that offer as well..
Just info and my experience of one tracking company..
Andy

Well scorpion did transfer the tracker to our name. But besides that our experience is similar to yours. As far as I am aware it costs £186 a year, which is a lot of money for not much of a service. Looking at their ad it costs £700 to install. I would want it to plait soot for that! Then on top they keep saying its out of warranty and we need to pay £70 for an engineer to come out to it. Why so they can lose track of it at Folkestone?
Can you tell I'm not very happy? Oh and they aren't allowed to tell me who provides the sim. And someone called Sue has sent me a message. Oh no she hasn't.

 

[TinaLes]

Our Meta Tracker company, sends us e-,mails stating that the van hasn't moved from our drive often enough!. Can I call them with engine running for them to check its working.
No need to rub it in, I tell em!

I have seen Funsters at rallies with trackers that they have bought and fitted themselves, they seem happy with them as they can see by using their phone app supplied, exactly where their van is and they get an alert if the van is moving....wish I had asked them where they got it from, but remeber it was cheaper than the Meta we have, and cheaper on subs also.

Les

 

[Jenben]

I would want it to plait soot for that!

Sorry I can’t help on the tracker as we don’t possess one but this phrase did make me chuckle.

I have no idea what it means and yet I can so imagine you saying it .

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[Badknee]

We can't fault MetaTrak and at about a pound a week with great backup were well pleased.
Eg. We put engine block on when we left site, next morning the phone signal to turn it off wasn't good enough. MT tried zapping it from their end, nothing. Stephen Langtoftlad towed up to a tree free part of the site and it started. MT then rang us to check we were OK as he had been watching us. Top service?

 

[Badknee]

Sorry I can’t help on the tracker as we don’t possess one but this phrase did make me chuckle.

I have no idea what it means and yet I can so imagine you saying it .

You've never tried to plait soot, you've never lived wimmins. Great fun on a cold wet night when there's nowt 'ont telly

 

[Langtoftlad]

Hils and Glenns
Do you have a ubiquitous VanBitz Strikeback/Growler fitted [if not, why not... it's obligatory ]?
If so, you might want to consider the MetaTrak Non StartMT as an upgrade - which as a by product of it's main function, has a tracker. Subs are cheaper too, for more functionality.

 

[pappajohn]

I would spend a pleasant afternoon searching out the tracker, remove it, stamp on it several times and for get about it.
It sounds like Scorpion are a bunch of tossers once they get your annual subscription.

 

[ceejayt]

I have a scorpion tracker. It works really well and definitely in Europe as I am in Germany right now.

Download the app and register it then you can see what it is doing.

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[MyrtleGuru]

I would say you have a SIM card in the device which has roaming turned off so won’t work anywhere other than then uk.
What make is it, that will give others experiences of them
Test it a few times and see how quick they respond. What service do they offer? Just phone call, or police notification, self tracking?

Spot on. Either the SIM is not configured for roaming or the APN is incorrect. Once had a tracker that worked in the UK (self install), but stopped when over the Channel. SIM was on the GiffGaff network. It picked up the default APN value in the UK from the network carrier (which is O2 for GiffGaff) which worked OK in the UK. Whereas abroad it would only work if the APN value was set to GiffGaff (APN: giffgaff.com ).

If it's a self-install tracker easy to fix, if not....

 

[Hils and Glenns]

This is the response I got from Scorpion.
I'm checking with our insurance if we need a tracker. In the meantime it is working in the uk so no need to worry until we want to go abroad again.

Dear........
The unit fitted on your motorhome was purchased by a previous owner and installed on 31/05/2013 and was covered under warranty by Scorpion for 3 years from that date.

To answer your question regarding the SIM card. At that time the SIM data technology used was based on what is now the EE Network and its partners/subsidiaries allowing European roaming coverage where their services were available. Please note that the SIM cards used in trackers are not accessible, nor can roaming be switched on or off as with a mobile phone as this would be a security weakness as I’m sure you can appreciate. Please bear in mind that the technology in your tracker is now over 6 years old and that over that period of time, there is the possibility that the network provider contracts and service coverage areas have changed, both here and in Europe and as such are completely out of our control.

It appears that the SIM in your unit had some kind of SIM latching issue due to insufficient network coverage whilst you were in Spain and despite the best efforts of Morgan and Dan to wake the unit up, without a GSM connection, information cannot pass between the server and the tracker until that network connection is re-established.

Since 2015, new SIM technology has been developed and utilised in our trackers with a ‘multi-network’ SIM now being used as standard. This SIM will automatically roam and connect to ANY network to ensure the best possible coverage. This is the technology that is advertised on our website.

We would be happy to supply you with a current, Thatcham accredited tracker with multi-network SIM for the service call out charge of £75. This unit would normally retail at over £450 so this is a considerable cost saving.

I would be happy to transfer the remaining subscription from your current unit (expires 26/10/19) to the new one and, as a gesture of good will, supply you 2 months free subscription to cover the period that you were in Spain.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.

With best wishes


Sue French
Regional Sales Manager - South
Scorpion Automotive Ltd

 

[ceejayt]

That seems a very fair response and sounds truthful. My Scorpion tracker fitted this year works really well.

 

[JockandRita]

Hils and Glenns. TBH Hilary, that communication from Scorpion sounds very reasonable, as does their offer to you.

If it were me, I'd be taking them up on it..........................pending the length of subscription.

Good luck with it,

Jock.

 

[Landy Andy]

Yes. I agree. Sounds like a good deal.

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