Great software, lax support if hardware issues arise.

We recently purchased a Yale Z-Wave touchpad home lock that integrates with our home security system.  The online features through our security provider are fantastic.  We can add specific passwords for individuals, have them expire over time, set access hours and track usage.  This is really helpful for keeping an eye on the house while we’re away and makes it easy to let people in while we are out.

Unfortunately our use of the lock hasn’t been without some hardware issues.

Biggest Issue: Not Enough Support if it Doesn’t Work

Online reviews of this lock rave about the web-based functionality I’ve mentioned.  The reviews are overwhelmingly positive.  However, when this doesn’t work – there aren’t great systems for support.  Yale’s site is not 24×7.  [Yale has a consumer facing ‘portal’ – when I signed up it emailed me back my password in plaintext.] We purchased ours through our security company, which was helpful, but not immediate.  Our front door effectively became a wall at several times in the process.

Battery Issues

Our first lock drained 4 AA batteries per day for five days before we stopped using it.  We scoured the Internet, including the Amazon reviews, and this was a unique scenario.  We called our installer and they came and installed a new one.

Alignment Issue? Failure to Open

Currently our system can be finicky to open.  It looks like this is due to the installation – the lock is not well aligned, and if the lock experiences friction as it closes then it interprets that as a safety concern and is more difficult to open.  We’re going to have a lock smith come and check it out again.