Really tired of the problems with this junk.

k9x9 said:
3 different vehicles, 3 different hardwire kits (all Viofo), 3 different socket power cords (also all Viofo), a dozen different SD cards (several of them explicitly approved by Viofo, various brands, various sizes, etc.) ... It's not like my experience is an isolated one either. There are over 100 similar complaints on Amazon alone about similar problems and quite a few here as well. That's 100+ people with 100+ vehicles, 100+ SD cards of varying makes, models, sizes, etc. The vast majority are probably using the cigarette lighter adapter for whatever that's worth. The only common denominator in any of these scenarios is the Viofo A139.

I have also been at this with Viofo for over a month. They ask me a question and I answer it - right in the support ticket. They ask me the same question again the next day. I answer it again. They ask it again 2 days later. Over 1 month in and today they asked me to send them a video of the camera connected to wifi in the app .... Um, hello?? That is either grossly incompetent or intentionally designed to frustrate consumers into going away.

As far as my installation, of course I make mistakes like everyone else. However, these are very simple, straightforward installations for people that have done this type of thing before, I always check my work several times over and there is absolutely no logical wiring scenario in which the camera (mostly) works fine for 10 months and then suddenly has these issues? The wires are hooked up to the same circuits they were on day one. Nothing has been added to or removed from the car. The wires were inspected for physical damage and there was none. The fuses were checked; nothing of concern there. Nothing burned or blown. I was open to the possibly of voltage fluctuations and I absolutely did consider that the hardwiring kit could be kit. As such, I promptly followed the advice to switch power to the Viofo-supplied socket adapter several posts ago. So yes, we can 100% definitely rule out my wiring and the hardwire kit since both were entirely removed from the equation several posts ago.

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I believe you missed the point I was trying to make but sorry for your frustration. It is understandable.

Good luck with your cameras.
 
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So frustrating for the OP. A hard reset of each of the units should also be attempted. Resets will solve about 75% of problems in my experience.
 
k9x9 said:
I uploaded a video to the existing ticket yesterday showing that the wifi button just keeps when I press it and the light remains out. I have tried turning wifi on/off repeatedly and have tried it over 3 different devices. No luck. Additionally, I can connect to the wifi on the other 2 Viofo cams with these same 3 devices, so I know the issue is with this specific camera. Ticket 128470.
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Thanks for your information, we will give you a solution soon at your will.
 
k9x9 said:
3 different vehicles, 3 different hardwire kits (all Viofo), 3 different socket power cords (also all Viofo), a dozen different SD cards (several of them explicitly approved by Viofo, various brands, various sizes, etc.) ... It's not like my experience is an isolated one either. There are over 100 similar complaints on Amazon alone about similar problems and quite a few here as well. That's 100+ people with 100+ vehicles, 100+ SD cards of varying makes, models, sizes, etc. The vast majority are probably using the cigarette lighter adapter for whatever that's worth. The only common denominator in any of these scenarios is the Viofo A139.

I have also been at this with Viofo for over a month. They ask me a question and I answer it - right in the support ticket. They ask me the same question again the next day. I answer it again. They ask it again 2 days later. Over 1 month in and today they asked me to send them a video of the camera connected to wifi in the app .... Um, hello?? That is either grossly incompetent or intentionally designed to frustrate consumers into going away.

As far as my installation, of course I make mistakes like everyone else. However, these are very simple, straightforward installations for people that have done this type of thing before, I always check my work several times over and there is absolutely no logical wiring scenario in which the camera (mostly) works fine for 10 months and then suddenly has these issues? The wires are hooked up to the same circuits they were on day one. Nothing has been added to or removed from the car. The wires were inspected for physical damage and there was none. The fuses were checked; nothing of concern there. Nothing burned or blown. I was open to the possibly of voltage fluctuations and I absolutely did consider that the hardwiring kit could be kit. As such, I promptly followed the advice to switch power to the Viofo-supplied socket adapter several posts ago. So yes, we can 100% definitely rule out my wiring and the hardwire kit since both were entirely removed from the equation several posts ago.

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After all is said and done.
What do you think a fair resolution to your complaint would be?
What do you want to happen?
-Chuck
 
Do the power cable and the rear camera cable each run on a second A-pillar or do they run parallel to each other along the top edge of the windshield ?
 
OP - this is nearly my same situation. I jumped through many many many hoops with support trying to get it right. They sent me a replacement, and the replacement was worse than the one I sent in (would freeze and/or reboot about 3x more often than mine). Mine was hard-wired, and also troubleshot using the factory USB. multiple deep formats of multiple SD cards. unplugging various cameras to troubleshoot. multiple hard resets. The whole nine.

Because I used a Visa, there are some card protections that are good for a year after manufacturer's warranty ends. I have submitted my claim and they have approved it, and will reimburse me for A REPLACEMENT PURCHASE up to the amount I spent on the A139 (they don't just give you your money back, like they used to do).

I will also add, that the parking mode was ineffective, as it did not detect a stalker from attempting to damage another of my cars (in direct view of the A139), but my home cameras did. They failed a number of times to record cars passing in front of my car while in parking mode also.

The software on iOS was a joke.

Support eventually sent me a new one, whose internal SD card latch mechanism broke and shot my card onto the floor and will not latch to accept the sd card anymore. The quality control is crazy bad.

I am on this site, solely to look for a replacement and decided to drop into this forum to see if others thought this camera and/or brand was $hi1.

Condolences to OP.
 
gifand said:
OP - this is nearly my same situation. I jumped through many many many hoops with support trying to get it right. They sent me a replacement, and the replacement was worse than the one I sent in (would freeze and/or reboot about 3x more often than mine). Mine was hard-wired, and also troubleshot using the factory USB. multiple deep formats of multiple SD cards. unplugging various cameras to troubleshoot. multiple hard resets. The whole nine.

Because I used a Visa, there are some card protections that are good for a year after manufacturer's warranty ends. I have submitted my claim and they have approved it, and will reimburse me for A REPLACEMENT PURCHASE up to the amount I spent on the A139 (they don't just give you your money back, like they used to do).

I will also add, that the parking mode was ineffective, as it did not detect a stalker from attempting to damage another of my cars (in direct view of the A139), but my home cameras did. They failed a number of times to record cars passing in front of my car while in parking mode also.

The software on iOS was a joke.

Support eventually sent me a new one, whose internal SD card latch mechanism broke and shot my card onto the floor and will not latch to accept the sd card anymore. The quality control is crazy bad.

I am on this site, solely to look for a replacement and decided to drop into this forum to see if others thought this camera and/or brand was $hi1.

Condolences to OP.
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Firstly, we deeply apologize for all the inconvenience our camera brought to you. According to your description, our support has sent you a replacement first and then sent you a new one to solve the issues, right? Although both of them cannot satisfy you in the end, our support really tried whatever he could to help you out. Anyway, we can totally understand your feelings, and we will keep trying to optimize both our products and services.
 
Similarly, I went through three A119S models, all of which created corrupted files within the first 24-48 hours of resetting the device and would eventually just corrupt the storage entirely, getting into constant reboot or freeze situations and requiring a reset + reformat every time. Went through this for many months, trying various storage cards, power connection options, etc. - always the same results.

I eventually went to Street Guardian in 2018 in each of our three cars and they've been solid devices. Given this history, I'm somewhat wary of trying other brands by this point. I have been considering a Wi-Fi enabled upgrade from our current SGGCX2PRO units and saw that Dashcamtalk has a lot of Viofo models in their 2023 recommendations list, but I can't see ever going back to this brand, unfortunately.
 
ooofest said:
Similarly, I went through three A119S models, all of which created corrupted files within the first 24-48 hours of resetting the device and would eventually just corrupt the storage entirely, getting into constant reboot or freeze situations and requiring a reset + reformat every time. Went through this for many months, trying various storage cards, power connection options, etc. - always the same results.

I eventually went to Street Guardian in 2018 in each of our three cars and they've been solid devices. Given this history, I'm somewhat wary of trying other brands by this point. I have been considering a Wi-Fi enabled upgrade from our current SGGCX2PRO units and saw that Dashcamtalk has a lot of Viofo models in their 2023 recommendations list, but I can't see ever going back to this brand, unfortunately.
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I have purchased and installed a Thinkware U1000 in the last 10 days and it is acting more reliable than any of the Viofo units. It is still early days, and I DID buy the extended warranty just in case, but you might take a look if you're looking at a wifi enabled replacement for the Street Guardians. It had the higher end specs that I wanted, and felt like a solid choice, despite the U1000 having been released a couple years ago.
 
I have had a A119 v1 since 2016, ZERO issues. Still works perfectly to this day. Most issues that occur with dash cams, is either power related, or Sd card related.
Sorry to hear u had issues, though i have never used any muti-channel dash cams. I use seperate cams, one front, one rear.
 
Long time lurker, also had many, many issues with A139. The replacement was even worse than the original. Each part was replaced, cables re-run, new interior and rear cameras, and hardwire kit. There was a lot to like about it but it was extremely unreliable. It would randomly freeze and require a hard disconnect of power cable to reset it. The ACC ON/OFF was finicky and sometimes wouldn't trigger. Thanks for the suggestion to look at the credit card coverage because I was out $250 @gifand and Viofo support, as helpful as they are, cannot fix a design issue. This coming from someone who has had 3 A119v2's which are all still working after 8 years. A229 that works great.

I switched to a RedTiger F7NP dual channel and haven't looked back. No freezes, no boot loops. As much as I like the image quality of the A139 because it is hands down much better - the video quality doesn't matter if the footage fails to record when you actually rely on it.
 
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