Google Nest Camera Outdoor Gen 2 not recording events

[HootHootWho]

The camera is not recording obvious events other than in the center of the screen, and even then it misses a lot. My wife can walk to her car, get in, and drive away and it doesn't pick up anything. This is my second camera, as I thought the 1st one was defective after 3 days of testing, and so I returned it for a replacement. This second camera is doing the same thing. The distances from the camera should be working, as the vehicles being recorded are parked in a driveway/garage area out in the open and the camera if attached to the house on the garage. On the occasions that it does record, the recording takes forever to activate and the person is already in the center of the screen before it starts recording. It doesn't show them walking up from the road to the house, or even from the side of the screen to the middle. Why isn't this recording? I've been through Google Support 3 times, escalated to a Google Specialist, then escalated to a Senior Support member, and then they ended up sending it to their engineering team. I've factory reset both cameras, put them in different locations, Battery was at 100% while testing, WIFI is at 2.4 Ghz frequency with a strong signal, all apps are up to date, I've tried every setting with and without zones, and it still does not record things unless they are extremely close, or near the exact center on the screen, and this is with 2 separate new cameras out of the box. I've been given ever excuse imaginable, be it I'm only on the Google Nest Aware Trial, that the field of view is only 120°, and that it seems to be working fine as you can connect to live view just fine, that I need to uninstall and reinstall the app...even though it still doesn't record hardly anything. Over the course of a week, my wife has never been recording getting in or out of her car, or her car leaving or arriving, even though the camera is pointed directly at her vehicle and within a cars length away from the camera. Am I the only one having these issues? Please advise as I feel like I'm getting the run around by Google Support. They have guaranteed call back by a supervisor within 24 hours on 2 occasions, and guaranteed an email back about the engineering department, yet here I am still sitting with a brand new camera that's not working correctly, and no other options for assistance, so I'm coming here as another resort.

[MplsCustomer]

@HootHootWho 

I've seen other postings in this forum about the Google Nest Camera (Battery) not doing well at detecting events when running on battery power because it is then in "Idle" mode and has to "wake up" to capture an event. In contrast, we've had a Google Nest Camera (Battery) plugged in since Sept. 2021 with the optional power cable, and it is "Live" at all times, with performance at picking up events that is comparable to that of our older Google Nest cameras and doorbells.  (Since it is plugged in, the battery also remains charged in Minnesota winter weather.)  Unfortunately, the battery camera can ONLY be viewed in the Google Home app and NOT in the Google Nest app or on the home.nest.com website, both of which have better features.  Perhaps (in my opinion), when running on battery power, the Google Nest Camera (Battery) is a flawed product.

[aatienza]

Hey HootHootWho,

I’m sorry for the trouble this has caused you, let me help you out. Could you tell us the case ID from your interaction with our support team so I can take a closer look?

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer.

Thanks,
Archie

[HootHootWho]

I have included all the chat case numbers that I saved. This was after the 2 weeks of numerous call to the call centers for support, with hours of testing, and doing an exchange per the customer support suggestion, but I do not have the id's foe the calls. I have also recieved emails from the engineering department, or so I was told it was them. 

3-9233000032435

1-7719000032741

 7-1290000033141

2-6477000033220

4-0318000032297

[aatienza]

Hey HootHootWho,

Thanks for the information. Our team is currently working on your case. Rest assured we're on top of this and you'll hear from us once we get a word.
 

Thanks,

Archie

[janthadeus]

Hi folks,

Thanks for chiming in and I appreciate your help @archie. I'm dropping by to ensure everything is covered here. We'll leave this topic open for another 24 hrs in case there are any follow up questions or comments. Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Best,
JT

[janthadeus]

Hey folks!

Checking in to make sure that you saw our response. I'll be locking this thread if we won't hear back from you again in 24 hrs. Should that happen, feel free to create a new one if you have more questions or have other concerns in the future. 
 

Best,

JT

[HootHootWho]

No, nothing has been fixed nor addressed. I am constantly told to wait for the engineering department and told do feedbacks through the app, and then never hear back. So then I have to create a new case and get it escalated again, just to go through the same process. The camera will not record my wife's car leaving or arriving, and very rarely picks her up going to the car. This vehicle is almost dead center of the cameras viewing area.

All I get here is that they're working on it. Coming up on a month of technical support, testing, and exchanges, but can't get a refund on a brand new product. 

[Brad]

Hey folks,

Thank you for all of your patience! This is still being reviewed, and we are still collecting information. Your feedback is taken into account, even if we do not get back to you with a response to it. I can suggest you continue to restart your devices, keep them connected to a strong wifi channel, and follow all standard troubleshooting forms.

Best regards,

Brad

[HootHootWho]

It's one thing to have patience, it's another to be completely pushed aside and told to wait for over a month with no resolution or actual help. As I've stated before I've had the same issue since day 1 of purchasing this product brand new a month ago. Tech support told me to change it out for a new unit as it was defective. Got the new unit and still have the same problem. Your tech support keeps telling me to do feedbacks through the app, and so I do. There is an obvious problem with the product and the way the algorithm distinguishes movement to record an event. I have been escalated up the chain to the engineering department on 3 separate cases, and I'm just told to report feedback through the app as I've already done all the basic troubleshooting they had to offer. They tell me they'll get back with me within 24 hours, swearing they're working on it, yet I never hear back. I've done this numerous times, and then nothing else is said, and no other contact is every received. Your company caused these prolonged delays in tech support, promising and swearing they'll get it fixed, they'll make it right, they'll take a personal interest in my case as they understand, and now that's it's dragged out so long I can't get a refund from the retailer. Your company won't refund me for their product that clearly has issues and doesn't work as advertised. Telling me to restart the device is a joke, as this does nothing at all. It's been connected to a strong WiFi signal the entire time, and thoroughly tested for signal strength. Following these troubleshooting forms hasn't offered a single bit of advice other than showing that I'm not the only one having these issues.

Extremely disappointed in Google, their policies, their lies, their basic theft due to a faulty device, and their tech support.

[Brad]

@HootHootWho

I am terribly sorry to hear that you have had a rough time with this process. I am afraid however, we do not process refunds in the forums so this really isn't something we can assist you with if you have gone through the support process and had this escalated. Best advice I can give would be to continue working with Support as this is not something we can handle here in the community forum.

Best regards,

Brad

[HootHootWho]

@Brad 

This is exactly what Google Support is telling me as well. That they cannot process refunds, and to wait patiently for my problem to be resolved, and that I should be hearing back within 1 business day. Now here I am a month later, 1 exchange later, hours upon hours of testing with technical support, and then I've been escalated 4 separate times, and nothing has been said to me, no communication, only to provide feedback through the app. NO HELP, whatsoever. They also can't fix the issues with their camera. No one in Google will provide me with a refund, nor tell me who in Google can do a refund.  Their reasoning is that I purchased from a retailer other than Google, so no refund can be offered, even though it's their product. Only I can't refund through the retailer as it's taken so long with Google Support making me jump through hoops, and swearing to me that it's a problem they can fix and to be patient, just as you've told me in prior post.

I have continued my efforts for Google to make this right, but unfortunately they have let me down time and time again. Today will mark my 5th attempt of being sent to the Engineering department in the last month, but I don't see anything else happening other than what I've been told, provide more feedback through the app, and no other help provided. 

I now see that Google products are a joke. That their support specialist don't care to help solve the problems. Even so I will continue to let my voice be heard so that maybe others will get a refund early, and not be stuck like Google has done to me.

[Brad]

@HootHootWho

I understand your frustrations, and I truly wish I had a resolution for you, but I simply do not. We do not have the access you require in the forums. I can only suggest that again, you reach out to Support for further assistance.

Best regards,

Brad

[VelaM]

I have a gen 1 device at my front door. It records everything. I have a gen 2 device in the front of my house. It gets NOTHING at night. I’ve had items stolen off my car, that’s why I installed the front camera. And.. it’s useless. I agree with HootHootWho, help has been absolutely useless. 

[SmallDoses]

I'm going through the exact same issue. We bought the wireless nest camera after my car was struck in front of my home. Unfortunately, these cameras will not pick up parking right in front of the camera, nor my neighbors car (who I suspect hit my car as he has damage as well). The only vehicles it records are the ones passing by. Meanwhile, all the back and forth movement of a car parking goes past this camera like it didn't happen. 

[Brad]

Hey there,

Thank you for bringing up the concern you're experiencing, I would love to look into this further for you. The first troubleshooting step that I'd recommend would be to restart your device. This process should keep all your settings, and reconnect it to the same Wi-Fi network. This is helpful if it ever freezes, has connection problems, or isn't working normally.

Best regards,
Brad

[EmersonB]

Hi folks,

@SmallDoses How's it going? I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your car. I just wanted to make sure if you were able to do a simple restart to your Nest camera?

Keep us posted.

@Brad I appreciate your response.

Thanks,
Emerson

[aatienza]

Hey there,

Just checking in to make sure that you've seen our responses. Please let me know if you have other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours if I won't hear back from you again. Feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.
 

Thanks,

Archie

[VelaM]

We have restarted without it helping. Night detection is still horrible 

[SmallDoses]

Hi, we have the same issue with night vision. We went ahead and turned off the night vision and it looks way better! It remains in color and looks clear. Try it, you can add night vision again if you aren't satisfied with the results.

[Brad]

Hi there, 

Just checking in to see how the conversation is going. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns. We'll leave this thread open for a little longer for follow-up questions and concerns. 

Best regards, 

Brad

[VelaM]

Brad- there are no suggestions for capturing night recordings. It’s just not picking up 90% of what’s happening at night. There have been no suggestions on how to get the wireless cameras to work like the wired ones do. Is the only suggestion to take night vision off?

[Brad]

@VelaM

You can turn off Night Vision yes, but you can install Nest Cam (battery) as a wired device, but I would suggest reaching out to a professional if you choose to install it wired in. Do you have Activity Zones activated at all? That may help you with areas that are not sending you events if there were any. 

Best regards,

Brad

[Brad]

Hi there, 

Just checking in to see how the conversation is going. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns. We'll leave this thread open for a little longer for follow-up questions and concerns. 

Best regards, 

Brad

[Brad]

Hi there,

Just checking in on this thread and the activity on it. We'll leave this topic open for another 24 hours in case there are any follow-up questions or comments.

Best regards,
Brad

[SmallDoses]

Hi there. We ordered the wire to connect our wireless nest cameras to electricity, because I believe the other user that mentioned that the wireless cameras have to "wake up" has merit. I, too, see the backside of people. It's almost like by the time the cameras wake up, they only capture people already clearing the front gate. It still doesn't record my car nor my neighbors, though they're in front of the camera. We fully charged them and restarted the cameras, but to no avail. I still have the same issues.

I will update here after I receive the wire to connect them directly to electricity - it's sad because we liked the wireless aspect, however, I truly feel the issue lies in that feature. My Kasa Smart camera is not wireless and that thing records everything instantly with zero delay. 

[janthadeus]

Hey folks,

Checking in — did you get a chance to try the steps shared by SmallDoses? If so, how did it go?

Thanks for the help here, Brad, Emerson, Archie and SmallDoses.

Regards,

JT

[VelaM]

What steps outlined by SmallDoses? They’re getting a wire for their wireless camera to see if that helps. No news yet if that worked. 

[VelaM]

I’m having this same issue. My 2 Nest Cams aren’t recording events, even me getting in my car, messing with things in my trunk and driving away (at least 10 min of being in camera view). This is a huge security concern for me and the entire reason we installed. Super unhappy.