I am writing this review for CompuStar (Firstech, LLC); but there is an aspect of Car Toys that should be mentioned so I will write and post it relative to both copmpanies. I bought a new car alarm & remote start for my 2010 Shelby GT500. If any of you own one, you know it is a car worth cherishing and I for one am very picky about my car. When Car Toys installed the alarm + remote start they told me how to operate it. Operating it is very complicated. It is not that I do not understand the complexity, I just wihs I had known before they installed it. In order to arm and allow remote start at a later time, you must park, put in neutral, take feet off pedals, exit and do not lock using door lock, then shut door and arm car (which also shuts down engine. NOW if you go into your car AT ALL (not remote starting it but just going back to grab something you forgot) the remote start disables. NOW all I am saying here is "had I known this before buying, I would not have". NOW the sales people make it sound so good and downplay the odd complexity that my 65 year old mind cannot handle. SO in this case I decided to keep it. Literally right away I noted the alarm had some odd behavior and every time I noticed this I took it back to get it fixed. I cannot recall all the oddness (there were about 3-4 issues) but there is one that stands out because it is still doing it today. When I arm my car after arriving at a destination the first time I press ARM the car shuts down and locks. NOW after the interior lights / stereo shut off (it is on a timer) the locks UNLOCK and force me to arm again (lock again). NOW imagine before I knew this was happening I parked in many situations and of course my car was unlocked the entire time, and I did not know. One time I was exiting and must have stayed at the car and noticed the door unlock. So I pressed ARM again and it locked. This happened when I was entering my trunk for my laptop bag so I thought it had to do with that. In fact the car has been to Car Toys nearly a dozen times and most of those times they told me it was fixed and yet it was not. This is (in my opinion) flawed testing at the Car Toys. One must allow the car to be driven for a specific amount of time (not sure what that is; but apparently my drive from house to Car Toys or reverse is enough) and I assume the techs at Car Toys did not do that. The tech I worked with told me they spoke with the techs at Firstech and tried many different configurations. NOW since my issue was first identified nearly right away (under the 30 days) one might assume since it has not been fixed yet (and may never be fixed) that that would entitle me to a full refund of the equipment. I feel like since the equipment is defective to begin with that should entitle me to a refund of all my install mony too. Maybe Car Toys should refund it all and then take Firsttech to court to retrieve it from them since there equipment id faulty, OK my complaints: 1. Why cant Firstech figure this out? It seems to me there should be a solution since the way my car is configured CANNOT be the only car in the united states (or on earth) like this? I believe this is a firm ware update... but when will they EVER get to it? Never? 2. Why was it that the testing @ Car Toys always seem to complete successfully when it fails right after I leave? Do they even know they have to wait a certain amount of time? I know the tech I dealt with did; but it was never enough time -- as if he thought he knew how much time; but DID NOT!! I have probably used $30 in gas / 5.5 round trip miles; over a dozen trips; ~80 miles; 15 miles to the gallon; ~ 6 gallons @ 4.50/gal). Not to mention the 1-4 hours everytime I dropped it. 3. Why is it that the Car Toys corporate customer support process is so broken? I used online form, no response; I tried call the corporate office and all you can do is leave a message, no response; in fact after my 3-4 tries to try and get the Car Toys corporate office to even acknowledge me; they NEVER EVEN RESPONDED!!! All I can say is the techs I dealt with were nice enough; however, there is a fundamental disconnect and lack of training when it comes to how this system works and when you install it on a customers car you should know what needs to be done. I know Car Toys is not responsible for the bad design of the alarm; but I think if a bunch more up front research was done AND conversations with Firstech then maybe this might have reduced my trips to Car Toys down to 2 or 3 max. And of course again, had I know this was going to be SO painful I would never have had it installed. read more

Firstech, LLC. owns Compustar which is the manufacturer of alarms that is installed in one of our commercial service vehicles. We have another service vehicle that has the Viper alarm system installed.  We wanted to use both types to find the pros and cons of each.  The vehicle was sent to a different shop that specializes in installing equipment and lighting.  After 2 months of the vehicle alarm working fine and after a period of rain the alarm sounds continuously but we are unable to turn it off. The key fob (Which only 1 was included) does not turn it off.  We charged to full capacity but that didn't turn off the alarm.  The battery was disconnected to stop it all together.  I reached out to Compustar support which doesn't list a number.  I logged into the app and issued a trouble ticket.  The vehicle won't start and can't be moved with the alarm continuously sounding when the battery is connected.  I didn't receive a response so I contacted  (888) 820-3690 and reached Danny in support for the product.  I provided him with the serial number.  He explained that the subscription plan had ended.  That he could reinstate it for 3 days.  He added that it won't resolve my issue.  So, I asked does the alarm functioning require a subscription?  He said No.  I was unable to figure out why he kept talking on and on about the subscription.  When I would ask a question he would talk over me.  I asked politely at first to please pause.  He would intentionally talk over me and continue.  I explained that I have a commercial service vehicle that I need to use in my company that does not start and cannot be used.  He said I needed to take it to the installer.  That I need to "call a Tow Truck".  I asked for the name of his boss and he would not provide it nor all allow me to speak with anyone else.  I spoke to the installer about my poor support experience and he was shocked that Danny was so unhelpful.  He offered to send out their installer in 6 days because of the Christmas holiday.  I suspect that the problem may be related to the lighting being installed that is triggering a fault in the alarm.  I've requested that all electrical installation be disconnected to see if resolves itself.  In any event, the reason for the issue is not currently known but I can say we will not be using Compustar alarms in any further service vehicle installations as a result of poor support from the manufacturer in our time of need. read more