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Close to four years ago, we had an issue with a malfunctioning smoke alarm.  (You can read about that HERE.)

It took us a long time to work through Sampson’s noise phobia after the smoke alarm incident. He’s finally at a place where noise doesn’t bother him too much, but I think some of that in part, might be a slight loss of hearing.

Kidde Smoke Alarms Save the Day

After the smoke alarm incident, I looked around for a smoke detector that didn’t beep. In my search I came across Kidde smoke detectors.  We ended up with the hallway, and bedroom smoke detectors. The wording on the box of the bedroom smoke detector said, “Talking.”

Sold!

Ten Year Sealed Lithium Battery

The great thing about the Kidde smoke detectors is the ten year battery. You don’t have to check or replace your battery every year. In fact, the battery in the Kidde smoke detector is a sealed lithium battery.  You cannot replace it. When the battery goes, you throw it out and get a new one.

When I read that label that said talking smoke detector, I immediately thought, this will be perfect for Sampson. But what I discovered is, it still beeps.  It does ‘say’ Fire, BUT it also beeps.

How do I know this you ask?

In August of 2016 I was getting ready to leave for vacation when the smoke alarm in the bedroom started beeping. I took it down, checked it, it stopped beeping, I put it up. I did this the second time it went off. The third time it went off, I took it off the wall, put it in a Styrofoam cooler, and put it in the garage.

Ain’t nobody got time for that!

I consulted the Google to discover some people were having issue with the smoke detectors when it was really humid out. It was August, and humid as all get out, so I assumed that was the issue. I went to Vancouver, and then I forgot all about that smoke detector, until…

My Dog Freaked Out From a Beeping Smoke Detector

One night last summer, at around midnight, the smoke detector in the hallway suddenly began beeping. Almost immediately, Sampson came barreling through the bedroom door in blind panic.

I got up pushed the button and the noise stopped. Got back in bed, starting settling Sampson down and the thing went off again. Tried pushing the button but that didn’t work. Sampson is following me around panting like mad, so I decided I’d put the damn thing in my car (or smash it in the driveway) and  I was just on my way outside when Hubby came out of his room.  Then Delilah got up, so now the four of us are in the dark living room, trying to figure out why this thing wouldn’t stop beeping!  Hubby tried taking the back off to pull the battery, but you can’t.

Finally, frustrated and exasperated, Hubby took a screwdriver and killed it.

Dead.

Kidde Stands Behind Their Smoke Detectors

The next morning I called Kidde to complain about their smoke detectors. I mean, what’s the point of spending extra money for a 10-year guarantee if it doesn’t last?

The customer service rep was kind, and good. He listened to me without interruption, while I told him about the two faulty smoke detectors. He asked me if the first detector was still beeping and I told him “no.” He asked if the battery was still good, and I told him I didn’t think so.

Then he said, “I’ll send you replacements.”

In case you missed it, that was plural. Replacements.

I was floored.

“Did you hear me? We killed the smoke detector. We didn’t just stop it from beeping, we destroyed it. Dismantled, dismembered, it’s literally in pieces.”

He understood what I was saying, and yet, he was replacing BOTH of my smoke detectors. Without me even asking.

But while I had his ear, I had to ask, “Why would the smoke detector go off? I mean, the box says it’s good for 10 years.”

That’s when he dropped this little bombshell on me.

Are you ready?

You have to clean them. Am I the only one who didn’t KNOW this? WTF? Yes, you need to 1) use your vacuum on them once per month, (paying attention to that little sensor located via a hole on the side, or 2) use condensed air to blow them off, because sometimes bits of dust can get on the sensor and cause it to malfunction.

Still, even though I hadn’t cleaned the smoke detector, and even though I literally destroyed a smoke detector, a few days after my phone call to Kidde, two replacement smoker detectors were delivered to my home.

I’ve worked customer service of some type for years. You could say I’m particular when it comes to customer service. Okay, you should say I’m particular because I am. In my experience, customer service has fallen by the wayside with a lot of companies, so when I find a company that 1) stands behind their product and 2) provides outstanding customer service, you can bet I’m going to share my experience.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a couple of smoke detectors to vacuum.

Disclosure: This post is not sponsored by Kidde Smoke Detectors. Kidde Smoke Detectors is not responsible for any of the information shared here. I simply had a good experience and wanted to share that with my readers.

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