Trakdot Luggage Tracker, Black/Orange, One Size

I bought mine on Aug 10 and on Sep 30 all Trakdots became non functional as they are 2G and all major cells stopped supporting.They knew this was likely to happen but didn’t warn any buyers. DONT BUY

We purchased two of these for a trip from Boston to Madrid. Since I was taking a very expensive bicycle, I really wanted the peace of mind to know if it had made the trip with us... Or not.I tested the two Trakdot's we purchased over the two weeks preceding our trip. There were varying results but, knowing these are designed for airline travel and set to notify the user when in proximity of an airport, we flew with them anyway versus returning them for a refund before the trip.Other than a single notification when driving to the airport, from only one of the two Trakdot's, they have been silent. And we've been in Madrid for 24 hours.What a person hopes, when purchasing a device like the Trakdot, is that they are purchaing peace if mind. That the device will allow them to travel in comfort knowing where their luggage is. (Or isn't)On this front, the Trakdot failed miserably. I was lucky that my bike made the trip with me but, had it gone missing, I would have no way of knowing where it was... Which is the whole point of having a luggage tracking device.I'm giving it one star because that's the minimum for a review. But, it doesn't deserve even that one.

In May 2015, I went on an adventure to China and the two Trakdots worked as advertised notifying me that my bags had arrived at LAX, Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, back at Beijing, back at LAX then back at Phoenix. I got notifications via the Trakdot app, text message and two email addresses. The texts and app notifications usually came in about 10-15 minutes after we landed.Having read concerns about batteries here in these reviews, I replaced the batteries prior to almost every leg of the trip. The batteries never dropped below "good." On the Shanghai>Beijing>LAX segment, the bags were checked through so the Trakdots had to last for about 20 hours and they did! I got notifications at all three airports.HERE'S A TIP. I found the batteries hard to remove so I wrapped scotch tape around one end of the batteries to create a sort of pull tab to yank the batteries out. I attached a picture to this review. Made an immense difference.One downside: Bluetooth tracking failed. It worked fine on my Android phone at first but they updated the app and it caused the app to crash when I tried to use the bluetooth function. I am still giving this 5 stars because it performed its primary function very well and I assume they will fix the app sometime soon so Bluetooth works.Another tip: To use the bluetooth feature, you need to take a paperclip and press the little button inside the Trakdot through the little hole near the power button. For some reason, this was not documented with my Trakdot, found it on the web. When you press the little button, the Trakdot light will light up blue. You then pair it with your phone. Once its paired, you need to pair it using the Trakdot app too. After that, you should be able to get a reading of when your bag is within Bluetooth range.Make sure you read the web site FAQ so you understand how to operate the button and read the status lights.A final tip: Some have said opening the Trakdot up to replace the batteries is difficult. Just lift the brown outer shell so it rises above the button and slide the orange unit out. Pressing the button down to get it under the brown case just doesn't work. Lifting up on the brown case does.Satisfied.-------------------------------FYI.... Here's an example email you get:Your Trakdot device LUGGAGE1 is indicating its location is within the area of Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). If this is a final destination of a flight you are on, proceed to baggage claim to pick up your luggage. If you are at your final destination, but it is not the location of your Trakdot luggage, then proceed to your carrier's Baggage Claim Office and arrange for the luggage to be sent to you from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK).Battery: Good.-------------------------------

Over the last month, I've purchased three different Trakdot units from three different companies (two on Amazon and from the official site) and in all three purchases, the unit arrived without the serial number to activate the product (the serial number is supposed to be located inside the unit where you insert one of the batteries).I did try using what I thought was the serial number to activate one of the units, which I found to be quite simple, but the S/N turned out to be incorrect and the unit showed its location at the companies plant in China.I was so hopeful that this product would be beneficial for travel, but if the company can't even include the serial number on their product, its useless.I would not recommend this product based on my three purchase attempts.

I found opening this to install batteries a little mysterious and not too easy. However when my flight was cancelled due to weather and I had to spend the night in Balitmore before returning to AZ the next morning. It did give me great peace of mind to receive notifications where my suitcase was. The suitcase had spent the night in Baltimore too and to my pleasant surprise, caught the same plane out the next morning. It was great to receive notice that it landed with me in Phoenix. A good time saver, I walked right up to the carousel instead of trying to track the suitcase down with customer support. It worked so well I bought another one. I just wish it would work away from airports, such as theft protection when suitcase is left in a car or hotel room.Update: I have downgraded from five to 2 stars. The first trip it worked well but on further use, it was difficult. As other reviewers mentioned the batteries fit very snugly and are both difficult to insert and to remove. Opening the case is also far more difficult than it needs to be. My main bitch however is that it is extremely difficult to start. It is so difficult that I could not get it started at the airport before checking my suitcase in on several occasions. It did not respond to a thumb press, nor to pushing with hard and even metal objects. On several occasions the trakdot left in the off condition with my suitcase because I could not get it started. Tech support recommended sliding back the black cover then using TWO thumbs to press and hold. As a woman, I'm not sure my hands are as strong as needed to activate the thing. Between inserting and removing batteries and difficulty starting this is a lot of hassle that could be omitted by a better design.