Control Panel Lithium Battery Bulging!
When the overheating occurred yesterday and the control panel went offline including the radio at the same time; Telus did not call to inform me of this critical failure. It was only today (approximately 24 hours later) that I received a push notification that something was wrong but still no phone call alerting me that the system was completely offline for an extended period. The panel is cool to the touch and after keeping it unplugged for sometime and then plugging it back in, it will no longer power back on. This is the third incident in a short period that made me question the reliability of the Smart Home platform. I called support and expressed that I would like to cancel citing these lapses in security and was told I would have to pay a $700 cancellation fee. I asked about fixing the control panel instead, and was told that there’d be a $200 fee just to come out plus whatever the cost of fixing/replacing the panel happened to be. I was placed on a long hold and the call disconnected. Later I inspected the control panel; the large backup blue lithium battery had bulged so significantly that it bowed the white backplate of the control panel! It’s now buried in a foot of sand in a bucket in the backyard. I’m taking it to an e-waste facility for proper disposal tomorrow. Now my choices are pay $200 plus whatever the cost is of a new panel that is apparently predisposed itself to be the cause of a house fire or cancel and be out $700 but still have a home.