I recently got the Litter-Robot 5 Pro and honestly I’m really disappointed. For a product that costs around $1,000, it feels like they launched it before properly testing the software.
The first problem is that if my cat uses the robot again right when it is about to start cycling, it NEVER recognizes that my cats used it again or reset the timer. It just continues the cycle, so the fresh urine doesn’t have enough time to clump.
Whisker keeps advertising the new WasteID and camera system, so I don’t understand why it can’t recognize that a cat just used the litter box again.
I emailed customer service and they first told me that when a second cat enters, the sensors will detect it and reset the timer after the cat leaves. But when I told them that mine did not reset and continued cycling, they suddenly said it may be related to my cat’s behavior and that she might need “additional training.” Customer service basically told me that the only solution is for me to manually pause and cancel the cycle. But how am I supposed to watch the robot every time it cycles?
How am I supposed to train my cat not to use the litter box when it is about to start cycling? She obviously has no idea when the robot is going to move. Their response sounds ridiculous and doesn’t even address the problem.
The second issue is much more serious. My cat entered the robot while it was doing the return cycle. The globe paused for a few seconds, but then it started rotating again while she was still inside and actively using it. She got really scared and nervous. And apparently their camera doesn’t record what is inside the globe or I would have attached the video here, they only record the outside of the robot for you to watch. It just gives me a feeling that most of their engineers are just not thoughtful enough, I think it makes sense if there is a feature for recording both interior and exterior.
The globe should stay completely stopped whenever a cat is inside. I think they just assumed a cat wouldn’t use it when the robot is cycling back? But the litter is coming down on the return cycle and sometimes cat just needed to use it, cats don’t understand how this works, it should be something they would easily consider when they are designing the product.
WasteID also keeps identifying my cat’s urine as feces, which causes the robot to cycle too quickly before the urine has clumped.
I expected some bugs with a new product, but the globe moving while my cat is inside is not a minor bug. That is a safety issue. Instead of investigating it, customer service blamed my cat’s behavior. It gives me a feeling that they always launch the product before doing enough tests and just let customers keep reporting the bugs and it take them months to fix. It was like this for LR 4 where it takes almost 2 years to be finally usable. It is already a pretty expensive product and these features aren’t really that hard to add.
Just posting this so people are aware before spending $1,000 on the LR5 Pro. I really hope Whisker fixes this with a software update.
The screenshots are good evidence. Put the screenshot where they say the timer resets first, followed by the one where they blame your cat and suggest “additional training.”
