Tractive Pet Tracker 2024: Can Dog Parents Buy It?

The tractive company was established in Austria in 2012. It is far ahead in the United States as a pet tracker brand. Tractive's pet trackers are popular among dog parents.

And Tractive has over 400,000 active subscribers on social media platforms. It is the largest subscription company in the pet tracking space.

Most dog parents are knowledgeable about Tractive pet trackers. But do you know anything beyond the basic features? I searched a lot of information about Tractive pet tracker. Different people have different opinions about it.

So, is Tractive's pet tracker worth buying? After reading this article, I hope dog parents will have their thoughts and answers.

1.Tractive Pet Tracker: A Basic Introduction

Some dog parents may have heard of this brand, but have not known about it. I will go into detail about the features of the Tractive pet tracker.

Tractive's pet tracker requires the use of GPS and a cellular network to work. When the dog is away from the owner, the GPS locates the dog and transmits location information to the dog's parent's mobile app via a cellular base station near the dog.

The dog parent turns on Tractive's tracker device when taking the dog outside. Then the dog parent can view the dog's location information on the mobile app.

This pet tracker relies on cellular networks to transmit data. If the cellular signal near the dog or pet owner is poor, the device cannot transmit location information in real-time.

So, it is not recommended to use this pet tracker if the dog's parents live in rural or suburban areas. (However, it is possible to use a pet tracker that transmits data via radio technology, such as the Aorkuler, which is capable of tracking your dog's location in real-time in these areas. It is independent of the strength of the cellular signal.)

Tractive's pet tracker requires a cellular network to work. So, dog parents have to pay a monthly subscription fee to the cellular carrier. It has different options for the subscription fee. Dog parents can choose according to their personal preferences and needs.

Tractive has the feature to monitor the dog's activity data and sleep. It can monitor the dog around the clock. Dog parents can check the changes in their dog's activity data on the mobile app.

Tractive sends emails to the dog's parents when there is a big change in the dog's activity data and sleep. With this feature, dog parents can be more aware of their dog's physical condition.

If the dog is sick, the dog parent can find out in time and take the dog to the hospital. This can improve the relationship between dog parents and their dogs.

Besides, Tractive's pet tracker has the function of setting up electronic fences. Each pet tracker can set up to five electronic fences.

The minimum radius of its circular e-fence is 160 feet (50 meters). The minimum radius of a rectangular e-fence is 330 x 330 feet (100 x 100 meters).

When the dog runs out of the electronic fence, the dog parent's cell phone will sound an alarm. This feature effectively limits the dog's range of motion. And it helps dog parents to monitor their dog's whereabouts.

But this feature may have false alarms. For example, if the dog is sleeping and the parent's cell phone sounds an alarm indicating that the dog is out of range.

This situation may be that the device has GPS drift. Some external factors can affect GPS, such as being underneath a tall building, inside a forest, or having thick clouds in the sky, and being indoors.

These external factors cause the device of GPS can't locate your position accurately.

So, in the process, the electronic fence will have false alarms. And GPS drift will make the device consume battery faster. Dog parents can set the e-fence in an open area when using this feature.

Additionally, there is actually a contradiction in the e-fence feature. The electronic fence range is set smaller, which is more conducive to the protection of the dog's safety (the area range is finer).

But the error brought by GPS drift is bigger, and the cell phone of the dog's parents is more likely to false alarm.

On the contrary, if the electronic fence range is set larger, the cell phone of the dog's parents is less likely to make false alarms.

But the value for keeping the dog safe is decreasing.

2.Tractive Pet Tracker: Subscription Fee

Tractive's pet tracker has other features besides tracking your dog. It's a great product for pet owners who want to get to know their dogs better.

But let's think about the reality: this pet tracker retails for about $50. How does Tractive's company make money in the face of a low-priced device? Of course, it makes money from the monthly subscription fee that users pay!

Cellular carriers don't charge users the full monthly subscription fee, and Tractive's company takes a cut.

That's why Tractive encourages users to buy annual subscription packages. Ostensibly Tractive is trying to reduce the price of the user's monthly subscription fee, but in reality, it's trying to make money.

Moreover, Tractive is likely to be more reliant on user subscription fees for profits. But the meaning of the subscription is the cellular network and the signal.

And when the network is poor, they push the responsibility back to the cellular carriers.

If the dog's parents don't use Tractive's equipment anymore, they will need to refund the subscription fee. This will be a lengthy refund process.

First, you will need to contact Tractive and ask for a refund. Then they will try to delay the process as long as possible and drain your patience. The end user may be successful in refunding the subscription fee or may not receive the refund.

In the YouTube video about the Tractive product review, a user said that he was not successful in refunding his subscription fee after his device broke.

On Amazon, some users have also said that Tractive does not refund subscription fees.

Tractive’s approach to refunds is inconsistent. Some customers receive their subscription fees back promptly, while others do not get refunded at all.

In this case, dog parents do not risk giving their money to Tractive. Dog parents can use the device for some time after purchasing it. Then decide whether they want to buy an annual subscription package or not.

Also, the occurrence of such refunds shows that Tractive's after-sales service is not good enough. It makes consumers encounter a lot of trouble and not get the protection of consumer rights.

3.Tractive Pet Tracker: Customer Service

In the previous paragraph, it mentioned that Tractive does not handle the issue of refunding subscription fees well. This may relate to its customer service.

It has the option to submit a form and chat. But when the user submits the form that requires further chat, it jumps to the same submission form. Its chat feature doesn't work.

Apart from this, users can also send emails to Tractive company. But Tractive's company receives a lot of after-sales emails from users every day. And Tractive's company does not have a customer service chat and phone service. This results in some users' problems not being solved in time.

Catster, a cat magazine website, said “I attempted to reach tech support and the website directed me to use email or a web form as the chat was currently, I attempted to reach tech support and the website directed me to use email or a web form as the chat was currently unavailable - which was okay as it was a Sunday.

I got an automated email after contacting tech support saying it can take up to 5 business days to receive a response. I find this to be a bit of a put-off. Tractive is slow to deal with users after they have experienced a 2-year subscription and my problem makes it so I can't use the device, having to wait 5 days just to troubleshoot the problem is too long.”

This quote demonstrates Tractive's untimely after-sales service. Tractive is slow to deal with users after they have problems.

Some users on YouTube have expressed their dissatisfaction with Tractive's lack of phone customer service.

I checked about Tractive via GPT (but did not verify the source of the data and whether the data is accurate or not.)

Tractive claims to have more than 400k active users worldwide and $100M annual revenue. However, hiring a phone customer service position in the US probably pays less than $40K a year.

As a big company in the field of pet tracking, I hope Tractive can put itself in the consumer's perspective. Try to solve users' troubles instead of just making money.

4.Tractive Pet Tracker: Battery Issues

Tractive's battery life is up to 7 days for the smallest Cat Mini Tracker and 1 month for the largest Dog XL tracker. But in Amazon, real user reviews indicate that the battery drains fast.

Judging from the pictures, users of Tractive's batteries raised the issue of fast battery drain in 2020. But until 2024 some users suggest that Tractive's battery is not practical.

Absorbing and adopting useful suggestions from users can make the product better and better. Hopefully, Tractive pet tracker will listen to users' worries.

5.Summary

Tractive pet tracker is popular among many dog parents as a leader in the pet smart industry. After reading this article, dog parents can choose whether to buy it or not according to their needs.

If the dog's parents can accept the subscription fee and live in an urban area. Then they can purchase a pet tracker from Tractive.