ecobee lite Smart Thermostat

I rarely write reviews but I wanted to share my experience in the hope others can avoid it. This device ended up tripling my electric bill because of faulty electronics and that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part is the customer support, which refused to exchange the faulty device, but more on that later. Important point is their 3 year warranty is a scam! I bought the device at the beginning of December because I live in the cold North East and I was traveling a lot. I would sometimes forget the thermostat set to high temperatures and that meant the heating was on for days when I wasn't even there. I liked the device at first, it looked sturdy and well designed, though it doesn't look as neat as the pictures where you can't tell the touchscreen from the body of the device (but that was a minor issue that didn't bother me at all). Installation was simple and took me about an hour. I turned it on, followed the instructions to set up and I was good to go. The device worked fine and I could control my apartment from distance which was very useful. Two weeks in, I noticed something weird, the vents in my apartment were pushing cold air for a long period of time before the auxiliary heating turned on (the HVAC unit's sound became louder), and that's when the apartment started to warm up again. I didn't make much of it, thinking it's normal because it's so cold where I live that the outside compressor couldn't generate enough heat. A few weeks later, I got my electric bill. Lo and behold, it was triple the November bill! I immediately opened the historical data interface from ecobee and saw that there were periods where the temperature was up in the fifties but the heating wasn't working until the auxiliary was on. I reinstalled my old thermostat and the compressor worked fine without the need for the auxiliary unit. I immediately contacted ecobee to complain, and after trying to throw me off by saying it's a setting issue (which it wasn't!), acknowledged that something weird happened to my ecobee and it stopped being able to engage the compressor. I asked if they would exchange it, they said it was outside the 30 day return but the warranty might be able to handle it. I had to reinstall the ecobee and call them. It took forever to get a hold of someone that can help, and then, I had to re-explain my situation. Once that was cleared, the person made me go through tens of tests, after each test I'd be put on hold for 3-5 minutes. Two hours later, still going through the tests I got frustrated and said that this was the last test I'm willing to do, and she agreed. I did the test as agreed, waited for 5 minutes on hold, then the person came back on and said that I needed to go through one more test. I refused and offered to return it to them to do all the tests they want but she refused. So I said I wanted to speak to a supervisor, and was told someone would be in touch in 24 to 48 hours. At 10 pm the next night (yes 10 pm!), I got a call from a supervisor who apologized and insisted I had to go through more tests before returning the device. It was a weird discussion but here's how it went (not word for word, but pretty close): Me: Why does it take two hours to decide that you can take back the device? Her: This is how our warranty works. I apologize for the inconvenience. Me: So you want me to keep doing tests even though the device costs $150? Her: We need to determine what's wrong. I apologize for the inconvenience. Me: Well, you know the ecobee doesn't turn on the compressor and my old thermostat does. You checked the wiring and acknowledged it was done properly, it must be an issue with the ecobee! Her: Yes, but we need to finish the tests to determine what's wrong. I apologize for the inconvenience. Me: Just take the device back. I can't imagine Apple making me jump through hoops like you're doing to repair an iPhone that costs easily four times what this device costs. Her: Yes, but we're not Apple. I apologize for the inconvenience. Me: Your warranty seems like a scam, you just keep badgering the user until they resign trying to fix it and throw it away. Her: I realize you're frustrated. I apologize for the inconvenience. Me: What would happen if someone didn't know how to run the tests you're asking me to run? Her: They would have to get an electrician. Me: So they would have to pay hundreds of dollars for an electrician to test what was established to be a faulty device, so you would agree to take it back? Her: Yes. You get the point... In conclusion, ecobee sent me a faulty device that ended up costing me A LOT in electric bills, refused to even exchange the device, and wasted hours of my time. If you want a smart thermostat, DON'T BUY ECOBEE!