The pawscout app on Android and iOS promises a one time $20 fee to get peace of mind for your pets location.  

from Pawscout.com:

"When your precocious pet decides to walk itself and you mark him/her as lost, any Pawscouter who come within 300 feet. of your pet will be notified and urged to contact you with the information you provided in your profile."

 

The pawscout hardware can be purchased at local retail stores or bought online, if you are lucky enough to notice hardware failures before relying on the device to track and locate your pet, you're lucky.  There are hundreds of requests for replacement of brand new hardware, normally answered by sending a cheap cr2032 battery and taking no interest in the function of the device that is supposed to be protecting a loved member of that users family.

 

The app is misleading and defective and must be removed.  An escaped cat, "Panthro", who got out of a motel door in a new city, but densely packed with 'Pawscouters' on the in-app map, has never once been spotted, that is,  came within the approximate outside bluetooth low energy or "BLE" of 1/4 mile, which is quickly reduced given obstructions and other environmental circumstances for over 1 month.  The odds of a person with knowledge of the app and hardware actively trying to evade automatic detection from as far as 300-400 meters away for 30 days is profound.  It should be impossible for a cat, unless the user density is padded, or completely falsified.  Pawscout did not respond to a request for anonymous usage and location data for analysis and support in finding any lost pets.

"Pawscout leverages your phone’s Bluetooth capabilities and a network of Pawscout users to safeguard your pet. Even if you do not have a large Pawscout community in your area, you can quickly create your own micro-community to protect your pet by sending share invitations to friends, family, neighbors, and caretakers."

Other BLE apps completely surpass pawscout in aiding the recovery of a lost pet wearing a pawscout BLE tag.  2 of 3 tags purchased appeared to function properly out of the package, but one pesky device tested on an orange tabby that loves to hide in the tightest darkest nooks he can find said taht it paired, then 2 hours later while looking for Yosemite Sam the owner was told by the app that he was out of range.  A search of the area availed nothing, use of another free BLE scanning app however showed the pawscout tag, however with a different device naming convention than the other two tags.  Yosemite was never out of range at all, he was sound asleep under the bed, the first place we would have looked had Pawscout not alerted us that he was now more than 1/4 mile from us!  The device strength, approximate locations and possible spots based on device triangualtion and phone or tablet GPS capabilities should be included, but this hoax of a pet tracker simply shows you your own location the last time the tag was detected.

The reviews are plagued with desperate pleas from users that want to find their pets, all of which are responded to promptly, but nothing more than a request that they contact support who would love to help them find their pet.  Responses from the 'eager' support team are not courteous, prompt or helpful.

Here is an actual email exchange with, as far as I can tell, the one and only person working for this company and updating this app:

<blockquote>
##- Please type your reply above this line -##
Your request (8055) has been updated. To add additional comments, reply to this email.

DJ Visaya (Pawscout)

Aug 22, 13:42 PDT

Hello, Matt. Pawscout uses your phone's Bluetooth to identify if the tag is in range of your phone. This range is approximately 300 ft but can grow exponentially if you grow you Pawscout community.

GPS trackers are larger, expensive and usually require a monthly or annual subscription and frequent charging. The only reason we can sell this for $19.95 with a 6-month replaceable battery and no monthly fees is that it is not GPS. The tag is Bluetooth to your phone. Bluetooth works great outside but can easily be obstructed indoors by furniture, walls, etc.

Leveraging your phone's Bluetooth capabilities of short-range communication, Pawscout uses the network of Pawscout users to safeguard your pet. If you have marked you cat as "Lost" on the Pawscout App, a fellow Pawscouter will be alerted that they are near your cat. The only way for Pawscout to know the location of your cat is if your cat comes within range of someone with the Pawscout App. 
Please see support.pawscout.com for helpful tips and tutorials.
 
 

Matt W

Aug 21, 08:03 PDT

Where's my cat?

WHERE IS MY CAT?

On Wed, Aug 8, 2018, 11:07 PM Matt Wise, <wisem24@gmail.com> wrote:

This is seriously the advice? 
did you read my complaint? yes I marked him as lost, hes in an area with lots of dots on the coverage map, and somehow nobody has seen him once in over a week. Your app does not work.
 

Matt W

Aug 17, 03:15 PDT

WHERE IS MY CAT?

This is seriously the advice? 
did you read my complaint? yes I marked him as lost, hes in an area with lots of dots on the coverage map, and somehow nobody has seen him once in over a week. Your app does not work.
 

Matt W

Aug 8, 20:08 PDT

This is seriously the advice? 
did you read my complaint? yes I marked him as lost, hes in an area with lots of dots on the coverage map, and somehow nobody has seen him once in over a week. Your app does not work.
 

DJ Visaya (Pawscout)

Aug 8, 18:00 PDT

Hello, Matt. Thank you for contacting Pawscout Support and we're sorry to hear the news about Panthro. We hope you've already marked Panthro as "Lost" through the Pawscout App. Now that Panthro is marked as "Lost" when Panthro comes near anyone with the Pawscout App, you and the nearby Pawscouter will receive an alert that Panthro has been detected by the Pawscout community.

Have you checked in with nearby pet shelters in the area? We really hope Panthro returns home. Keep us posted. 
Please see support.pawscout.com for helpful tips and tutorials.
 
Show quoted text
Show quoted text
 
 
I understand that perfectly well, If you'd read my original comments, or one-star review you'd know that.The area he was lost in is literally surrounded by dense fields of dots of "pawscouters".
I would very much like to see the data source for the Niagara Falls Ontario region, to help me understand how none of these dozens of people have even once come within 300ft of the tag.

 

Hide quoted text

On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 4:42 PM DJ Visaya (Pawscout) <support@pawscout.zendesk.com> wrote:

##- Please type your reply above this line -##
Your request (8055) has been updated. To add additional comments, reply to this email.

DJ Visaya (Pawscout)

Aug 22, 13:42 PDT

Hello, Matt. Pawscout uses your phone's Bluetooth to identify if the tag is in range of your phone. This range is approximately 300 ft but can grow exponentially if you grow you Pawscout community.

GPS trackers are larger, expensive and usually require a monthly or annual subscription and frequent charging. The only reason we can sell this for $19.95 with a 6-month replaceable battery and no monthly fees is that it is not GPS. The tag is Bluetooth to your phone. Bluetooth works great outside but can easily be obstructed indoors by furniture, walls, etc.

Leveraging your phone's Bluetooth capabilities of short-range communication, Pawscout uses the network of Pawscout users to safeguard your pet. If you have marked you cat as "Lost" on the Pawscout App, a fellow Pawscouter will be alerted that they are near your cat. The only way for Pawscout to know the location of your cat is if your cat comes within range of someone with the Pawscout App. 
Please see support.pawscout.com for helpful tips and tutorials.
 
 

Matt W

Aug 21, 08:03 PDT

Where's my cat?

WHERE IS MY CAT?

On Wed, Aug 8, 2018, 11:07 PM Matt Wise, <wisem24@gmail.com> wrote:

This is seriously the advice? 
did you read my complaint? yes I marked him as lost, hes in an area with lots of dots on the coverage map, and somehow nobody has seen him once in over a week. Your app does not work.
 

Matt W

Aug 17, 03:15 PDT

WHERE IS MY CAT?

This is seriously the advice? 
did you read my complaint? yes I marked him as lost, hes in an area with lots of dots on the coverage map, and somehow nobody has seen him once in over a week. Your app does not work.
 

Matt W

Aug 8, 20:08 PDT

This is seriously the advice? 
did you read my complaint? yes I marked him as lost, hes in an area with lots of dots on the coverage map, and somehow nobody has seen him once in over a week. Your app does not work.
 

DJ Visaya (Pawscout)

Aug 8, 18:00 PDT

Hello, Matt. Thank you for contacting Pawscout Support and we're sorry to hear the news about Panthro. We hope you've already marked Panthro as "Lost" through the Pawscout App. Now that Panthro is marked as "Lost" when Panthro comes near anyone with the Pawscout App, you and the nearby Pawscouter will receive an alert that Panthro has been detected by the Pawscout community.

Have you checked in with nearby pet shelters in the area? We really hope Panthro returns home. Keep us posted. 
Please see support.pawscout.com for helpful tips and tutorials.
 
 

Matt Wi

Aug 6, 22:43 PDT

hi
I purchased 3 of your devices at Walmart, one would not stay configured,and is always out of range except for about 15 minutes after each time the setup is run (I've already tried new cr2032 batteries, and the one that came in it tests fine) but my main concern is one that seemingly worked without an issue but was attached to my cats collar, he got out of our hotel room in Niagara Falls Ontario and has been missing for a week. the coverage density in and around there is reported as pretty good, yet not one sighting of him from any users in the crowd 
I have left a review in on google maps, the reply said that support would love to help panthro, so any assistance you an offer is much appreciated.

thanks 
Matt 
365xxxxxxx

<-- Please don't erase -->

Device: Samsung SM-N950W
OS Version: 26
Screen: 1440x2792
App Version: 2.6.4
App Version code: 153
Ble supported: true
Attachment(s)
log.txt

This email is a service from Pawscout. Delivered by Zendesk
[22ZO3V-MWKR]</blockquote>
 
 This device and app are harmful, Pawscout claims to provide ease of mind but brings nothing but headaches and heartbreak to those that let their guard down. The product needs to be removed from the shelves of retailers like Walmart, the app needs to be removed from the source code and the users need to form a class to take action to recover costs for purchasing the falsely advertised app and to create a fund for those users who have taken further emotional and financial losses by way of lost pets.