Customer Reviews

Gunvault GVB2000 Multi Vault Biometric Gun Safe

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

When we made our purchase a few months ago, the only reviews talked about how it was so expensive. Well, that was not relevant to us; we did not want to skimp on something that could conceivably affect our safety. Unfortunately, we found that high price is no guarantee of quality. Our experience was almost identical to that of another reviewer. We opened the box, started programming the fingerprints, and found that the door would not close. Contacting the vendor was no help. The manufacturer returned my call the next day, and had me use the key to turn the screw that apparently tightens up the door to the safe. He seemed annoyed when, despite my following his directions to adjust that screw, I still could not get the door to close.

He fed-ex'd another safe to me; it took about 2 weeks to arrive, and it seemed to work ok. However, we have had two instances since then when just a little bump on the top of the safe caused the door to pop open. Since we are using this safe for its intended purpose, this is unacceptable. I suppose I will start playing with that screw again, but - if GunVault thinks it is just a matter of that screw being in the proper position - why don't they set it for best operation, and then apply some Loc-tite or something else that will freeze the screw into place? Our GunVault is in just about as protected environment as it could get. No vibration, no excess humidity, etc. No reason for it to be failing. This is really a disappointing product, for which there doesn't seem to be much alternative.

I ordered this vault to review it for a gun safety blog and community and after first opening it the safe door would not close. I called the company and the tech support person explained this was a common problem and asked me to get a phillips head screwdriver and peel back the foam covering the latch mechanism and try to loosen the screw there. I did as he asked, which was not easy, since a regular sized screw driver is too long to reach the screw and a drill bit sized head didn't give me the right amount of leverage. I eventually had to use a pair of pliers and the drill bit head and got it loosened. Then after toying with the lock mechanism I got the door to shut.

I waited a moment and was going to try to open the vault with my fingerprint when the door just opened on its own. I went to shut it and it wouldn't shut again. While I could repeat the process of adjusting the lock mechanism between each opening and closing and can get the door to close, It would not reliably stay shut. Not the ideal situation for a gun safe, especially one that costs north of $300.

Do not purchase this product. It is poorly made and when it comes to the safety of human lives, companies that cut corners are in my opinion reprehensible.

Also when I tried to get a comment from the company about the quality of their product for the review I am writing for the gun safety blog they sent me to voice mail and never returned my call. Caveat Emptor.

The fingerprint recognition must be very exacting. Took 6 tries one time to open. Make sure when you do your fingerprint set up, that your finger is in the same spot when you try and open the safe. Size is good for four full-sized armaments and the door opens with speed and force, which is desirable for the item, but still startles me every time.

I bought this safe about a year ago. Rarely opened it. One day when I tried to open the door I started hearing the motor turning but it wouldn't click to open the door. I had to look for the key to be able to manually open the door. I immediately took out all of my belongings since I could not trust this safe anymore. I opened the box and took out the mechanics that opens the door. What I found was very shocking to me. The way this safe works is that when the fingerprint is detected a small DC motor would start turning. There is a wire connected to the shaft of this motor that gets shorter as the shaft makes more revolution. As the wire gets shorter it pulls on the lever that releases the door. This wire is simply crimped to the shaft, it is almost like they designed it so it would break after couple of uses. Very poor design and a big mistake. The wire on my unit was broken so the motor would just keep turning without opening the door. Do NOT buy this product since you would never know when this wire would break on you. Even though Im very unhappy about this purchase, I'm glad the wire broke when it did and not during an emergency. Imagine needing your gun in the middle of the night and just hearing a DC motor turning with no access to your weapon.

Became more finicky as time went on then stopped opening all together. Worked great for about 4 months. Just out of warranty it breaks all together. I would avoid this product if you really need to get into it quickly.

I bought this six months ago and overall it has been ok. The fingerprint reader is very sensitive and requires just the right positioning to respond. I'm not sure it is really that much faster than using a key.

Customer support has been pretty much unresponsive and difficult to get a hold of.

The SERIOUS PROBLEM, however, is that it is possible for the unit to appear to be closed and secured when it actually is not. I left on a business trip and two days later my wife was doing some work near the gun vault. She bumped the table that the gun vault sits on and it popped open! Her fingerprint isn't even registered in the device!

I discovered that if you don't close the gun vault forcefully then it will latch without locking. The door will appear to be closed (won't spring open) but a minor bump will pop the door right open.

I wrote to customer service about this and again, they have not responded at all.

BUYER BEWARE!

Bought this product for bedside storage of a firearm. I was interested in a safe that would be secure, but one that I could access quickly, and in the dark if needed. I read the reviews, and saw that many of them were negative but thought I would give the product a try. I opened the package and set up the unit. After registering my fingerprint, I tried to open the safe. The first time I tried opening, it made a noise but the door did not open. Tried again, same thing. On the third try the door opened. Tried to register a second print, my wifes, didn't work. Opened the door with my print, noise, door won't open. Then finally, it quit registering my fingerprint at all. Absolutely disappointing for the price, I really liked the design factor, and the fact that it had two shelves, but there is NO WAY that I would trust this thing if I really needed it. Going back to the seller today.

I bought this safe about 1 month ago i was able to easily program my fingerprint. Things look good so far i press the button insert my finger bang the door popped open. This goes on for a week or so and 1 day i show a relative the safe he proceeds to try to open it and pop goes the door. Now im confused. I located the reset button inside the safe cleared the fingerprint reprogrammed it now thingr are good. I find that from day to day I have to try two, three, 5,6 times to open the door and as of today now I tried over 15 times nothing. (hope the bad guys dont hear me begging to get into the safe) Now I get out the supplied back up keys open the box reset and clear out the fingerprints I previously programmed and try to reprogramm my finger into the safe. What do think happened? suprise now it will not accept my fingerprint at all. wtf is going on. I really like this safe and hope something is wrong with me not the safe (i dont believe its me)however currently I will try to contact Gun Vault directly to resolve the problem and hope i dont have to return it to Amazon.com WELL IT APPEARES WE HAD A TECHNICAL ERROR IF USING A BATTREY WITH THE SAFE IT IS RECCOMENDED TO NOT USE THE SUPPLIED 120AC POWER SUPPLY POWER SWITCHING ON AND OFF OR CHILDREN UNPLUGGING IT CAN CAUSE THE FINGERPRINT READER TO NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY. ALSO INSERTING YOUR FINGER THE SAME EVERYTIME WILL HELP THE READER AS WELL. THIS IS A KEEPER GREAT SAFE.

I purchased the safe and correctly installed the 9 v battery required. The safe from day one would not open. I could hear the latch disengage, but no joy on the door opening. I checked the instruction manual to trouble shoot and, I kid you not, the manual actually says to beat on the safe to get it open. They actually released a product that "requires" you to beat on it to open it. The entire premise of this product is that you can have rapid, easy access to an otherwise secure weapon. If I have to literally repeatedly hit the top of the safe to open it, the mission is a total failure.

So I call and it gets better. I tell him, "I have to beat my safe to open it." The gentlemen asks, "Do you have a hammer?" He was not joking. So I think, ok, I'll play. So I get a hammer and he instructs me to beat the door latch. I do and the door opens for the first time without beating it. I find this all weird but I am happy it seems to work. Then I discover that the mechanism that keeps the door latched has frozen and now that the door is finally open there is no way to close it. I ask how to unfreeze the mechanism. He asks, "What is the exact brand and expiration date of the battery?" He also wasn't kidding. If it is not a Duracell with an expiration date of 2016, the safe will not work, he tells me. I say to myself, this company is comprised of certifiably insane people, thank him, and promptly hang up before any more craziness rubs off on me.

In the future, think twice before releasing a product that requires you to insert a loaded weapon and then HIT IT WITH A HAMMER. Thank you.

I purchased this for my husband for Christmas and have already had to return it. It opened every other time and we just couldnt trust that it would open when we actually needed it too. Both of our fingerprints were locked in and the safe would open once, then the next time you would hear it click like it was trying to open but it would not. I would say not to waste your money on this. I wish I would have given more thoughts to the reviews that were listed here before purchasing and then having to return it.