Edited to add: I had to contact seller to initiate an exchange which they were willing to do so. Great! However, the three collars I have all won’t hold a charge longer than 1-3 days. I’m constantly finding the cat on the couch and when I test the collar, it won’t turn on. I recharge, it works, it dies in a day or two. Don’t waste your money on this. I wasted $100 hoping to save money from a better known brand but, instead, I threw away $100. I’m so mad.I purchased two units and have been using one for the past month. It has worked very well and is quite responsive. I keep it under the couch to keep the pets off the furniture.I just opened up the second unit, put batteries in it and I smelled smoke. The unit wouldn’t turn on so I opened the compartment to take the batteries out. I noticed the area was hot, but didn’t think anything of it. I grabbed three brand new batteries and put them in. Turned it over and it still wouldn’t turn on. I opened up the battery compartment and the middle spring was brightly lit and burst into a flame! I immediately threw it down which caused the batteries to pop out and we were able to extinguish the flame. I have contacted the seller to alert them to this major fire hazzard.

EDIT: They reached out and gave me a partial refund. It was surprising. My review remains the same but I’ll give them four stars for customer service because they didn’t have to do that. Only four because they suggested I help “deal” with my post afterwards. Feels a bit conditional but thanks for the partial refund 🤷🏾‍♀️I think this product works ok. I saw the first shock the first day. My cat jumped up and was scared. But he’s also curious and would rather get hurt again than miss out on wherever his curiosity takes him. Now he hears the beeps and sits and waits, then moves. Smart but annoying.Now this wouldn’t be a problem if the range wasn’t so spotty or the collar didn’t die so quickly. Even with his nap breaks where I take it off and turn it off it only lasts about 3 days charged. And sometimes it doesn’t work or it works behind the wall of the kitchen but not in the kitchen itself.So three stars because it was semi-effective and he only gets on the counter once or twice a week now. But ultimately I want something that was consistent in range.

I've tried pretty much everything to keep my cat out of the laundry room. Every day I tried to find the perfect combo of deterrents so he wouldn't get to the trash and jump onto the shelves above the washer and dryer. And about every day I'd come home to shredded trash and thrown away remnants of food being strewn all over the apartment.The shock mat didn't phase him. The spike pads didn't phase him. Doing my best to block his ability on the shelf itself from him getting up there didn't work. Using barricades against the washer didn't work.I finally had it. Bordering on the verge of psychosis, I had two ideas. One seemed more exhausting than the other.Option 1) Get some weighted mats and line the tops with double sided sticky tape and place them on the areas I don't want him.Option 2) Order an invisible indoor barrier that connects to a shock collar, and when he crosses the barrier, he gets zapped.Of course, you know which solution I went with.Yeah. He crossed the barrier ONE time and found out. Came flying out of the kitchen after being shocked. After that, he has been very conscious not to go past his food dish by the fridge. But then, he thought he'd outsmart me by jumping onto the counter by his food dish and up onto the top of the fridge. So, I extended the barrier to include the entire kitchen. He now never enters the kitchen, and I've been serving his meals in another spot. The barrier also can go through walls. He got zapped when he got close to the wall that separates the kitchen to the living area. This works well for me because he also has a problem jumping onto the small entry table and onto the kitchen bar where he can roam the counters, above the invisible barrier.Think I finally found something that will work. For the past few days I've come home to a clean kitchen and no trash and food strewn around the apartment. I put the collar on him each morning before I go to work and take it off when I get home so he doesn't have to wear it 24/7.When I first put the collar on him, he wore it longer so he had time to learn he can't go where he was determined to in the kitchen. The device allowed me to relax because, prior, I'd have to constantly be on alert whenever he'd go into the kitchen.A few things to note:*The collar was much too big for him, even adjusted the shortest it could go. So I removed the plastic adjustment piece along with the male part of the buckle and restrung it to fit him. I took the excess length of the collar and folded it like an accordion, and used a twist tie to hold it in place. Works beautifully. Also, the instruction manual shows you how to restring it if you need the collar tighter.*I've had the device for about a week now and it's worked so far. I'd read the reviews and saw many were displeased because one thing or another rendered it useless. I was so desperate that I decided to try it anyway, and I'm glad I did.*Collar hasn't harmed my cat's skin or burned his fur off. The device is able to zap for learning purposes without harming.*I can't speak for its longevity yet because I've had it for such a short amount of time.*Battery life is good so far. Haven't had to charge the collar yet.*I use rechargeable batteries because it saves a lot of money. I recommend getting some rechargeable double A batteries.I will come back and update later. So far, I'm highly pleased with the product.