The geometric-Poisson exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) chart has been shown to be more effective than the Poisson EWMA chart in monitoring the number of defects in the production processes. In these applications, it is assumed that the process parameters are known or have been accurately estimated. However, in practice, the process parameters are rarely known and must be estimated from reference sample to construct the geometric-Poisson EWMA chart. The performance of the given chart, due to variability in the parameter estimation, might differ from known parameters' case. This article explored the effect of estimated parameters on the conditional and marginal performance of the geometric-Poisson EWMA chart. The run length characteristics are calculated using a Markov chain approach and the effect of estimation on the performance of the given chart is shown to be significant. Recommendations about the proposer choice of sample size, smoothing constant, and dispersion parameter are made. Results of this study highlight the practical implications of estimation error, and to offer advice to practitioners when constructing/analyzing a phase-I sample.