Alexa in australia

This really got me mad.

I bought a Sonos One to get Alexa functionality. This is my first entry into the Sonos eco-system. Now I only found out after the speaker is setup that there is no Alexa functionality in Australia until somebody gets around to making it work, especially bad is the fact that Sonos cant tell the consumer even a date of when they will get it to work. Who in the hell at Sonos screwed up so badly that they are selling a product into a market that does not do what is promised in the marketing material? Heard of consumer laws?

I’d call it false advertising to call the Sonos One a smart speaker.... when the smarts do not work. At least Sonos could have put a sticker on the box that the smart functionality will not work until some time in the future.

I thought I was buying a completed product. Instead I unwittingly bought into a Sonos Kickstarter campaign in a box.

If I was running this Australian Sonos business model. I could start selling a product, send out empty boxes with an IOU to my customer that as soon as I develop the product I’ll get one right out to them, promise, enjoy the box in the mean time. What could go wrong?

Why disable our ability to use the functionality that we have used for some time without any date to transition it. If this was considered minimum viable for the market then I'm not sure you assessed correctly. Can you explain to the people waiting what exactly is involved in enabling this - it is hard to understand what could be required beyond configuring it and testing it?

I might not be understanding this correctly. But I have a Sonos One at home with alexa voice service enabled. There's a workaround that i'm using involving updating my alexa and sonos account to use a US address/location. Everything seems to work; from using it to control spotify to asking alexa about the weather.

So without sonos officially supporting voice/alexa in australia, what else am i missing out?

dec21st wrote:

I might not be understanding this correctly. But I have a Sonos One at home with alexa voice service enabled. There's a workaround that i'm using involving updating my alexa and sonos account to use a US address/location. Everything seems to work; from using it to control spotify to asking alexa about the weather.

So without sonos officially supporting voice/alexa in australia, what else am i missing out?

The irony is that the link works in the USA but has been switched off for Australia. I'm willing to consider a work around but, will the Au services still work with a USA setup? i.e., local weather, Hoyt's times etc. Thanks

Hi all. I’m another unhappy Sonos One owner who had a very nice setup working that no longer does. I had Alexa working with Spotify and it was fantastic until Sonos decided to switch everything off! After some playing around I have managed to get some basic Alexa functionality back but can no longer connect to Spotify which is about 99% of what I want to do. My family just loved using Alexa to choose songs and it feels like the whole house has gone quiet since they killed Alexa.
If anyone has a workaround to get Alexa and Spotify back could they please post something on Whirlpool. I suspect posting it here will get it deleted fairly promptly.

Yet Another Unhappy Customer
Hi Everyone
It has taken me years to finally leave Bose behind and make the jump to Sonos. 😞 (Sonos One)
What a disappointment. The Alexa integration was what finally pushed me to Sonos and now I find out that Sonos is just like Bose in promising everyone the world and delivering nothing.
I have come to expect that from Bose but I am extremely disappointed that Sonos are doing the same thing. I am also fairly underwhelmed by the performance of the Sonos One. I guess my benchmark was probably fairly high but I would put the performance level only to be equal with Bose and not superior as so many people on Youtube seem to think.

Regardless please just hurry with the Alexa integration so I don't have to stare at the "empty box" (https://en.community.sonos.com/members/doorman-7974584) for much longer.

The blizzard thing is that the Sonos skill actually worked when I first set my Echo plus up , with Australia set as language. Then Alexa strangely could not play any music on any of my Sonos. So I spent a week with Amazon support getting Amazon music on my account. And now ( like someone else posted) the Sonos skill has disappeared from my Echo Plus and I simply can't get it back on:-( Not a happy chappie at all.

I have been using Alexa in Australia for a year or so running through a US account. After it was released here I have changed my address info to my Australian one instead of a US one. All works fine for local info. My Sonos skill is still there and is working fine. Maybe in the way it’s was setup that I still have Sonos working fine?

Yes, Amazon support say they are working with Sonos to get the Australia skill enabled. Meanwhile I will have to deregister Echo from Oz marketplace, register on US one, enable skill. But then I would lose access to Music Unlimited, which I can live with.
Can't have it all right now it seems:-(
@bryce_3 , I should have just stuck with your setup.

Play ONE - I've bought a car - just waiting for the petrol before I can get going !

Sick of waiting to be honest. Purchased Sonos One Pre order before release and nearly 5, yes 5 months on and still no voice control in Australia. Amazon echo been out a month. Get your sh*t together Sonos we have waited long enough.

Hello Sonos, we can all agree you have made a big booboo. It happens from time to time, especially with technology vendors. I’m sure your media awareness is good and the analysis is picking up seriously negative sentiment in the comments posted on all the various channels. We all stuff up every now and then, but what defines us is how we deal with our failures.

This is my first Sonos product. I spent the extra money especially for the smart home functionality. I feel like my trust has been misplaced and I’m very disappointed. We all are.

How will you make this right for your loyal customers? What will you do to convert these detractors to promoters again?

Hello Sonos, we can all agree you have made a big booboo. It happens from time to time, especially with technology vendors. I’m sure your media awareness is good and the analysis is picking up seriously negative sentiment in the comments posted on all the various channels. We all stuff up every now and then, but what defines us is how we deal with our failures.

This is my first Sonos product. I spent the extra money especially for the smart home functionality. I feel like my trust has been misplaced and I’m very disappointed. We all are.

How will you make this right for your loyal customers? What will you do to convert these detractors to promoters again?

I have been waiting for 4 months for Alexa and today was at jb hifi Taren point NSW . They have signs all over their Sonos section saying connect to Alexa !!! The salesman insists it works what a joke. Sonos u need to back us up in oz

+1 Purchased an Echo today, was excited to get home and get it up and running. Very disappointing to run into this.

MiracleWarrior84 wrote:

+1 Purchased an Echo today, was excited to get home and get it up and running. Very disappointing to run into this.

Until SONOS is up and running in Australia, you can create a USA Amazon account and run your Echo through that (you may need to give a USA address to create your USA Amazon account - use Google maps to locate a suitable random address). You will then be able to install the USA SONOS skill and run your SONOS system via your Echo. Make sure in the Amazon Alexa App (on your phone) you go to the 'settings' of your Echo device and set the location/address details of your Echo device to Australia so that you have access to local Au information, weather, news, searches, etc. The system doesn't mind that your Echo location is set to Au even though you're connected through a USA Amazon account.

The SONOS skill with Au support is supposedly due for release during our Autumn, so hopefully its not long now. I expect the SONOS App will also update with support for Alexa at the same time. When that happens, log into the Amazon website and switch to your AU account (or create an AU account if you haven't already). You can then reinstall the Au skills you want to use.

By the way, if you're using the Alexa app on your phone, it seems to automatically select the appropriate AU or USA server, however if you're setting up Alexa on the Alexa website using a PC you need to go to the correct USA or AU server website;

* If you are logged into Amazon through a USA account, go to https://alexa.amazon.com
* If you are logged into Amazon through an Australia account, go to https://alexa.amazon.com.au

ZZZZzzzzzzzz Another MONTH rolls by and still NO AU ALEXA!!!!!!! Great product - very poor support! Amazon Echo and Alexa has been available in Australia will FULL support via Amazon for 2 months now but still no Alexa on my SONOS ONE! If it wasn't for the great sound quality and in my case large investment I would have returned for refund long ago!

Very disappointed. Surely they could pin point the release to a month now, is it April or May?

Eime33 wrote:

Very disappointed. Surely they could pin point the release to a month now, is it April or May?

I have a feeling it will arrive right on the last day of May

Just updated this morning but was disappointed to see no Alexa support. Wishful thinking perhaps

... really, Sonos. Still nothing? You're pushing the Autumn release to the limit.

Very disappointing to see the obvious disdain Sonos and Amazon have for their Australian customers. What makes it especially infuriating is that constant platitudes received about bullshit release timeframes and nothing happens. So, if you have a Sonos system don't buy Alexa and if you have an Alexa don't buy Sonos.

Eime33 wrote:

Very disappointed. Surely they could pin point the release to a month now, is it April or May?

I just chatted with one of their online support. He says April. It was hard to tell exactly on what authority he gave that info but here's hoping! (conversation pasted below)

Hi, how are you?
I'm well. Can you tell me when the Alexa skill will be available in Australia.
I don't believe there is a specific date we can release just yet. Give me a moment to double check that for you.
thanks. If you could check that would be great.
Unfortunately, I am unable to get a specific date but it will be available this month. I would recommend subscribing to our mailing list so you can be alerted as soon as it is available.
Ok, this month (April). That is great.
The website still says "Autumn 2018" which could mean all the way out till the end of May. If April is reliable might I suggest the website be updated. I think a lot of us in the Sonos community have been pretty disappointed both in the delay but (more importantly) the lack of information. But April is very good news. Thanks.
Yes, that is correct! I am sure the website will be updated very soon. Thank you for that feedback.
Thank you :-)
You are very welcome

Quardo wrote:

Eime33 wrote:

Very disappointed. Surely they could pin point the release to a month now, is it April or May?

I just chatted with one of their online support. He says April. It was hard to tell exactly on what authority he gave that info but here's hoping! (conversation pasted below)

Thanks for sharing. Here’s hoping!

As of today, Amazon Alexa is now available for Australia and New Zealand! About bloody time 🆒