Extreme Shipping Delays - Non existent customer support

Piri, tangopa, you are experiencing delays of several weeks. Let me tell you about shipping delays!

I placed an order for items in stock in April 2022. Note: the items ordered continue to be shown in stock on Sonos web site. My credit card was charged. Shipping status: “preparing to ship”.

Chat conversations are indeed useless (exactly as described by Piri: “parroted responses about system updates”). Phone calls are not answered (didn’t want to wait for expected answer in 159 minutes).

Wrote to the CEO but the responses (not from CEO but from people handling customer complaints) were not much different than those on chat. Bottom line: items ordered more than 2 months ago are in stock but are not being shipped. Credit card charged though! 

This was a wedding present. Hopefully they’ll get by the 1st anniversary!

I can understand supply chain problems messing up ability to manufacture e.g. auto industry.

But why isn’t Sonos shipping items they have in stock (as shown on the company web site) despite multiple communications over the past 2 months (chat, email, even messages to CEO)? Hard to comprehend!

UPDATE. After my 3rd letter to the CEO I received the following from a supervisor in the sales department: “The reason there was no movement, was because our system was attempting to ship your order from the East Coast (since that warehouse is closer in distance to you), and there is very low inventory of the product you ordered there. However there is plenty of inventory on the West Coast warehouse, so I have manually instructed the system to ship your order from California”

And indeed, more than 2 months after ordering in stock items and more than one month after the credit card was charged, the items were delivered.

Next time I buy a Sonos product it’ll be from a retailer.

Oh great to know you received your order finally. I got my partial order delivered i.e. the arc and one sl(s). They are still stating the same estimated bull about the sub woofer though. Now that we know the inventory is available in west, they should just go ahead and ship the products to everyone who placed an order and got charged.

I think I got a move on my order after I ranted on twitter and a senior sales executive reached out to me. Let’s see if they do send out the remaining products though. It is already more than a month since I placed the original order.
On the website the sub(white) still shows back ordered and their estimated shipping date keeps being pushed forward every week. So fingers crossed. The whole purpose for me was to watch stranger things and that got beat! So it’s honestly just stupid. I agree with you. Will never be ordering directly from them. 

And guess what: I purchased a second ps5 within the same week for my nephew! Now that’s competence. Lol my husband even shared an apple case study with the executive on how to be transparent with customers if you plan to retain them! Lol! 

So Disappointed with the lies Sonos puts out about shipping date.  I ordered a Sonos as a gift in early June with a July 7th ship date.  Here we are July 14th with item still not shipped.  Customer Service is just giving me complete bull crap nonsense.  They said as of today that they are shipping units ordered in early May.  When pushed, they say they did not get enough stock to ship my order.  Then what is the purpose of the BS target ship date?  Any decent company knows how many backorders are pending vs how many pcs are inbound to the warehouse and can put the correct info out.  I expect this level of incompetence from 7/11…  If it wasn't a requested gift, i would cancel in a heartbeat.   Just unacceptable in this age of technology. 

I am still waiting as well. I ordered on 06/18 and the message I saw at that time was “Expected to ship on 06/21.” Still waiting. 

However, if you want to see the most recent “Expected to Ship” date, you can go on the Sonos website, select the product, add to cart, select Check Out and it will show the latest Expected to Ship time and whether or not the product is back ordered on the Check Out screen. Mine is currently showing Aug. 2nd. Fingers crossed!

Ken Griffiths, 

your me reply is in line with your companies week information offered. I might halfway agree about issues obtaining chips used in the manufacturing process. Regardless, your companies ability to update and keep your customers informed is piss poor at the best.  You're not flying these products in from wherever they're made they are coming on a ship in a container at best 3 to 4 weeks on the ocean.  Your company is well aware of how many units have been manufactured and loaded onto vessels destined for the USA and to leave the ETA's vague and update them a week after their due in and pushing it out another month is complete dishonesty by your company or incompetence or both.  I'm in the import business and I know every item that gets on the ship and when it's due to arrive. I don't wait for the arrival to tell 100 customers oh it wasn't on the ship.  Just horrific lack of respect for your customers.  

@LIEABOUTSHIPPING,
I assure you I am just a Sonos user/enthusiast and as mentioned earlier, I recently purchased a charger-loop to use with a Sonos Move, which Sonos shipped to me from Poland EU within a couple of days.

So, just for complete clarification “I am not employed by Sonos, nor have I ever been employed by them”

I’m sorry if I mentioned anything to give you the impression I was a Sonos employee, that was never my intention.

Sonos Staff are clearly identified around here, as Bruce mentions.

I have been retired a few years in fact.

I have had shipping issues also.  I just don’t get the lack of communication or concern on Sonos’s part.  After about 5 calls and 5 emails I finally got my product moving after weeks.  I then received a sub with a QC issue.  I then tried getting in touch with support.  I was told it was only technical and sales support was unavailable.  I mean, what company on earth thinks that is OK?  Sorry you are mad, but we don’t give a crap.  Anyways, sent the whole $1,500 order back and purchased a used sub and Playbar for $450.  if shipping and support is going to be that bad I am going low risk until they get their stuff together.  It is a shame because I actual love the products, but wow the sales and support has gone downhill.  The CEO needs to can whoever is over the sales side and get someone competent in there.

No, I’m not a plant🪴, but may need watering if the weather here in the U.K. gets any hotter (phew!😓)… I just explained, truthfully, my own recent experience with a product shipment from Poland nothing more than that really.

It was just to demonstrate that the Sonos shipping delays are perhaps not all one-sided, as some may otherwise think.

Same issue. I placed an order in March, part of it was delivered in June and I’m still waiting for the rest of it to arrive and it’s July.

On May 10, 2022, I ordered an Amp, and it was supposed to ship on June 24, 2022. It was delayed. I was told the delay was due to some unspecified system upgrade.

By July 6, 2022, the Amp had still not shipped. On that date the credit card I used when I ordered the Amp in May of 2022, had unauthorized activity, and was closed. When I contacted Sonos to give them a new credit card number, I was told that updating the payment information for an existing order was not possible. I would have to cancel the original order and place a new order with my new credit card. I was also told that doing so would place me at the back of the line even though my order had been pending since May of 2022.

On July 15, 2022, I placed the new order. I was told that order would ship on August 16, 2022.

On July 20, 2022, the credit card that I used to place the July 15 order also had unauthorized activity and was closed. Since again there was no way to update the payment method for that order, I had to cancel that order and place a new order.

On July 20, 2022 I placed new order for the Amp. However now I am told that the Amp will not ship until October 14, 2022 at the earliest.

While I recognize that my credit card issues are not Sonos’ fault it is unbelievable that a change in payment method causes a customer to lose their place in line. As it now stands, if the Amp ships by October 14, I will have waited over five months for this piece of equipment.