Answered

I have traded up my "legacy" Sonos 5 believeing that it would soon be inoperable. What now?

  • 4 February 2020
  • 37 replies
  • 1061 views

Userlevel 1

I have just received a new Sonos 5 which I ordered after I was led to believe that my existing “legacy” Sonos 5 woud no longer operate as from May this year. Will the legacy product continue to work following the Sonos change in policy or I have I been suckered into buying a new product unnecessarily?

My system is telling me that my device will “deactivate in 8 days”. What does that mean for ongoing use of the device??

Like many others, I have spent a lot of money on Sonos products over the years and I am extremely frustrated and disappointed by what has gone on here.

icon

Best answer by Smilja 4 February 2020, 09:56

View original

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

37 replies

But the rest of my post stands - by saying now that you will get what you bought, a system, will need modern products to remain part of a legacy system, leaves Sonos with undelivered value on modern products for the price collected for these, that logically merits a refund to such users that will leave modern products in a legacy system.

 

I disagree. That ‘undelivered value’ is still there be acquired if the customers wants it, they just have to meet the current requirements.  In the same way that you have always been required to update your system in order to receive that ‘value’.  Or in the same way that you were required to sign up for a particular streaming service, voice service, and internet service to receive a particular ‘value’.    You have to have a particular device with a particular OS version to get ‘value’.

 

If you make the argument that the conditions to receive value were not specified at purchase...I don’t think that holds water either, since conditions have always been changing and the specific value isn’t typically known at the time of purchase either.

 

Ultimately, I don’t think the ‘value’  you’re claiming can really be guaranteed, and thus warrant a refund if the customer doesn’t opt to meet the conditions to use that value, because the value is undefined.  As a hypothetical, a customer would not be able to ask for a refund if Sonos simply didn’t provide any new features over a certain period of time, or just not a feature the customer considered to be valuable enough.

 

I am not suggesting a customer can’t be disappointed with future features or feel that the conditions aren’t acceptable  There is a difference between being upset about the situation, wanting to sell your products or move on to a different system, and expecting a refund based on something that wasn’t defined at the point of sale.

 

I only got the voice control “value” if I bought an Echo Dot or upgraded to a One.  I want reimbursement.  

Am I doing this right? 

Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I’m still b-hurt over my dead CR-100 collection… Who do I call?

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

I’m still b-hurt over my dead CR-100 collection… Who do I call?

Woah I didn't know this is the second time they've done this to old hardware. I would be angry too.

I’m still b-hurt over my dead CR-100 collection… Who do I call?

Woah I didn't know this is the second time they've done this to old hardware. I would be angry too.

 

The two situations are similar, but have differences as well.  The CR-100 is a controller, and was easily replacing by mobile apps that almost everyone has.  They offered a $100 dollar voucher for each CR-100, not a trade in.  There also was no legacy locked version of the system that customers could easily decide to say on.  The CR-100 would no longer work at all after a certain version.  Many customers decided they wanted to forgo updates and lock their systems down to that current version.

 

You could make an argument that what Sonos is doing now is exactly what many CR-100 users were asking Sonos to do then, which is just make it easy for them to stay to stay on their legacy version with CR-100s and forgo updates.  That is not satisfactory to many now, and understandable considering the differences in the situations.

 

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Thanks for taking the time to post that.

I didn't know this is the second time they are dumping hardware. I feel sick having bought an amp recently. I was reading in other threads about the CEO lying about how products get better over time, ugh wish I could return it to limit my exposure.

Thanks for taking the time to post that.

I didn't know this is the second time they are dumping hardware. I feel sick having bought an amp recently. I was reading in other threads about the CEO lying about how products get better over time, ugh wish I could return it to limit my exposure.

I am genuinely curious.  Why are you sick about your recent purchase? In what sense is the CEO's comment lying?

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Thanks for taking the time to post that.

I didn't know this is the second time they are dumping hardware. I feel sick having bought an amp recently. I was reading in other threads about the CEO lying about how products get better over time, ugh wish I could return it to limit my exposure.

I am genuinely curious.  Why are you sick about your recent purchase? In what sense is the CEO's comment lying?

 Lying in the sense of saying something not true. Huuuuuge buyers remorse on the amp purchase. Would not have bought it knowing what I know today. Sonos is not the company I thought it was. 

Thanks for taking the time to post that.

I didn't know this is the second time they are dumping hardware. I feel sick having bought an amp recently. I was reading in other threads about the CEO lying about how products get better over time, ugh wish I could return it to limit my exposure.

I am genuinely curious.  Why are you sick about your recent purchase? In what sense is the CEO's comment lying?

 Lying in the sense of saying something not true. Huuuuuge buyers remorse on the amp purchase. Would not have bought it knowing what I know today. Sonos is not the company I thought it was. 

You haven't come close to answering my questions. The Amp is an excellent product and I will be amazed if it is not fully supported for at least 10 years. 

Since I first bought Sonos, free enhancements to my speakers have included play from Android phone, Spotify Connect, Airplay 2, Trueplay, long press to group, app enhancements, wider choice of streaming services.…. I have also been able to add voice control without needing to buy any further Sonos products. 

So my experience has been exactly what the CEO said.  So please  now justify your comment that the CEO was lying on this point rather than just repeat the accusation. 

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Thanks for taking the time to post that.

I didn't know this is the second time they are dumping hardware. I feel sick having bought an amp recently. I was reading in other threads about the CEO lying about how products get better over time, ugh wish I could return it to limit my exposure.

I am genuinely curious.  Why are you sick about your recent purchase? In what sense is the CEO's comment lying?

 Lying in the sense of saying something not true. Huuuuuge buyers remorse on the amp purchase. Would not have bought it knowing what I know today. Sonos is not the company I thought it was. 

You haven't come close to answering my questions. The Amp is an excellent product and I will be amazed if it is not fully supported for at least 10 years. 

Since I first bought Sonos, free enhancements to my speakers have included play from Android phone, Spotify Connect, Airplay 2, Trueplay, long press to group, app enhancements, wider choice of streaming services.…. I have also been able to add voice control without needing to buy any further Sonos products. 

So my experience has been exactly what the CEO said.  So please  now justify your comment that the CEO was lying on this point rather than just repeat the accusation. 

John no need to get hostile I'm not here to answer your questions.

I would invite you to go to the massive clarification thread if you wish to debate what the CEO said.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post that.

I didn't know this is the second time they are dumping hardware. I feel sick having bought an amp recently. I was reading in other threads about the CEO lying about how products get better over time, ugh wish I could return it to limit my exposure.

 

Sonos products have gotten better over time. Speakers/amps has gotten enhancements through updates after it was originally released, except the Sonos One SL and Port, because they are newly released.  The controllers may be an exception to this, as I’m not sure.  Never owned one myself.  I understand that you and others took that statement to be that features would be available under any condition, and that older units would be supported for life, but that is not what was said.

 

I will say, as I have said before, that the recent announcements were a bit of a surprise, not that I didn’t see something like this happening, just that I didn’t see it happening like this.  I also think the message could have been communicated much better.  I also understand that this potential creates financial expenses that a lot of people didn’t see coming , even thought they can continue to use the system without updates.  I also think that people are only starting to see that smart speaker tech will not last forever the way that traditional AV devices do.  Other smart speakers have lost support besides Sonos (Bose is the example that comes to mind) and I expect we will see other more popular devices lose support in the years to come.

 

I agree with John though that the Sonos Amp is a a reliable purchase that will I would guess will have another 10 years of life before it loses support.  It’s guaranteed to have at least 5 years at the unlikely minimum.  But obviously, if you aren’t comfortable, than you should sell and find something you are comfortable with.  I would recommend that you avoid smart speaker tech, or at least the more premium speakers, in the future.

Speaking of Bose, would the OP rather Sonos had acted like Bose?  Because when Bose’s SoundTouch products could no longer accommodate future features (namely Alexa), they discontinued the entire lineup and replaced it with a new line that is incompatible with the old.  So if you bought a SoundTouch the day before the announcement, it was obsolete the next day.  People who bought the very first SoundTouch model on the day it was released barely got 5 years of use out of it.

And people complain about getting 5 to 13 years from last day of sale?