There has been no indication from Sonos that this will be possible,

Feels like something that should be done if it can be done

I agree; Sonos will add to all the existing negative publicity around them if they try to run away from this. If they are going to say that they cannot unbrick units that they bricked via remote access, they will not be believed.

The question is - can they say that they will do this only for such units that have remained in the possession of the last registered owner?

More material for the MBA schools case study:-).

Strongly agree. I will not buy any Sonos product and try convening my friend from doing it if they cant unbrick devices. 

So those people who “upgraded” shortly after the announcement WERE FORCED to recycle their devices, but about a month later, Sonos changed the policy that u could still upgrade and DID NOT need to brick their perfectly good device?

If this is true, this is reprehensible. My recycled Play 5 is sitting here and I cannot use it. It appears that all Sonos needs to do is remove it from their “blacklist” and I can use it again - like many other people were allowed to do.

What do you say Sonos?

This is a user community, although Sonos staff do monitor it. It might be better to send you question direct to Sonos? Or are you inviting comments from other users?

 I was told during the recycling process, Sonos might wipeout the SW section of the device so it might be a one way solution. It might not be as simple as blacklist. 

Show me exactly how people WERE FORCED to recycle their devices?

Simple: I was FORCED to put my device into recycle mode in order to upgrade after I was told that my Play 5 would no longer be supported.

Two weeks later, people in my exact same situation could upgrade to the next gen Play 5 and they DID NOT need to recycle their devices.

To be clear, I was not forced to upgrade, but was forced to brick my old device in order to do so. Next, Sonos reversed their policy on this. For the exact the same situation, customers received substantively different treatment.

Right.  You were told when the change was coming and you most certainly were not forced to do anything.  You had months before any change was coming, and even after the change you could have chosen to keep your system at legacy.

You know, I actually might have sympathy for you, if you weren't fabricating this nonsense about being FORCED.  However, given your dishonesty, I'm content to say Sonos met the terms of the upgrade at the time, and you willingly CHOSE to AGREE to those terms, including the fact your unit would be irreversibly bricked.

@jgatie

Dishonesty? I posted a question about the possibility of reversing the recycling mode, and you resort to personal attacks about my integrity? I will not respond further.

Yes, saying you were forced to recycle is dishonesty.

I support Dr.zoidberg. I didn't go through the upgrade program myself but as far as I know, you have to agree to break your old devices then you can get 30% discount for new upgrades. 

I didn't understand what jgatie's logic at all, I am sure if he or she really know the program or not. The only conclusion I have after reading it is that there are always jerks around us that we have to avoid. Ridiculous response. 

There was a period of time that Sonos, as part of the process, with multiple pop up warnings, indicated that submitting your device for ‘trade in’ would make it no longer function. Ever. I was one of those who made that choice, so that I could avail myself of the 30% discount.

After several weeks of that policy being in place, Sonos changed the policy, so it no longer caused your device to stop functioning.

While that was a bit disheartening, there was absolutely no pressure, no “force” involved, it always a choice  that I made in order to get that 30% discount. Had I waited several more weeks before making that choice, I’d likely still be using that first gen PLAY:5. But there was no coercion, no misrepresentation, and plenty of warning about what was going to happen. I clicked through all of the warnings, because I had chosen to avail myself of the option in order to get that 30% discount for a future purchase. 

My “logic” is that the process was entirely voluntary.  He wasn’t “forced” to take a discount to upgrade, and he had months to go before any action would be taken in regards to legacy vs. modern devices.  I sympathise with the folks that fell victim to Sonos’ ill fated “recycling” program, but to say one was forced to take advantage, when it was completely their choice, is hyperbolic nonsense.  

I recycled several Sonos devices, no forcing involved and I was a bit unhappy with the situation but the discount on the new Sonos I needed made it seem like a good deal. I can’t complain about the deal I got.

I can whine that I got a worse deal than if I had waited a couple months.