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Question

Why are there 1000s of negative posts?

There are 1000s of negative posts covering the introduction of the new S2 app on 7 May.  Many report significant problems and issues following the upgrade.  Many are expressed in angry tones.  Many simply express disbelief over the changes.  Many request help, but seldom receive a response. Many threaten to abandon their existing devices, others have already done so. 

I believe the main reason for this unprecedented negative response lies mainly in the fact that official responses to these posts can probably be counted on the fingers of 2 hands, if that.

All this was compounded by company statements that there were no problems being experienced by users and the march to a brighter future would continue unabated. As a consequence, 100s have been left spinning in the wind wondering just what the hell was going on. 

Seldom, if ever, over decades of involvement in the varied world of information technology, have I encountered such an Alice in Wonderland phenomenon where each side appears to inhabit a different and incompatible reality. 

One has to wonder how long can this situation continue without some definitive and authoritative response from Sonos.  Leaving defence of the indefensible to a miniscule number of user supporters who claim not to have encountered any of the difficulties expressed by the other 1000s is not a clever or responsible direction for Sonos to take.

Anger, disgust and resentment will grow as each implementation of the brave new world brings even more problems and issues with it, accompanied by a deafening response for explanation or assistance. 

Shame on you, Sonos. 

 

 

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13 replies

jgatie

Show me one “supporter” “who claim not to have encountered any of the difficulties expressed by the other 1000s”.  You won’t find one.  Everyone admits this app release was a disaster, nobody is denying the loss of functionality (how could they?).  Similarly, I’ve seen no official “company statements that there were no problems being experienced by users”.  Sure there were PR driven drivel like the “courage” statement that aren’t worth the paper they were written on (Very Bad Form Sonos!), but the mods in here have acknowledged the missing features and supplied a rather specific timeline for expected fixes.  

I really don’t know what else people expect in this day and age.  You aren’t getting an apology, or even an admission of wrongdoing.  The frigging lawyers are going to kill that before it even is proposed.  Nor are you going to get word from the CEO, or any other high executive.  Again, the lawyers see to that.  So what else do you want?  They screwed up, they admitted they screwed up as well as you can expect in these litigious times, and they promised to fix it.

That’s more than enough information than any consumer needs to make a decision, whether that is selling your gear, or waiting to see if the fix is coming.  If you need an apology, or attention from the higher ups, or a hand written letter from the CEO himself in order to make that decision, then you are worried about something far more personal than the fact your music system isn’t working correctly. 

melvimbe

The official responses from Sonos employees are there but are often difficult to locate due to the avalanche of complaints.  As far as consumers receiving help, the Sonos staff on here are having to spend more time than usual moderating posts, and less time trying to help users.  Both Sonos staff and fellow users who might normally be able to give some advice either aren’t even seeing the request for help due to the volume, or can’t tell if the problem can be resolved with usual advice or if it’s related to multitude of issues with App.  For example, I’ve seen some posts saying that a speaker in their system can’t be found in the app.  Normally, this can be resolved by bouncing the router and the specific speaker, but I have no idea if that’s good advice under the current environment.

Danny
jgatie

Not to pile on, but the difficulty of locating official remarks, schedules, list of bugs, etc. are further compounded by the utter uselessness of the InSided/Gainsight/Whatever name they are calling themselves now platform.  The search sucks, the results from what little search they have suck, the quote feature sucks, the AMA session sucked, the whole thing has sucked for years, despite many plaintive calls for it to improve something (Anything!).  

/rant_off

Bumper

I believe the main reason for this unprecedented negative response lies mainly in the fact that official responses to these posts can probably be counted on the fingers of 2 hands, if that.


If there was a good enough excuse that they could communicate in a positive narrative that would make sense to most IMO they would have gone with it. But people caught on it was because of the headphones, turns out this seems to be true.

The strategy of riding this out will probably work out in the end. I think they’ve hit the bottom and are climbing their way out. If they can stick to their published schedule and quash most of the bugs in a timely manner they might be ok.

But the internet remembers and IMO this will be a problem for them for years.

 

 

F
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

The response from supporters usually is to minimise the impact of the problem, implying that it's just a minor issue. 

Sins of omission (or silence about an issue) is hardly a recommended response to a perceived or experienced problem.

I accept that the litigation culture in the US is an important factor - but even stating that would be better than some gobbleygook about 'courage' and grandiose visions of some golden future.  This just infuriates the stymied end-user even more.

As for a timetable of fixes, I don't think 'sometime in June, or July' really cuts the mustard.  After all, the prelaunch guff implied the new app would be all-singing & dancing from the word go.  Users were misled. 

What do I want.  Like almost everyone else, I just want an app which works first-time and every time without drama, or superfluous bells & whistles.  The previous S2 was no belle of the ball but it worked and was pretty reliable. I don't see why there couldn't be S1, S2 & S3 for the brave & courageous.

So, the affair staggers on. More complaints & gripes accumulate and everyone is left in various states of despair, anger, & resentment.  Any apology whether written, published electronically or broadcast on national TV is no longer relevant.  I suspect a fair amount of reputational damage has already been done. 

For myself, the update has worked but I use it with a high degree of disdain & irritation at how clumsy and aesthetically offensive it is. 

jgatie

Sigh.  So no reply is sufficient, and your rant was just a rant?  I’ve got better things to do with my time.  Off to help someone who actually wants it. 

melvimbe

As for a timetable of fixes, I don't think 'sometime in June, or July' really cuts the mustard.  After all, the prelaunch guff implied the new app would be all-singing & dancing from the word go.  Users were misled. 

 

I understand the sentiment.  But the app was released a mess based on a hard deadline to begin with, rather than releasing it when it was actually ready.  Do you really want Sonos to make the same mistake and promise a fix on a hard deadline regardless of whether it’s really fixed or not?

Sonos has changed their release strategy to push out specific changes when their ready, rather than a monthly release cycle.  It doesn’t make up for the mess, but to me, it does show that they feel a bit of urgency on this.  It also feels like they are releasing earlier than projected, but I have not been keeping up with it, nor do I think that should mean other fixes will happen earlier than projected.

Danny
F
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Sigh.  So no reply is sufficient, and your rant was just a rant?  I’ve got better things to do with my time.  Off to help someone who actually wants it. 

Why so touchy? I wrote, you replied - am I not allowed right of reply given I was the originating author.   If you judged it as a rant then you were mistaken.  You are also mistaken in assuming I required any help. 

K

 Both Sonos staff and fellow users who might normally be able to give some advice either aren’t even seeing the request for help due to the volume, or can’t tell if the problem can be resolved with usual advice or if it’s related to multitude of issues with App

This is what I have also wondered about, this operation of the law of unintended consequences. 

On a normal day the latest posts are full of the usual issues, the cause for most which are network issues. Now, all such posts must be getting submerged in a few hours - I don't see too many posts here now from first time buyers, that in addition to the usual issues some of them face, will probably be struggling to get new kit to work out of the box, without much help from here.

Bumper

I posted this in another thread but seems applicable here. If a somewhat famous guy with 4 million followers can’t even get a call back ( also had a pro installer) what’s going on with the regular people. This reads like 100s of posts here.  
 

 

K

Fair to say that Sony Bravia TVs, as quoted above, are fantastic. But are a different kettle of fish compared to most multi room audio systems as complex as Sonos has become, where service is concerned. I am an Echo fan now, which is also fuss free, but it works for me because it is enough for my needs, and compared to Sonos, is simpler while still doing multi room wireless for streamed music.

Back in the day when I bought into Sonos both this community and Sonos email/on call service was the differentiator that made Sonos the success it became.

Bumper

Mentioning Sony whatever he’s just pissed off rightfully so. 

F
Userlevel 6
Badge +4

There are 1000s of negative posts covering the introduction of the new S2 app on 7 May.  Many report significant problems and issues following the upgrade.  Many are expressed in angry tones.  Many simply express disbelief over the changes.  Many request help, but seldom receive a response. Many threaten to abandon their existing devices, others have already done so. 

I believe the main reason for this unprecedented negative response lies mainly in the fact that official responses to these posts can probably be counted on the fingers of 2 hands, if that.

All this was compounded by company statements that there were no problems being experienced by users and the march to a brighter future would continue unabated. As a consequence, 100s have been left spinning in the wind wondering just what the hell was going on. 

Seldom, if ever, over decades of involvement in the varied world of information technology, have I encountered such an Alice in Wonderland phenomenon where each side appears to inhabit a different and incompatible reality. 

One has to wonder how long can this situation continue without some definitive and authoritative response from Sonos.  Leaving defence of the indefensible to a miniscule number of user supporters who claim not to have encountered any of the difficulties expressed by the other 1000s is not a clever or responsible direction for Sonos to take.

Anger, disgust and resentment will grow as each implementation of the brave new world brings even more problems and issues with it, accompanied by a deafening response for explanation or assistance. 

Shame on you, Sonos. 

 

 

They are shameless

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