Dead spots on CR200

It would appear that despite best efforts this problem is not down to an isolated manufacturing batch.

It's also frustrating that nobody from Sonos ever answers questions about this problem. It clearly is a problem still and can't possibly be down to the originally "dodgy batch".

One of my CR200s is the latest victim to fall prey to the dreaded paralysing touch-screen virus.

I sent the unit back to Sonos today after receiving a new controller at the end of last week.

The new unit has a slightly updated Sonos logo and the silver finish is more metallic in appearance than on the old unit.

I was surprised to find that I could return the old controller under warranty. I purchased my 2 CR200s as soon as they hit the market, so I expected the guarantee to have expired a while ago.

I'm almost tempted to send back the other CR200, too. It has a serial number indicating that it, too, is from the suspect manufacturing run, so it's probably only a matter of time before that unit also fails.

I'm almost tempted to send back the other CR200, too. It has a serial number indicating that it, too, is from the suspect manufacturing run, so it's probably only a matter of time before that unit also fails.
Sonos' service is very good, let's not abuse it.

Sonos' service is very good, let's not abuse it.

I said "almost tempted to send back". Resisting the temptation isn't an abuse of anyone or anything.

Besides, I would fully expect to incur costs for wasting Sonos' time if I were to return an item that is still functioning entirely correctly.

The temptation to return the unit stems from the suspicion that the unit will yet fail, but once it's outside the guarantee period. Sod's Law and all that. If it's going to fail, I would rather that it happened today, not tomorrow.

My latest CR200 has failed, sent to me on the 30th November to replace a previously failed unit

Support request raised for my NINTH replacement.

I think part of the problem is that Sonos has no plans to replace the CR200 with a newer remote control model due to the fact that most of their new customers are using their free apps for the iPhone, iPad and Androids. That is why everyone is receiving the same buggy remote when they get a replacement. The CR200 is obviously flawed and Sonos knows that they are recycling the same buggy remote time and time again hoping that some of them stick.

If they did replace the CR200 with a new remote control model they would probably replace the faulty CR200's with the newer model as a price for doing business and at the same time generating good will to their loyal customer base.

It surely looks like plenty of CR200's are failing. However, there also seem to be units that are working. I have had mine for over 2 years with daily use and the screen is still responding just fine to any touch.

I have been a regular visitor to the Sonos forums for many years but never really felt the need to "break into print" however the CR200 farce has got me to the point where I have to jump in.

I live and work in Jakarta Indonesia and purchase all my Sonos equipment from the distributor in Singapore (Tat Chuan Acoustic) who are extremely helpful and provide excellent service. I have purchased two CR200 controllers plus many other pieces of Sonos equipment including 5 CR100 controllers and everything works perfectly apart from the CR200's. I have replaced the first one 3 times over the last year and now I have to replace the second one because of the same hardware failure. My problem is every time I have to do this I have to spend $200+ USD flying to Singapore to pick up the replacement.

Now we get to the point of adding Andrew Schulert into the heading, Mr Schulert is the VP for Quality at Sonos but he has a serious problem he needs to attend to, instead of churning out lots of new Apps, please address what effectively is the credibility of the Sonos company by stepping up and admitting the CR200 is a dud and either recall it and give everyone their money back or get it fixed properly and do a full one for one replacement and there is no point in implementing option 2 until you are confident you have the problem resolved, my three replacements were from separate batches and all failed.

You could also send me a cheque for $800+ USD for the flights and time I am wasting with your faulty controllers which I bought based on the reputation of Sonos supplying a tried and tested quality product

My problem is every time I have to do this I have to spend $200+ USD flying to Singapore to pick up the replacement.

No postal service from Singapore to Indonesia?

My single CR200 has now been replaced 3 times. It costs me one way postage to Sonos, to get failure verified, and approx 1 week of outage. Sonos pay for the return postage.

However I agree with the main thrusts of your post:

1> that the CR200 is a dud with an unacceptable re-failure rate. I may have been guilty of cleaning the first unit's screen with a damp cloth, but the two other were treated with much TLC & caution, and I am the only person who uses it.

2> Even though Sonos replace the units under warranty, the customer does suffer costs caused by this manufacturing or design problem.

3> Sonos explanation of this problem is not credible. If was just a bad batch problem, why are we getting failures from replacement units when they state the the bad batch has been flushed from the system?