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Class Action Lawsuit re New USELESS App Class Action Lawsuit


Whomever is interested in joining a class action lawsuit

 

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116 replies

@Andrew-s the main point you’re missing here is that this whole mess was completely unnecessary.  Sonos did not have to roll out an app that was half finished and then say “Oh, these features will be included in the coming weeks” they could have just waited to roll out the new app.  That is why so many people are livid because the app is obviously beta.  They could have (and still can) choose to roll back to the previous version app and that would solve the majority of the complaints and work out the bugs and features on the new app while people still use the old one. 

Another thing you’re missing here is not everyone here are USERS of the system but dealers who earn their living by selling A/V equipment in multi-million dollar homes.  What happens when you make recommendations to purchase such a system and then the vendor pulls something like this and now the end customer is blaming you because you recommended the system… there are REAL damages here.. or worse the builder that uses you decides that you just cost them a massive headache so you’re now no longer their choice for A/V integration.  

I’m not sure where you get that local music libraries are working because in my version they are not.  Not only can I not access the music in my previously defined library I have no ability to change settings to add more folders, or re-index the existing folders all functionality that existed in the previous app.  

Many of our customers sent in at significant cost their entire CD collection to have it ripped and placed on media for a local NAS device specifically for their sonos system only to have this app update FORCED on them and now their unable to make use of that huge investment (Ripping CDs, NAS hardware not to mention the Sonos hardware)

ROLL BACK THE APP!!

Not sure what this has to do with class action? 

Userlevel 2

Not sure what this has to do with class action? 

Ok let me be more clear - Sonos made a choice to cause problems for it’s users that was simply unnecessary.  Due to that choice many customers who put thousands of dollars into their systems are now unable to use those devices as advertised.  Many of them are experiencing more problems than just lack of features but being completely unable to use their systems from speakers not being found on the network, to loss of playback in the middle of songs etc etc the list goes on.  Many of which were not happening with the previous app.  In addition dealers are facing big losses of business due to unhappy customers (and the builders that hire them).  Since law suits are about damages the potential for loss from a dealer’s perspective can’t be underestimated.  Some customers have put many tens of thousands of dollars into their systems and for them to be rendered unusable is unacceptable.  And as one of those customers I don’t want to hear “oh the problems will be resolved in a few weeks” when this entire mess could have been completely avoided by following development best practices.

Userlevel 3

When someone spends considerable sum of money for a product, based on that product’s capabilities and functionality, they have a reasonable expectation to NOT have that capability and functionality arbitrarily and severely curtailed by the manufacturer after the purchase, no matter what any EULA might say. It goes against commonly understood fair trade practices.

In general, how successful are class actions generally?  Say an action is brought on behalf of 1 million users and the award is for 10 million dollars, that's 10 dollars each or like 5 dollars after the lawyers take their cut.  Seems like a lot of effort for very little return after likely years of litigation. 

Update: A level 3 engineer(Mike) was able to use the most recent update and I now have all of my music. He did a great job and even followed up as agreed to make sure everything was working.  Hope it last for more than the time its going to take me move on from sonos. 

Your words- “Seem like the kind of person who would sue if your milk turned sour “ sound familiar? I looked through the threads to try to find a solution and it seems like your on a lot of them defending sonos while criticizing many that have spoken out against sonos.

I am looking into adapting and hard wiring the speakers to a multi terabyte computer. If the sonos speakers can not be modified for hard wiring then they will be sold at a loss and I will hire a local company for purchase of a new all house system.

I am through with the continuous stream of excrement from sonos, this forum and sonos supporters

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.

 

 

Userlevel 1

There is no living being that would defend the actions of a company that deliberately renders a functional product worthless via forced update to a brick. No one

The update, for what it is and that's not much, works for me.  It's obviously a cobbled together attempt to replace S2.  It has a long way to go to replace the original S2. 

It was introduced to accommodate the new headphones. 

It was a big mistake. 

Sonos are evidently not backing down and will continue patching bit by bit. 

That's how it is - shouting and threatening will not deflect them from this course of action. 

Your choice is to stick with Sonos or find a replacement - good luck in your search. 

Moderator edit: edited to reflect changes to other, moderated posts.

Userlevel 1

I bought into Sonos 10-15 years ago to play my music that I store on my NAS. Worked fine for decades and now POOF, gone. Not even a button to look for it, just links to streaming services that will play crap I do not want to hear. IMO when I paid for the product it became mine and Sonos has no right to change that arrangement by giving Me something I did not and would not buy via forced software update

I bought into Sonos 10-15 years ago to play my music that I store on my NAS. Worked fine for decades and now POOF, gone. Not even a button to look for it, just links to streaming services that will play crap I do not want to hear. IMO when I paid for the product it became mine and Sonos has no right to change that arrangement by giving Me something I did not and would not buy via forced software update

However unjust it may seem or be, you bought the hardware device. Sonos makes their software available free of charge. By installing you accept the T & Cs - this expressly states that existing features in the software are NOT guaranteed to be replicated in any subsequent updates.  

Your local files are served via file server system which previously used something called SMBv1.  This was recently changed to smbv2/3 for alleged security concerns.  Your NAS needs to be configured to use smbv2/3.  Once this is done then your files theoretically should be available. 

In practice, due to the bug ridden nature of the S2 update, you have to reassign your NAS within the system using the Sonos programs on a PC.  

It's a total pain, but that's how it is.  Good luck. 

 

I am not going to read all this, but just to put in a “vote” that I want Sonos’s team and money to be focused on fixing the clusterf of an app and not to be spending it on lawsuits.

As a 25+ year experienced system implementation architect for complex utility billing it is difficult to comprehend how this happened.  But I have a few guesses.  Anyway, damage control mode indeed, but no lawsuit please

 

Userlevel 6
Badge +3

Sonos already spends all its money on litigation, its a patent troll! Ask Google and others...

Sonos already spends all its money on litigation, its a patent troll! Ask Google and others...

Please, unless you have something constructive to contribute, give it a rest. We know your opinion, enough said. Please. 

Userlevel 6
Badge +8

I bought into Sonos 10-15 years ago to play my music that I store on my NAS. Worked fine for decades and now POOF, gone. Not even a button to look for it, just links to streaming services that will play crap I do not want to hear. IMO when I paid for the product it became mine and Sonos has no right to change that arrangement by giving Me something I did not and would not buy via forced software update

I’m sorry but nobody actually forced the update on you. Sonos like almost every other manufacture of a consumer network connected device enables automatic software updates as a convenience for end users. My Tv, Avr, video streamers, tablets, phone, computers and even my car for example, all automatically update out of the box. I can choose to disable automatic upgrading if I want to.

My business/enterprise aimed switches, WiFi access point, router in contrast do not and cannot. At best they will notify me.

My Sonos devices didn’t upgrade their firmware because I had previously disabled auto update and my tablet/phone haven’t updated because I was able to disable the App Store auto updating before it happened. It is a major pain having auto update disabled at the moment as I need to manually trigger app updates on my tablet and phone for every app. I will soon be choosing one of my speakers that isn’t worth selling as a sacrificial lamb and re-enabling updates to see what happens.

Software is never bug free or 100% secure so even without changing any features, the older a device is the more likely it needs updating. In general, businesses plan for this, accept it even if they don’t like it and are required to for support contracts.

The home market is very different and people generally don’t update anything. At best, trying to support people on random age versions of software is not possible and at worst devices end up compromised and part of a botnet which has happened multiple times over the years. So auto-update is enabled by default.

Where it goes horribly wrong is when the update that is released isn’t sufficiently tested before release or significantly changes behaviour with no prior warning. Then you find out how good company support is and make personal choices about your future trust in the company.

There is no manufacturer of a streaming device who will sell you a product with a guaranteed static set of services. The AV market is littered with products of all types at all price points that no longer work with the services they originally sold with. Phone and tablet users along with gamers and car owners amongst others have had the same issue for a long time.


For longer than most people realise all you are buying is a hardware device and a license to use firmware/software with a non-guaranteed set of services at the time of purchase.

Userlevel 1

I bought into Sonos 10-15 years ago to play my music that I store on my NAS. Worked fine for decades and now POOF, gone. Not even a button to look for it, just links to streaming services that will play crap I do not want to hear. IMO when I paid for the product it became mine and Sonos has no right to change that arrangement by giving Me something I did not and would not buy via forced software update

However unjust it may seem or be, you bought the hardware device. Sonos makes their software available free of charge. By installing you accept the T & Cs - this expressly states that existing features in the software are NOT guaranteed to be replicated in any subsequent updates.  

Your local files are served via file server system which previously used something called SMBv1.  This was recently changed to smbv2/3 for alleged security concerns.  Your NAS needs to be configured to use smbv2/3.  Once this is done then your files theoretically should be available. 

In practice, due to the bug ridden nature of the S2 update, you have to reassign your NAS within the system using the Sonos programs on a PC.  

It's a total pain, but that's how it is.  Good luck. 

 

Ughhh. It turned out to be a permissions screw up in windows setup. I already had Smbv2 enabled but got the 913 error, reset the permissions and vwhala. Im sure the app is crap and it would be nice to get communication from tthe company (on how to set it up (does anyone really even use the pc controller) but as long as the system plays my music Im good. Thanks for the sanity check.

Userlevel 1

Whole app has glitched for me with no fix. I can’t play any music on my systems at all. Ready to throw them in the bin. 😡

Userlevel 1

My Sonos is a brick after the update.  I do not use online music services, I only play music from my library which it cannot find.  My Sonos does nothing useful for me.

As a former software product manager, we always gave people the option to roll back to an earlier version of software if they had a nasty bug in a new release.  I get that “bugs happen”.  But this a) seems to be a conscious decision to disable support of stored libraries and b) there is no urgency in providing a remedy.

I was a 10 on “likely to recommend Sonos” before this.  I’m down to 0.  They break our systems so they do not work at all and then expect us to be patient while they add capability back.  Not acceptable.

Whomever is interested in joining a class action lawsuit, kindly leave your name and email address.

For goodness sake, how ridiculous.  

Just for context, I have the new app and here is the what I can and can’t do:

Yes:  play music by voice (Sonos, Alexa)

Yes: access my locally stored music with the app

Yes: access my music services (inc Amazon) with the app

coming soon: alarms

coming soon: queue management.

Bug fixes will come along with the already promised (with dates given) updates.  The only grey area is when local library search will return.

For the most part I can use the app to do what I want albeit it being glitchy. 

You want to sue because you can’t wait a few weeks for parity with the old app??   What are your material losses, or have you suffered emotional trauma ?  Jeez you sound like the kind of person who would sue if your breakfast milk was sour.   The whole idea is ridiculous, but go ahead and waste your money.  

 

 

 

 

How are you able to access your locally stored music; don’t see it as an option in the version I have (just updated today to the most recent app)?

 

Sure, class action lawsuit is a bit extreme; but think it shows the loss of trust in the company to provide a stable & useable application to control their hardware.  Maybe it is time for something extreme to happen to companies when they DO NOT properly test their products before releasing them to the consumer - especially when they have paid for a product and the technology is so bad it makes them useless in their current form.

 

There is a difference between bug fixes and flat out misses in functionality - especially when it was working originally

Search "SMB" for a bunch of threads about getting your library back.

Wow, the frustration is really growing.  I have several sonos speakers, wait they aren't speakers at the moment because they don't play music.  I will call them Sonos paper weights.  after several hours of trying to get help I finally was able to get someone who was honest with me.  The problem is a connectivity issue (at least for me) Unable to connect message or something went wrong, able to connect one speaker and not my other 5.  What I was told, for the time being connect one speaker via ethernet cable.  This so far has worked, but is a royal pain.  I think maybe because of the previous 10 years of great service I might be hesitant to join a lawsuit BUT if this doesn't get fixed, who knows.  So if you are having issues connecting and can hook up via ethernet that might work.

 I think if SONSO would communicate honestly with its loyal customers it might go a long way at easing some of the tension.  They are certainly making an effort to blame everyone's wifi.   

I hope this helps someone, good luck.

Wow, the frustration is really growing.  I have several sonos speakers, wait they aren't speakers at the moment because they don't play music.  I will call them Sonos paper weights.  after several hours of trying to get help I finally was able to get someone who was honest with me.  The problem is a connectivity issue (at least for me) Unable to connect message or something went wrong, able to connect one speaker and not my other 5.  What I was told, for the time being connect one speaker via ethernet cable.  This so far has worked, but is a royal pain.  I think maybe because of the previous 10 years of great service I might be hesitant to join a lawsuit BUT if this doesn't get fixed, who knows.  So if you are having issues connecting and can hook up via ethernet that might work.

 I think if SONSO would communicate honestly with its loyal customers it might go a long way at easing some of the tension.  They are certainly making an effort to blame everyone's wifi.   

I hope this helps someone, good luck.


I sympathise with all those who have ‘lost’ their system for whatever reason, especially as there appears to be no official word as to the cause.  Some people have found a solution in buying an old / second hand Android device and rolling back to a prior version or an old / second hand iPad and running Sonophone (I think that is what it is called?).  I fully appreciate though that you shouldn’t have to do this.    I am running only ‘newer’ devices without issue and there maybe some is problem with the older devices onboarding with the new app but that is only guesswork on my part.

i hope you find a solution soon, but i wouldn’t wait for any lawsuit — as much as people talk about it, no one has started one, and it is unlikely anyone ever will.  Or maybe someone will prove me wrong !! 

 

Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Insiders are selling Sonos stock and not reinvesting.... they see the writing on the wall. Maybe it will be shareholders who bring a suit.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/insider-sale-chief-product-officer-061344407.html

 

I would like to join class action suit. Can someone send link/info?

thank you

Libby Molyneaux

******************

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Userlevel 5
Badge +5

I would like to join class action suit. Can someone send link/info?

thank you

Libby Molyneaux

********************

If you are in the US, collect your thoughts and search for "consumer product class action lawyer near me" on Google. Contact a lawyer and arrange a free consultation. If the lawyer believes there is a case, they will take it on a contingency basis, meaning no fee is required unless they win. They will then work to find others who can join the class. If the lawyer thinks the case isn't worth pursuing, they will drop it.

Of course, if YOU don’t feel a lawsuit is viable, don’t bother.

Either way, please let us know if you contact a lawyer and what they decide to do.

 

Moderator Note: Removed private email from quote. Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.

Userlevel 2
Badge

Im in. I've wasted at least $10,000 on stuff that's been rendered nearly inoperable after the app updates. The people defending Sonos are blowing my mind.

 

Queues empty. Volumes go to zero randomly. "Sorry something went wrong" on almost all my libraries. Functionality removed. Plex says I have no server. Tidal only plays one track in a loop for it's "radio". Spotify can't find any of my playlists. NAS doesn't work. Error after error after error. Need to restart the app almost every time I open it because it suddenly says I have no devices.

 

And that's just Tuesday.

Userlevel 5
Badge +5

Im in. I've wasted at least $10,000 on stuff that's been rendered nearly inoperable after the app updates. The people defending Sonos are blowing my mind.

 

Queues empty. Volumes go to zero randomly. "Sorry something went wrong" on almost all my libraries. Functionality removed. Plex says I have no server. Tidal only plays one track in a loop for it's "radio". Spotify can't find any of my playlists. NAS doesn't work. Error after error after error. Need to restart the app almost every time I open it because it suddenly says I have no devices.

 

And that's just Tuesday.

Have you called a lawyer?