No class action law suit would be successful (not that a single person will ever look into it formally). The reason being that if there was even the slightest chance of that succeeding, do you think Sonos would allow the pitchfork wielders to gather on their forum?
They know they are completely watertight and will have consulted their in house legal team who will have barely raised an eyebrow.
But this is still my favourite thread so keep going.
No class action law suit would be successful (not that a single person will ever look into it formally). The reason being that if there was even the slightest chance of that succeeding, do you think Sonos would allow the pitchfork wielders to gather on their forum?
They know they are completely watertight and will have consulted their in house legal team who will have barely raised an eyebrow.
But this is still my favourite thread so keep going.
It's one of my favorite threads as well. I appreciate that the topic is concentrated in this single thread rather than spread across hundreds of separate threads. The sense of community among angered users, united by a call to action despite the illusionary nature of the cause, is remarkable.
The fact that a good number of Sonos clients are even venting about this should make Sonos think about the way they are handling this situation. This is just bad business and certainly does nothing to improve their reputation.
Full Disclosure: I’m in full LMAO 😂 mode as I write this. So you may want to take what follows with a grain-of-salt. It was originally discussed by CNN back in March, 2024
The US Justice Department and more than a dozen states filed a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, accusing the giant company of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market. Click the link to read more.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/21/tech/apple-sued-antitrust-doj/index.html
Granted, IMO Sonos is no where near monopolizing the smart speaker market. Especially so given that Amazon, Google, Bluesound and Apple all have dipped their corporate tentacles in the smart speaker arena in some form or fashion.
However, (for those in the US) who insist upon lending credence to this (IMO) class action non-sense maybe try starting with your states AGO. If your states AGO finds there is some meat to chew on then maybe that AGO can call another states AGO and so on and so on. Who knows...with enough saber rattling by the states; it could be possible to gain enough traction to enlist the United States DOJ to champion your claims.
However, I must be honest I believe there's not a snowball’s chance in hell that it will work!
At least it might expose their customer alienating practices enough and cause enough pain so that they fix the problem and think again before making such a bonehead move. Really, that is all I want, and to date, I have heard nothing from Sonos that makes me feel like a valued customer (15 years, lots of Sonos components ), and that they are working on fixing it.
i am curious what people see as a viable alternative, I will need to do something if this doesn’t get fixed. I am building a big new house and dont want to rely on Sonos if this is the best they can do.
At least it might expose their customer alienating practices enough and cause enough pain so that they fix the problem and think again before making such a bonehead move. Really, that is all I want, and to date, I have heard nothing from Sonos that makes me feel like a valued customer (15 years, lots of Sonos components ), and that they are working on fixing it.
i am curious what people see as a viable alternative, I will need to do something if this doesn’t get fixed. I am building a big new house and dont want to rely on Sonos if this is the best they can do.
Sonos very rarely announce, or say, anything, even when the ‘Sun does shine’ for them. I’m surprised that they chose to publish the App future features ongoing development HERE and gave users the AMA opportunity in the latter part of May.
The big tech companies very rarely make comment, because they’re dammed if the do and damned if they don’t.
Yes it was, as they said very courageous of them 
Sign me up. I paid so much money for this stuff and I can't use it half the time like literally can't even use it.. I would love an amount equal to a refund.
Sign me up. I paid so much money for this stuff and I can't use it half the time like literally can't even use it.. I would love an amount equal to a refund.
Great. Sign up now and get more details at yeahgoodluckwiththat.com.
I haven't read the whole thread, but maybe someone has mentioned, usually a Class Action only benefits the first individual that brought the lawsuit and *all* the lawyers. Additionally, you never really get any decent damages payed unless there are a very small number of people in the lawsuit ( maybe 100-1000 people). They also take FOREVER to win. (I was awarded damages a few years back for a decent amount, from a suit another person brought in a very niche industry, against a few powerful companies. It probably took 5-7 years).
Another way could be to open several individual Small Claims cases (I’m not a lawyer so not sure) but the small claims suit is I think a $10,000. maximum, which is enough to buy a new speaker system. I myself have something in the area of $7500. in Sonos devices, as I was tryng to replace my traditional analog speaker system. my .02 pretty frustrated by the lack of care by Sonos. I hate lawsuits, but sometimes it’s the only way to get corporations to act better.
I haven't read the whole thread, but maybe someone has mentioned, usually a Class Action only benefits the first individual that brought the lawsuit and *all* the lawyers. Additionally, you never really get any decent damages payed unless there are a very small number of people in the lawsuit ( maybe 100-1000 people). They also take FOREVER to win. (I was awarded damages a few years back for a decent amount, from a suit another person brought in a very niche industry, against a few powerful companies. It probably took 5-7 years).
Another way could be to open several individual Small Claims cases (I’m not a lawyer so not sure) but the small claims suit is I think a $10,000. maximum, which is enough to buy a new speaker system. I myself have something in the area of $7500. in Sonos devices, as I was tryng to replace my traditional analog speaker system. my .02 pretty frustrated by the lack of care by Sonos. I hate lawsuits, but sometimes it’s the only way to get corporations to act better.
I think the frustration most people have is the posts are mostly just ‘me to’ post with nobody actually bothered enough to take a couple of hours to actually go and see a lawyer.
Some will just be venting, which is understandable given the state of the handling of everything since May.
If I was affected by something and thought I had a legal course of action I’d take a few hours and speak to someone qualified, not post on a forum expecting someone else to do it.
I know nothing about the US legal system, but I would certainly expect Sonos to have asked the question of either their internal or external legal council as a matter of course just for their own confirmation, so they’ll have a reasonable but not guaranteed expectation of how things would go. 
Sonos will love this thread as it helps them keep track of any potential legal murmuring. Clearly, it is all toothless and will lead to the square root of zero, but they will be happy to provide this forum for comments to be deposited in for them to keep an eye on.
As the expression goes: Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.
Even if they resolve this issue with their awful software release, how much in damages are deserved for every customer for heir lost time and undue harm?
Undue harm ? Apart from needlessly creating another thread for something that been raised on two other threads, let’s look at your ‘case’ in a little detail.
Clearly you’re not one of those unfortunate people who have ‘lost’ their system due to it becoming undiscoverable (and for whom I have sympathy) as you cite your losses as loss of core functionality.
What ‘core’ functionally, exactly ? Let’s see, alarms have been reinstated already. Timers, queue management, and local library search are coming within 4 weeks. ‘Core’ functionality might more realistic be determined as being able to stream media services and local sources which it sounds like you can do. Certainly I can and every Sonos owner I know. So while the app is buggy and incomplete it would be an incredulous stretch to argue that you have lost ‘core functionality’, and what ‘minor’ functionality you have lost is already slated for replacement.
You are not ‘forced’ to sell the kit, just as you weren’t ‘forced’ to buy it in the first place. And by the way, when you did buy it , it was a software driven ecosystem - as it has always been, with the option to enable or disable auto updates. In effect there would have been every reasonable expectation that you knew what kind of system you were buying in the first place. Oh and for the ‘intentional plan to damage said product’? Seriously, I’m not even going to try to argue that nonsense.
Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.
Frankly, I think you are both right. I think Matty-Jake is right to be indignant about the way Sonos has created such a mess of their product and treated their customers, but undue "harm?" I do think this is more than an inconvenience because this certainly could gave been avoided and once the problem was identified Sonos could have done ANYTHING to better acknowledge the mess they created and at least provided a working solution that would have shown respespect for those that have trusted Sonos and paid for many, a significant amount of money to create their system. This has been going on for months now and with only moderate improvement (not even having achieved the basic level of service that was removed with the update from the previous app). Customers expect, that when they update their software, it is going to improve functionality and/or fix a problem, not diminish functionality, let alone destroy it. As far as core functions, I am here now instead of listening to my choice of music because somewhere between starting my Sonos music this morning and now, it has lost my system, and responds with steps to install a new product or find an existing system, which often doesn't work and I'm not going to reboot my router and go device to device to HOPE it will add it back to my system. Unfortunately the better solution is to just wait. Later, maybe minutes, maybe hours it will recognize my system and continue to operate with it's limited functionality.
Inconvenience or harm? Entitlement or righteous indignation? Maybe a judge should determine.
If ever a situation called for a class action lawsuit, this is it:
- Company sells customers expensive, multi-unit hardware systems
- Tethers customers to a software ecosystem to use them effectively
- Dramatically changes software into an auto-update environment
- Unsuspecting customers lose access to extensive, core media sources and features that significantly diminish the value of their expensive hardware and/or make it untenable for usage they had every reason to believe they would continue to have
- Customers wishing to continue meeting these essential needs forced to sell Company hardware that they had no intention of doing at a loss and buy competitor hardware.
- Pattern of behavior by Company indicates that choices made to remove said functionality were part of an intentional, plan to damage the product experience of many users in favor of others.
Seriously. This would be like selling someone a car and then updating the operating system so that the steering wheels was controlled by AI instead of manual because there’s more profit there for the company.
Even if they resolve this issue with their awful software release, how much in damages are deserved for every customer for heir lost time and undue harm?
The store value of my hardware suite, which I had no intention of replacing is probably $7,000 - $8,000. How much do others have invested who believe they need to leave SONOS?
I am not someone who can start a class action lawsuit, but I’m sure there are people here who can, and I’d be at the front of the line to join it and recoup my losses. If you feel similarly, then bump up this thread so that SONOS is held accountable
I have had zero problems with my system. How would a “class action” work then?
In amongst Sonos’ thousands of users, there seems to be none who work in the legal arena, which is rather an odd statistic. Or, could it be they realise the chance of a successful lawsuit is so small they’re not willing to get involved?
I bought first speakers in 2019 - Play One’s, and have gradually expanded to Era 100’s and Arc. Now wondering whether it’s smart to buy ANY more speakers, knowing they’ll be functionally obsolescent in five years? I’m not trying to spend another $500 to replace speakers ever year. I have a big house and I want music in every room. As they time out, I’m going to replace with Bose, room by room...
Anybody have any recommendations? YES, please include me in class action lawsuit plans. And has Bose pledged to support their speakers forever? That would be smart of them.
I bought first speakers in 2019 - Play One’s, and have gradually expanded to Era 100’s and Arc. Now wondering whether it’s smart to buy ANY more speakers, knowing they’ll be functionally obsolescent in five years? I’m not trying to spend another $500 to replace speakers ever year. I have a big house and I want music in every room. As they time out, I’m going to replace with Bose, room by room…
Sonos have said they’ll continue to support their speakers for a minimum of five years after they are discontinued from sale. And their track record for product support is pretty good with so much older kit still being supported on S1.
Wasn’t it Bose that launched a new range of kit incorporating new technology that was completely incompatible with the then-current speakers, just a few years ago?
Small Claims Court could be a great idea! I just googled, Can I take Sonos to small claims court after signing agreement re: arbitration, and it returned this from the Sonos legal language:
Notwithstanding the parties' decision to resolve all disputes through arbitration, each party retains the right to (i) elect to have any claims resolved in small claims court on an individual basis for disputes and actions within the scope of such court's jurisdiction, regardless of what forum the filing party initial ...
SOMEBODY is going to come up with “Forever Support” speakers, if not Bose, lol… “until your speakers die a natural death.” I might just have to get DIY and climb in the attic with some wires--this is bullshit. But it would be nice to recoup my investment in this craptastic company.
Small Claims Court could be a great idea! I just googled, Can I take Sonos to small claims court after signing agreement re: arbitration, and it returned this from the Sonos legal language:
Notwithstanding the parties' decision to resolve all disputes through arbitration, each party retains the right to (i) elect to have any claims resolved in small claims court on an individual basis for disputes and actions within the scope of such court's jurisdiction, regardless of what forum the filing party initial ...
Go on then. So much talk.
The actual issue is simple to document. Sonos app S2 provided the experience and these feature. The new supposed update removed these features with no roadmap to add them back. The experience for many is an absolute train wreck. Example. New sonos app doesn't control sound for group speakers correctly (Fact) confirmed by labs and Sonos support. New app doesn't recognize existing systems properly (fact) confirmed by Sonos support. Multiple users are experiencing a wide range of issues and any that isn't good for you. The fact is the experience from the old S2 app is a mess for many. Class action lawsuit! Yep already into a lawyer discussion.
The actual issue is simple to document. Sonos app S2 provided the experience and these feature. The new supposed update removed these features with no roadmap to add them back. The experience for many is an absolute train wreck. Example. New sonos app doesn't control sound for group speakers correctly (Fact) confirmed by labs and Sonos support. New app doesn't recognize existing systems properly (fact) confirmed by Sonos support. Multiple users are experiencing a wide range of issues and any that isn't good for you. The fact is the experience from the old S2 app is a mess for many. Class action lawsuit! Yep already into a lawyer discussion.
1, No Roadmap to add back features - see here…
https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/the-new-sonos-app-and-future-feature-updates
2. Doesn’t control group volume? - see attached screen capture video.
3. Doesn’t recognise system properly - yet it finds my 25 products and @AjTrek1’s 31+ products perfectly and that’s two of many users, where everything is working. I have 18 music services too (including an SMBv2/3 shared local library) that all work too, as demonstrated in numerous other posts in this community (fact!!). So good luck with your lawyer discussion. Let us know how it turns out for you.
If ever a situation called for a class action lawsuit, this is it:
- Company sells customers expensive, multi-unit hardware systems
- Tethers customers to a software ecosystem to use them effectively
- Dramatically changes software into an auto-update environment
- Unsuspecting customers lose access to extensive, core media sources and features that significantly diminish the value of their expensive hardware and/or make it untenable for usage they had every reason to believe they would continue to have
- Customers wishing to continue meeting these essential needs forced to sell Company hardware that they had no intention of doing at a loss and buy competitor hardware.
- Pattern of behavior by Company indicates that choices made to remove said functionality were part of an intentional, plan to damage the product experience of many users in favor of others.
Seriously. This would be like selling someone a car and then updating the operating system so that the steering wheels was controlled by AI instead of manual because there’s more profit there for the company.
Even if they resolve this issue with their awful software release, how much in damages are deserved for every customer for heir lost time and undue harm?
The store value of my hardware suite, which I had no intention of replacing is probably $7,000 - $8,000. How much do others have invested who believe they need to leave SONOS?
I am not someone who can start a class action lawsuit, but I’m sure there are people here who can, and I’d be at the front of the line to join it and recoup my losses. If you feel similarly, then bump up this thread so that SONOS is held accountable
We need to organize all hardware-breaking issues caused by the new app and gather a list of people interested in participating in a class action lawsuit. I was about to start a new thread about this myself. Reports are pouring in from users who’ve spent thousands and had working hardware for years only to find their systems rendered inoperable by the app update.
To make matters worse, Sonos support has no chat agents available during business hours, and phone support is currently 70+ minutes to speak to someone (yesterday it was 50+ minutes). I submitted my research and evidence to The Verge to potentially cover this situation and expose Sonos’s questionable business practices. I am going to continue gathering evidence, and if anyone would like to participate in a class action suit please respond to this thread and I’ll follow up with you.
I too have spent Thousands of dollars on 14 speakers and now I have a worthless system that probably will be thrown out. Does the new California law "Right to fix" have any weight on this issue? What's the environmental impact on disposing perfectly fine speakers that are no longer compatible with the software update? I already know of a few people that only had 1 or 2 units that wasn't worth their time to trouble shoot and gave them a new home in the trash. I'm still holding out for Sonos to do the right environmental and ethical thing but only can hold my breath so long.
I too have spent Thousands of dollars on 14 speakers and now I have a worthless system that probably will be thrown out. Does the new California law "Right to fix" have any weight on this issue? What's the environmental impact on disposing perfectly fine speakers that are no longer compatible with the software update? I already know of a few people that only had 1 or 2 units that wasn't worth their time to trouble shoot and gave them a new home in the trash. I'm still holding out for Sonos to do the right environmental and ethical thing but only can hold my breath so long.
You hopefully do realise the Sonos App is just a ‘remote’ control App for Sonos speakers and there are other controller Apps and ways to play music on Sonos hardware, even without their free App. You can control and play audio to speakers and group/ungroup them, adjust volume etc. without ever opening their App. The Hardware itself is unchanged - it’s why the 3rd party Apps still work currently. Although I’m not entirely sure that may always be the case for some Apps as Sonos perhaps forge ahead with the announced development features and future updates. We shall have to see.
