Arc microphone constantly turns off

  • 12 February 2024
  • 15 replies
  • 154 views
J

Hi All,

Many posts of this issue, I brought a brand new ARC in December 2023 & the voice control (Alexa) randomly switches off, the work around works by disabling the button on the app but as others mention the sound control also stops

 

I’ve contacted Sonos & they were willing to replace with a “Grade B” refurbishment which i was not happy with so contacted John Lewis who I purchased it from & they have replaced with brand new one.

The new one arrived & exactly the same issue, anyone had theirs replaced & it works?

15 replies

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @jjrobbins78 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear that you came across this issue, twice!

I recommend that you contact our technical support team - a refurbished unit will be in perfect cosmetic condition, largely (if not completely) unused, come with a full warranty and will not have the same problem. Another replacement from John Lewis may still do, as they won’t have purged affected units from their stock as we have. The choice is of course yours - assuming you can easily go to the store, John Lewis will be able to replace your Arc more quickly.

You’ll find reports here of people replacing their units and receiving a fully-working unit in return: 

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
J

Thank you for your response but it seems that some people experience the same issue with the replacement.

The issue i have is I brought a brand new unit therefore I'm not willing to accept a “refurbished” even if its perfect but a “Grade B” I'd be happy to have a refurbished if i had paid for a refurbished originally.

 

I notice on the tread it mentioned this: (1 month ago)

I’ve been told that all the affected Arcs have been purged from the warehouse, so the chances of now receiving a replacement Arc with the same issue should be close to zero.

Does this mean Sonos is aware of certain serial numbers / hardware versions which are impacted, can this be shared with this community? 

Maybe John Lewis has many faulty arcs in their warehouse still hence the one i received this week is the same issue, so if this information can be shared I'd do another warranty return with John Lewis but ensure the brand new replacement was not a known issue device.

 

 

 

Ken_Griffiths

@jjrobbins78,

I’m fairly sure that the warranty agreement between you and the supplier John Lewis is an entirely different matter to the Manufacturers warranty and you can go either route, but obviously not both and I presume Sonos Staff cannot speak for what you have in place with your local supplier. 

You are probably best to give Sonos Customer Services a call first, just to discover what the issue actually is, as they have tools/information at their disposal to discover these things and to take the matter forward from there.

I think refurbished products are only considered by any supplier, or manufacturer, once you have had a device for longer than a 3 month period, but these things can vary based on stock availability too, I guess, but if not happy with any replacement, new, or refurbished, you are still within your rights to return it and seek a refund and just to say most manufacturers, including Sonos, provide a full warranty even with a refurbished item. I have purchased Sonos refurbished items and struggle to tell them apart from their new items, but that’s not the issue here.

Like you, I would definitely want a new product as a replacement in this instance and I don’t think you will have an issue in this regard, but that’s just my personal opinion. I would start the process though and speak with Sonos Customer Services and see how that goes. Maybe seek some reassurances too.

Perhaps let us know how things work out for you.

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @jjrobbins78 

Thank you for your response but it seems that some people experience the same issue with the replacement.

Only in the first few instances, to be fair.

The issue i have is I brought a brand new unit therefore I'm not willing to accept a “refurbished” even if its perfect but a “Grade B” I'd be happy to have a refurbished if i had paid for a refurbished originally.

That’s understandable - we replace products bought within the last 30 days with (unused) “A stock”. As your last Arc was a little older than that, it was no longer eligible.

Please note, however, that as you now have a newer Arc - as supplied by John Lewis - if you were to now get back in touch with our team, I can see by the registration date that this Arc is eligible for “A Stock” replacement - just get in touch before March, and you should be good! If you opt for an “Advanced return” (which requires a hold for the price of a new Arc to be placed on a credit card, but no transaction takes place), it will not take long to be up and running once more. You will also have the option of a “Standard return” which will take a little longer, but you won’t need a credit card.

Apologies - I don’t have any details of batch numbers to share.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
J

What I’m interested to know from Sonos is that they have already confirmed there is a known issue & will replace but is this a software or hardware issue.

if they can supply a refurbished Arc they must know the root cause

 

Airgetlam

If it requires a replacement, then logically, it is a hardware issue? It would be much cheaper for them to send out a software update, if that was possible. Shipping and handling is obviously a significant expense. 

Bruce
J

If it requires a replacement, then logically, it is a hardware issue? It would be much cheaper for them to send out a software update, if that was possible. Shipping and handling is obviously a significant expense. 

Agree, but other posts suggests Sonos was working on future firmware updates, good to get clarification 

J

Hi @jjrobbins78 

Thank you for your response but it seems that some people experience the same issue with the replacement.

Only in the first few instances, to be fair.

The issue i have is I brought a brand new unit therefore I'm not willing to accept a “refurbished” even if its perfect but a “Grade B” I'd be happy to have a refurbished if i had paid for a refurbished originally.

That’s understandable - we replace products bought within the last 30 days with (unused) “A stock”. As your last Arc was a little older than that, it was no longer eligible.

Please note, however, that as you now have a newer Arc - as supplied by John Lewis - if you were to now get back in touch with our team, I can see by the registration date that this Arc is eligible for “A Stock” replacement - just get in touch before March, and you should be good! If you opt for an “Advanced return” (which requires a hold for the price of a new Arc to be placed on a credit card, but no transaction takes place), it will not take long to be up and running once more. You will also have the option of a “Standard return” which will take a little longer, but you won’t need a credit card.

Apologies - I don’t have any details of batch numbers to share.

I hope this helps.

Thank you Corry for this, i’ll get in touch with support maybe next week (need to return the original one back to John Lewis)

S

I have this same issue and Sonos (L2) support over here (Netherlands) just blatantly say my soundbar is too close to the TV and therefore it’s a ‘mounting issue’ and they are not going to do anything about it.

 

I mean what? I bought a 900 USD soundbar and I can’t place it directly under a TV? That’s not a placement issue, that’s a design fault that needs to be addressed / fixed! Still, most of their advertising / product listing images show the soundbar exactly as I mounted it!

 

Hope someone here from Sonos can come up with an actual solution instead of pointing the finger back at us as users.

J

@Stefanwnl, After contacting Sonos support again they sent a replacement ARC direct, this one works fine, its been plugged in for 2 weeks & Mic still active.

First 2 were from John Lewis (Retail) 3rd direct from Sonos & it works fine, Sonos support gave me the feeling they knew it was a hardware issue hence they knew sending one from their stock it would be fine.

My TV & ARC is mounted on the wall with recommendations from Sonos for distance etc.

 

L

Hi, I have the same issue and I contacted the Sonos support (Dutch). They give some steps I have to take to establish what the problem is. But Isn’t is so that they already know the problem en the steps ( connect ARC hard to internet, remove Google voice, remove ERO 300 etc ) are useless. In another post I read that disable “touch” resolve the problem and indeed, this works for me. But this isn’t a real sollution. For me this looks like a hard or software problem of the ARC.  Has anyone has an idea what I can do more? 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @ludivandenbergh 

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I recommend you get back in touch with our technical support team - if you are unhappy with the workarounds provided, please let them know, as they have alternate handling instructions for such an eventuality.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
J

The issue is hardware related in my opinion, the workaround of disabling the touch control works but its not a fix.

As Corry P Says, contact Sonos again.

L

I contacted Sonos again and they will send a new ARC to me. Hopefully the problem is solved with the new one.

 

wimvandijk
Badge

I also have the microphone of the arc spontaneously switching on and off regularly. It only seems to happen when the radio is playing.
Purchased March 28, 2024. Netherlands
Sonos wants to send a new arc, but mine is new so a new one won't have the same problem

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