End of Software Support - Clarifications

End of Software Support - Clarifications
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4256 replies

R
Userlevel 1

Like so many people who have posted here, I feel compelled to log in and post my frustration after reading this announcement. At best it’s an act of Seppuku by Sonos marketing. At worst it’s a slap in the face for existing customers like me who have faithfully continued to add to their Sonos implementation over the years.   I have thousands of dollars of Sonos in my home environment, accumulated over many years.  I have been agonising over Sonos Move for some months now, actually trying to find a way to justify buying one to add to my collection.  No more.

 

What on earth were you thinking when you put this announcement out ?

Daniel

6
Userlevel 2

On a final note from me, I’ve just copied this off the website page regarding “Responsibility”  

Responsibility

We plan on being in business a long time, which means we must be responsible, forward-thinking citizens. We’re committed to ethical and sustainable practices and strive to positively affect our community.

yup!

A
Userlevel 2

Obviously SONOS learned nothing from the ‘Trade Up’ fiasco. This latest announcement puts to rest any lingering suspicions I had as to what kind of company SONOS has turned into. The internet is abuzz with all the reasons why this latest move is completely unacceptable, so i won’t waste my time here. Luckily I only have two devices. Will cut my losses at this point and unless, by some miracle, SONOS sees the light and fixes this, will never buy or recommend another SONOS product.

M
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

So Sonos

Status 36 hours after your announcement:

Initial thread closed

No clarifications

No explanations

No answers

But you have received over 2,000 customer reactions from your most loyal customers - none of them positive.

Does this cause any reflections at your end?

P
Userlevel 2

Perhaps this is a great wake up call. I have a Playbase, Sub and two 1’s that work very well as my living room setup. I was going to get additional speakers around the house as replacements  but now probably going to look at a more conventional system based on an amp / receiver plus passive speakers. I’d like my system to last for many years not risk obsolence 2-3 years down the line. 

W
Userlevel 3

Add me to the growing list of unhappy customers who will no longer buy additional hardware from Sonos. The negative comments are starting to appear on review pages of retailers so that should help others avoid feeling like mugs taken for a ride. It is BS that an elegant solution cannot be found to the memory/processor issue. The new intro of the “trade up” a few months ago was clearly part of a well thought through “fleece the customer” road map.

L
Userlevel 1

Yes, adding myself to the growing list of formally enthusiastic customers who won’t spend another penny with Sonos. Sonos - you’ve had a shockingly bad approach to dealing with the legit tech issues and to working with your customers and the environment. 

Kicking it down the road to May (really?!!) is just bonkers. Good luck with future sales and the share price...

P
Userlevel 3
Badge

I have designed many home theater systems and I have recommended sonos to my customers for many years.  This is outrageous.  I will never recommend sonos to anybody again.  This is outrageous and frankly deeply upsetting to me. All about $$$ that’s all. 

S
Userlevel 1

This is going to be a great marketing case study soon about how a once promising company ticked off their most dedicated customers and either rapidly spiraled down to irrelevance, or did the right thing and rolled back this crazy action. Let's see which way it goes.

 

 

Bang On!  The arrogance behind the way this has been implemented is shocking!

T
Userlevel 5
Badge +10

Mmmmmm….I’m pretty sure this isn’t working out the way Sonos envisioned. What were they thinking??????

T
Userlevel 1

Like many others, I will not buy another Sonos product. My Play 5 purchased in 2017 now legacy !! With the amount of Sonos products I own and the amount of money spent I have to cut my losses now. Which one of the other 10 Sonos products I own is next ?
 

I have been a real advocate for Sonos, but no more. VERY cross & disappointing. 

T
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

30% off retail price doesn’t end up being much of a discount at all - besides which a guarantee of a five year life is too low for the price of the equipment. Add to that I feel like I can’t trust Sonos after this so I’d bend over backwards to find another solution in future.

 

W
Userlevel 3

This is going to be a great marketing case study soon about how a once promising company ticked off their most dedicated customers and either rapidly spiraled down to irrelevance, or did the right thing and rolled back this crazy action. Let's see which way it goes.

 

 

Bang On!  The arrogance behind the way this has been implemented is shocking!

The Sonos management are probably thinking that planned obsolescence hasn’t hurt Apple’s share price. Trouble is Apple continue to innovate to make the occasional upgrade worthwhile.  Sonos kit does not have a similar range of development paths, it just plays music. Sonos is above all else a brand, a brand that was just severely damaged by an own goal. Shorting the stock is probably a good move. I note the CEO worked for 14 years at Blackberry, history repeating itself?

C
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Mmmmmm….I’m pretty sure this isn’t working out the way Sonos envisioned. What were they thinking??????

Taking Loyal Customers for Granted

R
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Please explain what you mean when you say that you will support products that you sell for at least 5 years.  I bought a CONNECT:AMP in 2018 to add to the 3 CONNECT:AMPS ans 2 CONNECTS that I bought in 2015 (less than 5 years ago - but it will be 5 years in May when you discontinue support).  If the one I bought in 2018 is still “Modern”, why aren’t the others?

There were apparently some hardware changes without a corresponding device name change. Sonos realizes this was a very bad idea and probably won’t do it again.

According to my sources the original Connect and Play 5 had 32mb of memory, the connect:amp and play 1 have 64. The newer connect has 256mb as does the Gen 2 play 5.
The newest models have 1024mb (1 gig) so it is safe to say that the older models with 64 and 256mb are likely not long for this world. And when 1 gb is not enough, they will get tossed too. This will NEVER end and the cost of ownership it through the roof. 

Posted by another forum member (apologies I can’t locate that original post… it’s a swirling vortex of post activity the past 48 hrs.)

Oh how I now wish I’d purchased my Connects just 13 months later.


It’s precisely this kindof chart which would prevent me replacing my Gen 1 Play:5 with a Gen 2 as surely that (and my existing Play:3’s) are going to hit the same issues soon. 

 

A

Very unimpressed by this decision by sonos. 
They should be looking at possible ways and costs to be upgrade the older speakers with better processor etc. 
this would be more environmental and speaker’s would not be thrown away in half hearted attempt at recycling. Sonos would be part of the proper recycling of their speakers. In other words they would reduce electronic waste. 
if a speaker has broken other components then the decision to scrap it would be the owners. 
 

with the current legacy idea in May I gather that  my older equipment will stop future updates to my whole system. In that case I will be happy to stay with sonos update I have. I can use the system as it is. I guess I can add to the system by buying older speakers which will now be plummeting in price as they won’t update. 

this is devaluing sonos’s reputation  too!!
 

overall sonos should find better solutions 

N
Userlevel 2

So SONOS say

’We are committed to help you by making options available to you to support the best decision for your home’

Reading the comments here, the best decision people are making for their home is to move away from SONOS and buy a different make but still the silence is deafening from SONOS. This is a PR disaster and a disaster for a company that nobody trusts anymore.

chickentender

I purchased a Play:1 in late November 2014 just to see what the buzz was about. I thought it was cute, but it led me to the rest of the ecosystem and when i saw the Connect then i was interested and ordered it just a week later. That’s where this all began.
My favorite, new-to-everyone information from all of this is how even Amazon, where I originally purchased those Sonos devices, today tells me (as shown) that I’ve already purchased a Connect. Same price. Same functionality. Same appearance. Same everything. Except for, apparently, that mine was one of the last year’s models quietly upgraded. Had I waited just 12 or so months I’d be in a very different position. But Amazon tells me I already own the up-to-date Connect… I’d sure love to trade.

 

 

A
Userlevel 3

Having posted my dissatisfaction on the original post which Sonos has shut down, I recommend that all appalled customers make sure they hit social media with their opinions -@Sonos . National news in the UK have picked this story up as I'm sure other countries too. @boycottsonos 

Just waiting for Netflix to make a documentary on this now, maybe called - SONOS - FROM HERO TO ZERO IN 24HRS! 

 

Paul St
Userlevel 3

I see there is still no decent response from anyone from Sonos, Ryan just spouting off the same lines. About time someone high up had the balls to make a statement, and sort this mess out. I will be joining the growing numbers that will never buy a Sonos product again if this issue is not resolved.

I have already started looking at alternatives, and there a plenty of really good systems out there now,Denon, Bose, Bluestone, to name a few. 
Sonos get this crap sorted quickly, and stop playing the silent game, hoping it will all blow over 😡

C
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

I feel quite sad to say this is beginning to sound like the end of Sonos.

G

We announced yesterday that some of our oldest Sonos products will be moving into a legacy mode in May of 2020. Our commitment is to support products with regular software updates for a minimum of five years after we stop selling them, and we have a track record of supporting products far longer. 

Here is some public information we’ve shared, gathered into one place to respond to some of your questions in one easy thread, so that people can find the correct information easily.

Beginning in May, software updates and new features from Sonos will only be delivered to systems with only modern products.

After May, systems that include legacy products will continue to work as before - but they will no longer receive software updates or new features. 

Sonos will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes, but our efforts will ultimately be limited by the lack of memory and processing power of these legacy products.

We don’t expect any immediate impact to your experience, but access to services and overall functionality will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their own services and features. 

 

Customers with both legacy and modern products have time to decide what option is best for them. You can continue to use your whole system in legacy mode - in this case, it will stop receiving updates and new features. 

You will also be able to separate your legacy products from your modern products, so that the modern products can still receive updates and new features, and legacy products can still be used separately. We’ll have more information on how to do this in May when you can take that action.

Another option available to all customers with legacy products is to take advantage of the Trade Up program, which allows you to upgrade older Sonos products to modern ones with a 30% discount. Trade Up will be open to customers at any time should they decide to upgrade. 

We recognize this is new for Sonos owners, just as it is for Sonos. We are committed to help you by making options available to you to support the best decision for your home.
 

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate with asking.

I am so angry at this. I spent a lot of my hard earned money on my system and expect it to last. The fact you are bricking my entire system because I own a "legacy" play 5. I bought a play bar and two play 1 at the same time as my play 5 so I imagine these will become legacy over the next 12 months. This is a clear smash and grab.

You've built good products that look good and sound great - the exact reason why I and thousands of other people bought your product. Some boardroom idiot has clearly said "how can we get old customers to buy new products they don't really need?" The conclusion - we will actively destroy their systems from our end!

When, and only when, my system stops working and I have a need to purchase a new one, it won't be from Sonos. I will never ever buy another sonos product again. I hope the message gets out that what was a great and innovative company has just tried to RIP OFF the very customers that helped it get off the ground.

#sonosboycott

 

M
Userlevel 2

Sonos: I don’t need my old gear to forever act as a streamer for future music services. But I do expect newer Sonos gear to know how to room share music to older Sonos gear, forever.

The same way my Amp’s line-in can share music with my Play:1 that has no line-in.

If I have to buy a new product every few years to maintain an entry point for modern streaming services, fine, but all my older powered speakers need to inter operate with that newer Sonos product. Otherwise, you’ve lost your vendor lock-in and my perception of Sonos value is plummeting.

P
Userlevel 1

Hopefully this is a ‘new Coke’ problem that management will reconsider shortly...alternatively, I’ll be encouraged to evaluate other equipment…

 

I would recommend designing better /innovative features and products that discouraged shopping around...wireless speakers have gone from coveted ‘cool’ to ‘eh’…

 

I’m sure this comment will be deleted like yesterday’s 55+ pages...Communities publicize the good but still acknowledge the bad...they should not delete bad comments just because it does not fit a corporate narrative…  (I guess there may have been limited memory for the community comments too?)

 

so sad

S
Userlevel 3

The last thing I want is Sonos to crash and burn, I love their products and if they go down you can be sure your product will be useless really soon as support will totally end for the whole range of products. This is NOT what I want.

All I want is Sonos to rethink this issue and come with some elegant solution so we can forget this chapter and continue to enjoy our Sonos speakers.

I have a lot of Sonos products that are soon “legacy” and just bought a much-overpriced soundbar that I will try and get refunded to soften the blow. I will probably re-buy it if Sonos comes to its senses again.

This is a major screwup by Sonos, let’s hope they fix it and regain their customer's trust, it is in nobody's interest for Sonos to go down in flames.

I think Sonos overestimated their customer's loyalty, this is not an iPhone that people toss away once a new version has released.

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