End of Software Support - Clarifications

Wow they’ve really screwed the pooch on this titanic mess of an announcement.  They can’t even sort out what products are legacy or modern, see pic below from their direct link in the “end of life” email yesterday.  The fish rots from the head…

fire from the top where the buck should stop! 

Thanks.  This is the email I just sent him:

Dear Patrick,

I understand you don't give a shit about your customers from the way you have treated us in the last few days.  Perhaps you will care about your share price.

I know this may not have occurred to you but virtually EVERY trader I know in the city of London is one of your customers and the majority will have one or two Play 5's.  Guess how they feel about your company now!

The hilarious thing is that most of them do not check their personal email often so I have spent two-three hours this afternoon informing them of your latest wheeze.  Most appreciate the short term cashflow benefit to your company (we all know you will still make money on each replacement even at a 30% discount) but all the analysts (most of whom also own your kit) agree that you've just eff'ed yourself in the long term.

Well done.  Harvard Business School will use this as a case study no doubt.

Hugs and kisses,

Richard (A former loyal customer and advocate)

PS I understand your behaviour has sparked interest in the halls of the EU Commission as well.  Imagine how your shareholders will appreciate that.

Those iPhones are not an integrated system.  That’s a single product.   The whole point of a Sonos system is that everything has to work together and be on the same software.  That’s the core of its design.  The solution Sonos has given us is to separate our system into legacy and non legacy.  That solution stinks, but it goes to the point that the software only works properly if everything is on the same version because it is one system.  If you want to break it up into different single speakers, the newer ones will still work fine. 

Adding my frustration and disappointment to this forum.

I just bought my some of my connects last year before the new (more expensive version came out). I am an electrical engineer and know what goes into those connect systems - they are way overpriced, probably the highest margin products in Sonos’ product line. All the functionality of that system is available in a single chip with an external Wi-Fi device. Same with the Amps, you can get a great Yamaha or Denon connected receiver for less than that with a lot more functionality.

So with 17 Sonos components between me and my GF over a dozen years, I will now reconsider buying anymore. I just got a Move at Christmas from my GF and was considering buying a second to get a stereo pair. Well that’s now on hold.

I will wait and see what the impact of this lack of software upgrade and interoperability manifests itself as and then make a decision to continue investing in Sonos equipment.

Nick

Just recieved this email from sonos.

Hi there,

Thanks again for contacting Sonos.

We wanted to follow up and ensure that your case was resolved. If you need anything else, simply reply to this email and let us know that you need help. If all is well, keep an eye out for a follow-up survey shortly.

Thanks,
The Sonos Team

Does this mean they have abandoned the bricking of our equipment?

What else could  "case resolved" mean?

Is this "customer victory"? Im looking forwsrd to sonos clarifying what "resolved" means.

Has patrick spence quit as ceo?

Please clarify, sonos

John

Wow!  I decided to go with Sonos a while back when I thought it was the really best and customer focused product worth paying extra for.  Kind of like Apple.  Instead I’d have been better off going for the best priced competitor.  Won’t make this mistake again.

What the hell is going on?

I bought my complete set up all in one go…...2 x Sonos 1, 2 x Sonos 3, 1 x Sonos 5 and a bridge on 12/10/2017…… yes less than 3 years ago and your telling me half of it will be outdated in May??

My sentiments exactly.

Ryan - this is not personal at you - I think you are in an impossible position here representing the voice of Sonos at a time when the majority - me included - are mightily pissed at what’s happened over the past 24hrs.

Your post I’m afraid does nothing to allay fears, or offer any further information that we didn’t know already.

Sonos platitudes here aren’t wanted.  I would suggest that in light of the very fierce reaction witnessed on this support forum that Sonos cease from trying to make a seriously bad decision look something that somehow offers more support and continuing care for customers.

Afraid, like others, closing the original thread looks awful.  Don’t know if it was your decision, or whether someone at Sonos wanted it closed due to all the negativity - negativity brought about by themselves I would add!

It’s not just on this thread - word is out on the news networks here in the UK.  People will not buy new Sonos products if they think the shelf life is so limited.  Most of us here picked Sonos over other cheaper brands like the Amazon Echo Dot due to the quality of the product offered.  Sonos needs to commit to this customer loyalty by allowing legacy products to work alongside or instead of newer products, and allow customers the choice to upgrade stuff when they want to.

I bought my first Sonos products in 2005 and loved them.  15 years and 24 hours a day later and they are all running great - ASTONISHING!  I have 15 components now and I’ve been part of the Beta program helping to sort out bugs, even though it makes my experience more difficult than most.  I was part of an early program where Sonos would send a system to anybody I recommended for free, and they would pay only if they liked the system or send it back.  I got many others hooked on Sonos.  I now have a good mix of 15 Sonos components (10 legacy).   Like everybody else loyal to Sonos, I’m absolutely crushed at how Sonos has chosen to handle this.  There are better ways to address the older tech if Sonos cared about my experience.  I’m horrified at the thought of thousands of ‘recycle mode’ units in the dumpster.  Does Sonos not get that the investment is a loyalty decision, and that what Sonos does now will impact every sale in the future.  I don’t yet know where I go to from here, but I will say that it all depends on how Sonos chooses to deal with its (formerly?) very loyal community.  Do you hear us?  Or are you tone deaf?  Your move, Sonos - let’s see who you really are these days.

When I plug my legacy iPod classic into my Macbook, the Macbook still works.  I can still synch, add and delete.  My original Apple TV still works.  Apple are one of the biggest tech corps out there - there’s no way in hell they’d ever think that having some components integrated into a system should render the whole system as ‘legacy’ - it’s awful thinking.  Those of us who work in Tech are flabbergasted at this approach.  Those of us integrating legacy mainframe and AS400 systems into modern Oracle and Teradata environments are looking at this and thinking they need to hire better people.