End of Software Support - Clarifications

End of Software Support - Clarifications
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J
Userlevel 4
Badge +3

One more (positive) thing: At least Sonos have told about their plan (or lack) although they probably did not mean to or thought we another one of their ‘products’. We know what to do now:

  • Do not buy any else from Sonos
  • Return any recently purchased products 
  • Write a review on every product you own on as many sites as you can 
  • Revise any reviews you have written in the past - just did on Amazon
  • Tell your friends - those you told to buy Sonos and warn those who were thinking about it
  • Find the CEO’s email address and send him a personal message 

Sorry for picking exactly your message, as there are a number of similar ones to choose from, but what I want to point out is that I do not understand the purpose of all this destruction. Who would benefit from negative reviews everywhere, and why? What to write to the CEO and for what purpose?

I understand the idea of returning products if you no longer feel that they were the right choice for you, but that will then be a personal thing between you and the seller. 

We are not at war - a company has communicated badly about a decision we do not like, but the logical reaction to this would then be to either wait and see or to run away. Starting some kind of demolision project for the company doesn’t seem to solve any problems. Or did I miss an important detail here?

“This is a chance now to come up with a system that doesn’t cause massive planetary damage in exchange for disposable stuff,” Proctor said. (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3a8dpn/sonos-makes-it-clear-you-no-longer-own-the-things-you-buy)
pwt
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

One more (positive) thing: At least Sonos have told about their plan (or lack) although they probably did not mean to or thought we another one of their ‘products’. We know what to do now:

  • Do not buy any else from Sonos
  • Return any recently purchased products 
  • Write a review on every product you own on as many sites as you can 
  • Revise any reviews you have written in the past - just did on Amazon
  • Tell your friends - those you told to buy Sonos and warn those who were thinking about it
  • Find the CEO’s email address and send him a personal message 

Sorry for picking exactly your message, as there are a number of similar ones to choose from, but what I want to point out is that I do not understand the purpose of all this destruction. Who would benefit from negative reviews everywhere, and why? What to write to the CEO and for what purpose?

I understand the idea of returning products if you no longer feel that they were the right choice for you, but that will then be a personal thing between you and the seller. 

We are not at war - a company has communicated badly about a decision we do not like, but the logical reaction to this would then be to either wait and see or to run away. Starting some kind of demolision project for the company doesn’t seem to solve any problems. Or did I miss an important detail here?

It’s leverage to apply pressure to revisit the decision, which has already happened to some extent with the revised statement that some software updates will still be provided. This was a change in position that would not have happened without the backlash.

4 x P:5 | Sub | 4 x P:1 | 3 x Connect | 2 x Boost | Connect:Amp | 2 x One | Amp | Move | Port
P

Update 2/22: A message from our CEO

While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible.

 

Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos

It’s a bit funny to see such a comment from the CEO while even the new devices don’t get the proper security fixes like SMBv2 support !

 

N
Userlevel 3
Badge

We are not at war - a company has communicated badly about a decision we do not like, but the logical reaction to this would then be to either wait and see or to run away. Starting some kind of demolision project for the company doesn’t seem to solve any problems. Or did I miss an important detail here?

People could do with remembering this. Until a couple of weeks ago we were broadly very, very happy with our systems. I still am very happy with my system. The only way I start to be unhappy with my system is if it no longer functions in the manner it does today, as it has done for nearly 10 years.

Sonos being dragged doesn’t help in my system continuing to function. Sonos being brought down by negative reviews and impacting their future earnings doesn’t help us ensure that legacy devices are kept as up to date as they are able.

We customers have to be able to work with Sonos, and that means not making Sonos feel like they have no reason to backtrack, compromise or otherwise listen to and implement our feedback. No-one benefits from any situation where we wish collapse upon Sonos...I understand emotions running high, but maybe those that feel so inclined to come here wishing death upon a company might like to take a step back and process those emotions first and understand that our products don’t have much of a future without Sonos, and at that point it doesn’t matter what you’ve invested, what discount you demand, you’ve basically just bricked everything and made it worthless.

U
Userlevel 6
Badge +4

you’ve basically just bricked everything and made it worthless.

Pretty sure it’s not us that’s doing that.

B
Userlevel 3

One more (positive) thing: At least Sonos have told about their plan (or lack) although they probably did not mean to or thought we another one of their ‘products’. We know what to do now:

  • Do not buy any else from Sonos
  • Return any recently purchased products 
  • Write a review on every product you own on as many sites as you can 
  • Revise any reviews you have written in the past - just did on Amazon
  • Tell your friends - those you told to buy Sonos and warn those who were thinking about it
  • Find the CEO’s email address and send him a personal message 

Sorry for picking exactly your message, as there are a number of similar ones to choose from, but what I want to point out is that I do not understand the purpose of all this destruction. Who would benefit from negative reviews everywhere, and why? What to write to the CEO and for what purpose?

I understand the idea of returning products if you no longer feel that they were the right choice for you, but that will then be a personal thing between you and the seller. 

We are not at war - a company has communicated badly about a decision we do not like, but the logical reaction to this would then be to either wait and see or to run away. Starting some kind of demolision project for the company doesn’t seem to solve any problems. Or did I miss an important detail here?


My last post on the matter - but at a guess I would say that the majority of folk on this forum are trying to use whatever means they have, i.e. their buying power and goodwill to try to persuade the company to change its mind. My ‘investment’ in Sonos has been significant and continuous and I do not wish to see it devalued by the decisions the company plans to make, nor do I wish to send perfectly good equipment to landfill.

C

Dear Patrick Spence I just want to give you some feedback. I have been a loyal Sonos user for years both while living in the UK and the US. My house is full of Sonos stuff. I have advocated Sonos to friends & family based on my own, historical, experience. The fact that you have decided not to support older products is not, in itself, the issue - after all we’ve seen this happen with other tech companies such as Apple. But my system, built up over ~7-8 years, comprises older ‘legacy’ Sonos products and also much newer items. It is the fact that you announce that ANY system with ‘legacy’ products in it, no matter how new the newest component is, will no longer be supported, is a total disgrace and the most appalling customer service. Hang your head in shame. I will not be getting rid of my Sonos products in the short term, as they are all over my house. But any new item i buy will not be a Sonos product as you, and Sonos the company, clearly have no integrity and cannot be trusted.

C

You total w@@@@@s I've recommended your system for so long but never again. Talk about turning off so many of your customers in one go. I'm struggling to put into words how pissed off I am. F@#k@#g w@#k@#s

 

P
Userlevel 2

Hi all employees and the CEO at SONOS, the past days has been turmoilf us and for you, CEO has halfway withdrawn the statement made earlier in the week and I have felt resentment to SONOS, totally losing trust in you.

 

What SONOS must do in order to earn back the trust is to prove words with rock solid actions and promises, not a single vague reservation will be accepted by your customers anymore, your wording will be analyzed and interpreted by us all.

 

All of us have and still enjoy your products, you thought that you could make us accept the first message and you have with your anlysis late 2019 shown that such statements would damage your brand and still you went along instead of finding an better option. This falls on all the management and employees that has been involved in this mess.

 

I’am looking into my options and currently I have no intention of expanding my current SONOS stable with further products from you, until you prove to me that you deserve to get my money again.

 

So prove yourself to me and the other customers with real promises and actions, you probably need to show the roadmap for us in this matter (and for your competition) in order to acheive this.

 

You have envisioned yourself as a premium brand-being one of the more expensive solutions, that leads the market, continue to behave as such and in this you need to consider that your speakers are speakers not computers, your tech platform must always be ocmpliant to that so your customers continue to buy your products.

 

If you choose a tech platform solution that is inferior from cost perspective ( I mean 4 GB of memory wasn’t unobtainable when you started building your units-costwise, lessons of memory need has bee around since the 90s), then you need to have another track for upgrading that tech platform than you have today.

 

Do anything else and I can promise you failure

 

J

I imagine everyone was involved in the decision. We don't know which would have been more suicidal: upsetting some customers and some bad brand publicity, or having competitive developments held back by older gear.

I don't know if Sonos has made the right decision but it isn't all pros one way and cons the other.  It never is.

One thing we agree on. The discount should be bigger.

U
Userlevel 6
Badge +4

It’s leverage to apply pressure to revisit the decision, which has already happened to some extent with the revised statement that some software updates will still be provided. This was a change in position that would not have happened without the backlash.

Let’s be clear - the CEO statement says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that the original announcement did not already say.

The ‘some updates’ language is fluff. What does that mean? What updates? For what? For how long?

It’s a sentiment whose value is determined by how much trust you have in the company making it. The same company that released a financial statement saying ‘we’re going to screw our customers, and they’re not going to like it’, then went ahead and did exactly that. They do not deserve any of your faith at this point.

We need concrete commitments to keep old devices functioning as part of the whole-house network, as they are clearly able to do. Anything less is nothing.

M
Userlevel 5
Badge +8

What Sonos don’t appear to understand, is that we pay PREMIUM prices for Sonos equipment because historically they have been supported, regardless of when they were released. Of course, technology changes and demands more power etc, but then they have an opportunity to build/offer a product or solution to workaround this ie. we pay a fee to take it into a Sonos dealer who will modify it to allow it to handle the new technology or have a box that can be added to each device or sit on the network to handle it.

If the legacy products will only be supported for say 10 years, then I won’t buy PREMIUM Sonos, I will buy a cheaper solution that I can change every 10 years at a far lower price. Now the rabbit is out of the hat, Sonos will have to provide a much clearer life cycle for each of their products.It’s not fair to ask customers to buy a Sonos, not knowing when they will be in legacy. Even today, many retailers are selling legacy products with NO warnings about the recent announcement. I believe even Sonos are doing this. Incredible and irresponsible imho.

Unfortunately, as Sonos is now a publicly listed company, all decisions are based on the balance sheet. They saw the cost of maintaining support for older equipment while pressrued to sell more. Ultimately, that was the owners biggest mistake, however much money they made. Maybe they can bring it back private or is bought buy a bigger company who understands the philosophy that helped make Sonos what it is today.

Until their is clarity and more importantly, confidence that Sonos truly value our custom, then its over for many of us. Someone on the Board should pay with their job as this has put the company at great risk and their shareholders won’t be happy. There is a short window here to recover the damage. If they don’t take it, tehn they are shooting themselves in the foot imho.

Act in haste, repent at leisure.
R
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

One more (positive) thing: At least Sonos have told about their plan (or lack) although they probably did not mean to or thought we another one of their ‘products’. We know what to do now:

  • Do not buy any else from Sonos
  • Return any recently purchased products 
  • Write a review on every product you own on as many sites as you can 
  • Revise any reviews you have written in the past - just did on Amazon
  • Tell your friends - those you told to buy Sonos and warn those who were thinking about it
  • Find the CEO’s email address and send him a personal message 

Sorry for picking exactly your message, as there are a number of similar ones to choose from, but what I want to point out is that I do not understand the purpose of all this destruction. Who would benefit from negative reviews everywhere, and why? What to write to the CEO and for what purpose?

I understand the idea of returning products if you no longer feel that they were the right choice for you, but that will then be a personal thing between you and the seller. 

We are not at war - a company has communicated badly about a decision we do not like, but the logical reaction to this would then be to either wait and see or to run away. Starting some kind of demolision project for the company doesn’t seem to solve any problems. Or did I miss an important detail here?

You and I differ on what "logical response" means.   I purchased sonos thinking that the core purpose (playing sound in my home) was basically "future proof."   In fact, SONOS's CEO said as much when he testified to congress a few weeks ago.   SONOS has every right to change its business strategy; but, if I strongly disagree with it then its not illogical, to act in the way some are recommending.   I purchased the product based on a false premise and, worse, SONOS is now consuming lots of natural resources to produce a very short-lived sound system.  Consumers may not want that type of company to exist.   its logical conclusion.

D
Userlevel 1

I’m still reeling from when they bricked my CR100 controllers.

I brought into their system 15 years ago so I could play my own music library and also wake up to my music with the aid of the controller as a bedside clock. It all work flawlessly until they bricked the controller and I was left using the app.

The app is just unacceptably poor and when you consider it’s the main interface between the user and the end experience, I have never understood how they can build such an inadequate and buggy piece of app, and one which relies on someone else’s everchanging operating platform installed on 1000’s of variable devices. No wonder it never works and why it has to be updated every week.

A system like Sonos should have a dedicated controller option that just works… like the CR100 did.

Like others I’m disgusted at the recent 30% upgrade offer and when I first received it I knew they would soon be making the rest of my system obsolete. And now every piece of Sonos equipment I have will be legacy.

I was going to invest in more Sonos gear until they bricked my controllers and now with this latest development, I’m glad I didn’t

15 years ago there were very few alternatives to Sonos and it was certainly the best. Now there are other options and even an echo dot with Bluetooth speaker or AV amp can do all the music streaming you need for much less...

B
Userlevel 5
Badge +5

So I did a little calculation….

 

Looks like Yamaha wins hands down.

Sonos from leader to loser in 2020.
O
Userlevel 3
Badge

I imagine everyone was involved in the decision. We don't know which would have been more suicidal: upsetting some customers and some bad brand publicity, or having competitive developments held back by older gear.

I don't know if Sonos has made the right decision but it isn't all pros one way and cons the other.  It never is.

 

Fair comment John, however to only offer 30% discount on replacement products is the real issue here (and the one causing anger), as I’m sure they would not be ‘out of pocket’ by offering a much more palatable 70% discount (I know the ‘typical’ margins these companies work to) - retaining customer loyalty and retention. They just didn’t think it through - absolute madness. 

B
Userlevel 5
Badge +5

Sonos hasn’t sold speakers for many years:

https://www.amazon.com/SONOS-SP100-Loudspeakers-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B000F8FCAA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

 

Sonos from leader to loser in 2020.
U
Userlevel 6
Badge +4

My last post on the matter - but at a guess I would say that the majority of folk on this forum are trying to use whatever means they have, i.e. their buying power and goodwill to try to persuade the company to change its mind. 

There are two critical goals here:

  1. Get Sonos to change it’s mind. This may or may not work - in order to come up with this policy in the first place they’re either in trouble as a company and getting desperate or being run by a group of pot plants. Either way that’s bad news for us existing customers. 
  2. Make a fuss big enough to be visible from space so that the NEXT company that’s thinking of screwing us over in the same way thinks again. This is the big picture goal and is even more important than point 1. This cannot become the normal way of doing business.
pwt
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

It’s leverage to apply pressure to revisit the decision, which has already happened to some extent with the revised statement that some software updates will still be provided. This was a change in position that would not have happened without the backlash.

Let’s be clear - the CEO statement says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that the original announcement did not already say.

That’s not true. The original announcement states: “your system will no longer receive software updates and new features.” The more recent Patrick Spence letter states: “While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible.”

The ‘some updates’ language is fluff. What does that mean? What updates? For what? For how long?

It’s a sentiment whose value is determined by how much trust you have in the company making it. The same company that released a financial statement saying ‘we’re going to screw our customers, and they’re not going to like it’, then went ahead and did exactly that. They do not deserve any of your faith at this point.

I didn’t say they’d restored my faith, and you’re right that details are missing. They’ve broken an implicit promise that is at the heart of their value proposition.

We need concrete commitments to keep old devices functioning as part of the whole-house network, as they are clearly able to do. Anything less is nothing.

I agree.

4 x P:5 | Sub | 4 x P:1 | 3 x Connect | 2 x Boost | Connect:Amp | 2 x One | Amp | Move | Port
R

Dear Patrick Spence

I myself and family members have invested a lot of money into your Sonos products, having owned them for not very long to receive news like this is not acceptable. I can fully understand softwares need updating and the hardware in the older products may not be able to supports future updates. However to only offer 30% off the upgrades we need to keep all our products working on the same network it’s shameful and a disgrace to us loyal and heavily invested customers and some people will still not be able to make the upgrades they need without a long time of saving, like family members of mine. Hopefully this will be taken on board and rectified.

H

Shame shame shame, no more sonos products for me ever!! What you are doing is disgusting and so low. I’m an early adopter of the sonos system, I have always promoted it a lot between my friends (not anymore), and I have spent more than 3000€ on Sonos products over the years. The last products were 2 Sonos Amps 1st gen. that I bought used from an official sonos reseller last week! This choice since they were sufficient for the use they would have, to drive one small in-ceiling speaker each, so I chose to save a 150€ compared to the new ones. 

Now what, in order to have a hi-tech product that takes updates after May I have to pay you even more money for your newer products that I don’t like or need? This is how you say thank you to your historical clients? Ridiculous, I will never put another cent in your company.

Lastly, from an environmental point of view what you are doing should be criminalized.

 

N
Userlevel 4
Badge +5

I’m nearly out…!  Just bought a pair of KEF LSX wireless speakers to replace a pair of Play 5’s.  Superb, they sound better and integration is so easy.  

A couple of zones to go and no more Sonos - yipeee.  My now worthless Sonos equipment is in the garage and I feel quite liberated actually.  Fortunately technology has come a long way since I first started building a Sonos network - there is better equipment out there which can be easily multi-roomed if that’s your thing.

I have gone from being a brand ambassador to a major critic of what Sonos have done here.  How easy it is to destroy a company’ reputation, I suspect they won’t recover from this.

Whatever platitudes their CEO comes out with following this debacle, Sonos customers now know the company’s strategy - bricking equipment unless you cough up more cash.  Whether that happens now or is delayed for ‘cosmetic’ reasons to assuage shareholder concern, it’s clearly where they’re heading.  But without me on board.

C
Userlevel 5
Badge +3

The only thing at this point that will change the mind of sonos is what the share price does as a result of this.

Make no mistake investors will be reading all these sorts of comments and taking a view on what this decision means for Sonos revenue.

Market opens in a couple of hours - watch this space.

U
Userlevel 6
Badge +4

It’s leverage to apply pressure to revisit the decision, which has already happened to some extent with the revised statement that some software updates will still be provided. This was a change in position that would not have happened without the backlash.

Let’s be clear - the CEO statement says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that the original announcement did not already say.

That’s not true. The original announcement states: “your system will no longer receive software updates and new features.” The more recent Patrick Spence letter states: “While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible.”

As long as possible. ‘Possible’ as defined by Sonos. The company that announced it was going to knowingly cause this customer backlash. The company that is deliberately selling its old kit short by pretending it can’t integrate with the newer kit unless it has the same software version on it.

Further, note the information quoted by the poster below you:

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.

So the CEO says they will bug fix for as long as possible, after Sonos themselves have already claimed that these devices are too underpowered for that same thing.

 

I repeat the statement that the CEO statement is just a PR whitewashed version of the same announcement. If it’s changed your sentiment towards Sonos at all then you’ve been manipulated.

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +5

One more (positive) thing: At least Sonos have told about their plan (or lack) although they probably did not mean to or thought we another one of their ‘products’. We know what to do now:

  • Do not buy any else from Sonos
  • Return any recently purchased products 
  • Write a review on every product you own on as many sites as you can 
  • Revise any reviews you have written in the past - just did on Amazon
  • Tell your friends - those you told to buy Sonos and warn those who were thinking about it
  • Find the CEO’s email address and send him a personal message 

Sorry for picking exactly your message, as there are a number of similar ones to choose from, but what I want to point out is that I do not understand the purpose of all this destruction. Who would benefit from negative reviews everywhere, and why? What to write to the CEO and for what purpose?

I understand the idea of returning products if you no longer feel that they were the right choice for you, but that will then be a personal thing between you and the seller. 

We are not at war - a company has communicated badly about a decision we do not like, but the logical reaction to this would then be to either wait and see or to run away. Starting some kind of demolision project for the company doesn’t seem to solve any problems. Or did I miss an important detail here?

I’m sorry but I got to reply to this. Sonos was promoted as a streaming hi fi system, it was sold as one, I brought it as such and now to find by the actions of the manufacturer that hi fi streaming will cease to function at some point. It seems there are those that just does not get this.   

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