Contributor I

Is this normal experience with Sonos Support?

29 replies
2379 views

Hello,

So I was moving and during shipping my Play 5 got a slight puncture on it's super thin grill and I was like well maybe support can help me out with this i am very OCD and this bothers me a lot...

Here's the damage

So I write them a message and they are like we will see what we can do for you and it turned out what they can do is charge me 389$ (Price of the refurbished model on Sonos store is 399) and replace the unit. I am like speechless is this the level of support we can expect?

I guess don't ever damage your front grill friends or you will be faced with a choice to surrender your speaker and get 30$ discount.

Thanks Sonos Support Team.

Support

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Show previous replies

Ken_Griffiths

Maybe just stick a little tiny 'ouch' sticker (or similar) over its 'HUGE GINORMOUS CRATER'.

OCD, or no OCD, there are far more important things to be concerned about in this world, especially as the speaker still works okay.

melvimbe

I mean how would you know what's difficult and what's not? As far as I know you are not working at Sonos. So far all your responses were not backed by any real world data and don't take this personally but such responses are worthless and go no where.

No one is coming up with actually data in this discussion, including yourself. If you're going to discount others view on the topic due to lack of supporting data, wouldn't you need to discount your own arguments as well?

From what I've seen with modern electronics, the repair model is pretty much gone. The costs usually are very near the cost of full replacement, when you factor in maintaining inventory, shipment, personnel, and administering the program itself. People generally don't even like the process very much since they will be without their electronics while it's away for repairs (I can't stand it anyway).

The only spare parts you really seen now a days is for one of two reasons. The first is that the part is going to be under heavy wear and quite likely to fail before the rest of the unit does. Wheels are a good example of this, for lawn mowers, vacuums, etc.. Speaking of vacuums, the brushes will fail frequently. And of course, phone screens. In many of these cases, spare parts are provided and the equipment is designed so that the owner can replace the part themselves without much knowledge.

The other example I see is the spare part is actually designed with customization in mind. There are different colors and designs of the part available so that users will be tempted to buy the part, even when their current part isn't broken, just to customize their product. This is what I'd like to see Sonos do for the grills. Create a speaker where the grill is easily replaced and over different versions of the grill so users can change the color and look of the speaker at will. Or perhaps just some minor wear and tear, like OP's case, can be remedied with a $30-$50 (random guessing at the price) change if it bothers them enough.

btw, you may want to try googling 3rd party options, like this.

Danny

Stanley_4

Grand Maestro

I found a Play 5 Gen 1 grill on ebay for a great price. It was $9.00 last night, $53.00 today so the un-dented one for $100 is a steal.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sonos-Play-5-Wireless-Multi-Room-Speaker-Black-Gen-1/163723221230?epid=4024808155&hash=item261eaa18ee:g:~FYAAOSwssRc-brG

M

Misfit

Enthusiast II

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sonos-Play-5-Front-Grill-White-New/173924607135?hash=item287eb6e49f:g:EnAAAOSwx2Bck8HO
I wonder how he got a brand new grill! Maybe there is still hope here.

Consumers don't have to shop parts on eBay 7 month after they bought the product for a basic part.

Wow. $100 just for a grill?

But $300 for a full new speaker, with perfect grill is too much. Okay.

K

Kumar

Maybe just stick a little tiny 'ouch' sticker

Full marks for lateral thinking! A customised unit - unless the OCD is acute.

B

Blank_Canvas

Lyricist I

Yes, breaking the glass on your phone is FAR more common that puncturing the grille on a speaker. This is the very first instance I've ever heard of. There's no way Sonos is going to keep an inventory of something that simply doesn't break more than 0.01% of the time. Do you have any idea how expensive maintaining a spare parts inventory is? Triple the cost of your speakers for them to maintain a parts store...You guys are missing his/her point.. When you buy a higher-end product you expect higher-end service. It's not really that complicated.. Sure it may happen 0.01% of the time, which is obviously not accurate, but it does happen. People who have kids, getting drunk, trying to navigate in the dark, I can mention lots of ways a speaker can accidentally get damaged. Sonos knows this and has chosen to not sell replacement parts, other than cables. Why make $25-$50 on a grill when you can make 5-6 times that.. Higher-end products should come with high-end support. And they do, that's why people spend a little extra $ on some things..

K

Kumar

What is high end in this field? Certainly not Sonos; by most standards of the home audio industry, Sonos is mass market. Which is the main reason why audiophiles look down their noses at it.

And I doubt that Sonos has chosen to not sell grilles just to spite its customer base.