Why don't Sonos offer a repair service?

We have just moved into new home. Theatre, Sonos in place. Wifi cabled to house and connected. But we don't know how to connect theatre, how to use Sonos and we need Wifi extended to reach every room. We don't have the routers, so we'd also need them to tell us what to buy before they arrive

I’m so frustrated with Sonos. As many of you, I’m heavily invested in hardware and to replace the whole thing would be such a waste. I mistakenly purchased THREE Play 5 Gen 1 units when they came out (along with others). The last 18 months, two went and only one was under warranty through the third party vendor (store) that I bought it from. Now the third one has gone and I’m disappointed that with all the complaints and known issues with the Gen 1, Sonos isn’t taking care of its early adopters. I don’t want to spend another £350 / $500 on another unguaranteed product - I just want to fix mine! My father continues to laugh at me because his speakers are over 25 years old and he’s never had a problem with them.

Get it together Sonos! Your Gen I customers are the reason you’re successful now...

I have found my experience with Sonos customer support was well mannered. Like many of you, I have found one of my Sonos (Play 5 gen 1) simply didn't power up and Sonos had kindly offered a discount at £359 for a Play 5 gen 2. Although I've been offered a better product, but I rather repair than get a newer speaker-more environmentally friendly and also why spend more money?

However I do find it slightly hard to understand Sonos doesn't offer any repair services. I grew up with Bang and Olufsen in New Zealand, even they provide repair services at the bottom of the world in the 90s! Sonos is a GLOBAL company now, not a small start up. They can at least provide repair services in major cities or town. IMHO there are no excuses that their equipment is this "complicated" to repair. I collect watches, Rolex and Patek will not say to you, I will give you a discount to buy a new one because your watch no longer functions, they fix it (or even send it back to Geneva) and I am sure is more complicated than Sonos when we are talking perpetual calendar or minute repeater functions.

.... They are just a little bit better at hiding it than the guy who comes right out and mentions the CR100 (See above). Best to just ignore it.
I cannot find the post with CR100 mentioned anywhere, am I just bad at finding it or has the post been "moderated"? 😳

Today I was contacted back by SONOS support and they explained the £350 charge was due to the fact that they would replace my broken 1st gen Player 5 with the latest generation (which currently sells for twice what I had originally paid). I argued back that I was not particular interested in the new Player 5 and would rather accept a Player 3 if that would allow them to waive the fee.
I also stated how many Sonos devices i own and that i had considered myself a loyal customer up to this point (including recommending SONOS to a number of friends which resulted in purchases).
They offered me in the end a replacement under warranty. So I am a happy camper. Though I still find SONOS' approach and fee structure questionable and would urge them to reconsider their practices. Charging reasonable fees would safe them the hassle of arguing with disgruntled customers and is possibly not more expensive than waiving unreasonably high fees ever so often. I do like that they offer sending the new unit first, so one can reuse the packaging for the return.

You mean there's nothing fishy about buying defective equipment on ebay, then calling in to Support for a replacement? ;)

Don't bother. The poster is one of the CR100 folks, and has made it his mission to foment disappointment and/or spoil support of Sonos wherever they can. They are just a little bit better at hiding it than the guy who comes right out and mentions the CR100 (See above). Best to just ignore it.

A fuss about nothing??!! Its $500! If thats nothing to you then I guess your one of those people that just pile expensive electronics on the curb because it don't march your decor any more. This thing stopped working after I was made to accept the latest firmware update and I should just accept that? Maybe you...but not me
That was just a coincidence.

I note how variable the customer treatment is regarding repair / replacement. In some markets, advance replacements are generally offered at a discount, in other markets customers appear to be told that they're on their own re: getting stuff repaired.

Past instances of OEMs denying customer care based on how the components were purchased have been found illegal in the courts. For example, Peugot in France tried to deny French customers of Peugots bought in Belgium their warranties as means of ensuring that French citizens would keep buying higher-priced cars in France - the EU court struck this down. I see Sonos' similar treatment of folk who bought their components outside the official channel as no different. This wouldn't be as pressing an issue if non-Sonos repairs were easily obtainable.

In the old days, getting audio gear repaired was usually easier... Schematics were generally available, through-hole components were relatively easy to replace. Nowadays, the cost of getting into the business has become significantly more expensive as SMD components have shrunk, boards have become multilayered and denser. Some computer repair folk need microscopes, $$$ reflow stations, etc. just to be able to replace & inspect chips. However, without documentation (which typically has to be provided by the OEM) this line of work is going to become harder and harder to cost-justify.

This "right to repair" issue isn't limited to Sonos. Other companies like Apple are also tightening the screws on independent repair shops, making it harder and harder for them to obtain relevant documentation to effect repairs outside the OEM channels. Support "Right to Repair" bills in your state (see iFixit for more info).

UPDATE well after some perseverance it paid off. I called back and spoke to a new CS rep and he put me through to a supervisor who asked me a couple of questions and they can tell that the connect amp had not been updated with my other devices and agreed to send me a new one!! Amazing I had to jump through hoops for it. I understand you have to have policies in place to protect youraelf, but for such expensive items they should extend their warranty especially if they believe in the quality of it. So it ended well for me but I wasn't getting off the phone excepting anything else.. I was calm and polite I didnt hand them their tail and im sure that helped. Lol next one I buy (IF there's a next one) will be from someone I can purchase a extended warranty from.

My Connect Amp has also "just stopped working" and now that I think of it, it was after a firmware upgrade. like its bricked or something. I purchased it in summer 2015 used it to power outdoor patio speakers. unit is inside a cool clean and dry basement away from any heat/sun. used only during warm months so unit is plugged in for maybe 3 months a year after that I unplug it because theirs no reason to have this thing powered up. Now it wont boot up and only flashed the white light. $500 unit is a paperweight. SONOS reply buy a new one for a reduced rate of $350.......YEAH that's what I want to do after spending $500 for a unit used for a total of like 5 months of random use. I will NEVER buy SONOS or recommend them again for their lack of customer service AND all you defenders of sonos......your day like ours IS in your future and lets hear the tune you play then LOL.

We should consider legal action - I contacted their CEO but, as expected, did neither hear back from him nor from the support team when complaining about this attitude and the apparent rip-off. I think Samsung has a class action lawsuit pending for bricking devices, including damage of property. I'll certainly exhaust all means I have to tell people about this so they know before they purchase.

I'm not sure I see the problem here. When out of warranty, Sonos most often offers a refurbished unit at a significantly reduced price in lieu of repairing. It then takes the returned unit and sends it out for refurbishing. Not exactly sure how keeping the customer's unit for repair, during which time the customer is without use of the unit, would be more beneficial than immediately issuing a replacement. I personally would be far more satisfied to receive a like-new unit at a reduced price than paying a significant repair bill and being without the unit for the time it takes to repair.

Sure - what's the problem here! I tell you what the problem is: greed or total customer disregard - pick your motif.
I was just offered a replacement for my broken sonos 5 - kaputt after just 2.5y (after firmware upgrade!!) and was offered a totally gracious £349 replacement fee. What a rip-off (I paid 350 on Amazon for the new device). Even Apple charges less for repair of devices twice the cost (e.g. Apple charges £120 for screen replacement for an £800 phone).
Based on that experience I cannot recommend Sonos to anyone, having been a loyal customer I now wait for the other four Sonos to break and move on to other brands. Bye-bye Sonos.

I own seven units. One day the wireless component on the play 5 stopped working. I called in, and ten minutes and a diagnostic later, they said they’d ship me a working unit within a week. At first, I was a little upset. I care for my units and frankly, love them. I didn’t want to see my beautiful unit end up in a garage in China. However, after thinking a few minutes, it’s a pretty awesome solution and I will get and working unit immediately. Either way I’d be waiting for a repair, so the end result is the same. I only wish they would extend this into a longer warranty, I promise they would get a bulk of the industry if they did. My father just got his 1975 Bose 901’s out of storage and it was cool to hook them up with him after all these years later in 2018. I hope I can do the same with my Sonos speakers and my son one day down the line. I’m still a happy Sonos customer and probably more so after my experience. I couldn’t imagine Bose replacing anything on my Dad’s speakers, or any other major electronics manufacturer for that matter. Well done Sonos.

Well Sonos have declared to the world in the YouTube video for the making of the new play 5 they expect it to last ten years. That’s an implied warranty in Australia. I’ve downloaded the video so they can’t remove it and get away from it.

I had to speak to SONOS' legal department, but they have now replaced the speaker free of charge. In the UK they are required by law to repair goods for free provided you can prove no damage has occurred as a result of your own actions.

They very kindly replaced my Gen1 with a Gen2 (taking the old unit back), which is far more than I expected and I am very pleased with. I said I was more than happy to pay for a repair but as they don't offer them... They should offer repairs, but if they don't you are also entitled to a refund.

Ultimately you have to be prepared to take them to court if you're really going to stick to your guns, but obviously there is no guarantee to win. The best you can do is collect as much evidence as you can showing that there is a history of problems with your units (you can find reviews and complaints all over the boards and by Googling) and take screenshots and links. You can then do the same with evidence supporting that they're failing to meet their commitments in regards to repair services (which again are easy to find). Give all the evidence over to their legal team to decide what to do as a fair opportunity and you may find you get a response.

Obviously all of this is only going to be relevant to those in the UK, although the EU have very similar laws so it's worth checking.

I'm very pleased with the outcome (I certainly wasn't expecting anything more than them to take my old unit and have a look to see what was wrong), but I am really annoyed that I had to go via their legal department to do it.