Recycling program - discontinued products - why?

  • 21 January 2020
  • 36 replies
  • 864 views
D
Userlevel 2
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Hello. i have just received a notification email indicating that my Play 5 and my Bridge will not be supported anymore. this is disappointing because it has only been 6 or so years that we have had these products. They work great and i see no reason to change. for arguments sake, say i do upgrade with the 30% discount what’s  to say Sonos won’t do the same thing again in the same time frame? i would rotating sound equipment faster than it actually breaks just solely based on software obsolescence alone. this is highly disappointing. please comment as i would like to understand the rationale better. thanks 

 

please note, i really do appreciate the Sonos environment. Very well thought-out and works seamlessly with our streaming services. So i am not disappointed with the products. Just the managment of the downstream customer experience 

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36 replies

M
Userlevel 3

Well it seems to me that if you have to buy new equipment you might as well buy a different brand that won’t blackmail you into buying its equipment.

L
Userlevel 4
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I’ve been with Sonos for 20 years now.  I’ve purchased just about every product you’ve ever made from the beginning.  Over $10,000 worth of your equipment and I’ve sold even more for you with recommendations.  I’ve already thrown away the Controller 100, two Controller 200’s and 3 Bridges.  Now you want me to “Upgrade” and give you more money.  I’m finished.  Bluesound here I come.  It’s better anyway.  It has High Resolution.

D
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Yes that is an option. i am hopeful however that Sonos will see that this is not the correct way of doing business and at least provide support for legacy products up to at least 10 or even 15 years.

or at worst, provide two levels of support: one where the client will receive basic updates again bugs and issues related to app functionality with the evolving devices, and one where the clients who fully are invested with the Sonos environment will receive all the latest greatest updates, but they have to agree to changing their hardware almost more frequently than changing their underwear! 

or charge a nominal fee for the app updates… 

 

whatever but Sonos’s approach to this issue by no longer supporting their products that are really not that old is really unfortunate!

L
Userlevel 3

Well it seems to me that if you have to buy new equipment you might as well buy a different brand that won’t blackmail you into buying its equipment.

I agree totally. I certainly will keep away from this money grabbing brand.

D
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A rational comment from Sonos on this matter would be very helpful. 

thanks

G
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I have 4 Connect Amps and only 2 of them are end of life. That’s because, although both models were called the same name “Connect Amp”, the internal hardware got revised. I wonder whether the laws associated with false claims have bearing on this, since in effect Sonos sold something substandard under the same name, and presumably at the time of change it was a toss up which one someone ended up with………...

D
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You have a lot of money invested in those Connect Amps. they don’t come cheaply… I would be frustrated too.

 

In an ideal world I would expect that the life cycle of the Sonos products show follow somewhat loosely to that of a good sound system which would last AT Least 10 years. Nowadays with the throwaway economy electronics and gadgets are on the 2-3 year cycle. With their decision it feels like they are going towards the gadgets life cycle but they are charging a Premium for their products. these are not iPhones or whatever.

I personally invested in their products because of the seamless interface and the good sounding speakers.

ironically, we just bought a BOOM3 over the holidays and i loved it. super small. portable and waterproof. FAR cheaper than the Play 1 yet you can combine to add more of them to make like a Sonos system. for sure the overall experience is not the same but the point is that these are more the throwaway type with the prices to match (when on super sale...). of course the folks at BOOM might do the same… the difference is their price point is considerably lower so the sting would be less!

 

D
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shoot. just saw the response from Lester. that a lot of $$$ tied up in their products. 

 

for Sonos, if they were really SERIOUS about helping existing customers out - which we are actually in a large part ambassadors for their products and help sell new ones - then they would be giving us a 50%+ discount on the upgrade products. personally i find 30% insulting and bothersome. for us in Canada basically that is half the tax! so in the end it’s only 15% off… a joke when there is No certainty that they wont do it again in 5 years… LOL

 

Question: now that Sonos is no longer supporting their legacy products does this mean that their controller app will eventually stop working with new OS updates for hand held devices/laptops?

L
Userlevel 4
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There’s an issue of trust here. I mean, 4 months’ notice? Sure, we can use the Sonos after software updates stop, but for how long before we have trouble with the app, or Spotify, or some such?

If I decide to roll out a replacement of five Sonos components capable of playing 44.1Khz 16-bit audio with five new components capable of playing 44.1Khz 16-bit audio then, let’s say spread out over 2020 and 2021 then:

  1. What happens while I have a mix of old and new components?
  2. How do I know that part-way through replacing all this stuff, the trade-in programme won’t be withdrawn with little or no notice?

I agree 30% is too low, especially given the technology is virtually the same as it was 10 years ago. After all, Sonos decided the human ear can’t hear hi-def audio. Fine, but look how much hardware is in a £50 blu-ray player, or a raspberry pi, and ask yourself what exactly are you paying for?

D
Userlevel 2
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Well said! I am personally not aware of all the tech features of Sonos’s products or others on the market. not that into it… but i do know of a crappy deal when i see one.

Please keep the comments coming as I would like to build a case for Sonos to listen to us.

We are part of the reason for their success and treating us like this is misguided and dishonest. OF course they will react promptly if their decision starts to bite into their market share or bottom line!

 

 

 

W
Userlevel 3
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It would be one thing if the particular legacy product no longer received updates, but it’s my understanding that an entire system that has one of these units as part, will no longer be able to receive updates. 
 

So basically if one of your units is considered obsolete, your entire system will be seen as such. That is just wrong. 

A

Got the same email for a pair of Connect:Amp units that are less than 5 years old and installed by a reseller/integrator. If they were 15 years old I’d have some sympathy for Sonos. 10 years from last sale date seems like a minimum support time for consumer products.

At 5 years I expect to get at least 80% credit toward new units. 

Hope they reconsider their approach.

D
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I am glad to see these comments. Well said everyone. Your respective stories are really a problem. It’s great to see that I am not the only one who thinks that a legacy of at least 10 years is considered minimum. 

Apart from raising our concerns in this forum does anyone have another way that will escalate this for Sonos to at least get a reaction/finding a more reasonable solution?

C

Agree with every point made here!!! Just bought an overpriced amp to support AirPlay now I have to replace 3 more units or no updates. 30% discount not good enough!!! Sonos takes advantage of fact you are invested in system 👎. 

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
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How do I know that part-way through replacing all this stuff, the trade-in programme won’t be withdrawn with little or no notice?

You don’t they have said the Trade-up deal may be withdrawn at any time

One hopes for a bit of warning but that is a hope, not a Sonos promise.

D
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Honestly the trade up deal is hardly worth it, especially for those who have a great deal of equipment invested.
 

A big concern is that say we all upgrade to the latest greatest, there’s a good chance they’ll pull the same stunt in another five or six years…

 

C

I have a Gen 1 Sonos 5 (purchased in 2015), a bridge purchased at the same time and bought two One’s last year when they were on sale.

I am going to upgrade our home theatre etc this year and was planning to spend A$2,000 with Sonos, but it looks like I’ll be selling what I have and moving to another system. It’s a shame as I loved the concept and they definitely had something that the established brands couldn’t offer. It now seems that they are losing market share to the more established brands so they are going top try to force existing customer to spend more money with them. I don’t know where they are getting their advice, but it seems that they have just p’d off their whole community. I do hope that they rethink this or they will go the way of Betamax.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
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Hardly worth it? I got more in rebates than I paid for some of the gear I traded!

Possibly the same stunt five years after they quit selling a device, that makes the Play 3 and 1 the next products at risk. But and a big BUT both have far more memory and more modern radios compared to the gear declared legacy so the reason that forced the current change of status probably won’t apply any time soon.

I’d love to see a new Play 3 and 5 with SL versions (like the Ones) for folks not needing voice, doing stereo pairs or surrounds. That would start the 5 year guaranteed support clock ticking on th eGen 2 Play 5, but that is a minimum.

If they do It I hope they bring back the headphone jack on the new 5.

 

C
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why not remove the auto update to the app so that we can stay on the old setup we have  and keep using our expensive system? I would rather have the choice than be forced ;-)

jgatie

why not remove the auto update to the app so that we can stay on the old setup we have  and keep using our expensive system? I would rather have the choice than be forced ;-)

 

That exactly what they are doing.  Systems with legacy devices will not get updates and will stay as they are. 

C
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Ahh thanks jgatie,

ok so ALL my products will still work then? Will we still get access to download older ver of the software? We would need to have the option to download the older software in the event that we change/repair our computers or phones.

jgatie

Ahh thanks jgatie,

ok so ALL my products will still work then? Will we still get access to download older ver of the software? We would need to have the option to download the older software in the event that we change/repair our computers or phones.

 

Apps are a little murky right now.  It is not clear if the new controller apps will be compatible with legacy units, or you will get the old legacy app.  But it is going to work one way or the other.  Sonos has said there will be more details in May.  

As an aside, Sonos has also stated that you will be able to add new hardware, and reset old hardware and re-add it to a legacy system.

D
Userlevel 2
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Apps are a little murky right now.  It is not clear if the new controller apps will be compatible with legacy units, or you will get the old legacy app.  But it is going to work one way or the other.  Sonos has said there will be more details in May.  

As an aside, Sonos has also stated that you will be able to add new hardware, and reset old hardware and re-add it to a legacy system.

I don`t know, even if they do clear it up for us and provide limited functionality for legacy systems, the fact still remains that they have effectively abandoned their existing client base. It makes no sense to me and i certainly hope someone at Sonos is following this thread!!! 

rather than leaving us hanging and offering some ridiculous “recycle” discount, they should be honoring existing commitments and eventually encouraging existing owners to a “new and improved” platform.

jgatie

 

I don`t know, even if they do clear it up for us and provide limited functionality for legacy systems, the fact still remains that they have effectively abandoned their existing client base. It makes no sense to me and i certainly hope someone at Sonos is following this thread!!! 

rather than leaving us hanging and offering some ridiculous “recycle” discount, they should be honoring existing commitments and eventually encouraging existing owners to a “new and improved” platform.

 

I’m just trying to help people that have questions.  I have no idea why you chose my factual answers to those questions in your rant, but please understand - Some people are here for help and explanations, not complaints.  

N
Userlevel 6
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I don`t know, even if they do clear it up for us and provide limited functionality for legacy systems, the fact still remains that they have effectively abandoned their existing client base. It makes no sense to me and i certainly hope someone at Sonos is following this thread!!! 

rather than leaving us hanging and offering some ridiculous “recycle” discount, they should be honoring existing commitments and eventually encouraging existing owners to a “new and improved” platform.

 

I’m just trying to help people that have questions.  I have no idea why you chose my factual answers to those questions in your rant, but please understand - Some people are here for help and explanations, not complaints.  

We are still in the rant stage of grief, the time for help and explanations will be in May.

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