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Smart Home Company Wink Gives Users an Extra Week Before Surprise Subscription Fees Are Required

ouimetnick said:
Better buy back/offer refunds to those who purchased the products. I can see charging a subscription going forward and grandfathering in existing customers for free, but are you legally allowed to modify a product after purchase?

If I bought new vehicle with CarPlay advertised and then a year later had to pay $4.99 every 30 days to keep a feature that my car was advertised with, then they lied when I bought it.
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I see a class action coming on. Deliberately making a product with a free service and then making it compulsory to charge that service to make the product work!
 
Nice lawsuit coming through the certified mail...THis is not a subscription service, it is a ransom...
 
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I don't understand these companies. Build your damn hubs with the ability to host their own remote interface. Not difficult.
 
And this comes as a surprise to people? Really?

Name a thing today that isn't a plot to extract some sort of rent from its users either directly or indirectly, at least in the long run?

Even Apple does this, it's just that they charge so much for their products that they hardly go by as "impulse purchases".
 
Wow, a whole week? I've never heard of this company before but now I want to buy whatever they're selling. Uh, I mean renting out at a recurring fee that never ends for something totally non-essential.
 
Man this shows how dumb/greedy these companies are. The stupid thing is, if they made it an optional, value-added service, they'd probably have gotten a relatively high % of subscribers.

The thread on twitter is quite funny though, with people showing what they've done with their hubs!
 
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That class action will be settled quickly... it's obvious ransom. Could have handled it better by grandfathering current customers (but that way they wouldn't grab a lot of money in a short time), offline service only, offering a "PRO" line and so one like most others do.

Would be fun if this ends in criminal charges because it's literally extortion. "Either pay or we brick your device." And changing your home-automation within a 2 weeks timeframe during a global pandemic is really holding users hostage.
 
I see them getting in an awful lot of trouble in the EU and UK. I can see lots of customers asking for their money back, and in the EU and UK having the right to get their money back.
 
So let me get this straight.
Wink are saying they need to charge a subscription service as hardware sales do not cover their ongoing costs.
So they introduce the said subscription service, which will result in a ton of customers leaving Wink altogether.
How does that help their profitability?

Surely the subscription service should be for all NEW customers only?

Thats what Netgear have done with the Arlo Camera system.
I have the Arlo Pro, which is subscription based, but I just stick with the free 10 days of cloud storage. Hence no subscription.
New Arlo system users are now subscription based only - so they get no free storage at all, but as I am an existing user, I just keep my current system and continue to enjoy the 10 days free storage.
Everyone's a winner.

Wink just took the first step towards suicide.
 
Well. That was easy.

switched the lights over to Hue and paired anything remaining with my Ring Alarm for control. 1 less item plugged in, I’ll take that as a win.
 
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Mark my words, one day will pay a subscription fee to use all Apple products. Look at Catalina, for example, Apple Music, Apple TV.
 
klydefrogg said:
Here's to hoping my SmartThings hub gets here before then.
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I love my SmartThings hub. I've got a few Cree smart LED light bulbs and a few smart outlets hooked to it. And I control it through Alexa.

Wink was on my shortlist along with a few other companies... but I'm glad I ultimately chose SmartThings.
 
SuperSonic80 said:
Mark my words, one day will pay a subscription fee to use all Apple products. Look at Catalina, for example, Apple Music, Apple TV.
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Then people will move to another device. I switch my laptop to running Linux and I might even get a google free Android. Don't use any subscription services for Media (eg Music or TV). Just not part of my life, buying on the 'never-never'.
Eventually, Subscriptions will have had their day. That will be when enough people realise just how much of their income is going out again in subscriptions and there is nothing left to live on halfway through the month.
 
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Not sure why they have a need for subscriptions unless it is for something like cloud storage for security cameras.
Everything else should be able to be controlled through Google or Apple services or the products app when in the home
 
Was it in the terms of service? If not, they could add new services and would legally HAVE to charge for them. Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002
 
These are hard decisions. They will lost potential customers that would not want to buy the hardware if this requires an extra subscription cost for using it... So is a loose loose scenario...
 
russell_314 said:
Wouldn't any camera require some form of cloud service if you want notifications on your phone and the ability to view it remotely? To me that's a big feature of cameras where you get a notification on your phone about detected movement.
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No. You can self host. For instance I use Ubiquiti and self host my footage on my servers. I also get notifications, etc. No monthly fees to pay at all.
 
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robertosh said:
These are hard decisions. They will lost potential customers that would not want to buy the hardware if this requires an extra subscription cost for using it... So is a loose loose scenario...
Click to expand...

Tbh, I fail to see how it's costing them so much.

I've had a lightwaveRF box for years now (and I mean a lot of years). It's still fully supported. They don't charge a subscription, and everything that they've ever enabled stays working. They occasionally release updated hardware, but always keep full backwards compatibility with their oldest hubs (I think mine is approaching 10 years old now). And lightwaveRF isn't exactly a big company, they're a relatively small player in comparison.

There's simply no need for this if the business is run properly.
 
I guess I just don't get the drive to cloud services. Maybe it's just ease of use? I run a full Ubiquiti system at my house (full network gear, cameras, etc) and it's a 1 time investment - no additional fees, no monthly service, or anything of that nature. Rather easy to use honestly too with just a bit of know-how.

I'm still shocked folks go for services like Wink when there are just way better options out there, especially for privacy.

I guess it probably boils down to price maybe?
 
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