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Bought new house, wired doorbell still connected to previous owner's account

blueklister
Community Member

Bought a new house, the wired doorbell says it's connected to another account (the previous owner.) Google's solution (which isn't a solution) is to ask the previous owner to release the doorbell. They haven't. Resetting the device does not solve this problem. Google says I should return the doorbell to the seller for an exchange. Right. How would I know who the seller was? Since the doorbell is attached to the house, it is real property, not personal property and legally I own it, yet can't use it, so there's a problem here. Does Google itself offer me an exchange?

1 Recommended Answer

janthadeus
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,

 

I just wanted to jump in here to make sure that you saw my response. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours.

 

Best,

JT

View Recommended Answer in original post

13 REPLIES 13

Rubes
Gold Product Expert
Gold Product Expert

Tough spot and unfortunately there’s not flexibility here. Either have the previous owner delete it from their account or you’ll need to buy a new doorbell.

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,

Just checking in to see how the conversation is going, as there's been a lapse in activity on this thread. Thank you for all of your work, @Rubes!

Best regards,
Brad

blueklister
Community Member

Unacceptable. I ran into the same, exact problem with the smart thermostat. I got on the phone with them, they initiated a video link and were able to read the code on the thermostat, so they knew I had possession of it. Again, these items are REAL property, not personal property and Google is keeping me from using what is legally mine, not the previous owners. Google could easily come up with a process, since this seems to be a common issue, to solve this, but instead chooses to simply try to sell more products. This is why I switched from Nest (once Google bought it) to Ecobee in my last house.

@blueklister 

Why didn't Google Nest let you do the same thing with your doorbell that they did with the thermostat? Or was the smart thermostat from a company other than Google Nest?

blueklister
Community Member

It was a Honeywell. Not a big fan of Honeywell, but at long last they seem to be getting their act together, unlike Nest, which seems to have lost its way since Google bought them.

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@GoogleNestTeam 

Is it possible for Google Nest to provide a way for this customer to contact Google Nest Support on a video link so they can show Google Nest the installed doorbell and allow them to transfer ownership in Google Nest's records, the way Honeywell did with their smart thermostat?

blueklister
Community Member

I'm still waiting to see if Google Nest support can come up with an idea how to solve this. This is a Google problem, not a previous owner problem. The doorbell is real property, not personal property, so I legally own it. I can't use it because Google's servers are preventing me from using it. The previous owners don't own either the doorbell or the servers that say they own it. This is not rocket science, yet Google -- one of the biggest companies on the planet -- just throws up their hands and says "Gosh, there's nothing we can do!"

janthadeus
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for your help here, @Rubes, @MplsCustomer and @Brad.

 

We're sorry if you've had to experience this. I know how you feel. No worries, we'll sort this out. Do you have a way to contact the previous owner to remove the Nest Hello doorbell (wired) from their account? I can understand your frustration where you can't set up your Nest Hello doorbell (wired) freely to your account. Usually, if the previous owner didn't remove it from their account and you set it up to your account as the new owner it would show an error message that it's already connected to an account. This is one of the security features of the camera. We suggest contacting the previous owner to remove the camera from the account. If that's not an option.

 

Going over the steps here might help:

 

  1. Unplug the camera(s) .
  2. Wait at least 48 hours.
  3. Before beginning the pairing process, change the WiFi network SSID. This will disconnect any devices that are currently connected to the WiFi network.
  4. Plug the cameras back into a power outlet and connect them to the account using the new WiFi network SSID.
  5. Once they're paired, change the WiFi network SSID back to the original SSID.
  6. Use the Nest app to update the camera's WiFi settings to reflect the original SSID. You can also visit the article How to update WiFi settings on Nest camera and Nest Hello to get the steps on how to complete the pairing process.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks,

JT

janthadeus
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,

 

It's me again. I want to make sure you're all good — how did the steps go?
 

Regards,

JT

blueklister
Community Member

I was able to chat with someone at Nest and they cleared the previous owner off the account, allowing me to add the doorbell to my account. This should be a standard procedure, as other manufacturers of smart devices commonly perform, instead of this hoop jumping of getting the previous owner to release control of the device.

janthadeus
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,
 

Sounds good! We’re glad to hear from you. We hear you — rest assured that we'll take note of it. We'll ensure that we'll learn from your experience as we continually improve our products and services.

 

Give us a shout if you have any questions.

 

Best.

JT

janthadeus
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey blueklister,

 

Checking back in should you still have further questions here. Let us know by replying to this thread.

 

Regards,

JT

janthadeus
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,

 

I just wanted to jump in here to make sure that you saw my response. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours.

 

Best,

JT