Complaint about poor customer service - who do I contact?

[harry66]

Hi,

I have a wired Nest doorbell which has been working fine for approx 23 months.

In the past few days, it has disconnected twice and remained disconnected for several hours until we noticed and reset the power supply. One Sunday, it disconnected sometime around 2am and remained disconnected till 17:00 hrs when we noticed it was not working. The only way to restore the connection was to reset the power supply and connect to wifi again.

I contacted Nest support earlier today and they confirmed the Wifi signal was excellent but the doorbell disconnected due to interference - from microwaves or cordless phones??

The microwave is located at least 4 meters away inside the house and the location of the microwave has not changed for several years. And I am using the same microwave unit as I have for the past 2 yrs.

Likewise, the location of the cordless phones is at least 4m away from the doorbell and has not changed for as long as I have had the Nest doorbell.

The support person could not explain any of the following:

• why the doorbell has been working perfectly fine for the past 23 months - why the sudden interference issues?
• why it remained disconnected from 1am - when no-one was using the microwave or cordless phone?
• Why it remained disconnected till 5pm - continuous interference for 16hrs ? and for several hours on the 2nd occasion?
• why it was able to reconnect once I reset the power - why no interference issues?
• why it has not disconnected for the past 23 months whenever we use the microwave or the cordless phones?
• why it has not disconnected in the past 48hrs whenever I use the phone or microwave?

I should also point out that I have 2 other Nest indoor cameras - which are much closer to the microwave and cordless phones - one of the indoor cameras is within 2-3m line of sight of a cordless phone - but neither of these cameras disconnected.

It seems to me the only explanation for the disconnects is that the doorbell has developed an intermittent fault. But I am being fobbed off with a weak 'interference' excuse - without any explanation why I have not experienced interference for the past 23months despite no changes to the location of alleged interference causing devices.

How and where can I complain about this unsatisfactory and non-evidence based fob-off I have been given by the Nest support person?

I should point out that this is not the 1st time I have been given the run around by Google support. Around 18 months ago one of my Nest Indoor cameras kept disconnecting and re-connecting. On that occasion, the support persons kept insisting it was my  Wifi at fault and refused to accept a hardware fault. As the camera was only a few months old I was able to get a replacement from the retailer - and guess what? No disconnects with the replacement camera - using the same wifi equipment and located in the same place as the faulty camera.

Please help get this resolved before my warranty runs out. £200 is a lot of money for something to fail within 2yrs.

Thank you

[Kvenkat]

Nest devices may just be designed for planned obsolescence. The exact same pattern occured on my nest doorbell about 27 months after purchase. Finally one day the nest doorbell wnet offline and even a rest couldnt bring it back online. My nest doorbell now has a blue light that comes up for a few seconds, the green led light on top then blinks and then both lights switch off. This goes on and on on an endless loop.

As you are still within the warranty period, get it replaced before warranty expires. Else you wil be left with a 279 eur worth of paper weight. Its not wifi- interference or any other humdum excuses they give. It is planned obsolescense

[harry66]

Thanks for replying.

I am trying to get it replaced - but google just blame interference without any justification and wont entertain a replacement...

[Kvenkat]

So as you have tried all troubleshooting steps on the google next webpage, I suggest you do a full factory reset.  Google nest webpage does state this as the last resort. Remove the device from your account using the next app and then reset the device to factory setting.

Your doorbells pattern is very similar to mine. When I did the full factory reset, it wouldnt work at all. The lights wont hold long enough to be added back to your account. If this happens with your device, google has no choice but to replace. Better to try this out before warranty expires

[harry66]

Thanks - will definitely give this a try!

[harry66]

Amazing that there is no official Google response to this post...

Either they don't give a monkeys or they are too embarrassed to try and explain the nonsense spiel I was given by their support person.

[Kvenkat]

Did the full factory reset break it? Let me know

[harry66 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Kvenkat 

Sorry - only got round to the full factory reset yesterday and it all connected up again fine.

However, one advantage of doing this was that I realised how badly cracked up the protective coating was on the doorbell. I contacted Nest Support again this morning, sent them some pics of the damage and they have agreed to replace it.

Fingers crossed I get another 2yrs out of it the new one!

Just want to thank you for suggesting the reset - otherwise, I would probably be stuck with the peeling fascia and no doubt this would have led to the bell failing sometime after the warranty expired.

[Brad]

Hey Folks.

I am relieved to see your issue is resolved! At this time, I'll go ahead and lock this thread. If you're still experiencing problems, feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

Best Regards,

Brad.