Defective heat link - Nest learning 2nd generation - why no recall?

[JMK2]

My heat link is dead as a dodo. Which means, of course, I have no heat.  Google knows what the problem is as I had an email from Boxt offering a free replacement.  I thought it was a scam so I didn’t respond - until I figured out it wasn’t.  Google has enough of these problems to have a contract with Boxt to deal with these things. And there are plenty of threads here and on the internet of people with similar problems. So my question is this - why hasn’t Google proactively recalled the defective units?  Why do I have to suffer from a flat with no heat - on nights when the temperature hovers near freezing - once the problem has occurred?  Just how poor is Nest reliability?  I have this installed in another property - will I know have a lottery every winter to see if that one packs it in as well?  

[UanaC]

Hi there! I am so sorry to hear about your experience. Indeed there might be some similar problems regarding this matter, but just as any device after using it for a while you can experience issues with it for different reasons. Rest assured, if you encounter any issues with your devices, I'll be more than happy to help you out. 

[JMK2]

That’s not a very responsive response.  If the reasons I “have issues” with a device is due to a known defect, don’t you consider you have a responsibility to recall the product?  What is the failure rate of Nest thermostats?  Do I have to worry about this with my other Nest thermostat? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be without heat or hot water on some of the coldest days of the year?  I’m sorry but your response I demonstrates a lack of responsibility to your customers. I cannot “rest assured” on this issue. 

[UanaC]

Again, I'm sorry for the issue, however we, as Google, are trying our best to give you the best resolution possible. What I said previously doesn't mean that all Heat Links have this issue, but that some of them might do. So, we try to replace them when this happens. As our policy is right now, we try to tackle the issue of the Heat Link not being able to power up through our partner BOXT. This doesn't mean that we are not looking to improve our policy or our services moving forward. One way we try to improve them is through the feedback of our customers. What I can do is take your feedback into account which you can provide by following this link: https://goo.gle/3kMJua1.

[JMK2]

now I just pray Boxt can get my heat back up and running tomorrow- before the weather gets even colder

[UanaC]

I hope everything will be taken care of properly. I'll have to close this thread for now. If you have any new issues, updates or just a discussion topic, feel free to start a new thread in the community.