HOLD temperature feature taken away

[Ronboy]

A nest help screen

Here is a quote from the page linked above:

“Note: The hold temperature feature is not available for The Nest Thermostat E or Nest

Learning Thermostat (3rd gen or earlier).”

I have had my Gen 3 Learning Thermostat for quite a while (more than 5 years) and my stat used to have the “HOLD FEATURE”.  That means you have TAKEN A FEATURE AWAY. 

I can not believe Nest would do that.  How can Nest sell me a product that has certain features and then take some of them away?  I have never been notified of this and I could not find any mention of a reason for the change on your web site.  This just seems wrong to me!  I have wasted a lot of my own time trying to figure this out.  I am still not sure how to deal with setting my Nest when we are going to be away from home for an extended period of time.  
The learning thermostat is supposed to make my life easier but over the years I have owned one, it has cost me many hours of my time trying to figure out how to use it and then they change how it works again.  Is it just me or have others experienced the same thing?

[luciaaa]

Hi, @Ronboy,

Thank you for reaching out to the community. I'm sorry to inform you that the Hold temperature feature is not available on the Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen). I’m happy to help!

While some features have been removed in recent years, the Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen) has many other useful features, such as Home/Away Assist. Home/Away Assist is particularly helpful if you're away from home for extended periods. You can learn more about this feature here: Learn more about Home/Away Assist. 

Since the Hold temperature feature isn't available on the Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen), we'd love to hear your feedback. Your input helps us prioritize new features and improve the Google Nest Thermostat experience.

Feel free to reply if you have any questions. 

Best regards,

Ana

[Ronboy]

Thanks for your reply.  However, nothing you said helps me understand why the company that owns Nest feels empowered to change the features of a product after they have operated a certain way for a significant period of time.    It’s kind of like buying and owning a new car for a few years and then suddenly finding (because cars are so computer controlled these days) that their vehicle can no longer make right-hand turns; just because the manufacturer decided to do that  - no reason given.  I suppose that if they had made the change for safety reasons, it would probably be justified.  Even then, it is not justifiable to do such a thing without notifying their customers.   Maybe they assume that their customers don’t care about things like that or are too dumb to understand them. 

By the  way, the link you provided to learn more about “Home / Away Assist” did not work for me.  
Ron

[luciaaa]

Hi there!

I apologize for the inconvenience with the link. I understand how valuable the Hold Temperature feature is for you. We're constantly looking for ways to enhance our products with the latest updates, adding and removing features to prioritize security and users experience.

Currently, the closest feature to this on the Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen) is Home/Away Assist. This feature uses activity sensors in your Nest products (managed through the Nest app) and your phone's location to automatically adjust your Nest products' behavior based on whether you're home or away. This eliminates the need for manual adjustments or relying on a fixed schedule.

How Home/Away Assist works: You can open the Nest app anytime to check if your home is in Home or Away mode. Home/Away Assist uses two methods to determine whether to switch modes automatically: the location of people's phones and whether Nest products detect any activity in your home. You can refer to this article to learn more about how Nest products use presence sensing.

Don’t hesitate to reply if you have any questions.

Best regards,
Ana