Hard as this might be to believe, I was an early adopter of Sonos, a pioneer of wireless speakers. That’s right, yours truly, the technophobe who’s always railing about tech being my enemy, was among the first to appreciate and embrace Sonos’s innovative technology. For years I raved about the product and in 2019, Sonos became the first tech company to receive the coveted Starkman Approved seal of approval.
I later rescinded the endorsement, and the folks at Wirecutter, the New York Times-owned product review site, recently have echoed my insight. Legions of angry and betrayed Sonos customers share my dim view of what’s become of Sonos, ss their costly entertainment systems have been disrupted by a disastrous software update that’s wreaked considerable havoc. Sonos is the Ford Motor Co. of home entertainment, an apt reference given that Ford is the automotive industry leader for safety recalls and defective products for three years running.
What Sonos CEO Patrick Spence, an executive import from Canada, and Ford CEO Jim Farley share is they are both sales guys overseeing technology companies. They are what was once known as empty suits, except Spence and Farley prefer more casual wear.
My introduction to Sonos began more than a decade ago in the Magnolia section of the Best Buy store in San Francisco. I had just closed on the condo of my dreams in the city’s then up and coming SOMA section, and I was looking to install speakers throughout the unit. I was already planning renovations, so I figured it prudent to install the necessary speaker wiring while work crews were tearing up the walls. A tech geek salesman advised me that hard wiring speakers was so yesterday and turned me on to the wonders of Sonos’s wireless technology.
Sonos can play music streamed from internet services like Spotify or stored on a local computer. What jazzed me about the product was that it also streams radio stations from around the world, allowing me to listen to my favorite jazz station in New Jersey and a soothing classical music station in Venice, Italy. The beauty of Sonos technology is that its speakers connect to your home’s WiFi, and one can hook up a Sonos home entertainment system with virtually no muss or fuss.
Even I, the lowest common tech denominator, could do it. The system was so incredibly intuitive that I learned early on how to troubleshoot most issues without calling customer support or Cousin Rob. On the rare occasions early on I needed customer support, the experience was delightful.
When I began with Sonos, it was an upstart company based in Santa Barabara, a picturesque coastal city about 100 miles north of Los Angeles with California’s oldest working wharf and a Starkman Approved restaurant called Brophy Bros. serving the best seafood pasta I’ve ever sampled. Never once when I called in the early years did I hear the dreaded, “Due to unusual heavy call volume” greeting. Someone was always readily available to assist me.
Although it’s common today, Sonos was the first technology company I dealt with that could access my system remotely. I was wowed that some California dude could peek into my Sonos, identify sources of interference, and advise how to mitigate or correct the problem. The Sonos support people I dealt with were always laid back and I imagined surfboards lined the walls of the company’s call center.
Sonos was co-founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane, who notably holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. MacFarlane resisted venture capital funding early on, and he impressively placed a premium on customer service and satisfaction.
Sonos was slated to launch its first product for the 2004 holiday season, but the founders decided it wasn’t up to the standards they envisioned and missed the deadline.
“We had decided, after working with our target consumer, that our products wouldn’t be like most consumer electronic devices,” MacFarlane told Inc. magazine. “Typically, the day you bring one of them home is the best day, and then it gets progressively worse from that point on. We wanted a product that got better with time, and that was the challenge to the team. It was hard to do, so we couldn’t go to market fast.”
Under MacFarlane’s leadership, Sonos achieved considerable success and distinguished itself as the industry leader for high end wireless speakers. In late December 2016, I detected the company was experiencing some growing pains when I had a technical issue, and the call center greeting advised the wait time was more than an hour. When I discovered the private equity firm KKR had taken a position in Sonos, I figured the company had sold its soul and became more focused on generating profits than keeping its customers happy.
At the time, Sonos’s website had a link where customers supposedly could send an email to the CEO. In a pique of anger, and not believing that my message would reach MacFarlane, I sent a not too polite email accusing him of selling out and that my faith in Sonos had been shattered.
Turned out, that email did go to MacFarlane. Within minutes I received possibly the most brilliantly crafted FU responses ever written by a CEO to a customer. MacFarlane advised me that Sonos’s Christmas sales had far exceeded expectations, which is why the company was caught flat footed on its customer support. Sonos was addressing the issue. MacFarlane also advised me that he and the other Sonos founders had maintained a controlling interest in the company, so my private equity ranting was mistaken.
Nevertheless, MacFarlane arranged for a senior customer support person to call me at the time of my choosing.
MacFarlane resigned as CEO a month later, citing his wife’s bout with breast cancer and his aging parents as factors. I’ve long harbored a nagging fear that dealing with the likes of me pushed MacFarlane over the edge. MacFarlane also resigned from the company’s board, saying he didn’t want his successor to fear being second guessed.
“I don’t want to be that founder who’s always second-guessing,” Mr. MacFarlane told the New York Times.
MacFarlane was succeeded by Patrick Spence, a hotshot Canadian who joined Canada’s RIM/BlackBerry after graduating with an undergraduate business degree from the University of Western Ontario and worked there for 14 years, ultimately becoming the company’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. During Spence’s tenure at RIM/Blackberry, the company grew from $50 million in revenue to more than $20 billion, and from 150 people to more than 17,000.
In 2007, Spence, 45, was named one of Canada’s top 40 executives under 40.
Spence joined Sonos in 2012 as the company’s chief commercial officer. According to his corporate bio, Spence “played a central role in the development and launch of some of the company’s most successful products” and led the company’s expansion into new markets, including China, France, Australia, and Mexico.
Spence took Sonos public in August 2018. The company’s stock price initially soared as many IPOs do, and then retreated. Wallmine estimates Spence’s net worth at about $45 million. Spence’s alma mater lists Spence’s doubling the size of Sonos’s leadership team to eight from four executives, including three women and one African American, as one of his career milestones.
In 2020, Spence angered longtime Sonos customers with his announcement that the company would no longer support its legacy software. Many customers, including me, had purchased additional speakers over the years, which functioned seamlessly when tethered to the legacy software. Spence’s announcement meant that ultimately untold thousands of speakers and other equipment would be rendered obsolete, which is especially notable since Sonos on its website waxes on about its commitment to sustainability and becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
Sonos and my Dreamtech robot vacuum cleaner are two tech devices I can’t live without, so when Spence announced Sonos wouldn’t support it legacy software I grudgingly moved to upgrade and take advantage of the discounts the company was offering. It was unclear to me if I had to replace all my Sonos equipment, so I called the customer support number. After a considerable wait, I was connected to someone overseas who was so poorly trained he couldn’t understand my questions, let alone answer them.
Sonos’s website still had a link where customers could supposedly send a message to the CEO, so I sent one telling Spence that I was trying to upgrade my system but couldn’t get the technical support I needed. Days later, I received an email from someone with a title like “Office of the CEO,” who seemed to know less about Sonos than I did.
I never upgraded, which has proven to be a blessing. In May, Sonos introduced a new app that’s been an unmitigated disaster. Among the myriad issues recounted by Bloomberg technology columnist Dave Lee are sound drops in and out. Volume blasts high and can’t be adjusted. Devices “disappear” in the app, seemingly at random. The most basic features, like setting a sleep timer or alarm, are missing.
Customers are livid.
“Imagine investing in a premium audio setup, only to have it rendered nearly unusable by a flawed update,” says Forbes contributor Dan Pontefract, who ironically is based in Canada. “For a company that built its reputation on quality, this is unacceptable. It’s about as acceptable as buying an album from Bruce Springsteen without guitars or drums. And it’s been going on for months.”
Spence in a note to customers admitted that Sonos rushed its new app, and that it’s going to take several months to clean up all the doo-doo. Unfortunately, there’s no turning back, and relaunching the old app isn’t a viable option.
Sonos’s stock has taken a beating since the software launch debacle, and some pundits speculate that the company could implode if it doesn’t quickly get its act together. There are growing demands that Pence gets sacked, which would be especially devastating for him.
Spence was quoted in a 2021 profile by the University of Western Ontario business school saying his ultimate goal was “that Sonos becomes widely known and loved as the leader in everything audio, and that it is a place where people can do the best work of their lives and feel welcomed and included. The true test of my leadership is whether Sonos is still around, relevant, and thriving decades after my time is over.”
I’m not so skeptical that Sonos is in danger of failing. Ford for years has been selling defective vehicles, allegedly knowingly, and the company still manages to rack up billions in sales. CEO Farley has not only kept his job, but he was also awarded a 26% raise for 2023, allowing him to pocket $26.5 million for his dismal performance.
As for me, I’ve already begun looking for a Sonos replacement. In my initial search, I found a company called Bluesound that audiophile Steve Huff says sells wireless speakers with superior sound quality. Upon closer investigation, I discovered numerous complaints about Bluesound’s customer service, and that it possibly only responds to inquiries via email. Another warning sign: Bluesound is based in Toronto.
Let’s just say that when it comes to wireless speakers, I’ve become skeptical of any that are made or marketed by Canadians.