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Denis Grisak, the man behind the Internet-connected garage opener Garadget, is having a very bad week. Grisak and his Colorado-based company SoftComplex launched Garadget, a device built using Wi-Fi-based cloud connectivity from Particle, on Indiegogo earlier this year, hitting 209 percent of his launch goal in February. But this week, his response to an unhappy customer has gotten Garadget a totally different sort of attention.
On April 1, a customer who purchased Garadget on Amazon using the name R. Martin reported problems with the iPhone application that controls Garadget. He left an angry comment on the Garadget community board:
Just installed and attempting to register a door when the app started doing this. Have uninstalled and reinstalled iphone app, powered phone off/on - wondering what kind of piece of shit I just purchased here...
Shortly afterward, not having gotten a response, Martin left a 1-star review of Garadget on Amazon:
Junk - DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY - iPhone app is a piece of junk, crashes constantly, start-up company that obviously has not performed proper quality assurance tests on their products.
Grisak then responded by bricking Martin's product remotely, posting on the support forum:
Martin,
The abusive language here and in your negative Amazon review, submitted minutes after experiencing a technical difficulty, only demonstrates your poor impulse control. I'm happy to provide the technical support to the customers on my Saturday night but I'm not going to tolerate any tantrums.
At this time your only option is return Garadget to Amazon for refund. Your unit ID 2f0036... will be denied server connection. [Ed's Comment: As of Apr 5, Garadget have apologised for this action and have restored connectivity]
The exchange then went viral, being picked up by the Twitter account @internetofshit and rising to the top of Hacker News.
Source: ArsTechnica
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 06 2017, @03:57PM (53 children)
Ok, I'm looking forward to seeing all the comments here supporting this crappy business and its intentional bricking of a customer's product. Or not, I guess we'll see.
Over on Hacker News and Slashdot (who both had articles about this a full day before this site BTW), there was a huge amount of support for the company yesterday. Apparently today's "techies" love the idea of a company fucking over a customer who gives them a bad review. I guess it doesn't surprise me too much; maybe I'm getting old and bitter, but honestly I'm thoroughly disgusted with tech people these days and their rotten ethical standards.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by LoRdTAW on Thursday April 06 2017, @04:24PM (9 children)
I would be surprised if anyone here defends this shit bag, let alone the internetofshit.
People like us are getting old and cranky. Looking at the direction the tech industry and computing in general is moving, it's no surprise. Web and mobile development have taken control of the helm coupled with brain damaged maker and tinkerer "hacking" circles. Everything is now a web problem and the simple solution to everything is push everything onto a random web servers running java script framework du jour which will be obsolete in another month after the creator looses interest in their github status. The operating system has been pushed to the bottom of the stack and is now just an enabler for some web application instead of running actual code to get things done. Software as a service, walled gardens, boot locked mobile devices, smart TV's, NSA surveillance, UEFI, systemd, etc.
I tend to enjoy working at lower levels, using long established standards and keeping it simple. All this web 2.0 IoT buzzword of the day stuff is nothing more than overcomlicating simple tasks with miles of useless buggy code and layers of pointless electronics.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:09PM (4 children)
I would be surprised if anyone here defends this shit bag, let alone the internetofshit.
Well prepare to be surprised, there was one comment in reply to mine that supported the shitbag company. However, it was nice to see all the other comments opposed him.
Over on HN, it seemed more like a 40/60 split; still a majority appeared to oppose the bricking, but a shocking and disappointing number supported it. Maybe it's because there's a fair number of startup founders over there, plus their sycophants.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:49PM
I support that dirtbag company!! I support their right to die in a fiery crash!
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday April 06 2017, @11:51PM (2 children)
Probably would have worked at the user been able to use the Android version. I bet what happened was that the lone startup coder who didn't know iOS took a crash course in such ugly shit languages as Objective C and Swift and cranked out a polished turd as shinily ugly as the languages in which it was developed.
But anybody who needs an internet-of-things garage door opener is asking for whatever they get -- though that stupidity speaks for itself, there's probably not much in that garage. Maybe a washer and dryer and a few screwdrivers, nothing valuable like a full stack of Craftsman tools or anything.
As for the bricking, that's a rather bitchy and impulsive thing to do for just a bad review. Well, can't complain. The more internet of things horror-stories emerge, the less of that crap people will buy.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday April 07 2017, @12:46AM (1 child)
I do have to agree about the horror stories scaring people away from this crap.
However, I disagree about the Crapsman tools, if you're talking about anything made in the last decade or so. Their hand tools are all junk now. The place to buy inexpensive hand tools is Harbor Freight.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 07 2017, @08:39AM
Harbor Freight: Cheap, low quality tools with the distinctive aroma of Chinese cancer-causing chemicals.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:54PM (3 children)
We are *not* getting "old and cranky." It's called having a working set of morals, which apparently half these startup assholes don't.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday April 06 2017, @10:29PM (2 children)
We are *not* getting "old and cranky."
You say that as if "old and cranky" is a disparaging term. In fact, it's just an indication that all reasonable human beings have a limit as to how much shit they're willing to accept from others; the young just haven't learned yet.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 06 2017, @10:53PM (1 child)
I was old and cranky at about age 6 then...maybe it's a past life carryover?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Touché) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday April 06 2017, @10:58PM
Or a fast learner :)
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 2) by hoeferbe on Thursday April 06 2017, @04:32PM (8 children)
I am not defending what Garadget's Denis Grisak did, but based on what I read in the summary, you are mischaracterizing why the customer's device was denied server connectivity. From the summary, the customer used abusive language in Garadget's forums (maybe a violation of the forums' terms of service?) and did not even give tech support a chance to assist before leaving a negative review. It was not just a case of some corporation `getting even` with a customer out of some sort of emotional vendetta.
That's just my opinion from the summary -- I have not read the `fine` article, so maybe there are details of which I'm unaware. Based on the summary alone, I also do not think Garadget handled the irate customer appropriately. Yet, I think you're overlooking the customer's actions and attributing malice to the company where there might not be some.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 06 2017, @04:42PM (2 children)
AT no time was the customer abusive. He used the word "shit" once in a forum. I'd hardly call that abusive.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 06 2017, @04:51PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 06 2017, @04:52PM
What, you mean, like, ever?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by art guerrilla on Thursday April 06 2017, @04:52PM (1 child)
a-n-d another properly programmed authoritarian is outted...
since when is 'abusive' language (yeah, that has a bright line definition, huh) been a valid reason to fuck over a customer, bullshit TOS or no ? ? ?
further, if the 'abusive' language was the one phrase quoted of a 'shitty product', then that hardly constitutes abuse, unless you are too snowflaky to be believed...
fact of the matter is, FAR TOO MANY -especially- tech companies effectively offer little to zero recourse in simply contacting said company ( hey, googs, you POS, i am looking at you through squinty eye slits), FORGET ABOUT actual, real, useful tech support of some kind... almost always, it is independent users and fora which offer any hope of getting problems resolved...
that is simply such a constant and pervasive fact of life that i have developed ZERO PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING for such companies (ie practically all of them) since they have amply and repeatedly demonstrated they have no use for pesky customers once the sale is made...
an assumption that all companies are out to fuck you over is the proper defensive response...
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Thursday April 06 2017, @08:58PM
While I agree in general with your statement, I do gotta say the two times I've used Project Fi's tech support, they've been spectacular. So google can at least manage that when they want to.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by PinkyGigglebrain on Thursday April 06 2017, @04:56PM (2 children)
If a person uses foul language in a forum that violates the TOS of the forum that is valid cause to delete their comment and ban them *from the forum*.
It is NOT a valid reason to turn their hardware into a paperweight. (what the rep did didn't "brick" the device in the classic sense, just kept it from connecting to the server, which still effectively turned the device into a paperweight)
I love how the reps comment says " ... only demonstrates your poor impulse control" just before he goes "tak-nuke" and locks out the customers hardware over a forum comment. Talk about kettle/pot.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday April 06 2017, @07:26PM (1 child)
Ugh, I can't upvote your comment to +6.
Guess I'll hit it with the Troll mod instead!
Is the problem really impulse control? It takes more than a hot moment to find out the customer's IP or "unit ID" and block them. No, the real problem is flawed reasoning/morality. And it will probably lead to this company to destruction, since people don't like their garage doors being bricked by a "trusted" actor.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday April 06 2017, @10:34PM
Of course the fundamental problem already is that the device needs a connection to the internet to work. You might at some time want to open your garage when the internet is unreachable. Especially in an emergency situation.
Actually I don't see an advantage for a garage opener to have an internet connection at all, but it's definitely stupid to require it for just opening the door.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by WillR on Thursday April 06 2017, @04:47PM
I guess it doesn't surprise me too much; maybe I'm getting old and bitter, but honestly I'm thoroughly disgusted with tech people these days and their rotten ethical standards.
But, but, we've innovated a method to skim 30% off the top of the global gypsy cab industry, without taking on the legal risk driving the cabs ourselves, or even having to send Vinnie and Tony down to break anyone's knees if they "forget" to pay because we handle collecting all the fares! Isn't that an achievement worthy of praise and admiration and a gajillion dollar IPO?
/s
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 06 2017, @04:56PM (8 children)
I really don't get these kinds of comments, which pop up from time to time, because I don't get what their point is. Is it a knock on this place because the story should have appeared yesterday? Is it a knock that the story shouldn't have appeared here at all because Slashdot got to it first? In addition to the BREAKING NEWS label, should we mark unique stories to this site with something like SOYLENT EXCLUSIVE, and perhaps later go over to Slashdot when a story shows up there and bitch that it has already been posted here?
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:15PM (3 children)
It's a slight criticism of this site for being rather slow with what I believed to be an extremely relevant story.
No, I don't think this site should *ever* avoid posting a story just because some other site got to it first; that's ridiculous. This isn't a competition, it's a discussion site, a place to discuss issues of interest to this community. If some other site has the same story, then so be it, but the users here are not the same as the users on those other sites (though there is a certain amount of overlap). Should CNN avoid reporting on something just because ABCnews got to it first? Of course not.
In addition to the BREAKING NEWS label, should we mark unique stories to this site with something like SOYLENT EXCLUSIVE
No, because IMO the exclusivity thing is just stupid. If a story is that interesting, it's going to get posted on all the discussion sites anyway. But it does seem hard to call it "breaking news" when other sites have already been talking about it for a full day. Maybe we should just post stories without any sensational "BREAKING NEWS" or "EXCLUSIVE" headlines and let people talk about them.
Now again, I call this a "slight criticism". It's really not a big f'in deal. You're the one who had to make a long post about it, I just made a parenthetical comment.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:22PM
I guess it's a good thing that there are so many things in the queue deemed worthy, that we end up getting to some of them a day after the rest of the world.
Whether the stories in the queue should be shuffled to bring forward a topic of specific importance, already buzzing (argh) ad nauseam all over the tech web, is a matter of The Greatest Editors In The World's choice...
That tag line is pretty punny, by the way.
Better than a product which requires an external server to open a friggin' garage door, at least.
(Score: 2) by n1 on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:34PM
The criticism is fair.
This story isn't time sensitive, and being a day behind other sites is only notable in the fact that the news cycle is now far less than 24hrs....
But even then, the slight delay can be fruitful as it yielded your original comment about the reactions of similar tech communities to this one. This gave some of us here more time to reflect on the details of the story and the initial reactions/responses before we throw in our own 2c.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday April 06 2017, @06:22PM
If you feel that way and don't see it in the queue, then submit it, for pete's sake. That goes for you or anyone here--if you see something interesting nobody else has sent in yet, do so. Grab the headline for the thing and a paragraph or two from the article that communicates the gist, and you're done. 5 minutes of your time, tops.
Be the world you want to see.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:30PM (1 child)
More than likely a passive-aggressive way of pointing out that SN is frequently a day or two behind most other sites when it comes to posting current stories.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday April 06 2017, @09:40PM
Offtopic rant: I don't give a flying fnck what /. does, or does not have. I do not visit that site. Either snark people are suggesting I *should* visit that site (hot news!), or they are telling everyone how "hip" they are (on a geek/nerd news comment site!?)
Either way, it is, IMO, unnecessary, and possibly pathetic. Submit, comment, moderate, edit, participate. but try not to denigrate the site - it only makes you look small.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:54PM
"should we mark unique stories to this site"
Kinda sorta in context, I read that as "antique" stories. Except, it didn't quite make sense, and I read it again. I liked it better as "antique". ROFLMAO - yes, let's start marking antique stories!!
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Thursday April 06 2017, @08:42PM
Can't have any rants or unfair criticisms in an online forum. Find where the OP lives and fry all his computers.
<wiicked witch>I'll get your tablets my pretty. And your automatic garage door opener too! </wicked witch>
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:39PM (14 children)
Well, I "love the idea of a company fucking over a customer who gives them a bad review"! Without jackass stunts like this, people will continue to buy cloud-controlled hardware without thinking about what that actually means, in terms of who really controls your garage door (or whatever). This company is heroically taking a pretty big PR hit, in order to improve our society's awareness of what a shitty bargain cloud-based IoT gadgets are; I thank them for it!
Yeah, obviously they're not doing it for that reason, but
even though I sympathize with the poor sucker locked out of his garage,I'm honestly very glad this happened.You know what? I typed that, but on second thought, I don't really sympathize with him. People who buy garage door openers that will only work as long as the manufacturer keeps a server running, and your account unlocked, are idiots who deserve to be locked out of their garages; companies who sell that junk are idiots who deserve to fail horribly in the backlash of a short-sighted jackass retaliation for a bad review. It's the circle of idiotic life, and they deserve each other!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday April 06 2017, @06:00PM (13 children)
Alright. Question. Have you shopped for a garage door opener? I'm not curious enough to shop around to find the answer to this question, but - how many garage door openers are IoT, and how many are not? The way things are trending, I imagine that it may be difficult to find a garage door opener that is NOT IoT.
Personally - I wonder WTF anyone needs a garage door opener at all? I open and close very large overhead doors, manually, all the time. By "very large", I don't mean airplane hangar doors, but 15 ft high, and 13 ft wide. I won't say that it's effortless, but the effort is negligible. So, WTF does anyone need an electronic helper to open their 8 ft x 8 ft garage door? They need to drag their couch potato asses out of the car, and open the damned door to get some exercise!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 06 2017, @06:20PM (2 children)
Personally - I wonder WTF anyone needs a garage door opener at all?
Only a minority need it (e.g. handicapped, weaker etc).
But many may find it useful in poor weather conditions. I don't have one but I can imagine when there's a huge downpour it's nice to be able to drive into your garage without having to get out to open the garage door.
That said I've heard rumours that garages are not for cars but for other stuff ;).
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday April 06 2017, @10:15PM (1 child)
We had a party when I managed to move stuff around and actually get both cars in our two-car garage, almost a year after we moved in.
People across the street have given up - three cars, none in the garage.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday April 06 2017, @10:35PM
We had a party when I managed to move stuff around and actually get both cars in our two-car garage, almost a year after we moved in.
Snap! Me too, last year.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Wierd0n3 on Thursday April 06 2017, @07:26PM (3 children)
I am shopping for a door-opener, the one in my house is from the 70's, and has NO safety options at all. (as well as buzzing while on standby. Annoying as hell,) Ryobi has one that has smartphone control. also IoT. It prices evenly with standard openers, and comes with a few exra bells.
I have seen Wink has a Opener control, but i stopped using that unit when they "upgraded" my hub and bricked it. Took them 3 weeks to email me and say they were sorry. and would replace it, but by then, i had returned the unit.
A quick amazon search says that just about everyone and their uncle has a similar solution.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=smart+garage+door+controller&sprefix=smart+garage%2Caps%2C233&crid=1IN97X72SQQBA [amazon.com]
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday April 06 2017, @09:01PM (2 children)
The one from the 70's should have a safety stop if something is blocking the door. There should be a pull cord to reset the mechanism.
(Score: 2) by Wierd0n3 on Friday April 07 2017, @09:21PM (1 child)
the only thing that successfully triggered the safety stop was my trailer hitch on the truck when i first moved in. it has crushed boxes and even destroyed the door a little in its attempts to close over the years.
I know theres a little red button on the front, that may be what you mean, i always thought it to be a calibration button for the open/close positions.
The only "pull" I have is to release the door from the trolley.
(Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Friday April 07 2017, @10:53PM
That does sound scary then.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday April 06 2017, @07:42PM
Would Batman get out of his bat-mobile and open his garage door manually? Hell no. He'd time it just right so he could zoom into the garage while barely missing the door as it swings open/closed. Also, if you get out and walk around then a neighbor might see you and want to "chat". "hey, you're good with computers.. right?" OSHI OSHI RUN, Fake Phone call, Anything! Escape!
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 06 2017, @08:17PM
I said "garage door opener", but I was actually over simplifying. Garadget's product is literally an internet-connected relay (plus sensors to detect the door's current state) that connects to your existing garage door opener; the whole point of this is to remotely command your garage door over the internet instead of or in addition to locally commanding your garage door with pushbuttons.
So if one buys this product at all, we can assume one already owns, or is buying simultaneously, a non-IoT, boring, dumb garage opener, and one is thinking about how to connect it to the internet. If one's thinking on this topic doesn't involve things like "which entities do I have to trust for this functionality to work at all", "which entities does this solution require me to trust", etc., well, maybe next time it will.
I would be sympathetic, if it was a situation like you're suggesting, where someone buying an opener who didn't especially want their garage door on the internet in the first place got that feature thrown in; it's understandable that they wouldn't think it through, would come to rely on it, and then would be unpleasantly surprised when it stopped working. But with a product specifically for adding internet connectivity...
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 06 2017, @10:19PM (1 child)
So, WTF does anyone need an electronic helper to open their 8 ft x 8 ft garage door? They need to drag their couch potato asses out of the car, and open the damned door to get some exercise!
Do you own a car? WTF do you need a motor vehicle for to get you to work and back? You need to drag your lazy couch potato ass onto a bicycle and ride that to work, rain or shine.
Do you own a washing machine? WTF do you need that for to clean your clothes? You need to drag your lazy couch potato ass outside to a wash basin and wash them all by hand.
Do you own an electric or gas stove? WTF do you need that for? You need to drag your lazy couch potato ass to your backyard, build a fire pit, and burn sticks to cook your food (rain or shine).
Do you have heating in your house? WTF do you need that for? You need to drag your lazy couch potato ass under a blanket and just put up with the cold in the winter, even if it's below zero (F) outside.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday April 07 2017, @01:18AM
"You need to drag your lazy couch potato ass onto a bicycle and ride that to work, rain or shine."
Honda built my bicycle, and I can and do ride it, rain and shine. I won't ride it when the water turns solid, but otherwise, I'm good.
There's some difference between using electronics to do everything in your house, and using mechanical contrivances to do things that would otherwise be impossible. I CANNOT commute 50 miles each way on foot, or on bicycle.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Friday April 07 2017, @02:22AM
Oddly enough the builder of the houses on the block I live on added as a bonus sliding gates at the bottom of the drive way, manual gates the require you to get out of your car and open them, and then had automatic garage door openers installed. I just leave the gate open all the time but I happily use the automatic garage opener, and the GF just loves being able to open the garage door automagically at night. We hardly ever use the front door of our house as a result.
I am for bricking the programmers of the garage door system, e.g. tossing a brick through their front window. Sticks and bricks break bones, but names only hurt douchebag snowflakes.
#hashtagsR4douchebags #noteverythingneedsalabel
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 1) by tftp on Friday April 07 2017, @05:37AM
Personally - I wonder WTF anyone needs a garage door opener at all? I open and close very large overhead doors, manually, all the time.
I'm glad that you are healthy, but what if someone in your house breaks a bone or has a surgery or is about to have a baby? As people are getting older, those things tend to happen (the first two, at least.) Then the answer will become apparent. A person with limited agility will be denied either the use of his car, or the use of his garage. None of that makes any sense if there is an easy way to avoid the complications. The door opener is also expected in garages, and if you don't have one, the value of the house drops by 10x of the price of the thing.
I had a house with a garage a while ago. The door opener was old, and eventually it failed. I bought a new one, DirectDrive, from Home Depot [homedepot.com]. Installed in less than one day. Very quiet, no IoT. Just the usual wireless, plus some buttons. Keypad is also one of available options. Rumored to be one of the best openers on the market, if anyone cares to know my opinion.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ilsa on Thursday April 06 2017, @05:53PM
While I can't condone the actions that the company reps took, when I think back to the days when I did tech support for people, I admit to feeling a certain level of sympathy for the company.
Combining "The Customer is Always Right" with the Dunning-Kruger effect is a horribly thing to have to experience, and there were many times when I had to throttle my temper because the customer was being a complete ass.
That being said, these guys could have handled the situation as hell of a lot better than they did, and would have avoided the fallout of this nuclear PR disaster.
(Score: 2) by Soylentbob on Thursday April 06 2017, @07:45PM
I'm thoroughly disgusted with tech people these days and their rotten ethical standards.
THAT DOES IT! TBM, please remove access for unit id #2831! @Grishnak: At this time, asking for a refund on your subscription is your only option!
Whoever finds traces of sarcasm and irony in this post is welcome to keep it...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by edIII on Thursday April 06 2017, @09:58PM (6 children)
I can support the business owner a little here. What makes the difference is that the consumer left the bad review "minutes" after having the technical problem. Or in other words, didn't even attempt to deal with the manufacturer. Personally, I take some issue with that. It's rare, but I do receive DOA equipment that needs an RMA ASAP. Still not a reason to rake the manufacturer over the coals, especially when I've dealt with some nice people in the RMA dept. and I can get a new unit sent out 2 day air.
It's not unreasonable to expect the consumer to make *some* effort, and this consumer did make exactly zero effort beyond being a shitty whiner about it. I don't blame the business owner for being a little miffed. It's the Golden Rule; I treat vendors as well as I can, because I want people to work with me on technical support issues and not just attempt to kill me over the phone. Give me a chance at least....
Offering/Forcing the refund instantly was the right course, but bricking the operations of the device was a step too far. That's where I take issue with the business owner. He didn't respect the ownership of the device, which is an argument about the First Sale doctrine. Although, technically, he may have took ownership back if he forced the refund through his payment systems already. At that point, disabling may be seen as his prerogative.
That being said, the business owner deliberately bricked a fucking garage door due to a shitty consumer being a dick on the Internet. That's not cool to screw up somebody's garage door. Does this service brick garage doors if you don't pay?
I think in this case it took "two to tango" and the consumer is just as much a whiner as the business owner. Yes, it's really fucking disturbing to see these IoT business owners not respect First Sale and simply annex all consumer equipment as their own CPE inventory.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 06 2017, @10:12PM
The thing is, consumers are going to be dicks and whiners. That's just reality. If you can't handle that, then you have no business selling products to the general public. Bricking the guy's device is exactly what all the hoopla is about; the consumer's crappy attitude is really irrelevant. As you alluded to, if they'll brick your door opener for a negative post or general dickishness, what else will they brick your door opener for? What if they just decide to brick everyone's device after a couple years (after the warranty is expired) and then demand they pay more to get un-bricked? Hey, I have a new business plan!!
(Score: 2) by Arik on Thursday April 06 2017, @10:20PM (4 children)
Except they didn't "brick" anything. That was invented for a clickbait headline.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by edIII on Friday April 07 2017, @12:06AM (3 children)
Uhhhh, unless the garage door opener worked perfectly as stated in the specs without access to the central servers, then removing access to the server precludes the proper function of the garage door. Hence, it was bricked.
Did it work after server access was revoked? Otherwise you're playing a game of semantics, and a losing one at that.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Friday April 07 2017, @02:12AM (2 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by tftp on Friday April 07 2017, @05:47AM (1 child)
Note that in this system "the device" is not just the box at the customer's garage, but also the server at the company that runs the cloud. If you tamper with the server, it causes malfunction of the device. If your email provider deletes your account at their server, will you state that since your mail user agent (KMail, Outlook, whatever) was not touched by them, everything is just peachy?
IF he has a solid enforceable contract for the service he might have a case
It's called fitness for the purpose. If you buy an electron microscope you expect it to function as a microscope, and not as a boat anchor.
Don't buy junk.
That's the best lesson that can be learned from this story.
(Score: 1) by WillR on Friday April 07 2017, @02:02PM
If your email provider deletes your account at their server, will you state that since your mail user agent (KMail, Outlook, whatever) was not touched by them, everything is just peachy?
No, but I certainly wouldn't say my MUA was bricked because of it either. "Bricked" is more than just a hipster synonym for "broken", it means the thing won't boot and can't be made to boot again without hardware modification. Would your router be bricked if you stopped paying for internet service and they disconnected you?