Comment by apparent
2 days ago
I agree this sucks, but what would the cause of action be? They're offering partial refunds for items purchased within the warranty period (though you have to have proof of purchase, which of course practically no one will have).
I don't think companies can be sued for discontinuing cloud services that are required for older devices to keep working, otherwise Google would have surely been sued over their Nest security system shutdown, among other things. Maybe a shareholder derivative lawsuit could make sense, but Belkin isn't publicly traded, and presumably whoever owns them is OK with this decision (and wouldn't want a costly lawsuit).
The fact that the refund is only partial seems pretty unreasonable to me. If they are reneging on their side of the deal then they should return the money that they took.
Yeah, especially for devices that have to be installed by an electrician, which can double the cost. I think I paid around $50 for dimmable switches and $50 for each to be installed. Fortunately most of them work with HomeKit, but one of those suckers is only controllable via the Wemo app...