Owners of the Harmony Link, which will reach End of Life in March, will now all be eligible for a free Harmony Hub replacement.
Logitech Discontinued Harmony Link & iOS App
On Tuesday we reported on the disappointing situation surrounding the Logitech Harmony Link, a device sold since 2011 which will be rendered effectively useless in March 2018. Now it transpires that Logitech have had a major change of heart, to the extent that all current owners of the Harmony Link will be eligible for a free upgrade to the replacement Harmony Hub.
Speaking to Wired, Head of Logitech Harmony Rory Dooley took responsibility for the original decision impacting owners of a bricked Harmony Link. “I made a mistake. It was an honest mistake,” he said. “Mea culpa. We’re going to do right by our customers, and do the right thing.”
The Harmony Link is still scheduled to go EoL next year – a decision Dooley puts down not just to the cost of technology licensing but also resources necessary to support its relatively small user base – but consumers will now be able to send in their unit for an equivalent Harmony Hub replacement. The Harmony Hub performs the same role as the Link, but also incorporates additional features.
“If you send back in the Harmony Link, and say ‘Look I bought this at some point,’ we’ll replace it even if you haven’t connected it to our database.” – Head of Logitech Harmony Rory Dooley
The Harmony Hub, with Smartphone App
Prior to this Logitech were offering 35% percent off new Harmony Hubs for registered users of the Harmony Link, with free replacements only available for units still under warranty.
The logistics of this replacement scheme remain to be seen, but it’s an impressive about-turn for Logitech that’s much more in keeping with their reputation for great consumer support. Many will see it as a victory for consumer advocacy, especially among large communities such as the /r/technology subreddit, but perhaps we should all instead view the event as a cautionary tale for the increasingly common ‘hardware as a service’ products made possible by remote servers and the Cloud.
SOURCES: Wired
