To be honest not planning to return it… I’m in for the long haul
I’m one of the trial customers too and I’m leaning towards keeping it as well.
There are a lot of bugs / misgivings about the hub but I’m confident that over time these will be addressed. The OAuth is certainly a key fix because it then opens up a huge range of potential, but other things such as multiple user support and increased compatibility with other devices will come over time.
Not sure how much of a ‘reduced price’ we will have to pay but I’m putting some money aside to hopefully pay for it.
Hrmm… Did you not receive the notification with the insiders program? The £99 deposit to participate will be kept if you don’t send the kit back - basically a 50% discount.
That’s been the assumption made by people on the insiders program, myself included. However no official statement to that effect had been made (that I’m aware of).
Thanks for confirming @Aaron
Yup. My thoughts too.
It just said “at considerable discount” but if you broke it then you would be charged £99. Wasn’t too sure whether this was in addition to the discounted price. Good to have it confirmed though.
Then I lied… We’re charging £9,999 to participate. Thanks for joining!
Here is a link to more info:https://www.theinsiders.eu/campaigns/info/14/9093/samsungsmartthings.htm
Edit: on the re-read, the wording isn’t so clear. I’m not sure if I spoiled a surprise, the wording was blerch, or iI got it totally wrong. Stay tuned for more info
.
Well, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry but still no kit here! A very brief outline as follows:
Finally got a tracking number from the insiders on Friday.
Part of which stated “According to the UPS website, the access point you selected has refused the package multiple times. This is very unusual, and we will take this up with UPS shortly. If you run into any other problems, let us know!”
So, UPS kept taking it to the same access point and each time it was refused. I would have thought once it was refused once they would have looked at an alternative but no, they kept taking it back to the same access point. (to be refused again and again)
As the insiders are overwhelmed with enquiries about parcel delays I thought I would try to contact UPS direct.
I spend hours trying to speak with someone at UPS and finally spoke to “Catherine” on live chat, who after 15mins told me “Sorry I cannot deal with this, I will send you details of who to speak to” After more failed calls I final realised I was getting nowhere fast so I have sent an email to UPS outlining the delivery options. (also copied to the insiders)
So, there it is
What will be will be.
@Bingstroller… Damn…sorry mate, they aren’t making it easy are they.
They need mesh routing. (engineer joke. apologies, it was irresistible.)
Seriously, though, that seems inexcusable on the part of UPS. Regardless of anything to do with the actual trial program. It’s very odd. I hope they get things straightened out for you.
I was told I didn’t ruin and surprises and the wording in the campaign packet should be a bit more clear than the wording online. The £99 deposit covers the cost of the kit at the end of the campaign. We will not demand any additional monies (until you start buying more sensors like an addict). The deposit will be refunded when we receive the kit back in good condition.
picked up mine last week after chasing through support. certainly didn’t get an email from UPS
are there any practical uses for having 2 hubs?
Looks as though there could be light at the end of the tunnel
Have managed to liaise with the “UPS Social Media Team” and arranged a redelivery to a different access point for tomorrow. In fact they have even said they will monitor the delivery to ensure all goes smoothly.
They were unable to enlighten me as to what went on with the previous delivery attempts, but definitely a UPS problem for which they have apologised.
So, fingers crossed for tomorrow and then its a case of playing catch-up with the trial.
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Just a quick update.
UPS have now removed the offending access point from their website.
It finally arrived.
A few more hiccups along the way (at one stage, according to UPS it had been delivered to 1) my home address 2) my 1st choice access point and finally 3) the actual access point it was meant to be at). I think UPS were glad to finally deliver it just to clear it out of their system!
So after all the drama of chasing parcels I spent most of the day reading the forum posts to get some more background, chart the progress and looking to the way ahead.
It’s certainly an interesting time to be doing an evaluation of ST.
So, I’ve given myself the weekend to have a “play” probably add a few more devices and then start putting pen to paper. ( One thing I will not be doing is making a 10 minute unboxing video )
Having been set up for 2 weeks now I have really enjoyed the opportunity with Insiders and found the support good. I had a few issues with my presence sensor and that was resolved with the support people. I am planning on keeping mine as I can see the potential with it. I am wondering if the additional connection to a thermostat will be possible soon. We don’t have one and I see the Honeywell Evo home will be connectable soon. If anyone has any suggestions on this I will be pleased to hear.
I have the EvoHome after much deliberation over alternatives - Whilst Hive and Nest have lots of coverage, the only one whilst comes close to Evohome in terms of functionality is Heat Genius but I preferred the big brand backing of the Honeywell kit (given the investment required).
As a standalone bit of kit, it is good - with the existing IFTTT available to EvoHome it unlocks further potential and with full integration with ST it will be unmatched in the market.
Hi Matt
Thanks for your post.
I am also currently debating Smart Heating Systems and I am down to two choices:
- Honeywell EvoHome
OR
-Heat Genius
The reason why I am considering HG is due to its Occupancy Sensors which Evohome seems to lack.
Are you able to advise whether the EvoHome system could be made to work the same way (detecting occupancy in each room and adjusting the heating accordingly) using the ST’s Motion Sensors via IFTTT?
I would really appreciate your thoughts and input with regards to the above and selecting between HG and Honeywell!
Many thanks.
R
Hi Rajiv
I plumped for Honeywell purely as a result of wanting something with a significant brand behind as well as having something which would be family friendly - it has a really neat user interface which is easy to use.
In terms of your question on room occupancy, I believe we should be able to do this. There is an unofficial API which allows you to query and control each zone programmatically - I assume this is the same API that ST will use with it’s native interface. This should allow for some really interesting integrations such as:
-
Change the heating in a room as a result of activity / lack of activity - for example, keeping the heating on longer if there is activity in the lounge after 11pm or turning it off in the lounge if everyone is congregating in the dining room.
-
Kick on the kitchen heating for a quick blast of heat if I have to get up in the night to feed the child
-
Learn the usage of a room and predict heating accordingly
I’m very excited by the possibilities, and when I get round to doing the cytech integration, I will know the usage over time of each of the rooms by which to build a heating model.
Go with honeywell evohome. Now that we have the API changes in place, we are going to be able to integrate more devices and services. They are near the top of the list!
My breath is baited - any word on how long?