Samsung UK Store

Omg!! :fearful:

@Aaron, what’s your comment on the death of SmartThings?

That is very incorrect… We don’t have phone support in the UK, so whomever said that was not a SmartThings trained staffperson. If your friend has a reference number for the call, feel free to DM it to me and I can investigate what’s going on.

1 Like

We did both think it was a little strange. But it was backed up by everything being out of stock and no ETA.

I’ve emailed him to see when he called etc. I think he called to see when things were going to be back in stock and could have just got a receptionist/Other without actually getting through to a proper Dept.

I’ll find out

Samsung still invest in SmartThings :wink:

Response back from my mate "I rang on 26/9/16 at 14.34, I called the number shown on smartthings 0330 726 7467, sadly didn’t get the guys name… but he said he was making a note for someone to contact me back, still waiting for that though.

I initially asked why there was no stock, and that there hadn’t been any for a while, his response was a very definite “its has been fazed out and discontinued”. so if he did put a complaint through for a callback there should be a log. I’ll call them tomorrow.

US stock still looks the same as ours here, and if it was changing you would expect them to have it first???.."

Possibly some confusion on “discontinued”. Are smartthings revamping ALL the accessories?? So the old ones are discontinued rather than Smartthings being discontinued.

Just not so much in the UK it would appear. It is, in my opinion, being hamstrung by whatever deal they put in place with Currys/PC World.

Name one product that launched with an exclusive to Currys/PC World that took off in the UK. Seriously, whoever at Samsung decided that exclusivity with them was a good idea needs sacking.

Home automation in general is a growing market in the UK. It is more often than not first installed by those who are technically minded, and those people dont shop for technology at Currys, because to be frank the customer will often know vastly more than the sales staff in Currys, who generally appear to know next to naff all about the technology they are selling.

Those technically minded people also buy from places without the massive markup of Currys, so their money gets them more tech. Unless for whatever reason they happen to have a sale on. They are often the ones to help out other family members and friends by pointing them in the direction of where to buy and how to install it.

Look at some of the very clever people developing community apps etc in this forum. Do these people buy their technology at Currys or PCW? I’d be surprised if they did.

Now, if it were available from somewhere like Vesternet, or other online retailers, where you could buy your fibaro dimmers, Zwave sockets, aeon multisensors etc, then these retailers could sell packages that had a lot more functionality than the smartthings out of the box.

However, that would mean smartthings sockets having to come down to the price of the competition.

If Smartthings wants to take off in the UK, then in my opinion it needs to be set free from the exclusivity of PC World and shoved in the faces of those techy types that are shopping at vesternet, scan, dabs uk automation etc etc,

2 Likes

Well that’s a bit annoying. I only recently spend a significant amount on a Samsung connected oven, and I was hoping it would become part of ST. Perhaps @Aaron could tell us whether the current range is due to be incorporated?

Completely agree. Samsung (if you are listening) you need to find a way to get the product into places like Vesternet as a matter of urgency. Yes, they might appear ‘niche’, but they’ll create the wave that others can surf.

Amazon now have a release date of the 19th October for all SmartThings devices

2 Likes

We hear you! For some context, Vesternet is a great channel for the home automation enthusiasts but still a bit niche for the masses (kind of like monoprice in the US). We are spinning up Amazon now and will follow up with more channels soon!

2 Likes

That attitude is soooo disappointing. They are one of the best known and most respected suppliers of HA kit here in the UK - just look at how many times they are referenced here in the ST community, even though they don’t actually sell ST. Or rather, aren’t allowed to!

Do others feel the same?

:smile:

Vesternet is niche for the masses because it sells products that are probably not known to most. Let them sell SmartThings and add SmartThings compatibility information to their products and they’ll become more popular.

They’re only niche because the easiest way to HA market (SmartThings) is not sold there

1 Like

I agree re: Vesternet. Amazon is a valuable channel, obviously, but too mass marker to rely on for most HA products at the moment.

Its going to take a little while for products like SmartThings to gain the sort of traction that Samsung should want it to. While ‘Works with Amazon Alexa’ is going to help to an extent (as Voice activated HA/AI has been in the press a lot lately) the channel needs to be widened beyond Amazon.

Vesternet would give ST greater credibility.

SmartThings greatest differentiator is its community of users and the products flexibility. I’d hope that they would take some of these comments on board.

The problem is that Home Automation is a niche market. It’s not mainstream. Yet. Just because it is in a mainstream store will not guarantee it becoming a mainstream item. You cant just shove a duck a l’orange organic wrap into Greggs and expect it to fly off the shelves like their pasties do.

Home Automation is the stomping ground of the technically minded. The people putting zwave switches in to control their lights are the sort of people who have a harmony remote to control their home cinema, the type of people that root their android devices, the type of people that as kids took the cd player apart just to see how it worked.

They don’t buy their tech in Currys. Unless forced to do so by daft exclusivity deals, and then they do it begrudgingly and probably only when there is a sale on.

Smartthings is too expensive to be a frivolous impulse purchase while you are out shopping for a fridge or washng machine. People buy smarttthings becuase they want it, not because of where it is sold. By getting it into the stomping ground of those that are buying zwave switches, relays and motion sensors by the bucket load, you get it into the faces of those that are looking at controllers/hubs with a much more expensive price tag.

However, this is all preaching to the converted, all of us here already bought into smartthings, and we are obviously pasionate about making sure it stays alive and well in the UK. We are also the people that took our CD players apart.

Getting into Amazon is a start, but making sure people know just how well this complements their Echo and how well they work together will be the key.

Get that Amazon advert where the bloke turns his lights off at the end to pupup with something like “*control of lights available using smartthings” or similar, and then you’ll see it fly off the shelves like those greggs pasties.

Ahem…

http://www.vesternet.com/samsung-smartthings-hub

:smile:

Edit to add - it does say ‘listed to show compatible products’ - although who knows what might happen on the 19th.

ive never heard of vesternet and im in the uk :scream:

I have used Vesternet several times and they are very good. Great customer service and support.

I’d rather buy from anywhere but Curry’s.
My local Curry’s have a shelf with dummy Smartthings on, next to the returns counter.
The things look very old and grubby and a couple are broken.
Underneath, there are a few dirty boxes of moisture sensors which look like they’ve been there for years.
The staff have no idea what the things do, or how they work, or if and when new stock might be due.
Curry’s help to make Smartthings feel like a dying platform.

Don’t forget that the new Samsung TV’s have a Smarthings hub built in too now… I do think they are building the brand but perhaps need to put in a bit more effort and update some of the hardware… Some is a little dodgy like the motion sensors - 2 DOA and 2 returned!