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Dear tado° customers,
We would like to share some background information about our recent product introduction and provide clarity to you, our community. Our vision that every building should be heated and cooled intelligently is what drives us every day to become better at what we do and to do it with our customers close to the heart.
The new V3+ Smart Thermostats come with a new app and include new Skills such as Air Comfort. We built a customisable app as a result of customer surveys and hundreds of one-on-one interviews conducted with existing and potential users. From the feedback that we received, we learned that everyone uses tado° differently and that not all features are used by everyone. Hence we created flexibility for new customers by adding certain in-app services which can be booked optionally – such as Auto-Assist, boiler maintenance and repair jobs, or installation services.
Ongoing revenues from value-added services after the initial product purchase enable our company to keep developing and maintaining apps & software, to pay fees for server infrastructure, weather data, air quality data, etc.
So what does this mean for you, our customer? We are providing two options:
Good work Tado… the previous “option” was leading me look elsewhere for my heating control – glad to pay the fee to upgrade the app and keep the control I had.
I agree. I’d much rather pay something to get the benefits after a heavy investment to date in the hardware. Thanks @Tado for listening and agreeing to meeting people half way.
Well done Tado, thank you. This seems a lot more fair to your existing customers who have supported and evangelised your product.
Q. What happens if we add some new v3+ radiator thermostats for example to our existing v3 that has been upgraded?
Does that change anything?
Hi Squuiid, thank you for your feedback! If you add a V3+ device, nothing changes – this would only be the case if you got a V3+ bridge.
To clarify, buy a V3+ bridge and you will have to move to a subscription? Keep your V3 bridge and no subscription fee just a 1 off upgrade fee?
Also is this linked to the iTunes app or to the bridge?
tado webpage: https://support.tado.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360015406351
clearly states there is only a software app change between v3 and v3+ so the hardware is exactly the same
Hallo tado Team. Could you please answer his question? I have the same question. I am an existing customer with V3 devices and V3 bridge. I will pay for the upgrade. What happens if in a few months/years I‘ll buy the new V3+ bridge because my 3 bridge is broken? Please tell me, that I won‘t need a subscription and have to pay for the skill Auto Assist
You’ll probably need to buy a subscription. And then when v4 comes out there will be a larger subscription again and more money. Tado is going dowhill now so best to look for a different “smart” kit that doesn’t cost you your house to keep running.
That’s way better.
Now I begin to be excited about what’s coming (I love that part about using new technologies).
I will pay for the new app, but I still would rather pay for new devices. Additional sensors for the radiator thermostats for start!
Don’t get me wrong – I pay for a lot of software, but this does not fit the model for me. And definitely a subscription for usefulness of a home automation setup is not something I would recommend.
Although I am much more satisfied than a few weeks before with the announcement I would (sadly) not recommend tado as much as I did before…
How does this one off upgrade fee work with multiple devices. As both my wife and me have the app on our phones will be both have to pay to upgrade the app to V3+?
Hi Ben, only one of you would have to do the upgrade, the others would then get the new app as well.
I was just thinking to buy a new V3+ to use the automated feature of turning the heating of when there is no one at home. Now that I knew that this feature will be only giving with a monthly subscription, I am very reluctant to buy Tado. I would love to be treated as an existing customer and pay once to have the features, but I don’t want to keep paying a monthly subscription to use the best feature of Tado!!
Hi Semi, you can also use this feature without a subscription. In this case, when you leave the house, you will get a message on your display, asking you whether you want to switch into “Away Mode”. After this, everything will happen automatically. If you do not want messages like this, you can additionally book the Auto-Assist.
I agree i have the same problem just bought a V3+ and i should have bought the older version which was also still available
I have on the verge of buying Tado – but after reading all the reviews and these comments i’ve cancelled my order – rather spend my £500 with evo-home or go with nest and not be lumped with a regularly bill to use a device i already paid a fortune for.
These smart device kits aren’t cheap – i expect to buy the hardware and not have to continuously be paying for the rest of my life or risk loosing features.
This change gives an obvious direction the company is going it – its becoming all about money now. There is no customer satisfaction anymore. Really disappointed in Tado i really did genuinely believe this was the best product on the market.
All those who upgraded to v3+ “one time payment” – wait until v4 comes out – another “one time payment” or i wouldn’t be surprised if your forced onto a subscription.
Hi Tado
Could you please confirm for our clarification. I currently have v5.0.1 of the app and my heating system is connected using a v3 bridge. There is an update of the app available in the iTunes Store, v5.1
If I accept the update, will geofencing still work automatically, such that the heating is turned off when I leave the house and will open window detection still work automatically. In short will the new app have all the current features of the current app free of charge and subscription. Thanks John
Hi John,
by doing a regular upgrade to the app, you will still be in the V3 app. If you want to upgrade to V3+ you will be specifically asked for this. The upgrade is not yet available and we will send out a newsletter to all customers, explaining the concrete steps soon.
Hi Tado
Thank you for responding, however could I please ask you to answer the question I asked. A simple yes or no answer will suffice. I am very concerned like a lot of your customers that we do not seem to be able to get a simple straight answer to our queries. The recent introduction of a subscription charge has been a PR disaster and I think you need to get ahead of the curve. Your product is better than the competition, but if I was buying a heating system now, I would not consider Tado due to all the negative reviews. In my opinion, not giving simple straight answers to questions is not helping your case.
If I accept the update, will geofencing still work automatically, such that the heating is turned off when I leave the house and will open window detection still work automatically. In short will the new app have all the current features of the current app free of charge and subscription. Thanks John
Hello John,
if you are an existing customer and decide to do the update, you will have to pay a one-time upgrade fee. After this, in the new app, controling the skills, will work the same way as it did in the old app, without any additional costs.
Thank you Tado Team for listening to our feedback. I will upgrade to the new app but think twice now before I invest in more TRVs. My concern is: what if your new business model won’t work? I wish you all the best but what if you’ll have to close down and turn off your servers. Will it render our Tado sets useless?
is the upgrade available yet?
Hi David, it’s not yet available but will be very soon!
This is bad. It should be mention during buying tado, that you have to pay a lot but you will have to disable outside sensor and you will not get Wether Adaptation if you do not like to pay every year 25Euro.
it looks i bought thermostat like many others which measure only temperature in house but i paid much more 🙁 i am also bad customer because old customers paid once 25Euro.
Hi Joanna,
you will be able to use weather adaption, geofencing and all other existing skills without a subscription. In this case, for example if you leave the house, you will get a message on your phone’s display, asking you whether you want to swith to “Away Mode”. After this, everything will happen automatically.
Hello,
I am not yet a customer but I am interested, the subscription model is a little off putting though.
However if I buy the V3 Starter Kit can I simply pay the one off fee to upgrade to V3+ rather than buying the V3+ Starter Kit and having to pay the subscription model?
I am struggling to understand what more V3+ offers compared to buying V3 and simply upgrading using the one off fee?
Hello Adam,
if you buy the V3 Starter Kit, you will be able to upgrade to the V3+ app for the one-time upgrade fee. The V3+ starter kit is offered at a lower entry price and comes with an improved hardware, for example a new chipset for faster hardware updates.
I’ve been a v3 user for the last 9 months (part of one winter season), with Smart Thermostat and 5 Smart Radiator Thermostats installed. I’m used to having automatic Geofencing and Open Window functions, and aside from premature alerts to change batteries, the investment has been worthwhile – I have saved some money on heating bills, and it has been an interesting upgrade. Based on the partial winter season experience and the ball-park annualised savings, I’ve calculated that annually I’m saving GBP50 per heating season. This is clearly worthwhile, but I also know that it will therefore take me 5-7 years to recoup the investment I made in Tado hardware.
Before Tado adjusted its V3+ business model on 1 October (to partially grandfather its current customers), had I wanted to follow the newest Tado functionality I would be required to pay an annual subscription of GBP25 (for important services I already get today) and consequently that the investment payback period would have doubled (to 10-12 years – assuming the v3 hardware would last that long. I celebrate that there will now be a single once only GBP20 fee to upgrade to remain current.
This Sept / Oct 2018 experience with Tado has been a reminder that although companies may grow strongly over several years without the right management they may make ill-advised decisions that are negative and may potentially put their existence at risk – with inevitable adverse consequences for their customers. The partial grandfathering indicates that Tado (and its investors) have learned from this experience, but they will be distracted dealing with the ongoing consequences and trying to fix the damage to their reputation.
I very much hope they succeed.
PS. That Tado is currently maintaining the comments posted on both the Sept and Oct versions of their Press Releases is commendable from a governance perspective, and gives me greater confidence in the future. Thank you.
wait a second!
so current v3 app has geofencing, auto assist and all other advertised features.
if you upgrade to v3+ you take away those features and to get them back you need to pay?
This is breach of consumer contract
Hello,
existing customers can continue to use the current app the same way they have until now. Nothing changes for existing customers.
If existing customers would like to use the new app nonetheless, they can do so by paying a one-time upgrade fee. This will also give them Auto-Assist in the new app without additional costs.
So to clarify after reading Tado’s responses to comments:
Unless your existing users make a paid upgrade to the V3+ app the automated features we currently have, for example, the heating being set to away automatically without user input – this is being removed?
Hello Thomas,
nothing will be removed from the current V3 app – it will continue to work as it has until now and will of course also be further improved.
Hello,
I’m rather disappointed to have spent over £1000 installing Tado all over our house, only to find out a few weeks later that it has been superseded!?!
I can’t help but think that the intention to upgrade to v3+ was well known by Tado when I ordered, so in effect they were just dumping old stock on me.
I accept that upgrades do happen, but I believe they should have offered a preferential upgrade path for very recent customers. If the Smart Thermostat v3 hardware was compatible it should have been offered as a free firmware upgrade to recent customers; and if not there should have been a preferential trade-in for recent customers to v3+.
I appreciate that Tado have offered the new software at a reduced cost to existing customers, but in my opinion this is just a token gesture.
I’ve tried taking this up directly with people at Tado, but haven’t really made any progress.
I’ve been unable to get any information as how I may upgrade to v3+ (assuming I pay) … do I have to order a complete new starter kit or can I just order a new Smart Thermostat v3+?
It’s a pity that such a good product is suffering due to poor treatment of existing customers.
Regards,
John Pearce.
Hello John,
thank you for your feedback – the V3 thermostat of course still works perfectly fine. We regularly introduce new device versions, which doesn’t make the older ones work less well.
You can choose to upgrade to the V3+ app for a one-time upgrade fee and use it for free. If you would like to use the V3+ hardware, you can also order single devices, you won’t need the starter kit.
I’m an existing V2 thermostat (V3 app) user looking to upgrade to V3+ app (on the V2 thermostat and bridge), I can see no option in the app (even though it has been upgraded many times recently) that enables me to pay for and receive the upgrade.
Please detail here how I can presently perform the upgrade.
Hi Stuart, the upgrade for existing customers will be available in a couple of weeks. As soon as it is available you will also receive an email with detailed instructions on how to do the upgrade.
As an existing customer with a V3 bridge, what happens when the bridge gets broken and needs to be replaced with a new one (possibly V3+ or newer)? Is the right to free auto-assist features tied to the hardware or the user account?
Hi Lukas,
the app-upgrade is linked to the bridge – in case your V3 bridge breaks, you could always contact us and we will find a solution.
The Auto Assist is, in my opinion, the key point of this thermostat. Without the automatic feature it is nothing but an overpriced switch. The move to a subscription service for a key feature that was free is a terrible idea. If you need to generate an income for the upkeep of servers etc then offer new features on a subscription basis not the other way around. I was thinking of buying some radiator thermostats to compliment my main thermostat but I think I’ll stay with the dumb ones now. I will certainly not be recommending the Tado system to anyone anymore.
I agree this is taking a step back, you can not sell this, people are not stupid, you are making a fool of yourself.
Taking features away for a pay model on newer hardware makes no sense at all, your engineers need to be smarter than that and build newer attractive features which you can ask money for.
Hi,
If I don’t upgrade to v3+ will Auto-Assist, Geofencing and Open Window Detection be COMPLETELY automated,or will I have to pay the one off fee for v3+ to get this.
If you decide not to upgrade to the new app, everything will stay the same for you.
If I don’t upgrade to v3+ will Auto-Assist, Geofencing and Open Window Detection be COMPLETELY automated as it is now, or will I have to pay the one off fee to upgrade to v3+
I am sure that in a few years students in business schools arround the world will be studying Tado as a bookcase example of how to alienize your customer community and pi** off loyal customer base (early adopters). Can you imagine what would have happened if all of my smart home vendors (Philips Hue, Amazon Alexa, Tile, Ring, Danalock, etc.) made the same move?! I would end up with a couple of hundreds of dollars or yearly fees. One time fee or not, we all know where this is heading too. V3 app will be left behind for updates and sooner or later when your bridge malfunctions you will be forced to pick up a new version and start paying a subscription. I am contemplating what to do now but abandoning the whole setup, selling off the hardware at 50% loss and kissing losses goodbye comes to mind as a viable solution. Finding out about this on the same day I upgraded my setup with boiler extension kit and smart thermostat for additional 250 EUR investment in hardware pis**ng me off and making me mad. Furiously.
Can you get back some of it on the 12 month return and some on the 30 day return policies ?
btw I’m only here doing research for a system to buy but it looks like tado is one to steer clear of. They’ve bounced from p*ssing off existing customers to p*ssing off new one.
I very nearly took the plunge and invested in some tado equipment, however I dislike the way you have set your stall out with the subscription model, and asking existing users to pay to upgrade, it makes me wonder what tricks you will try on me in a year or two’s time.
And so, now the trust has been broken before I even start, I will be looking elsewhere.
You should be very disappointed in yourselves.
Tado please!!!
I recommended Tado to friends and family for the past 5 years since I installed my Tado.
The have 8 radiator valves, a new HomeKit bridge and thermostat. All cost me a fair furtuna, now at risk to become obsolete if I have to pay for updates or subscriptions 😔
Can’t say that I will recommend if they decide to go ahead with this…
Please Tado look after your costumers, they are the ones referring your products to new costumers.
Hello Rodrigo, as existing customers, neither you nor your family will have to pay a subscription fee. You can choose to stay with the app you are currently using, or you can upgrade to the new app, by paying a one-time upgrade fee (with no additional costs after this).
As a v3 user I will stay with the existing app and functionality as it does all that I really need it to do, and when my hardware reaches its end of life I will simply move to a different supplier (possibly Drayton Wiser as it offers similar functionality at half the cost) as I have absolutely no intention of paying an annual subscription to manage my central heating/hot water.
In v3+ version Open Windows Detection is completely automated by Auto-Assist, paying the monthly fee.
So if I dont’pay the monthly fee it won’t be automated but manually switched after a notification? Just to be sure, thanks
Hi Gipp, if you do not choose to subscribe to the Auto-Assist some skills, like the open window detection will work via push notifications.
I have been looking forward to getting Tado installed in my new house which I just moved into – especially for the Geofencing thing. So I have just ordered a kit, only to find out about this subscription thing, It looks like I would be better off with a V3 model which does everything I want without paying monthly. Can I still get that and use it instead?
Hello James, yes that is possible of course.
Just ridiculous so if i ask you to send my V3+ bridge back you swap it for a V3 so i don’t have to pay anything for automation?
this is really a big joke or not?
We bought Tado and have been sent a “v3+” bridge. This was NOT advertised when we placed our order. So we do not even get the OPTION to pay the one-off upgrade fee??
Basically our only option is to return the system and buy a competitor system, or buy an older model of Tado (which is suddenly better).
Are we able to return and get sent a v3 version instead which has the “one-time upgrade” hidden fee instead of the subscription hidden fee?
This feels a lot like a scam. Your TrustPilot score is currently 2.1 out of 10 (other people feel free to report your experiences there) here’s the UK link:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.tado.com
I think it would suit the tado° team to make a statement about this V3/V3+ move. I was also accidently switched to V3+, but support is helping me to get this fixed.
They made a sudden move to a subscription based service and chose a not so fortunate naming for it (V3 vs V3+). And doing this in one and the same app doesn’t help either. Add some lack of/slow/bad communication and you have the situation we are now in.
I think their aim is to have a hybrid earning model that:
A. Offers products at a higher price with no additional fees and full functionality
B. Offer their products at a lower price and earn from the subscription if the customer chooses for additional functions.
I don’t think that they wanted to force existing users to a subscription based service looking at this page, but because of the the poor execution of the subscription based model this happened.
My personal opinion is that they should have stayed away from additional recurring fees. It’s a thermostat, it should heat the smart way and shouldn’t do anything when it’s hot enough.
The unique selling point of Tado over Nest and other thermostats is -automatic geofencing-. Others offer learning pattern of life, presence detection and remote connection. That’s clever. But auto geolocation is a real reason to buy Tado.
Charging for this service removes your USP. It removes the ‘smart’ element. Tado becomes just an expensive thermostat with remote access. Which is useless if commuting in a vehicle. I recommended others to buy based on the geolocation feature. Embarrassingly for me they are now being forced to pay for it.
Charge for other things by all means. But charging for your only clever USP seems rather an odd decision.
Agree Ben. I wish now I hadn’t bought Tado. It is easy to add geo-fencing using IFTTT to other connected systems. This is the first nail in Tado’s coffin!
I think this is just ridiculous, i just bought the V3+, while in the shop close to my home also version V2 and V3 is available. So reading your statement now i should have bought the older version even in offer and it would have saved me 24.99 a year.
very unhappy client
Maybe Tado should consider a one-time life-time fee for V3+ clients.
49.99 and you have automation for free rest of the lifetime of V3+.
If not i am going to take my V3+ version back and buy the V3 or even worse go for a honeywell etc
Totally agree!
Don’t want the subscription, just because i bought their newest product instead of the v3.
I think the V3+ upgrade is a waste of my money. It does not bring anything that i didn’t allready have or need (have the V2 starterkit). The app also apparently changes the temperature without me touching it… How can I downgrade / refund?
Been using Tado for a long time. Before buying additional equipment (3 smart valves) asked support if I’ll be able to still use V3 of the app. So, was really surprised to see that after installing third valve today my app is now v3+, no questions asked, no special offer for old customers, nothing. App just switched to V3+ on it’s own without any question asked.
So same old tado V2 bridge, same old v2 smart thermostat, 3 new valves and – got improved application lacking functionality I had and already paid for?!?!?!
Waiting to see what will support say on this one.
Nice one tado, nice one…
Just wanted to add on this – support resolved it and reverted app back to V2/V3. And I already used opportunity for current users to upgrade app to V3+.
I’ve just bought the V3+ version and I’m not happy to find / read that I need to pay a subscription to get the full feature set when other owners of older devices can just pay a one-off fee. My system has cost over £650 due to two smart thermometers, extension kit and radiator thermostats.
I don’t mind paying a small one-off fee to activate all features, but hate and will not pay for a subscription.
One of the main selling points of the Tado system was the auto Geo-fencing and this main feature is lost to me.
Please explain in clear words the benefit from upgrading from V3 tot v3+ for existing customers. I have looked at all the pages on this topic and do not have a clue what I get for the extra 20 euro fee except for a new shiny skin in the app?
It looks like all the features are already there without the fancy extra spicy marketing labels. And even though it is “free” after the one time fee, I still get the impression we pay to use the same features with a new look. And the promise of updates on the line, any plans on another paid upgrade……., who knows.
Hi Jeroen, the advantage of the new app would be the new, improved interface and our new skill, the Air-Comfort-Skill which is automatically included. However, the upgrade is completely optional.
So very disappointing Tado, poorly executed, and poorly communicated.
First I heard about this was an advert telling me to pay GBP20 to active new features. Nothing about moving to a subscription model for “Auto-Assist” – like most people, this is a deal breaker, I would never have chosen this system.
Now various problems with the new app, some useful old features (like the wavy power lines showing you the heating power in each zone) are removed, new bugs, and now I found today that my wife’s phone is asking her to buy a subscription in order to activate Auto-Assist, even though its working fine on my phone. Result – no hot water for my 4 year old’s bath & a cold house, if I happen to be out.
Will log a ticket anyway, but overall, extremely annoyed and disappointing by this, really feels like a deceitful way to get customers to “upgrade”.
Hi Simon,
please do log a ticket so that our support can help you as soon as possible with the difficulties you’re experiencing.
I’m an existing customer (for about a year) and was/am similarly confused about what exactly is going on, so I called support leaving a voicemail after no answer. I kindly explain I wanted to chat with someone regarding the V3+ thingy leaving my number but only got a cut and paste email response so far, but still want/need a call to answer various questions to avoid further confusion please.
One of My main queries now is that I read that as an existing customer (early adopter) that if I upgrade now I continue with all existing and new features and I won’t ever need to pay a subscription fee for Tado while we stay with Tado. Can you please confirm this is correct including if/when we replace Tado equipment with Tado equipment in the future.
Kind regards,
Jonny
Hello Jonathan, at the moment our support team receives a lot of technical requests, so they can sometimes take a bit longer in replies, sorry about that! As an existing customer – as long as you have a V3 bridge – you will be able to use all existing features of the V3+ app without a subscription fee.
So now, new customers suddenly have to pay a subscription fee to perform the most basic function of the device, namely the fully automated heating control based on your GPS location. Instead, family members now have to bother clicking ‘OK’ on a stupid notification every time they are the last person leaving the house? Seriously? This is one freaking line of code for your programmers to make the “automation” work. And it has in fact already been written years ago, since it has been working fine for all your existing customers so far.
I have now gone from being super excited about this company and recommending it actively to friends, family and colleagues, to the complete opposite. Not only can I no longer recommend it, because -unlike me- they would have to pay the ridiculous subscription fee in order to have same functionality I have, but I am also going to cancel the purchase of 5 radiator valves that I was just thinking of buying in order to get individual room control. It’s not very attractive to spend several hundred euros on smart valves that may become completely unsupported once the company goes bankrupt due to this horrible fiasco…
Hi Tado, been a customer of yours for just over a year and I just want to add my disappointment to your latest approach regarding V3+. I will be remaining with V3 as I already have automatic geofencing, why on earth would I pay to upgrade just for air quality control as I live in the countryside! The main reason I went for Tado was the automatic geofencing and this has undoubtedly saved me money. I agree with lots of other people here, don’t make people pay even a one off subscription for something they already have, simply charge a subscription for any additional benefits. I too have been recommending Tado but won’t be doing this in the future if you continue with this model.
hey!
i have the v3 thermostat. i read that the v3+ has some more hardware features. so when i upgrade to the v3+ app will the tile “aircomfort” tell me something or will it be a zero.
Hi! If you have the V3 and upgrade to the new V3+ app, you will also be able to use our new Air-Comfort-Skill!