Pixel 7a phone. Purchased for work, intended for infrequent use. I created a new Google account since I didn't want the phone associated with my personal account.
After a couple of months of inactivity, I needed access again. The finger print didn't work (not accepted after a time of inactivity), and I cannot remember the PIN or Google account. I'm essentially locked out.
I can easily prove I'm the rightful owner with an invoice or bank statement, however neither the retailer nor Pixel will do anything, despite multiple conversations.
It raises the question of who owns the device: The person who purchased it, or the person who initially set it up? The Pixel is designed for the latter. I would argue it should be the former since transactions can be verified through intermediaries, whereas anyone could have set up the device, however I understand the complexities of Google verifying retailer receipts.
So I'm left with an unusable device, and I've run out of possible PINs to try.
Hopes for the future:
- On initial setup, a big ugly warning about being permanently locked out, and that I should ideally add recovery options to the new account, and be careful in choosing the PIN
- Requirement for retailers that stock Pixels to accept refunds in these situations, either through the kindness of Google's non-evil heart, or consumer law ("fit for purpose"?).
Any suggestions for what to do with a "bricked" phone would be welcome!
Sonos speakers. I got a big system during COVID and it got me through isolation. But then they decided to redo the app and the new one is terrible (not that the old one was ever great; software is not their strength). It's still a buggy mess to this day. Some of the hardware died too, and they don't offer repairs. Their customer service sucks too. You can't email them anymore and you have to wait hours on the phone.
I went from loyal supporter to wanting to get rid of the whole system. Buyer beware. Company has really gone downhill. I wish they'd fire the CEO.
My highly customizable split mechanical keyboard. Not naming the product because it's my fault that I regret it. It's very high quality and does exactly what it claims to do, and I'm sure many users are happy with it. It cost nearly $400.
It's a ~60% keyboard, which means it's missing a lot of keys. Notably the F keys and the navigation keys (pgup, pgdn, ins, del, etc). There are ways to remap the blank keys to what you really need, and of course there are all the key sequences and chords you can use. But you have to memorize this stuff, because many of the keys are unlabeled by necessity.
I use it on my PC, Mac (work), and Linux (steamdeck). It's a lot of cognitive burden remembering shortcuts and which modifier keys do what on which OS, with the added headache of having to remember which unlabeled or remapped keys are which modifier keys. I love the feel of it and for normal typing it's great, but anytime I stray from the basic keys (A-Z, numbers, etc) it becomes difficult. I end up doing embarrassing things like using right click on my mouse to do things like copy/paste.
If I was on exactly one OS all day long, I think I could make it work. But juggling 3 is annoying.
If I could redo it all over again I'd realize I didn't need a split ergo keyboard, and would have gotten something more traditional.
A recent Motorola smartphone. Only advantage: it's cheap.
* it's a Tamagochi that keeps crying all day long. "Please set this thing up". "Notification about settings". "Help I shat!"
* Loses connections too often.
* Good old apps, like internet radio silently crash.
* If you happen to listen music over Bluetooth and there's incoming call, it
a) shows you modal windows -- "should setting ______ be set forever?"
b) to turn off Bluetooth speaker, you must notice and click a tiny drop-down menu, and select from "speaker" (which is phone's own loud speaker), "bluetooth" and something else -- basically you gotta guess where is "normal" call with phone at the ear. All this must be done in like 10 seconds of caller's patience.
* Unconfigurable at all. You set it to "don't disturb" and whatsapp/telegram still ring loudly!!! IDK, if this setting changes anything at all. Seems that every app has own overrides.
* tries to add junk stuff like "smart wallpapers" -- and after I found a way to turn it off, showed me "The notification will be shown in 24 hours again."
* wakes up if slightly shaken and shines with the screen -- must put it screen down to avoid bright light randomly shining at night.
Maybe it's the recent Android OS such a pile of accumulated crappy features, like CSS in the wild, that is impossible to sort out... Whoever approved to buy crappy noname smartphones and brand them as Motorola, had no brain.
It's ok-ish but too noisy, takes too long to do its job and as vacuum it kinda sucks I guess.
It also needs an app that doesn't really work at all. I was forced to install it to solve a random problem with the unit, but now it's useless. It doesn't trigger the Roomba sometimes.
I replaced it with a Bosch vacuum that has the bonus of using the same batteries as my cordless drill and other Bosch devices. Yay. The Bosch is also WAY quieter than the Roomba (also quieter than a Dyson, that was surprising), which is great since I have a cat. Also it doesn't have IoT capabilities so it's amazing.
Every device that requires IoT or an App needs to die die die.
merek ·10 days ago
After a couple of months of inactivity, I needed access again. The finger print didn't work (not accepted after a time of inactivity), and I cannot remember the PIN or Google account. I'm essentially locked out.
I can easily prove I'm the rightful owner with an invoice or bank statement, however neither the retailer nor Pixel will do anything, despite multiple conversations.
It raises the question of who owns the device: The person who purchased it, or the person who initially set it up? The Pixel is designed for the latter. I would argue it should be the former since transactions can be verified through intermediaries, whereas anyone could have set up the device, however I understand the complexities of Google verifying retailer receipts.
So I'm left with an unusable device, and I've run out of possible PINs to try.
Hopes for the future:
- On initial setup, a big ugly warning about being permanently locked out, and that I should ideally add recovery options to the new account, and be careful in choosing the PIN
- Requirement for retailers that stock Pixels to accept refunds in these situations, either through the kindness of Google's non-evil heart, or consumer law ("fit for purpose"?).
Any suggestions for what to do with a "bricked" phone would be welcome!
Show replies
solardev ·12 days ago
I went from loyal supporter to wanting to get rid of the whole system. Buyer beware. Company has really gone downhill. I wish they'd fire the CEO.
Show replies
qwerpy ·10 days ago
It's a ~60% keyboard, which means it's missing a lot of keys. Notably the F keys and the navigation keys (pgup, pgdn, ins, del, etc). There are ways to remap the blank keys to what you really need, and of course there are all the key sequences and chords you can use. But you have to memorize this stuff, because many of the keys are unlabeled by necessity.
I use it on my PC, Mac (work), and Linux (steamdeck). It's a lot of cognitive burden remembering shortcuts and which modifier keys do what on which OS, with the added headache of having to remember which unlabeled or remapped keys are which modifier keys. I love the feel of it and for normal typing it's great, but anytime I stray from the basic keys (A-Z, numbers, etc) it becomes difficult. I end up doing embarrassing things like using right click on my mouse to do things like copy/paste.
If I was on exactly one OS all day long, I think I could make it work. But juggling 3 is annoying.
If I could redo it all over again I'd realize I didn't need a split ergo keyboard, and would have gotten something more traditional.
Show replies
culebron21 ·10 days ago
* it's a Tamagochi that keeps crying all day long. "Please set this thing up". "Notification about settings". "Help I shat!"
* Loses connections too often.
* Good old apps, like internet radio silently crash.
* If you happen to listen music over Bluetooth and there's incoming call, it
a) shows you modal windows -- "should setting ______ be set forever?"
b) to turn off Bluetooth speaker, you must notice and click a tiny drop-down menu, and select from "speaker" (which is phone's own loud speaker), "bluetooth" and something else -- basically you gotta guess where is "normal" call with phone at the ear. All this must be done in like 10 seconds of caller's patience.
* Unconfigurable at all. You set it to "don't disturb" and whatsapp/telegram still ring loudly!!! IDK, if this setting changes anything at all. Seems that every app has own overrides.
* tries to add junk stuff like "smart wallpapers" -- and after I found a way to turn it off, showed me "The notification will be shown in 24 hours again."
* wakes up if slightly shaken and shines with the screen -- must put it screen down to avoid bright light randomly shining at night.
Maybe it's the recent Android OS such a pile of accumulated crappy features, like CSS in the wild, that is impossible to sort out... Whoever approved to buy crappy noname smartphones and brand them as Motorola, had no brain.
Show replies
whstl ·10 days ago
It's ok-ish but too noisy, takes too long to do its job and as vacuum it kinda sucks I guess.
It also needs an app that doesn't really work at all. I was forced to install it to solve a random problem with the unit, but now it's useless. It doesn't trigger the Roomba sometimes.
I replaced it with a Bosch vacuum that has the bonus of using the same batteries as my cordless drill and other Bosch devices. Yay. The Bosch is also WAY quieter than the Roomba (also quieter than a Dyson, that was surprising), which is great since I have a cat. Also it doesn't have IoT capabilities so it's amazing.
Every device that requires IoT or an App needs to die die die.
Show replies