Nest Shuts Off Key Smoke Detector Feature, Citing Safety Issues

Customer responses were mixed Friday over Nest’s automatic disarming in its Protect Smoke + Carbon Monoxide alarm of a feature that could cause the device to not function properly in a fire. The company issued a consumer safety notice Thursday alerting customers to a potential problem with the device’s Wave feature in case of fire (http://bit.ly/Por7nt). The story appeared in USA Today and other outlets before many consumers had seen the notice.

In a letter published in the support section of the company’s website and on its Facebook page, Nest CEO Tony Fadell said the company had determined in recent lab testing of the Nest Protect that it had observed “a unique combination of circumstances that caused us to question whether the Nest Wave (a feature that enables you to turn off your alarm with a wave of the hand) could be unintentionally activated.” Such a situation “could delay an alarm going off if there was a real fire,” Fadell said. The company immediately disabled the Nest Wave feature “to resolve the issue and remove any safety concerns,” Fadell said.

Nest customer Nigel Blakley expressed outrage on the Nest Facebook page that the company had deactivated the Wave software on the smoke alarm “without my notification or permission,” calling the decision “outrageous and unacceptable!” Blakley said the Wave is all that “justifies replacing a conventional smoke alarm with the expensive Nest alarm.”

The problem had also soured Blakley on connected devices, which could be a larger negative byproduct of the Wave situation that Nest expects to be resolved over a two-three month period that involves receiving testing approvals from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. “If Google had aspirations of insinuating my appliance with software, this reckless decision has killed that idea,” he said. Google bought Nest for $3.2 billion earlier this year. “And when you have fixed the alarm I will make sure that this any all other house appliances are off the internet so that this can never happen again,” he said.

Richard Glikes, president of the Azione Unlimited buying group for custom integrators, expressed concern over the culpability issues that such a situation might present for dealers who install Nest or other connected products. If a connected device designed to protect homeowners malfunctioned in an emergency, “who’s responsible -- the installer or the manufacturer?” Glikes said. He was doubtful the issue would have long-lasting effects for Nest, citing the devoted fan base for Nest products.

Evidence of Nest’s more loyal customers showed on the Facebook page as some customers defended the company against others’ unhappiness. One Nest follower’s response to Blakley’s rant -- “They are trying to fix it. ... This was done for your safety” -- was followed by another comment: “You're joking right? This is done as a safety concern. You would be complaining a lot more if there were a real fire and you weren’t notified.”

Customer Steven Lauder asked why he was being notified on Facebook of the problem. Nest responded that Lauder “should have also received an email to the email address paired to your Nest Protect account."

Customer David Giaramita called Nest Protect “the biggest threat to my family’s safety that I have ever introduced into my home. After six blaring false alarms that refused to shut down, I am now left with sore ears, a pissed-off family and no smoke or CO protection,” he said. Nest responded that without the Wave feature, Protect “still functions as a safety device, just minus that one feature.” The Nest representative offered to help Giaramita with other problems via private message.

One customer praised Nest for taking proactive action, contrasting that to GM’s current troubles over ignition starter issues that have been linked to a dozen deaths in 31 crashes in the U.S. Another gave a “nobody’s perfect” comment, saying he respected a company that handles a situation “gracefully.” Another forgiving customer thanked Nest for the “clear communication,” though it wasn’t clear if he understood that the feature had been disabled and not yet fixed. “I checked my settings and verified that my Protect got the update!” he said.

Consumers who have not connected the Protect’s Wi-Fi need to do so to enable the company to disable the Wave feature, a tripping point for many. “If you have a Nest Protect that is not connected to a Nest Account, or have since taken it offline, it’s very important that you immediately connect your Nest Protect to your Nest Account so we can remotely disable Nest Wave,” said Fadell in the letter. Nest provided a link to a page with instructions on connecting to Wi-Fi.

Connecting Nest Protect to Wi-Fi was one of the major criticisms Consumer Reports had with the detector in a February review when the magazine called the process “an exercise in frustration.” Consumer Reports said the Wi-Fi setup process was “reminiscent of some of the challenges we faced during testing of the Nest Learning Thermostat.” With both Nest devices, Consumer Reports said, “the ability to control and monitor them remotely with a smart phone or computer is a big selling point,” but setup is “easier said than done, especially with the Nest Protect.” It credited Nest’s tech support for being “available and knowledgeable,” but even it “was unable to help us connect a second detector to our lab’s Wi-Fi network, or to the technician’s home network,” according to the review. “Only after another of our staff members connected two samples of the Nest Protect to his home Wi-Fi could we confirm its self-networking capabilities,” it said.

The Nest Wave feature is on by default in every alarm that ships so the company has halted shipments “to ensure no one buys an alarm that needs an immediate update,” Fadell said. The Nest website says Protect is currently unavailable, although the $249 device was available Friday from Amazon and Best Buy.

Fadell said Nest was unaware of any customers who have experienced an alarm being delayed in a real fire as a result of the Wave feature. The company discovered the problem during “regular, rigorous tests,” he said. “The fact that it could even potentially happen is extremely important to me and I want to address it immediately,” he said. When the company has determined that the Wave feature works as intended, it will update the software to turn the feature back on, he said. He offered to give customers who don’t want to keep their Nest Protect “a complete refund.”