Honeywell Evohome & HW customer service perception

[top brake]

Just a couple of weeks back Paul, there was a member of this forum crying out for an installer. Your and my experience is similar in that these so called “professionally trained” installers knew little. It was a little embarrassing when I had to explain to one such how it works! But that was some time back and yes it would be good to know from others whether the quality of the service is now good.

As for using Facebook etc. to suggest changes, share ideas etc. I remain speechless. Most of the big suppliers of product have help and suggestion pages on their own web site - e.g. Arlo, Netgear, Philips, Apple. It is where I go to if seeking help and on the whole it is well set up. When I last looked at Honeywell on Facebook there was nothing I could see that bore any relation to the sensible comment and good advice we get here and it was more about telling us how wonderful Honeywell are. Within this forum some excellent suggestions for improvements, and the need for them, have been made over the past 4 to 5 years but nothing effected. We realised long ago that the end user is not of great interest to Honeywell. Reflected particularly in how they never explain what they are doing when say the system goes off line. All frustrating for the product is good, I am pleased with it and it works well.

Honeywell forget also that the end user could be a widow or widower whose recently deceased partner was the gadget one and the survivor is left helpless. My wife would not know where to start if she was told to read the manual and past experience does no have any expertise nearby other than probably another user of the system who I know lives not so far away.

If you do not support your customer then others in the market will fast overtake you.

have a look at this page, has lots of info on the products and you can sign up to marketing updates https://getconnected.honeywellhome.com/en/support

with the advent of GDPR we need your permission to contact you

regarding updates resulting from suggestions there have been some updates resulting from this, perhaps you need the latest firmware update?

the network of connected specialists are trained and expert in evohome, perhaps you haven't chosen 'connected specialist' in the search? https://heatingcontrols.honeywellhom...er/?src=howevo

[paulockenden]

Within this forum some excellent suggestions for improvements, and the need for them, have been made over the past 4 to 5 years but nothing effected.

I don't think that one's fair. Things like demand per zone being available on the controller were a direct result of repeated requests here.

I agree that in the last year or so things have gone quiet, but before then this seemed like a useful forum to discuss ideas with Honeywell.

[top brake]

I don't think that one's fair. Things like demand per zone being available on the controller were a direct result of repeated requests here.

I agree that in the last year or so things have gone quiet, but before then this seemed like a useful forum to discuss ideas with Honeywell.

and it can be again Paul, but based on the somewhat angsty response to my post last night you might forgive me for not continuing to engage! ;-)

[G4RHL]

the network of connected specialists are trained and expert in evohome, perhaps you haven't chosen 'connected specialist' in the search? https://heatingcontrols.honeywellhom...er/?src=howevo

As both Paul and I have said it may be the situation has improved but past experience of finding and using a “connected specialist” was not good.

Thanks for the reference to the site, yes I have been there but generally I find there is more helpful information appearing here.

An apology Paul, yes I overlooked the fact that in the early days comments here were reflected in the product.

So far as aware I am on the latest firmware and usually it updates automatically. I guess I better check on the site to see that I am.

[paulockenden]

and it can be again Paul, but based on the somewhat angsty response to my post last night you might forgive me for not continuing to engage! ;-)

To be fair, your recent posts came across a bit as "we'd rather than to installers than customers, and if customers DO need to talk to us then it's better via other social media channels rather than here". I realise that's putting a slightly skewed perspective on it, but at first glance that seemed to be the gist, which is why some people may have got a bit angsty!

"it can be again" should give people hope!

[SteveP]

I have been using Evohome since gen 1 and am on the latest wifi unit. As an interoperability specialist and ex-programmer, I know that this area is a challenge and that programming issues will arise. Whilst I don’t like “bugs” they are to some degree inevitable due to the complex code written and number of variables involved in the environment. However, my main disappointment was that version 1 had the usb port that I understood would allow firmware updates. This didn’t happen and then I moved to version 2 with the gateway and colour screen to get the remote control capability. Again hoping that updates would occur “over the net”. Then version 3 came out and that would support firmware updates so I moved to that. Last year we had a fairly extensive set of updates and I feel it made for a very good product. Yes there are “quirks” but generally the pros outweigh the cons and my house is much more comfy than when I had a single thermostat with trvs everywhere. I love the ability to program individual zone schedules and I use all 12 zones. I love optimisation, I love the ability to control the heating remotely. My family love the ability to turn on the heating in their rooms even when the heating schedule has gone off. So what more could I want? Well yes one of the things users now expect with Apps is continual improvements. We no longer follow the principal “if it aint broke don’t fix it”. We want more goodies. So for me I just would like to know if Evohome will continue to improve and the various excellent suggestions on this site will continue to be taken on board. I also agree that user testing is essential for successful implementation and as this type of product sits in a strange land as it is not a pure Plumbing product and is not a pure Application platform, resources such as this site are essential for both the installer and consumer alike to benefit from.
It is great to hear from Topbrake as the early days of Ramesis and then Topbrake being engaged daily have sadly passed and been greatly missed. I hope we can again partner via this site and all recognise the collaboration that can continue to deliver a leading edge product in this space.

[top brake]

To be fair, your recent posts came across a bit as "we'd rather than to installers than customers, and if customers DO need to talk to us then it's better via other social media channels rather than here". I realise that's putting a slightly skewed perspective on it, but at first glance that seemed to be the gist, which is why some people may have got a bit angsty!

"it can be again" should give people hope!

its easy to mis-interpret words Paul, hopefully you remember meeting me and the discussion we had, and engagement i and others have given here in the past?
you will always find my comments are honest and factual, sometimes that might not be what people would like to hear but ongoing dialogue can reach a position of common understanding :-)

[top brake]

I have been using Evohome since gen 1 and am on the latest wifi unit. As an interoperability specialist and ex-programmer, I know that this area is a challenge and that programming issues will arise. Whilst I don’t like “bugs” they are to some degree inevitable due to the complex code written and number of variables involved in the environment. However, my main disappointment was that version 1 had the usb port that I understood would allow firmware updates. This didn’t happen and then I moved to version 2 with the gateway and colour screen to get the remote control capability. Again hoping that updates would occur “over the net”. Then version 3 came out and that would support firmware updates so I moved to that. Last year we had a fairly extensive set of updates and I feel it made for a very good product. Yes there are “quirks” but generally the pros outweigh the cons and my house is much more comfy than when I had a single thermostat with trvs everywhere. I love the ability to program individual zone schedules and I use all 12 zones. I love optimisation, I love the ability to control the heating remotely. My family love the ability to turn on the heating in their rooms even when the heating schedule has gone off. So what more could I want? Well yes one of the things users now expect with Apps is continual improvements. We no longer follow the principal “if it aint broke don’t fix it”. We want more goodies. So for me I just would like to know if Evohome will continue to improve and the various excellent suggestions on this site will continue to be taken on board. I also agree that user testing is essential for successful implementation and as this type of product sits in a strange land as it is not a pure Plumbing product and is not a pure Application platform, resources such as this site are essential for both the installer and consumer alike to benefit from.
It is great to hear from Topbrake as the early days of Ramesis and then Topbrake being engaged daily have sadly passed and been greatly missed. I hope we can again partner via this site and all recognise the collaboration that can continue to deliver a leading edge product in this space.

Thanks for your kind words and feedback Steve, agree that in the age of consumer smart tech regular updates are expected.
Please bear with us as we get to grips with being an exciting new standalone business; focused on delivering a great user experience in with the complete offering of hardware, firmware, app and ownership experience.
There are developments being worked on with evohome and we will share details of these when we can. Have a look at this for an insight into the future https://www.resideo.com/about/overview

[DorrisMancer]

I had a large heating and plumbing replacement that was too large for me to tackle - I think it eventually took 60-80 man days. The evohome side did not go well. The original installers eventually called-in some 'connected specialists' at my suggestion, they made two visits and were a total waste of space and time. Eventually I gave-up and tackled the problems myself with help from this group - all were resolved very quickly.

[mtmcgavock]

We're Honeywell Connected Specialists ourselves, yet at no point have we ever been contacted by Honeywell to test new systems out, or recommend what could be changed etc. And we've installed a good few EvoHome systems with full HR92 valves. There's certainly features and improvements that could be to EvoHome that would make it an excellent system.

I think the issue is as others have said is that many 'Connected' installers don't know much about Evohome or any other products. As with everything though, there will be good installers and bad installers.

I think others get blinded by the issues with Evohome too rather than it's many good points. We install a variety of different control system for boilers and I have to say Evohome is one of the best for the end user and comfort/performance.