The Wink home automation thread

[aosmer]

New Statement up.

NOTICE OF SERVICE OUTAGE & HUB REPLACEMENT PROGRAM

Wink Hubs experienced a complete service disruption between the hours of 12:40pm ET and 11:00 ET on April 18th.

Throughout this outage, all Wink homes were completely secure and never vulnerable. In fact, the root cause of our service disruption was caused by a security measure we implemented in the early days of the program.

Since the dawn of Wink we’ve worked hard to provide our customers with the most secure home automation platform available.

Because of a misconfiguration of the aforementioned security measure, Wink Hubs lost their connection to the internet for an extended period of time. During this time, users were not able to control their Hub-dependent devices with the Wink app. Schedules and Robots also did not function.

While we were able to recover and reconnect the majority of hubs, many of our users with Wink Hubs were emailed and asked to return their hub and await a replacement.

Additionally, we are immediately suspending all sales of Wink Hubs across all retail channels. We expect to resume sales within the week.

We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience caused here. If you would like to talk to a service representative, call us at 844-WINK-APP or find us on Twitter @TheWinkApp.

FAQ

Was my home ever vulnerable during the outage?
Throughout this outage, all Wink homes were completely secure and never vulnerable. In fact, the root cause of our service disruption stemmed from our commitment to security.

What caused the outage?
Due to a security measure that was initially put in place to protect Wink users, Wink Hubs lost connection to the internet for an extended period of time. During this time, users were not able to control their hub-dependent devices with the Wink app. Schedules and Robots also did not function.

Does my Wink Hub still work?
We’ve contacted all Wink Hub users to update them on the status of their Hubs. Many Wink Hubs have been recovered and reconnected. If you were impacted further, we’re asking you please return your Wink Hub to us (we’ll provide a box and return label) and we’ll get it back to you soon. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. If your Hub appears to not be functioning properly, please give us a call at 844-WINK-APP.

Were other Wink-compatible products impacted by the outage?
No. The outage only impacted the Wink Hub.

How often do you expect this to happen?
This was an incredibly rare and unique circumstance. It was completely avoidable and is extremely embarrassing for us. Moving forward we will work very hard to ensure an outage like this never happens again. Since our launch in July, we’ve had very few outages and take great pride in our uptime.

My Wink Hub doesn’t work anymore, what do I do?
First off, we deeply apologize for the inconvenience. You should by now have received an email from Wink with additional instructions to get your Wink Hub replaced free of charge. We’re asking users whose Hubs no longer connect to Wink Servers to please fill out this form and we’ll make sure a replacement Hub is sent to you soon. If you would like to talk to a service representative, please call us at 844-WINK-APP or contact us on Twitter at @TheWinkApp.

Why can’t you fix my Hub over the air?
We were able to fix a majority of Hubs through a software push, but due to the circumstances of this particular outage, certain Hubs were no longer online - therefore we were unable to update the software on the Hub. We’ve asked these users to send their Hub back for a replacement.

Can I return my Hub to my local retail store?
The fastest way to resolve your issue is to participate in our replacement program. Local stores will not have inventory of the Wink Hub for some time.

If my Hub is replaced by Wink, will I have to re-setup all my devices?
We’re optimistic that we’ll return your Hub in fully working order and that you won’t have to go through the setup and pairing process again. If you do, we’ll let you know, but we’re working hard to make sure this doesn’t happen.

What are you talking about, I didn’t have any outage?
Fantastic! Don’t worry about it.

http://status.winkapp.com

 

[MAC595]

Hello all,

I've been lurking in the shadows watching with interest all the issues. My Wink system has been working (mostly) for months and I have been counting my lucky stars....... until today. Everything is locked up solid.

I have been running product development companies for over 25 years and at first I gave Wink some slack because I know hard it is to get everything right for a product launch......but come on Wink....really? If I had released product into the wild in this state or had everything go down due to a non renewed certificate, my clients would have had me me in court in a heartbeat.

I am no stranger to alpha and beta testing product, but if a consumer goes to Home Depot and buys something off the shelf, there is a reasonable expectation that the product is going to work. If you buy a hammer and is shatters when you hit a nail. Would the excuse of the hammer being at rev .77 be adequate?

Wink, this is the big show, people are spending real money on your products. You don't get a trophy for just showing up and trying. Time to get it right.

Mac

 

[FreddieT]

So I should be expecting an email from Ben in 5 minutes(his post was about 55 minutes ago)? Haven't seen one yet.

Not wanting to come off as an ass, but judging Wink's track record, you/we/all might be waiting for that email for a bit.

 

[Mike A.]

Sounds like someone really goofed.

^ Understatement of the day. lol

What an epic clusterf***. Likely a fatal error for Wink. I can't see how they recover from this.

They should have opened it up and given local control from the start. They would have had huge momentum behind them with the box and partners that they have. They've lost so much with this one that I'm not sure that even doing that would save it now.

Apparently, I'm one of the "lucky" ones:

We’re writing with some unfortunate information about your Wink home. Our commitment to delivering the most secure smart home platform possible has had an unintended consequence.

Your Wink Hub is now so secure that it is unable to connect to the Wink Servers. This means that you are no longer able to control your Hub-dependent devices with your Wink app. It also means your schedules and robots will not function.

To cut to the chase: We need your Wink Hub back. We’ll update it and get it back to you within a few days. We’ve done all we can to make the process as simple as possible -- Just click here.

We’re terribly embarrassed by this whole situation. This outage was completely preventable and caused by a security measure that was put in place to protect you and your family. Unfortunately we failed to make an update to a security measure that was expiring, and therefore locked down your Hub’s access to the server.

As part of our response, we’re immediately suspending all sales of Wink Hubs across all retail channels and expect to resume sales within the week.

We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience caused here. As an apology, we’d like to extend a $50 gift card to Wink.com (Valid only for the next 48 hours on wink.com to make purchases, not redeemable for cash) -- Use code “WESOSORRY” at checkout.

If you would like to talk to a service representative, call us at 844-WINK-APP or find us on Twitter @TheWinkApp.

The Wink Team

 

[MjnMixael]

^ Understatement of the day. lol

What an epic clusterf***. Likely a fatal error for Wink. I can't see how they recover from this.

Oh please. Most of us will got through the upgrade program and just keep marching on as we always have been, hoping that the Wink system becomes everything it has promised to be. We can revisit this post in a month when this thread still has similar activity as it does now.

And when local control is activated, this thread will be filled with joyous applause for Wink, regardless of today's missteps.

 

[aosmer]

Thanks wink... -_-

We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience caused here. As an apology, we’d like to extend a $50 gift card to Wink.com (Valid only for the next 48 hours on wink.com to make purchases, not redeemable for cash)

 

[smhawkes]

Not wanting to come off as an ass, but judging Wink's track record, you/we/all might be waiting for that email for a bit.

I am the last one to defend Wink, but I already got the email and filled out the form for the return box to be sent to me.

 

[aosmer]

I'm sure this process will go smoothly.

Next steps:
1) We'll ship you a box with prepaid postage.
2) Put your Wink HUB in the box and drop it off at a UPS drop-off location.
3) We'll update your HUB and send it back to you in a few days.

 

[FreddieT]

Hello all,

I've been lurking in the shadows watching with interest all the issues. My Wink system has been working (mostly) for months and I have been counting my lucky stars....... until today. Everything is locked up solid.

I have been running product development companies for over 25 years and at first I gave Wink some slack because I know hard it is to get everything right for a product launch......but come on Wink....really? If I had released product into the wild in this state or had everything go down due to a non renewed certificate, my clients would have had me me in court in a heartbeat.

I am no stranger to alpha and beta testing product, but if a consumer goes to Home Depot and buys something off the shelf, there is a reasonable expectation that the product is going to work. If you buy a hammer and is shatters when you hit a nail. Would the excuse of the hammer being at rev .77 be adequate?

Wink, this is the big show, people are spending real money on your products. You don't get a trophy for just showing up and trying. Time to get it right.

Mac

So this makes OK? Really Wink? Really?

Fill out a form, send our defective (through no fault of our own) hub at OUR expense and wait for you to send us a hub (possibly refurbished) as a replacement. Then we MAY have to reinstall all of our devices to boot. And what exactly are you losing in this deal? YOUR screw up is going to cost us, your users time AND money because of this, and all you offer in return is a refurbished (possibly our own) hub? Are you kidding?
It's one thing to be belittled on a public forum by one of your employees, but it's totally another to be "held up without a gun" by the company!
Really Ben? This is an amicable solution your company's screw up? Really?

 

[aosmer]

Well to be fair they're offering a $50 credit on Wink.com stuff.

 

[MjnMixael]

So this makes OK? Really Wink? Really?

File out a form, send our defective (through no fault of our own) hub at OUR expense and wait for you to send us a hub (possibly refurbished) as a replacement. Then we MAY have to reinstall all of our devices to boot. And what exactly are you losing in this deal? YOUR screw up is going to us, your users time AND money because of this, and all you offer in return in is a refurbished (possibly our own) hub? Are you kidding?
It's one thing to be belittled on a public forum by one of your employees, but it's totally another to be "held up without a gun" by the company!
Really Ben? This is an amicable solution your company's screw up? Really?

I... Wat? No, it's not at our own expense. The box includes a return shipping label. They made that clear. They also explain in the statement that they are going to do everything they can to make sure we don't need to re-pair all our products. It's implied that the hubs simply need an update to the firmware in order to connect to Wink now and since they currently can't connect to Wink, they can't update the hubs remotely. So send in your unit, they update it, and assuming all goes well, you get your fully functioning unit back.

Yes, this was a screw up.. but you need to read their statement before going off on all kinds of things that aren't really problems.

 

[FreddieT]

So this makes OK? Really Wink? Really?

Fill out a form, send our defective (through no fault of our own) hub at OUR expense and wait for you to send us a hub (possibly refurbished) as a replacement. Then we MAY have to reinstall all of our devices to boot. And what exactly are you losing in this deal? YOUR screw up is going to cost us, your users time AND money because of this, and all you offer in return is a refurbished (possibly our own) hub? Are you kidding?
It's one thing to be belittled on a public forum by one of your employees, but it's totally another to be "held up without a gun" by the company!
Really Ben? This is an amicable solution your company's screw up? Really?

Well, most of my post is moot due to previous posts.

 

[BillinGlendale]

Not wanting to come off as an ass, but judging Wink's track record, you/we/all might be waiting for that email for a bit.

I got the email, I'll be filling out the form.

ETA: I've filled out the form and received a confirmation email.

 

[matt-wink]

Wink Hubs experienced a complete service disruption between the hours of 12:40pm ET and 11:00 ET on April 18th.

Throughout this outage, all Wink homes were completely secure and never vulnerable. In fact, the root cause of our service disruption was caused by a security measure we implemented in the early days of the program.

Since the dawn of Wink we’ve worked hard to provide our customers with the most secure home automation platform available.

Because of a misconfiguration of the aforementioned security measure, Wink Hubs lost their connection to the internet for an extended period of time. During this time, users were not able to control their Hub-dependent devices with the Wink app. Schedules and Robots also did not function.

While we were able to recover and reconnect the majority of hubs, many of our users with Wink Hubs were emailed and asked to return their hub and await a replacement.

Additionally, we are immediately suspending all sales of Wink Hubs across all retail channels. We expect to resume sales within the week.

We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience caused here. If you would like to talk to a service representative, call us at 844-WINK-APP or find us on Twitter @TheWinkApp.

FAQ

Was my home ever vulnerable during the outage?
Throughout this outage, all Wink homes were completely secure and never vulnerable. In fact, the root cause of our service disruption stemmed from our commitment to security.

What caused the outage?
Due to a security measure that was initially put in place to protect Wink users, Wink Hubs lost connection to the internet for an extended period of time. During this time, users were not able to control their hub-dependent devices with the Wink app. Schedules and Robots also did not function.

Does my Wink Hub still work?
We’ve contacted all Wink Hub users to update them on the status of their Hubs. Many Wink Hubs have been recovered and reconnected. If you were impacted further, we’re asking you please return your Wink Hub to us (we’ll provide a box and return label) and we’ll get it back to you soon. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. If your Hub appears to not be functioning properly, please give us a call at 844-WINK-APP.

Were other Wink-compatible products impacted by the outage?
No. The outage only impacted the Wink Hub.

How often do you expect this to happen?
This was an incredibly rare and unique circumstance. It was completely avoidable and is extremely embarrassing for us. Moving forward we will work very hard to ensure an outage like this never happens again. Since our launch in July, we’ve had very few outages and take great pride in our uptime.

My Wink Hub doesn’t work anymore, what do I do?
First off, we deeply apologize for the inconvenience. You should by now have received an email from Wink with additional instructions to get your Wink Hub replaced free of charge. We’re asking users whose Hubs no longer connect to Wink Servers to please fill out this form and we’ll make sure a replacement Hub is sent to you soon. If you would like to talk to a service representative, please call us at 844-WINK-APP or contact us on Twitter at @TheWinkApp.

Why can’t you fix my Hub over the air?
We were able to fix a majority of Hubs through a software push, but due to the circumstances of this particular outage, certain Hubs were no longer online - therefore we were unable to update the software on the Hub. We’ve asked these users to send their Hub back for a replacement.

Can I return my Hub to my local retail store?
The fastest way to resolve your issue is to participate in our replacement program. Local stores will not have inventory of the Wink Hub for some time.

If my Hub is replaced by Wink, will I have to re-setup all my devices?
We’re optimistic that we’ll return your Hub in fully working order and that you won’t have to go through the setup and pairing process again. If you do, we’ll let you know, but we’re working hard to make sure this doesn’t happen.

What are you talking about, I didn’t have any outage?
Fantastic! Don’t worry about it.

 

[aosmer]

Well I guess the Outlink would put the $50 credit to good use and get it free. Oh wait never mind, can't forget that shipping...

 

[brinkbart]

Well I guess the Outlink would put the $50 credit to good use and get it free. Oh wait never mind, can't forget that shipping...

It's a $50 gift card coupon code, not a $62.86 gift card coupon code.

I mean, really. I've never seen so many whiny babies.

Yes this all sucks, but we're in it together. Or, you know, we're not. It's up to you I guess.

And no, lol, I don't work for Wink.

 

[BillinGlendale]

And when local control is activated, this thread will be filled with joyous applause for Wink, regardless of today's missteps.

This experience should make local control a higher priority, if nothing else.

 

[aosmer]

You're right. I really am just bitching at this point. To be fair this is a really bad situation, I would be shocked if I got my hub back in less than 7 days. Maybe I just need to get some sleep, but it's almost comical how this past 24 hours has played out.

 

[MjnMixael]

This experience should make local control a higher priority, if nothing else.

True, but local control would still have left the hubs without the ability to talk to home base and get further updates. I mean.. you would still be able to control your stuff right now, but your hub would be stuck in that state indefinitely until you sent it in to get the upgrade to be able to talk to home base again.

 

[tctmonkey]

So , I actually need home automation for a ailing elder member of our family. Thought Wink would do the trick.. [Should have used x10] Spend too much money, set some of it up. Next morning Wink bricks it own devices. No email for replacement.. Not sure I want one. Totally amateur fail. HA is not a problem.. fencing is not hard, disaster recovery clearly was not accounted for.

I will give them credit for having people that were pounded by pissed off people and still pleasant. I doubt I will get a email to exchange my brick. Guess it is off to home depot to get my grand back.:thumbsdown:

 

[brinkbart]

I doubt I will get a email to exchange my brick.

Sure you will. Why wouldn't you?

 

[BillinGlendale]

Not wanting to come off as an ass, but judging Wink's track record, you/we/all might be waiting for that email for a bit.

It's a $50 gift card coupon code, not a $62.86 gift card coupon code.

I mean, really. I've never seen so many whiny babies.

Yes this all sucks, but we're in it together. Or, you know, we're not. It's up to you I guess.

And no, lol, I don't work for Wink.

I ordered trippers, guess I left $10 on the table. That $10 doesn't apply to the $11.88 shipping.

 

[tctmonkey]

Sure you will. Why wouldn't you?

Because, since this is my first day with a product that had 100 % failure rate I have no reason to have faith in a company that sells beta products as production and bricks their own devices.

 

[BillinGlendale]

True, but local control would still have left the hubs without the ability to talk to home base and get further updates. I mean.. you would still be able to control your stuff right now, but your hub would be stuck in that state indefinitely until you sent it in to get the upgrade to be able to talk to home base again.

Being that I can't use most of my lighting, I'd prefer to defer any updates. I've gotten used to my doors being locked automatically...Guess I'll have to take extra caution to make sure I lock them leaving the house.

 

[tctmonkey]

Being that I can't use most of my lighting, I'd prefer to defer any updates. I've gotten used to my doors being locked automatically...Guess I'll have to take extra caution to make sure I lock them leaving the house.

Wow, that is scarey. I agree be nice if you could review the update like most patch based systems. Instead of here let us brick your device because we didn't properly QA our code and did not do zone releases.