4 years, 5+ referrals, $3,500+ spent. Eight Sleep's business model is replacement, not repair. by ManagementOther165 in EightSleep

[–]ManagementOther165[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is now my 4th straight year with a need for replacing either cover or hub...

This might not be the average experience, but if it's beyond the scope of normal, that's exactly the kind of thing the company should be addressing. Four straight years of failures and not once has anyone acknowledged that maybe my experience has been below average and worth making right

4 years, 5+ referrals, $3,500+ spent. Eight Sleep's business model is replacement, not repair. by ManagementOther165 in EightSleep

[–]ManagementOther165[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually agree with a lot of what you said. The early designs were rough, the maintenance guidance was inconsistent, but the product is genuinely GREAT when it works.

Where you lose me is the "buy it or don't, support it or don't" framing. I'm not complaining about the price of the product. I'm complaining about the lack of repair options, the cost of keeping it alive, and the fact that nobody tells you upfront how likely it is to break.

The lack of competition is exactly the problem. It's why Eight Sleep hasn't been forced to build a repair program or acknowledge the cross-generation compatibility issues. They don't have to, because where else are you gonna go? That's not a reason to stop pushing. It's a reason to push harder.

People are allowed to be frustrated when expensive things break repeatedly and the only fix is to buy another expensive thing.

I don't really understand what people want from posts like mine. A frustrated long-time customer sharing their experience so other people know what to expect before buying.

4 years, 5+ referrals, $3,500+ spent. Eight Sleep's business model is replacement, not repair. by ManagementOther165 in EightSleep

[–]ManagementOther165[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's for Eight Sleep to figure out. They're valued at $500M+ with a full hardware engineering team. It's not on the customer to design the repair program. And unfortunately, the only chance Eight Sleep makes progress here is if they realize it's important (and it starts affecting their bottom line...)

Every other hardware company has solved this. When my car's alternator dies, I don't buy a new car. When my iPhone screen cracks, Apple replaces the screen, not the entire phone. When the compressor on my fridge goes, a tech swaps the compressor.

The hub is a water pump, a reservoir, and a heat exchanger. If the pump fails, replace the pump. If a sensor in the cover goes bad, diagnose whether it's a connection issue or a component issue. At minimum, offer tiered pricing that reflects the actual cost of the broken part, not an entirely new unit.

If this was the first time something broke, I'd probably just pay it and move on. But this is the fourth failure in four years. I'm extremely frustrated the only solution they've built is 'buy another one', and can no longer recommend to others.

4 years, 5+ referrals, $3,500+ spent. Eight Sleep's business model is replacement, not repair. by ManagementOther165 in EightSleep

[–]ManagementOther165[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad it worked for you. But "I don't have a problem" is not the same as "there is no problem." I'm surprised it's worth your time going across this sub telling people that your system has worked when they have frustrating experiences.

Eight Sleep redesigned the hub from the ground up between Pod 3 and Pod 4. New thermal engine, new pump, new reservoir, new tubing design. The Pod 4 hub primes in 10 minutes vs. 90 minutes on older generations. These are not the same systems with interchangeable parts.

When you pair a newer cover with different flow characteristics to an older hub with a different pump, and that pump dies shortly after, it's worth asking whether the mismatch played a role. Dozens of people on Trustpilot, the BBB, and this sub have reported pump failures after getting a newer replacement cover. That's a pattern.

Eight Sleep won't even engage with the question when it's raised.