Sonos shipped customers extra speakers and charged for them after a system update

In June 2022 Sonos customers reported receiving more speakers than they ordered, and some were charged for the extras. The Verge spoke to a customer who ordered one Sonos Move and received three, and another charged over $2,000 after ordering one Move and receiving seven. Reddit threads described up to five unordered Ray, Sub, Arc, Move or Roam speakers.

Sonos Chief Information Officer Ruth Sleeter wrote to affected customers that 'a recent update to our systems resulted in some orders being processed multiple times'. She apologised, promised refunds within 10 business days and said prepaid return labels would be emailed. Sonos did not deny the accounts to Ars Technica but gave no further details.

Sonos did not say what caused the fault, how many customers were affected, or what it would change to prevent a repeat. Ars Technica noted that the US Federal Trade Commission says people do not have to return unordered merchandise and may keep it as a free gift. It also noted that Sonos did not say how it would help customers hit by consequences such as credit card overages.

Refunds for overcharged customers and return labels for unwanted speakers; one customer was charged over $2,000. Total cost not disclosed.

A system update changed order processing so that some orders were handled more than once, charging cards and triggering extra shipments.

The duplicates reached payment and fulfilment before anyone caught them, so customers found the problem on their doorsteps and bank statements.

The refund came with a 10-business-day wait, which put the cash burden on customers who had been overcharged.

An order-system update needs a duplicate-order check before it touches live payments. Refunds and return labels do not undo the cash a customer is short for ten days.

Sonos said it would refund overcharged customers in full and send return labels. The company called such issues rare and gave no cause, count of affected orders or preventive steps. No fine or regulatory action appears in the source article.