Due to the abandonment of APP maintenance, the performance of the sweeping robot was greatly reduced, and the puppy was complained by many users.
According to data from Aowei Cloud Network, during the Double 11 period in 2023, the overall online sales volume of clean electrical appliances will be 7.13 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%. The positive growth of this item mainly relied on the sweeping robot category, with a year-on-year increase of 17.5%.
However, while smart home appliances bring a convenient and efficient experience, they may also bring some troubles in use. Recently, the problem of the puppy robot App connection failure was collectively complained by users. In response, Consumer Reports conducted an interview investigation.
The app connection fails, and the performance of the robot is greatly reduced
Hunan Mr. Liu's puppy sweeping robot has always been able to use normally. In September this year, he found that the robot could not connect to the supporting app, and the app showed the status as "connected". The advice given to him by the puppy's customer service is to press the button on the robot and let it clean up on its own. Mr. Liu believes that without the use of the App, the performance of the robot can be greatly reduced, and it is very inconvenient to use.
The order record is provided by Mr. Liu
He especially emphasized to reporters that he has always been a loyal user of the puppy vacuum cleaner and is satisfied with the quality of the product, but the puppy's attitude of ignoring the App and delaying it for 3 or 4 months has affected his experience.
At present, his appeal is that the puppy should implement the processing progress of the App as soon as possible, or depreciate and refund the sweeping robot.
Mr. Zhang from Xinjiang encountered a similar situation. In October of this year, he discovered that the app that controls the puppy's robot vacuum had a problem and could not connect to the machine. The customer service also did not specify the time to respond to the app's fix. He told reporters that without the use of the App, there will be no map planning and other functions, the robot's cleaning route appears disorganized, and some custom obstacle avoidance settings cannot be implemented.
The app shows that the puppy smart sweeper is "connected" (Photo courtesy of Mr. Zhang)
At the moment, the puppy side has offered him two options. The first plan is to compensate for 350 yuan general shopping coupons. The second option is to provide a corded vacuum cleaner. Neither plan was approved by Mr. Zhang, he still hoped that the puppy could maintain the App, and the use of a corded vacuum cleaner was completely inconsistent with the original intention of buying a sweeping robot.
Article 23 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests stipulates that business operators shall ensure the quality, performance, use and validity period of the goods or services they provide under the normal use of goods or services.
Article 26 (2) of the Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that producers shall be responsible for the quality of the products they produce. The product should have the performance that the product should have. One of the selling points of the puppy robot vacuum cleaner is the mobile app connection. Therefore, the brand has the obligation to ensure the App performance of the sweeping robot. In addition, Article 40 (1) stipulates that if the product sold does not have the performance that the product should have and has not been explained in advance, the seller shall be responsible for repairing, replacing or returning the product, and if the loss is caused to the consumer who purchased the product, the seller shall compensate for the loss.
The puppy did not inform the APP in advance of the failure, and after the APP failed, the product no longer has the original intelligent remote control performance, causing losses to consumers, and the puppy should bear the obligation of repair, replacement and return.
Several users complained that the customer service could not determine the date of the app's recovery
The puppy robot app cannot be connected to use, which has affected many users. The reporter noticed a number of related complaints on the black cat complaint platform.
The complainant, Mr. Zhou, told reporters that the robot could not connect to the App, could not recognize the original cleaning forbidden area, and often got stuck in the kitchen, coffee table and other locations during cleaning. He believes that the product has been calculated at various costs (including after-sales maintenance) when it is launched, and the puppy is responsible for maintaining the supporting App.
Several complainants referred to a "10-year warranty". Some complainants said that they bought the puppy robot because of the promise of a ten-year guarantee, but the App could not use the functions equal to half of the robot. He argues that the product has been used for five years and should be treated as time depreciation.
Screenshot source: Black Cat complaint
The puppy brand was founded in 1999 and has been focusing on the field of vacuum cleaners for 24 years. It is understood that Puppy launched the first intelligent sweeping robot in China in 2002. However, the reporter did not find sweeping robot-related products under the category of "smart vacuum cleaner" in the official mall of the puppy. According to Tmall and Jingdong's puppy customer service, puppies are no longer sweeping robots. Some complainants said that this may have caused the companion app to become ineffective because the brand did not want to operate it anymore.
It is worth mentioning that Puppy has proposed "central maintenance" for products within the warranty period, including free (all costs are free), exemption (free repair of man-made damage), user first (all interpretation rights belong to the user). However, the puppy's maintenance of the sweeping robot supporting APP has chilled the hearts of consumers. They believe that the puppy's "unfinished" behavior is to ignore the interests of users.
Regarding the supporting use of the Puppy Robot App, the customer service replied that the server has not informed the specific recovery time, and that the affected users can apply for a hand-held corded vacuum cleaner (HCO5 Earl) or mite remover (MCO5 Youth), and then arrange for retrieval (arbitrary use during the period) after the sweeper server is processed.
The customer service of the official flagship store of the puppy vacuum cleaner replied
Consumer Reports sent an interview letter to Puppy about the consumer complaint mentioned in this article, but did not receive a response by press time. Consumer Reports will keep a close eye on consumer complaints about the unusability of the Puppy App and the follow-up situation.