Google Home Smart speaker won't play YouTube audio anymore. John Lewis refused to help.

Kerienn

Less than a year ago I bought a Google Home Smart Speaker and a Google Chromecast device from John Lewis. Many months ago I realised that YouTube audio (not YouTube music) cannot be casted anymore. Google stopped supporting this feature and only made it available to their products with display. I contacted John Lewis for a return but they refused to help me as, acording to the man on the phone, change of a third party software is not included in their 2 years guarantee. I checked their policy and the only thing related to any software is the following:

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"There are some specific exclusions from our guarantees, as follows:

• Repair costs caused by external factors such as computer viruses, faulty software, fire, theft, and weather (including lightning damage)"

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The software is not faulty on the speaker, it simply has been force updated by Google and took that feature away. The only reason I bought the speaker back then is the ability to play YouTube audio as a lot of things (relaxation music, children bedtime stories, stand-up comedies, etc.) are not available on YouTube Music. I am a Youtube Premium subscriber but that didn't solve the problem.

Can anyone give me an advice how to push it through John Lewis or Google for a refund? I wouldn't get as much for it on Ebay. I also don't want to use it via bluetooth from my phone as that is not the same thing as casting straight from the internet and would drain the battery in my phone.

I can't post a link but if you google "No longer able to cast/play YouTube video audio to Google Home minis" that will give you a bit more detail posted by someone else.

Spank

Sorry but you're out of luck, the device still works, but doesn't have a feature that you want. Unless it came with a guarantee that it would always have it they don't have to do anything. You could try selling it and buying and speaker that will work with Youtube.

ThumbRemote

Spank said:

Sorry but you're out of luck, the device still works, but doesn't have a feature that you want.

Therefore it doesn't work, as a feature that did work no longer does. 
I would try writing to John Lewis to see if you get a better response that way. Unfortunately beyond that you'd have to take them to the small claims court. 

[Deleted User]

ThumbRemote said:

Spank said:

Sorry but you're out of luck, the device still works, but doesn't have a feature that you want.

Therefore it doesn't work, as a feature that did work no longer does. 
I would try writing to John Lewis to see if you get a better response that way. Unfortunately beyond that you'd have to take them to the small claims court. 

Consumer rights don't guarantee availability of all software features on a device. It still does what it was intended to do. Good luck taking it through the small claims court. 

Kerienn

Spank said:

Sorry but you're out of luck, the device still works, but doesn't have a feature that you want. Unless it came with a guarantee that it would always have it they don't have to do anything. You could try selling it and buying and speaker that will work with Youtube.

That was my second thought, just sell it and buy a smart speaker with display. But then Google will smile as forced me to buy another of their devices... It is just frustrating that tech companies can remove any features they want from our smart devices (mobilephones, speakers, burglar alarms, thermostats, etc.) and don't get punished. 

Not sure what was the outcome when Sony removed the "Other OS" feature from the PS3 firmware. They were taken to court if I remember well.

Kerienn

ThumbRemote said:

Spank said:

Sorry but you're out of luck, the device still works, but doesn't have a feature that you want.

Therefore it doesn't work, as a feature that did work no longer does. 
I would try writing to John Lewis to see if you get a better response that way. Unfortunately beyond that you'd have to take them to the small claims court. 

I did write to them but instead of replying my email they called me on the phone. And I was warned the conversation will be recorded