HUMAX NO LONGER ALLOWING ME TO USE MY 2 FUNCTIONING WEBCAMS - THEY ARE RETIRING HUMAX EYE

whichman2

From 6th August 2024, your Humax Eye will offer

• No live streaming
• No video recording on motion detection (if applicable)
• No software updates
• No security
• No support

whichman2

We are writing to inform you about the upcoming retirement of the HUMAX EYE product. After careful consideration of our product portfolio, we have decided to execute an End-of-Life process for the HUMAX EYE in July 2024.

While we understand that the HUMAX EYE has been a reliable security solution for you, advancements in technology have made it difficult to continue developing and supporting this product to the standard you deserve.

MeteredOut

When did you buy them? Do the product terms mention the End-of-Life process referenced in their email?

whichman2

Can I claim some sort of compensation for the loss of my still fully functional cameras?

Ayr_Rage

whichman2 said:

Can I claim some sort of compensation for the loss of my still fully functional cameras?

Not unless they came with an infinite guarantee of support when you purchased them.

eskbanker

For any questions or concerns regarding this announcement, please don’t hesitate to contact our customer support team via email at uksupport@humax-digital.co.uk or by calling us at 0344 318 8800.

https://uk.humaxdigital.com/humaxeye-end-of-life-update/

cymruchris

It looks like the product was launched in 2016 and last sales were around 2020, so unless the advertising mentioned 'lifetime support' or something similar (and even then lifetime doesn't necessarily mean your lifetime) - I can't see there being any 'compensation' due. I agree that it seems wasteful to withdraw a product that works for you, but in the grand scheme of things, the numbers still being used are probably pretty low now as technology has moved on.

I imagine the costs of keeping them up to date, guarding against cyber attack and the like are now probably weighing on the bottom line, and it's a commercial decision to withdraw them. You'll likely have had 4 years+ use out of them, so it probably will be worth getting something more recent for better cyber security protection and likely better image quality.

TELLIT01

cymruchris said:

It looks like the product was launched in 2016 and last sales were around 2020,

I have a not dissimilar problem with the sat nav on my car.  Nissan no longer update the mapping on the inbuilt sat nav, so it's now about as much use as a chocolate teapot.  Mind you it was never brilliant as it used to take them well over a year from the time map data was collected to the release of the 'new' SD card.  There was never any hope of finding an address on an estate built any time in the previous 2 years.

outtatune

They are apparantly rebadged y-cam devices - there are som YouTube vids on how to hack those which may be relevant to you.

Undervalued

whichman2 said:

Can I claim some sort of compensation for the loss of my still fully functional cameras?

Almost certainly not.

This is little different to phone and computer manufacturers no longer providing security updates, making the phone or computer largely useless.

To a lesser extent the same can apply with spare parts availability for mechanical or electrical devices. Sometimes there is enough demand that third party companies produce and sell the more popularly needed spares but otherwise, short of having a custom part made you are stuck!

Rightly or wrongly it is the way of the world.....

eskbanker

Undervalued said:

whichman2 said:

Can I claim some sort of compensation for the loss of my still fully functional cameras?

Almost certainly not.

This is little different to phone and computer manufacturers no longer providing security updates, making the phone or computer largely useless.

To a lesser extent the same can apply with spare parts availability for mechanical or electrical devices. Sometimes there is enough demand that third party companies produce and sell the more popularly needed spares but otherwise, short of having a custom part made you are stuck!

Rightly or wrongly it is the way of the world.....

It's undoubtedly true that tech products can and do become unsupported, but if they're effectively rendered completely inoperable by virtue of a unilateral decision of the supplier's then it could perhaps be argued that this breaches the consumer's CRA rights if this falls foul of the reasonable durability test.  If it's been a number of years since purchase, and no ongoing support/service contract was in place, then such an argument might be fairly weak, but if a product was disabled within months of purchase then there might be a viable case....