Tado Marketing Test
Looks like to use the Tado app from May 2025, you will now have to pay a £1/month subscription, just to get access to your heating controls.
I was in the process of changing over from Hive to Tado, but after seeing this, I think I'll go elsewhere.
Best Answer
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Hello @tadouser947403
Like lots of other companies, we routinely do marketing tests and research, plus we look at customer feedback every day. Those involved in this test retained full access to the tado° App with no charge.-16
Answers
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Where did this appear?
Nothing showing on my app or from logging in online.Personally, I wouldn't have an issue with this IF it means that there will be an SLA in place for availability and issue fixes.
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If you go to the main Tado website, add one of their products to a basket and go through the check out process, you will then see a "required checkbox" field with the notice.
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Being talked about on facebook atm0
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@Emcee The answer provided, to me, makes no sense. How do those involved in the test retained full access to the app with "no charge", yet the announcement made states you are "Introducing a fee for the app"? Those two statements contradict each other.
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Hello @tadouser947403
The screengrab you've provided is from a webshop test. It was posted on a Facebook group by someone who appears to have not clicked through to the final page and therefore was not informed this is only a test.0 -
That doesn’t bode well. No smoke without fire.
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Would this be for new or existing users? Saying this is a test when not stating it is a test is misleading. I have already stopped recommending because of this. £1 will kill Tado, the recommendations will stop & so will the sales. I won't be purchasing any more Tado products until we get an announcement this will not be going ahead.2
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After spending £600 on this system, £1/month is not a lot but annoying as it was originally sold as subscription free. So you have existing users in your hands with no choice but to pay up.
A better solution to needing more servers would be to create a more intelligent hub so that all functionality is handled by the hub. This would solve people's issues with dodgy Internet connections too.6 -
Test or not that's extremely worrying that someone was thinking about it and to me a big bait and switch if this gets implemented. It's not a lot of money but I don't do subscriptions for this kind of thing. I haven't had a very good experience with Tado at all up until now with the bonkers heating logic this system has and as such I'd already told myself I wouldn't spend any more money on expanding my system until the issues that myself and many others face were in a better place. It seems my dissuading neighbours and friends from going down the Tado route was even wiser than I'd realised 😅
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@AnotherUsername that's exactly my thought. Rather than trying to rely too much on the AI, just get products to do most of the basic work without too much reliance on the Internet.
This would mean no issues with systems not working correctly when the internet is down, no problems with schedules not kicking in because of too many requests back to servers and would help with running costs.
But let's charge everyone a premium for our beta products and then put a subscription on top of it to sort out any issues later (maybe) ..2 -
If this is a test, then why implement it on a live system, especially with a May date (it doesn't make sense). Please do not keep us in the dark. Would this charge replace the auto-assist subscriptions.
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I have to say, in the couple of days I’ve had tado I’ve been really disappointed by just how buggy everything seems to be. The tech is unreliable and the app is lacklustre, so for me this another red flag to perhaps make use of the generous returns policy of the retailer I’ve purchased from, and find a more suitable system elsewhere.0
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Will there be a possibility to return the system to Tado? It was overpriced, but advertised as subscription free, so I went for it.
As for now:
- Tado can't control ufh properly
- Tado support is opposite of helpful
- system is underdeveloped and lacking basic features
But when you've made huge sale on Amazon and gained a lot of new users, and due to that can't handle the traffic, you want even more money? And you're planning to put basic scheduling behind a paywall? What a disgrace!3 -
Enough is enough.
I was rethinking the change to an alternative, but this is the straw that broke the camel's back. I know it's not confirmed, but it's also not being denied.
I've ordered a replacement. The system I should have gone for originally. Maybe the excessive oil consumption will finally be a thing of the past, as will the server lag, the various room over/under-heating issues, the artificial intelligent thing that doesn't work etc…….
Good luck everyone.
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I had a response from customer service this morning. Here is what was said, take it as you will;
=== Start of quote ===
As is standard practice in our industry, tado° regularly conducts price sensitivity tests and carefully considers customer feedback to inform our future strategy and improve the value we offer.
What you are referring to is a recent test, conducted in our webshop, to gather customer feedback in response to a specific message.
These customers incur no additional costs and have been advised about the test, after checking the box in the webshop.
Customer input is invaluable to us. Currently, we have no announcements to make beyond our ongoing commitment to enhancing and innovating our existing hardware, software, and energy products.
=== End of quote ===2 -
So reading between the lines they conducted a test to see if they could get more money out of people using the subscription business model that seems to be the scourge of the modern age. Feedback so far has not been good so; "Currently we have no announcements to make….." but who knows, in the future they will probably introduce it anyway to satisfy one or more of tado's 22 private investors who are requiring a higher profit margin over the next few years.
I feel so desperately annoyed with myself for buying into this product. What a waste of money on my part buying a product that has actually cost me more money in oil than the old dumb/manual system did. But I believed the hype.
Such a shame, but it was my fault, I should have done a lot more research. It's time to give up the fight trying to get the system to work. Fool me once……..
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It’s been reported on Reddit that this is now live for some regions.
https://www.reddit.com/r/tado/s/WZUIoZ96vp0 -
Ehm, yeah. About that. Like we say in German: "Andere Eltern haben auch schöne Töchter".
Anyways. I am looking into alternative Valves now…0 -
I am deeply concerned about this, a change like this will come as a huge shock to the users if rolled out.
I went with Tado based on a recommendation from multiple friends, I fitted a heating and hot water controller at my parent's house last year based on my experience.
What I want to know is will local control api be made available?
What will happen to V3+ models with hot water control, currently this is not supported by HomeKit?
The lack of transparency and information is not helping the information and based on the screenshot below it looks like Tado will strong arm users into a subscription for scheduling, as a base feature!
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I'm little less worried now since @Emcee wrote that it will be possible to return the system (it's somewhere in this tread).1
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Given that subscription free is potentially not going to be honoured I am concerned about the state of returns.
It could end up costing Tado more in returns, my system is 4 years old will they accept a return and refund it? It was purchased from Amazon, my parents was via a local hardware store.
Devil is in the detail.
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Very extensive "marketing test", absolutely definitely does not look like there are any plans at all to implement anything remotely like this 🫡 Only went and made a whole app UI for it 😂 And in the end according to that screenshot, you won't get anything at all for your subscription - just access to what you had for free before. No auto-assist as standard, no nothing.
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I do not think tado realise the damage that this is already doing to their brand. To be frank, it is an utter engineering failure that the control of radiator valves and timing for heating incurs ANY cost to tado, let alone a cost that is significant enough to require a subscription to support. The fact that the test highlights this as a reason for introducing a subscription is revealing. This is enshittification, plain and simple.
There is already an in-home device and that is all that should be required - the app talks to the in-home device and the device controls the valves on a schedule or on demand. That's all most people want. We don't care about temperature graphs, or open-window detection, or the vast majority of the functionality outside of making sure the heating and hot water comes on when required. The mistake that tado have made is to assume otherwise, sell a mass-market product, and expect them (clearly more than actually have) to sign up for geo-fencing and open window detection to subsidise the cost of supporting a naively engineered smart platform.
I have stopped recommending tado to others now because I understand the amount of effort required to implement the test, and it is significant. The test is evidently not to decide whether to require a subscription - there's no smoke without fire and no denial that one is coming - the decision being made is when and who to apply it to. I fully expect this to be rolled out to new users first, with existing users being given a "courtesy" free subscription for a period before also being required to pay. I chose tado because there was no subscription. I now feel like this was a mistake and will be updating my reviews across the web to reflect this.
If I could give tado one piece of advice, it is this: people have trusted your products to manage fundamental human necessities like heating their homes and allowing them to have a hot shower. If you hold this hostage behind a subscription, you will destroy any trust those customers had and no one will trust you going forward.
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I have just bought into Tado at significate costs. I do not agree with hardware as a service, especially when you buy the hardware when pay a subscription to access it.
I need to understand if this is a thing, but just hearing it has damaged my trust. I have until this Friday for my "right to cancel" the order. Even if this is over this period, its not the product I purchased.
If this is/was there plan, Tado need to change there model completely and have a completely open platform, so people can choose to use there apps/subscriptions or not.
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As a recent customer of Tado X the idea of paying a subscription to use an essential component (i.e. the Tado App) is pretty hard to accept. I already pay the subscription for AutoAssist, if this price doesn't change and includes the App then fine, although I fundamentally disagree with making customers pay just to use the system, especially if they purchased it before this decision was made.
As JamesMC said, this has been handled poorly and will damage the Tado brand. It's certainly not one I'd recommend to anyone at this time.
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I’ve now decided to return and request a refund on all my tado equipment. It’s clear to me Tado do not respect their customers to not speak to them clearly. To be told this is a test, when in actual fact, it’s not, has lost my trust in the company. I wish those of you who still have their products the best, but until either an apology or official statement is made, I’ll take my business elsewhere.
It’s a shame as I truly thought Tado was going to be the better product over Hive and TP-Link (which I’ve tested before), alas I was wrong.4 -
@tadouser947403
It's unfortunate that you want to return your devices just because we are performing a test. Again, the people affected retained full access to the tado° App with no charge.
Where have you seen / read that this is not a test?
If you bought from the tado° webshop and wish to begin your return/refund process, you can do so using the tado° chat.-2
