Parents Rage Against New Fee to Keep Their Smart Bassinets Smart
The New York Times
The maker the Snoo, a popular high-tech bassinet, touched off a firestorm of outrage after requiring a paid subscription to use several key features.
Most new parents are looking for a way to reclaim even a hint of the sleep they used to get pre-infant. So a smart bassinet that uses sensors to detect when a crying baby needs pacifying, simulating the sounds and rhythms of the womb, offers an irresistible promise to sleep-strapped parents: another hour or two of shut-eye.
The dream doesn’t come cheap: One of the more popular models, the Snoo retails for $1,700, though enterprising parents can score one secondhand from friends, neighbors or relatives whose own children have outgrown it.
But last month, that hand-me-down network was dealt a blow when Happiest Baby, the company that makes Snoo, began charging for access to some of the bassinet’s premium features — features that used to be available to Snoo users indefinitely, at no extra cost. Now, access to the app needed to lock in the bassinet’s rocking level, to track the baby’s sleep and to use the so-called weaning mode, among other features, will cost parents $20 a month.
The change has angered secondhand users and original buyers alike. On Reddit, the new subscription model has prompted review bombs, group brainstorms for collective action and detailed instructions for outraged parents seeking recourse. Some have taken to filing complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau and state-run consumer protection offices.
In June, Happiest Baby sent an email notifying users of changes coming to the app the following month. By August, parents who hadn’t upgraded had fallen into two camps. Some had been bumped down to a lower tier of the app, losing many of the features they had come to rely on. Others, who bought the Snoo directly from Happiest Baby — whether new or “certified pre-loved” — were offered free access to a nine-month premium app subscription for each baby that uses the bassinet.
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