
Twist, startup behind AirPlay-powered smart home light, abruptly shuts down - danso
https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/16/twist-shut-down-no-refunds/
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rdtsc
> Website disappeared and app is now dead. No way to control Lights. I hold
> you accountable

Are we sure this is not a joke? So customers can't turn on their lights
anymore because the company went bankrupt.

That just reads like something straight out of the Onion. "Carpenter buys
hammer. But then hammer making company goes out of business. So now the
carpenter can't use the hammer anymore".

> We are unable to fulfill any more pre-orders at this time, but are still
> working on finding a solution that could make that possible.

So they are working hard to find a way for customers to get their orders of
lights ... which can't be turned on because the servers have all been shut
down. Why would anyone want those products at this point?

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Johnny555
This is why it's a very bad idea to buy a product that relies on the company's
existence (and goodwill) to keep it working. Make sure it has a local fall-
back mode so if the company goes out of business or just decides to stop
supporting it, you can still use it.

I still refuse to "buy" digital movies from Amazon, Google, etc since my
ability to use my purchased product relies on them continually supporting the
service.

Plus it's usually cheaper to buy a used DVD and rip it myself, then I can play
it on any device. (albeit with dubious legality)

~~~
cr3ative
The only products which are cloud-reliant which I am comfortable buying are
those with a "critical mass" of reliant users. Philips Hue and Nest, for
example, would have a PR disaster on their hands for the large parent
companies if they discontinued cloud services.

Everything smaller, I check if I can control it via Homebridge from a spare
Raspberry Pi. At least then it's in my control.

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vpribish
wow. That's quite a black smudge they left there. So over-extended they can't
refund orders that are in the works. How much can that possibly be? Step up
and make that right, founder.

Orders aside, the existing installations and the app also stop working. So
they didn't even have a limp-along mode -it just bricks. As an engineer I
think I would have worked for free on that final release to untether it all
(be free, little ones, be free!). this is so shabby.

~~~
Johnny555
If they've declared bankruptcy, the company doesn't get to decide what order
to pay creditors in.

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saagarjha
> Most notably, however, the email says that anyone who has placed an order
> directly from Twist Home will not have their order fulfilled, nor will they
> be eligible for a refund.

Wait, what? You can do this?

~~~
Johnny555
When a business runs out of money, it's out of money, so sure, a bankrupt
company can be unable to provide product or refunds. Customers are considered
unsecured creditors, so will likely not get anything in the bankruptcy.

You can try to pierce the corporate veil and get money from shareholders
and/or owners, but without gross negligence or outright fraud, that's going to
be hard to do (with high legal expenses)

~~~
toomuchtodo
Chargebacks are the least painful method to being made whole when a merchant
defaults. Always pay with a credit card when possible (but do not carry a
balance!).

~~~
lemoncucumber
I know that in most typical cases merchants eat the cost of chargebacks, but
in this case I guess the credit card issuer just becomes yet another creditor?
(and presumably eats the cost)

