Experience is end to end, Tony

Like many people I was excited about Nest’s arrival to the UK. I was excited about the price point, the free installation and I was excited when I finally opened it and found the integrated spirit level. But that’s where the excitement stopped.

What’s followed has been nothing short of a clusterfuck. It’s now been three weeks since I first purchased my Nest and it’s still sitting on my kitchen table in its beautifully designed box. I’ve spoken to two different contractors, as both thought they were responsible for installation, and they’ve sent me two dozen emails between them. Then there has been a similar number of emails from Nest themselves - mainly to apologise - and as of last night one cancelled installation because “he was stuck on a hard job” in Bromley - nothing to do with the fact that it was 6.30pm and he had to travel to North London I’m sure.

Steve Jobs taught us that experiences are end to end. It’s not just about solving a problem someone has, but making every touch point they have with your company pleasurable. This led him to focus not just on software, but hardware, packaging, retail, content and the list goes on.

Nest have ignored this maxim. Yes it’s a beautiful bit of hardware, yes the packaging is great, yes I’m sure it will be a joy to use, but selling me the hardware and then fobbing me off with some average London property groups just isn’t good enough.