Survey: 1 in 3 consumers have issues setting up or operating a connected device
More than one in three US adults experience issues setting up or operating a connected smart home device, according to survey data released by iQor.
Consumers experience frustration dealing with issues during installation, and multiple companies during the support process, the survey said.
To resolve a technical issue with a smart device, survey respondents said they went through more than eight steps.
More survey points:
- Nearly one in four consumers dealing with a device issue said they couldn't resolve the issue or simply gave up, and returned the product for a refund.
- Consumers deal with an average of 2.1 companies, over 2.7 sessions and with 3.1 different people as they installed and engaged their new connected devices.
- On average, consumers are spending roughly 1.5 hours resolving device issues and one hour working with customer service.
- More than half of consumers (59 percent) read the instructions/manual provided as their first step to solve an issue.
- One in five (14 percent) asked a friend or family member for help.
- Typical resolution process is to read instructions, visit manufacturer's website, searched on Google, visit other websites, call manufacturer's customer service, and return for repair or replacement.
"Connected devices are improving lives globally but, as devices become more complex and the IoT ecosystem expands, brands need to rethink their service models or else face even more frustrated consumers and unnecessary, costly returns," Hartmut Liebel, CEO of iQor, said in a statement. "Connecting the consumer and product journeys, and using those insights to make consumer experience more frictionless and less frustrating, is a matter of concern for industry and consumers."
The study polled 1,004 U.S. adults 18 and up living in a "smart household" environment.
According to analyst firm Gartner, there will be 20.4 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices deployed by 2020.