The product is undoubtedly “premium” in terms of what it is trying to achieve, but we shouldn’t forget that it was launched as a Kickstarter project and there is no conventional commercial chain behind it. It is essentially a direct manufacturer-to-end-user business, and what you see is more or less what you get.
Normally, a more traditional support infrastructure is delivered through a distribution and retail network. But once you add distributors, retailers, servicing arrangements, local support, stockholding, etc., the price inevitably goes up — potentially by 40–50% or more.
Their business model so far has also been fairly clear: release a generation, develop the firmware and ecosystem around it, address hardware limitations or problems with the next generation, and release that roughly two years later.
There is also no established retail chain or broad supply network that continues to provide products and support once a Kickstarter campaign has finished. You only have to look at the forum to see people complaining about orders being pushed further and further into the future.
And this is a very niche market. Most of the big players have either exited or substantially reduced their presence. Logitech Harmony is probably the most obvious example: ultimately, the combination of relatively low sales volumes and the ongoing software/ecosystem headache of supporting new products, firmware and integrations is difficult to sustain.
I went into UC with my eyes open. At the price I paid through Kickstarter, I never expected a Control4-style support organisation or rapid turnaround on every issue.
To be fair to UC, they have generally come back to me when I have contacted them. The problem is that the response can take two or three months, rather than a few days. Even so, most of the issues I have raised have eventually been addressed. I currently have a replacement board supplied by them, and I am simply waiting for instructions/tutorials on how to actually replace it.
My understanding is that the support team is very small, with some of the same people also involved in development. That obviously puts a practical limit on how quickly they can respond.
If you don’t like that model, there are alternatives, but there aren’t many — and in my experience they don’t offer the same combination of features and flexibility that UC does at this price point. When UC works, it is very good.
The other end of the spectrum is the professional installer ecosystem — Crestron, Control4, etc. — but you are then talking about a completely different proposition and potentially an order of magnitude or more in cost, depending on the system.
So, personally, I am not unhappy with UC or even particularly unhappy with their level of support. There is always a trade-off.
We all want something for nothing, but if you buy a UC at Kickstarter/direct-to-consumer pricing and expect the support infrastructure and response times of a professional Control4 installation, you are inevitably going to be disappointed.