European smart heating supplier Tado has suffered a considerable backlash from its users after committing two reputation-smashing, and headline-grabbing missteps.
Tado is a key provider of Matter-compatible smart thermometers in Europe and the UK. Smart home tech has struggled to gain a foothold over the years, something that has only begun to improve since the introduction of Matter. Smart thermostats are an easy gateway for consumers into the smart home world, and Tado has a strong profile on Amazon and in electrical retailers, which makes this whole scenario quite concerning.
So, what is going on? Can Tado revive its reputation?
Negative reviews and disappointed customers
How did Tado manage to start grabbing headlines for the wrong reasons?
It goes back to an apparently ill-judged attempt to charge users of its app a monthly subscription fee, which it later claimed was a “marketing test” when users kicked up a storm early in 2025.
More recently, Tado has been attempting some reputation management. Speaking to a representative, I understand that they have been having success with this, but reports indicate that this wasn't the case to begin with.
App subscription
In a world where every smart home device has its own app, to find that you have to pay to use the app and not receive any further features is inevitably going to come as a surprise. Tado’s short-lived app subscription was revealed to users as a €1 recurring monthly payment, set to commence in either February or May 2025 (depending on who received the message).
Unsurprisingly, this sudden requirement to pay for exactly the same features did not go down well, as the features would be unavailable without payment. After considerable backlash from its users, mostly on the Tado forums, the company backtracked.
While a higher subscription promising advanced features was also offered, this seems to have been overlooked in the ensuing fuss. We contacted Tado who told us: "tado° is retaining its longstanding two-tier system of the basic features being free to all and the advanced features being offered with the Auto-Assist subscription for €3.99."
That's good to know!
Negative reviews
Inevitably, this wholly predictable reaction from Tado’s customers spilled over from the support forums, with users expressing discontent on Reddit, then Trustpilot.
Given that some users were willing to pay for additional features, or consider a one-off free, it seems incredible that the subscription idea was rolled out without any prior research of the company’s customers.
Polling a small group of users, and running tests for new features with a sample group, is standard practice. That no Tado user has come forward to state this happened to them, and the company hasn’t shared any indication that it ran tests, speaks volumes.
It takes us back to the importance of reputation management.
Did Tado suppress reviews?
The notion of reputation management demonstrated by Tado (as a response to the complaints over the subscription) seems to be somewhat misguided. Certainly, they’ve attempted to engage in suppression tactics rather than direct engagement with increasingly dismayed customers.
Tado have been accused of:
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Flagging reviews on Trustpilot (alleging that customer feedback was “not based on a genuine experience”).
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Demanding documentation (requiring Trustpilot contact reviewers to provide evidence of ownership)
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Closing the community forum where some forms of evidence were believed to be recorded
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Possibly breaching GDPR laws as a result of evidence demands
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Making defamation claims
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Making direct requests for removal
Closing the community forums shortly after the short-lived subscription “marketing test” was considered to be an intentional damage limitation tactic by customers, who found it suddenly more difficult to discuss issues. Sadly, the forum was a popular resource for help and advice.
When asked, Tado's representative told us:
"The community forum was designed for peer-to-peer support, but in practice most posts still required intervention from our customer care team. One reason for this is that our customers’ needs are becoming more diverse across our product ranges: V3+ and the newer tado° X, and we believe it is more effective to support customers directly, while continuing to capture their feedback and feature requests through our support channels.
Smart Thermostat X
A versatile smart thermostat that supports major heating systems and enables easy, energy-efficient control through app or voice.
"We are considering a future version of the community hub that better integrates with our Help Centre whilst supporting our different product ranges. In the meantime, customers can of course still reach us via the Help Centre, chat or email."
The unsurprising consequence of this is that customers resisted what they saw as Tado’s attempts to "shut down" any discussion around the app subscription. New reviews were created, often repeating claims that Tado requested the removal of Trustpilot reviews. The company told us:
"Trustpilot is a reputable and independent platform with strict rules. Companies cannot simply remove reviews because they do not like them. We comply fully with Trustpilot’s processes to ensure published reviews reflect genuine customer experiences."
Interestingly, Tado’s Trustpilot score has increased. However, some negative reviews have been marked genuine.
Why did Tado choose to introduce the subscription?
While the initial and subsequent community communication from Tado leaves a lot to be desired, we’ve identified some potential reasons why the company may have felt a charge was necessary.
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Each new Matter specification demands chip vendor efforts to ensure hardware can meet requirements
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Smaller smart home companies many receive little support from tech giants
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The inclusion of Matter may make certain device types less profitable (for example, cameras, door locks, and thermostats)
Of course, these costs could have been included in the price of the hardware, and probably should have been.
However, it is worth noting that back in December 2024, Tado told MatterSmarthome.de that: “Our business model is not threatened by Matter because we no longer see Tado as a silo application for heating, but are developing into a central player for home energy management. We want to connect the various vertical applications with each other and it can even be helpful if the Matter standard covers the simpler things.”
(Our emphasis.)
All of this for €1 a month
A small subscription might not seem much; on the other hand, demanding payment without a trial, for features that were already free, is clearly bad practice. That such an event snowballed out of control has had a huge impact on Tado’s brand image.
Some customers have described “predatory business practices,” and stated that they will “never recommend” Tado. That’s pretty damaging to the company’s reputation, and perhaps the relatively small smart home market as a whole.
What next for Tado?
It can be argued that Tado went for a short-term gain rather than relying on the long-term trust that it was building. As a producer of what I term “gateway smart home tech” – devices people can see immediate benefit from, like thermostats – Tado seems to have got this wrong.
Rebuilding its reputation through one-to-one engagement with disgruntled customers would seem to be the smartest option, and one that it seems to be succeeding with.
While Tado has produced an attractive range of Matter-compatible smart heating solutions, this chain of events has put it in the news for the wrong reasons. We hope that other smart home companies can learn from this story, and ensure that their devices and related services put the customer first at all times.
(Images: Tado PR. Additional material: Ward Zhou)
