And Now a Word From Our Sponsor

Not really, but I did want to say some nice things about Nest.* I bought one of their first generation thermostats years ago when it first came out, and loved it. I've moved my Nest to two subsequent residences, including my current home which uses radiators. For a year, the Nest worked as well with the radiators as it did forced air, but during my recent Cycle 7 bedridden stage I noticed the thermostat had stopped working (which is to say, I was cold and tried to turn on the heat but found a black screen instead of the soothing and informative orange I was expecting). 

Based on my experience working with their technical support folks to try to get the heat back on, I'd say Nest could write the book on the correct way to handle customer service. Even being on hold wasn't bad, with a fairly continual flow of information about where I was in the queue, how long I could expect to wait, and where else I might be able to find answers to my questions. And the humans I talked to were universally helpful, and able to quickly identify the appropriate next problem-solving step or answer my general questions. 

Moreover, when it turned out that one of the wiring connections in the base the thermostat sits on seemed to have failed, they sent me a completely new second generation thermostat to replace the entire works. This despite the fact that, technically, they could have just had me move the wire to another, essentially redundant, connector. But the tech support guy was pretty clear that they didn't just want the Nest to work, they wanted it to work right. Incredible. 

(After the day I had today, I'm wondering if Nest tech support offers tours. I'd love to have my employer send our entire IT department in the hopes they might see how this work is supposed to be done.) 

In any case, now my condo is warm again, which is incredibly helpful when trying to avoid chemo-induced neuropathy.

So if you're looking to replace your thermostat, I'd definitely recommend the Nest. It's a great device and, in the unlikely event you have problems, the company provides world-class customer service.

We now return you to the regularly scheduled cancer blogging. 


* No, they don't pay me. This blog is entirely sponsored-content free.