If you’ve been waiting for a truly wireless way to enjoy music from your Squeezebox Radio, you might want to purchase the new battery pack, available today as part of the Squeezebox Radio Accessory Pack.
With the battery pack, your Squeezebox Radio can be placed anywhere that’s convenient with Wi-Fi coverage — inside your home or outside — with no power plug needed! The rechargeable battery lasts for up to 6 hours, and it charges when your Squeezebox Radio is plugged in. Unplug it and you’ll switch to battery power instantly and automatically.
The Squeezebox Radio Accessory Pack includes a rechargeable battery and a compact remote control. The accessory pack is available now for $49.99 USD or 49.99 euros from Logitech.com. Supplies are limited to Squeezebox Radio owners in the United States and Europe.
To ensure your Squeezebox Radio works with the new battery and remote, you’ll need to upgrade your Squeezebox Radio to software release 7.4.2. If you’re a MySqueezebox.com user, your Squeezebox Radio will notify you to perform a software upgrade. If you’re a Squeezebox Server user, you’ll need to download software release 7.4.2 at www.mysqueezebox.com.
“Supplies are limited to Squeezebox Radio owners in the United States and Europe.”
From Canada: thanks for nothing (your Canadian webpage give no indication
that we will be discriminated against in this way)
This is misleading, as Logitech does not have these in stock until “mid March, but I can’t guarantee that” and yet you are accepting orders via your web site with no indication of the stock status of this item. I paid for 2-day shipping thinking it was in stock and now I am forced to wait – impatiently I might add.
This should have been listed as “Pre-Order” and NOT “Add to Cart”. Further, customers who inadvertently ordered thinking the item was in stock should have been notified of the delay and at the very least apologized to for the inconvenience.
I’ve been a loyal customer and recommended your products to others, but the whole Squeezebox thing has been far below what I come to expect from Logitech in terms of support and customer service. Disappointing considering I actually love the product.
Logitech really flipped customers the bird on this product. A $200 radio billed with rechargable battery, released in mid-2009–and in Feb 2010 STILL NO BATTERY. Bad enough they expect us to pay for it, it just doesn’t exist!
Someone’s pants are bursting into flame at this very moment.
I too ordered one thinking finally there available. Now I find out maybe the end of March. How many did they make10! Why not tell radio owners what the holdup is? It’s not like we’re going to run out and buy from someone else!!!
I just spoke to support and was told that the accessory pack I ordered on Feb. 28 with expedited shipping with no indication that it wasn’t in stock now won’t be available until “the first week of May, maybe.” This is an unacceptable way to treat customers. I bought the Squeezebox Radio in December understanding that the accessory pack would be available in Feb. 2010. This is pretty suspicious behavior, especially considering that there is no statement on this website or anywhere else indicating that there is an issue and what Logitech intends to do to remedy the situation. To make matters worse, you are still accepting online orders without any indication that the product is no longer (was it ever) in stock. Mr. Cuson, you have my email address. I expect a reply on Monday Mar. 8 indicating what the issue is and what actions Logitech is taking to correct this situation.
Unbelievable 49 Euro for a battery pack this is really ridiculous, knowing that the radio cost approximately 150 Euro. For a portable radio this is an essential part and should be supplied with the radio. The last time I bought something from Logitech!!
Like others, I feel as though this launch has been handled very poorly. I’ve been waiting forever for this pack to come out, and was quite excited to see it was finally in stock. I placed an order over the weekend, the product was listed in stock and ready to ship, and received an email confirmation shortly thereafter.
I found it odd the product hadn’t shipped, so I called customer service. After speaking with a CSR, it was apparent no one has any idea what is going on. First I was told there would be a small delay, then maybe a month, and now I’m hearing May?! She might as well have begged me to cancel my order; after each time I said I’d just wait, she lengthened the estimate!
At least keep you CSR’s, and more importantly your customers, informed of the situation. What is going on Logitech?!
How can I get the battery in Canada? Otherwise, good product.
My husband has been calling retailers all over CA looking for this battery pack including Logitec’s authorized dealer to no avail. He says it must be made of unobtainium.
How stupid do they think we are????
49 euro for 5 sealed batteries and a remote. Ridiculous!
I already use my logitech Harmony one.
I also think that it is possible to build your own accupack.
To our customers in the U.S. who have placed orders for the Squeezebox Radio battery pack:
As you are aware by now, we did not have enough of the battery packs available for everyone who wanted to purchase one. If you have placed an order at Logitech.com, your battery pack will ship on April 12. We have updated Logitech.com to reflect this date and we changed the “Buy Now” button to “Preorder Now.”
I apologize for the delay in getting back to you – I wanted to make sure that I had a solid update before I posted a response. Thank you for your patience.
Best,
Matt
Screw Logitech! I purchase the squeezebox radio and gave it high review knowing that I could purchase the battery pack in February. Definitely “NOT”! I wish I could throw this radio into somebody’s window @ Logitech. Just give me an address!
I really, really wanted to be able to take this on my trip last week and just take the radio down to the pool with the hotel wifi….. George
Still waitin here in switzerland…
Why the accessory pack won’t be available in Canada ?
I would pay the shipping fees from USA to Canada, but it is not even possible !
I’m so disappointed, I really like my squeeze box, but I don’t understand Logittech.
just bought one today. loving it but returning it for a refund tomorrow.
why?
– a ‘portable’ radio but battery not included!
– we canadians are treated as second class customers.
No thanks. will never look at another logitech products again.
T.C.
Placed an order on March 6 – site indicated “IN STOCK” and I receive confirmation via email that my order is being processed. A week passes and I check the order status again – site says “Order in Process.” Curious, I check the product order page and see the battery is listed as “OUT OF STOCK.” A week later, the site shows a new availability date on the product page and my order status still says “In Process.” Checked again today and see that the product order page is now showing a “Pre-Order” and new availability of 4/12 – today is 4/14 and my order status still shows “Order in Process”.
Matt, your previous post indicates those who placed their orders would see them shipped on 4/12. Can you confirm what the status is? I’ll wait until the end of the week before canceling. Any further Logitech purchases from me are on hold.
Mr. Cuson,
I pre-ordered as you mentioned above, however my accessory pack was not shipped on April 12th as promised. In fact, when I called logitech yesterday (on April 14th) the representative could give me no information about when the product would be shipped. Couldn’t tell me what week, month, or year. What’s going on?
Bought a radio last week.
Just love it.
But tell me, what is this thing about the battery pack?
Not available in Canada!
Why?
This is so dumb, I just can’t believe it.
Matt Cuson, tell me the battery pack will be available soon in Canada.
And could you please explain the reasons of this battery pack nonsense.
I really don’t get it.
Hmmmmm. How can I do the same thing with a pack of batteries from Radio Shack? Who has ideas?
This battery-pack for the Squeezebox Radio seems to be vaporware. Logitech-Website still stating that it will be available on February 2010. Come on Logitech, you can do better!
For a DIY solution on the battery pack, I found this (link below). It is originally in german, but english is just a click away (top left).
http://cms.diodenring.de/en/electronic/mikrocontroller/92-squeezebox
Good Luck!
I slightly preferred the Squeezebox radio over the others I’ve seen but will probably choose the Revo if the battery pack for the Squeezebox is not available in Canada. The Sqeezebox has a better spreaker but the Revo gets more stations and it comes standard with rechargeable batteries. It’s also a little easier to set up. I heard the Squeezebox at Bay Bloor Radio in Toronto one day and later came back to buy one. I went to the radio on display to start learning how to use it while waiting for a sales representative. It was plugged in and set up but wouldn’t play. The staff at Bay Bloor — they usually know what they’re doing and one of them even owns a Squeezebox — spent 2 hours trying to get their radio to play while I waited patiently looking at the other toys in the store. The radio found the store’s wireless signal but despite many troubleshooting attempts and many visits to the Logitech website, the radio still wouldn’t find a single station. All the other WiFi radios in the store worked fine. This doesn’t say much for the ease of operation of the Squeezebox. The deception inherent in the marketing the radio with the promise of a battery pack which isn’t available doesn’t say much for Logitech. The fact that Logitech has put Canadian customers on the wait list for the battery pack now that it’s finally available is the proverbial “last straw”.
This whole battery pack scam is a mess — and a fraudulent one at that. It’s a classic marketing scheme that you wouldn’t expect from such a big, major company. Basically, very few people would buy a Squeezebox if completely lacked portability. (At home, you’ll play either your stereo, your computer or some other home audio component with MUCH better speakers, so the value of this product is intrinsically tied to it PORTABILITY. But wait… you need to plug it in. Oh No! [Enter Chief Marketing Officer — “Hey, let’s tell everyone that they can buy a battery pack that makes our Squeezebox portable!!! Then, we can scam all those people who otherwise wouldn’t have bought our Squeezebox!”] [CEO: You’re a GENIUS! Perfect. Let’s get our R&D people working on the battery pack — it should take six months to create. In the meantime, let’s put the Battery Pack on our website as “IN STOCK” and start selling, baby!”]
I ONLY purchased my Squeezebox after learning of the battery pack. I bought in January and ordered the battery pack right away. In February, I was told it will “ship” on March 5. In March, I was told it would ship on April 6. Today, I was told it would ship on May 14th.
Mr. Cason, you already promised people it would ship on April 12, but the Customer Service manager I spoke with today said that NOT ONE of these has shipped yet. Where’s the corporate responsibility? Where’s the apology? Where’s the accountability?
I strongly encourage all purchasers of this product to air their grievances with local news (TV and print) persons and have someone investigate this MARKETING SCAM. This is classic fraud and should not be accepted. Lawsuit anyone? Pretty simple, jury-friendly argument.
I too have been waiting for a battery pack for a month now (in the UK). I spoke to customer services today who advised I should wait a couple of weeks, and of course I can cancel the order (I was also advised to keep checking the website, although I’m not sure what for!). I asked that as the sole supplier of the item, how is it they don’t know when they will be in stock? I was told not even the customer service supervisors would be able to help. I then explained I purchased the radio on the understanding there would be a battery pack available.
I think the original radio might well fall foul of the Sale of Goods Act – it is described as having an optional battery pack available, but this seems not to be the case. I would suggest UK consumers get in touch with Trading Standards if the battery does not make an appearance soon… I certainly will.
Well, faith has been restored about a couple of hours ago – the accessory pack was delivered. The battery is now in the radio and working fine; the remote is working fine too – it seems a little basic but will probably be used 95% of the time for turning the volume up or down.
Well done Logitech for delvering, although better communication about stock levels and when to expect delivery would have appreciated.
Why is the battery pack not available for people who own this radio in Canada? Will this limitation be lifted? I had been planning to buy this radio precisely because it was portable, but it seems I should purchase the Revo instead.
This is very dissapointing.
OK, Canadians. Calm down. I doubt Logitech is not distributing to you solely out of spite. From my own experience in consumer electronics industry, including products with battery packs, Canada was frequently behind US because of additional safety/agency requirements. Meeting those also costs the manufacturer a bundle of money and resources in testing and certification. Most companies are not willing to spend that on a lowely, low-profit-margin, battery pack.
That said, I too would not have bought the Squeezebox had I known the battery would be so expensive, and so delayed. Consumer audio marketing guys can’t seem to help themselves and blab about a product their company has little to no interest in actually delivering.
Logitech, please cut your losses. Just unofficially release the schematic for the battery pack so we can make one ourselves. Do the usual “unauthorized, you’re on your own, even if you burn your house down” legal statement, just emailing out through tech support upon request. This is what one of my old companies did in similar situation.