Best Buy may owe you money if you have Insignia Connect appliances

The Insignia Connect line is coming to a close

By Alina Bradford September 7, 2019

Best Buy Black Friday — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Bad news for anyone who has Insignia Connect products. On November 6, 2019, Best Buy will be shutting down its Insignia Connect platform. This means if you have an Insignia Connect appliance or device it will become decidedly less useful, and, in some cases, completely useless.

How big of an impact this makes on Insignia Connect users depends on the smart appliance or device. If you have the smart home freezer and use features that require the Insignia Connect app, those features aren’t going to work anymore. Sure, your appliance will still have basic functionality. For example, the Insignia freezer will still freeze and the display will still show the temperature, it just won’t have the “smart” features you probably bought the appliance for in the first place. The Wi-Fi Smart Plug and Smart Plug with Metering and the Wi-Fi Smart Light Switch will continue to work, but you won’t be able to change settings or schedules. Hopefully, you never have to change them. Some smart plugs will still function like normal if you have the Apple HomeKit as long as you use the HomeKit app, though. If you own the Insignia Wi-Fi Camera, on the other hand, you’re out of luck. The camera will completely cease to function and you won’t be able to access using the Insignia app after November 4, 2019.

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The good news is the company is offering compensation for discontinued Insignia Connect products with e-gift cards. Best Buy states that they won’t compensate you to have the in-wall switches uninstalled from your home, though. The gift cards will probably be Best Buy gift cards, and if you don’t trust the company after this, a gift card probably isn’t the best compensation. They also don’t state how much you will be compensated or when you will receive the card on the Insignia site.

If an e-card sounds good, you can go to the Insignia Connect Product Validation Site to see if your appliances and devices qualify for compensation. You’ll need the serial number to check for eligibility. Questions about the end of the Connect line are answered on the Insignia FAQs page, or you can call their helpline at 800-568-2054 7 AM CDT to 7 PM CDT.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Alina Bradford has been a tech, lifestyle and science writer for more than 20 years. Her work is read by millions each month…

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