I had a version of your experience, but it resolved magically. No idea why. I originally set up the integration, and it worked. Then I completely rebuilt HA at one point and had to redo the bridge config, and it just refused. All sorts of errors, it just refused to even see the doors. Frustrated, I chucked the device in my closet and forgot about it for a while.

Then a few months later I decided to try again and be very careful and deliberate, and ... it worked. Just like it was supposed to. Sigh. No idea what incantation I did right, but now it has been working for several years without a hitch.

I did recently buy a ratgdo (well, ordered it at least, it hasn't arrived). That's my backup plan if the Home Bridge decides to go tits up.

I've been lucky, I guess. After I got it set up, it's just worked—even across various configuration changes I've made to Home Assistant and my network infrastructure.

It happens all the time, no tech required, any time someone is foreclosed on.

I agree it's wiser to avoid such situations but a lot of people end up delegating this kind of responsibility. If enough of them end up burning their own fingers, that could go badly for a provider. Even if frivolous lawsuits weren't a thing, a spate of ignorant but angry social media posts could be very damaging.

Again, I'm not saying I necessarily have a solution or that hardware owners should have hurdles placed in their way. I'm just pointing out that in some ways the provider may be damned in one way if they do and damned in another way if they don't.

I suppose the IoT sub-sector will end up in similar proportions to other, older tech: Some vendors, analogous to e.g., Red Hat or Linode, will specialize in catering to enthusiasts / power-users and have fairly noncommittal / at-your-own-risk / no-warranty license agreements. However, if the past is any indication, most people will end up doing a lot of business in walled-garden analogs of Apple or Facebook.

That makes sense to me but I'm not sure your average judge/juror would see it so simply--especially given that in most cases it'd be a lot easier to tell if/when a deadbolt has been modified.