What happens to all the bands sent back because of broken straps or dead batteries?

[Chintan Gohel]

There have been quite a number of people complaining about the band 2 and the strap breaking or the battery dying and then getting replacements.

What happens to all the bands exchanged for new ones? Are the straps refitted and sold again? Or are the parts recycled and used to make new bands? Same with the battery

 

[Bobvfr]

You could include most wearables in this list, neither of our Fitbit Charge HR's lasted six months, but they are still in our cupboards reminding me not to buy tech until it has a more proven shelf life (Although my Band 1 is still going, I got it cheap and ? for hour it's outlasted the Fitbits by a long way).

But yes it would be interesting to know.

 

[vEEP pEEP]

No idea what happens. But I on my 2nd Band2. The unit was fine, just the strap.
If I knew they could wipe my data 100%, they could make necklaces our of them.

 

[Nate Silver]

They probably end up in a recycling bin, but I doubt for further Band use. Cheaper to use new parts than to disassemble and reuse.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

I can also hope that when they get all these rejects, they do a proper analysis on what went wrong so that they can improve on the next generation. There must be thousands of defective items just waiting to analysed :sweaty:

 

[OldMillXxX]

What is the return policy on these? I bought my wife a Band2 in February and it already has battery issues. She will charge it to full, then wear it for a few minutes and it shuts off saying battery dead. Sometimes, it doesn't. Very random.

 

[rider2040]

Originally posted by OldMillXxX
What is the return policy on these? I bought my wife a Band2 in February and it already has battery issues. She will charge it to full, then wear it for a few minutes and it shuts off saying battery dead. Sometimes, it doesn't. Very random.

if you take it to a Microsoft Store, they will exchange it immediately with no questions asked.

 

[Bobvfr]

What is the return policy on these? I bought my wife a Band2 in February and it already has battery issues. She will charge it to full, then wear it for a few minutes and it shuts off saying battery dead. Sometimes, it doesn't. Very random.

WARNING:

You are in danger of going off topic here, unless if you choose to return your wife's band, and you insist they show you the full back-office returns chain from your entry into the shop, till the final resting place of the band................


:smile:

 

[Indistinguishable]

What happens to all the bands exchanged for new ones? Are the straps refitted and sold again? Or are the parts recycled and used to make new bands? Same with the battery

They go to live on a farm with all the other returned electronics.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

It is known that bad electronics or outdated tech can sometimes end up dumped in countries that have lax rules :unhappysweat:

 

[OldMillXxX]

My bad. Understood Bobvfr... I might just do that and take a picture of the pile they have in the back room!

 

[Leonel Funes]

Interesting question... As for my track record...

Never had the first Band

First Band 2: Torn strap

Second Band 2: Battery issue/Smaller tear

This is my third Band 2 already. Hoping the Band 3 will last much, much longer than this one. Not a bad device, just that durability is lacking.

 

[poit57]

I don't have specific knowledge with these wearables. I used to work at an AT&T retail store managing our inventory. Returned devices and accessories as well as extra inventory of end-of-life items that were no longer offered for sale were shipped back to our warehouse.

I don't really have detailed knowledge of what happened from there, but my understanding is that working devices were sold back to the manufacturer to be refurbished, which might include replacing scratched/worn housing and having the firmware reset to factory settings.

Outside of the 14 day return policy, we didn't handle warranty replacements in the store for phones, but we did for accessories. We would send items like chargers and cases that had begun falling apart due to normal wear and tear in for recycling.

My guess is that Microsoft salvages and refurbishes what they can from returned items. They have sent me some obviously refurbished Bands as warranty replacements. Their supply of units to be refurbished has to come from somewhere, and this seems like the most logical source.

For items that are physically damaged, such as torn strap, loose battery wire inside the strap, water damaged circuits, etc., they probably have a way or a vendor who can scrap these items for recycled materials.

 

[ads13]

I wish MS should swap my buggy sensitive touch phone with new one.

 

[neoberry99]

What is the return policy on these? I bought my wife a Band2 in February and it already has battery issues. She will charge it to full, then wear it for a few minutes and it shuts off saying battery dead. Sometimes, it doesn't. Very random.

Mine did the same thing. . It was my second replacement. I bought the 2 year extended warranty from best buy so I'll be returning it soon. I don't think they carry the band 2 anymore.... At least not in stores. I'll probably check out Polar and see what they have to offer. I really enjoyed my band 2 but way too many problems.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[DeNachtwacht]

They probably end up in a recycling bin, but I doubt for further Band use. Cheaper to use new parts than to disassemble and reuse.

I'd doubt that. I'm guessing that about 95% of the bands is being sent in for battery defects or band tears. And exactly these parts are easy and relatively cheap to fix. I have rarely even read about defects of the more expensive parts: the chipsets and display. So my guess would be that all the refurbished Bands that people receive (myself included) will probably be old 'clock units' (chips and display) with new rubber bands and/or batteries.