I've had my MARQ Expedition for almost two and a half years. In that time, it's never left my side other than a quick charge or when I am in shower. It's gotten more use and joy than any phone or device i've owned. However, I have noticed that the battery life has gone down a bit and rather than charging every 3-4 days of use, I am charging it every 2-3 days. I expect this watch to last 5+ years, but I know batteries don't usually make it that long.
So I reached out to customer support about what it would take to get the battery replaced. Here was their response:
- 7-10 days for service
- $860 fee, not including tax
Keep in mind, most luxury watches don't have batteries. (The ones that do you're supposed to service every year. Garmin has never made that claim with their devices.) For luxury watches with a battery change you're usually looking at about a $60-$120 fee dependent on the watch and its complexity. For lower end watches maybe $30-$50.
So why is this so expensive at Garmin? According to Garmin Customer Support:
Customer Support: "When you bring the device in, the engineers will not only address the battery, but any part on the device that is needing replacement. And if they find repairs that cannot be completed, they will replace the watch entirely with brand new. So for this analysis, it is a flat rate of repair."
Me: "So i'd be paying for $760 worth of services i don't need?"
Customer Support: "This is the amount that our engineers have settled on for the cost of a repair, yes."
And despite what DC Rainmaker and other blogger's claimed in their reviews of the MARQ line back in 2019, there is no such thing as a 'Garmin Battery Replacement Program.' Never existed, never will.
