Garmin Fenix 6 not working; gets stuck during startup, only shows the "garmin arrow" sign which flashes briefly from time to time.

I finished up my call a short while ago..I can happily say they refunded me the $200 (plus tax) that I paid.  It was a refreshing customer support experience (2x with Garmin)

That is awesome, congrats!!  Sounds like they really are acknowledging the problem (makes me wonder if they will post about it, or just cover those brave enough to ask).

Either way, i am sure its a great feeling!

It's now obvious for everybody that they broke thigs pretty bad with the 20.50 update...

In my case, the problem was solved quickly, I sent the bricked device, they sent me a replacement at no cost.

The good:

• they told me to keep everything except the defective item (including charger & strap if detachable); and that's what I did
• the replacement watch was a refurbished one, not a new one, came only in a protective bubble bag, but had it's own strap
• so bottom-line: I won a free strap

The bad:

• the replacement was not new, but refurbished one
• this should not normally happen when a product in warranty breaks, either you have it repaired, or you get a new one.

The ugly:

• a company like Garmin broke (beyond repair, like bricked) devices with a software update; not cool, doesn't look too professional...

I'm curious, how did this happen ?

What did you say to convince them that they should return those $200 ?

I explained to the representative (pretty much word for word) that a few weeks ago after updating to 20.50, my watch performance dropped, would freeze require a restart, and at times reboot and freeze during reboot (loading maps)  finally after a Garmin Express sync, the watch went into a boot loop.  I reported this on March 14th and they sent me a replacement watch at my expense of $200. at the time there was no evidence that 20.50 was at fault, but many others on this board were experiencing the exact symptoms after 20.50...then the other day, Garmin released 20.60 that addresses THIS exact symptom on some devices.  

The representative put me on hold for a few minutes, and then stated that they would refund my replacement price.  

I'm sorry if other people have a bad experience, but I will have to be honest, it was a very smooth process for me.  The only feedback I would have is that if Garmin has a way to determine which devices this can effect, the owners should be notified.  Perhaps a specific batch of serial numbers.  That is for them to determine (if they use a formula like Six Sigma or something).  

I sincerely hope that everyone who experiences this has a favorable outcome.  I am thankful for those on this board as it truly became a strength in numbers scenerio.

So, they are making it right now, but I would feel better if they were actively engaging with people who paid to have their replacement due to this issue, and automatically extending refunds. 

Fair comment, I have to admit you are right... As this happened with an official production software, not a beta, most impacted people are probably not even users of this forum and so unaware of these discussions... Someone could just be stuck with a bricked watch without any clues about the reason.

Exactly.

1) it's an embarasement that they bricked some devices beyond recovery with a software update

2) it's a shame that they charged people for something that

2) 1) was not their fault

2) 2) was beyond their control (as the update was pushed automatically...)

Sent my watch back last Saturday, received a new one today, pretty fast turnaround, 4 days but I live in Indiana so I'm pretty close to Kansas.