*NOTE* - Ticket has been submitted for this issue. Posting for others who may be experiencing the same issue and "small rant" ;)
Problem: Watch goes to either black screen or only shows "blocks" of the screen for a few minutes up to about 20 minutes and then goes all black. No buttons or touching of screen "wakes" the phone up.
I purchased a Fenix 8 AMOLED 51mm from GovX.com on 1.24.25. I received the watch about a week later. Everything was fine up until day before yesterday. Here is what I put into the chat thread with the first support person:
What I posted in the first chat session:
I need to force a reboot (light button in for 30 seconds) and then it will stay on for another few minutes. Rinse/Repeat. Sometimes I get parts of the screen on and parts of the screen off in sort of "block patterns". Part of the screen is black squares and other parts are on. I am using the stock/default watch face. I updated the firmware to the latest bundle 12.38 firmware yesterday (2.10.25). The problem started happening yesterday afternoon.
While the system is in the "black screen/buttons not working mode" the Garmin Connect app on my phone starts a connection, but it never completes with the constant spinning circle/man running icons. I have left the watch plugged in for hours, so it has a full charge. One thing to note: When the watch is left plugged in, the watch appears to work much better. It takes a while longer for the watch to go to a black screen and you can't use the buttons, etc. I don't have a Windows or Mac system to plug my watch into for any sort of diagnostics that way (I am a Linux user).
Outcome of the first chat: Change to a different default screen and reply if needed.
I did exactly that. I changed from the default "Iron Grit" watch face to the "Propulsion" watch face.
Outcome: After working for about 10 minutes, the screen start to act up and then went to black screen requiring a force reboot.
Second phone call:
I told the customer support agent I was able to take a few pictures of the errors and uploaded them. Customer support noted the new pics and we chatted a bit about the situation as he read up on the notes from the previous chat session. In summary, nothing could be done at this time other than the ticket would be looked at by senior engineers since a "few others" have also put tickets in for this issue.
*SLIGHT RANT*
I asked if there was an ETA of when Garmin would get back to me. A: No ETA available
I asked if the watch would be sent back so they can do further diagnostics. A: No, this was not possible.
I asked am I supposed to go without a functional watch for an indeterminate amount of time. A: In so many words, yes, that is where things are at.
I don't think this is good customer support. If something is wrong with my watch that can't be fixed over the phone or at the very least give a reasonable ETA of when support would get back to me, then send me a new watch after I return my current watch. Here is the obligatory "I have been a customer of Garmin's for decades, but I am starting to question that" after this incident and another I had with my Fenix 5X many years ago.
Here are a couple of pics of the "blocky" screen that is sometimes displayed before going all dark: drive.google.com/.../1xfQeBS78ESIjgicBb2bXaBL8oSRCYVsC
