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Watch Broken Where the Band Connects To The Case

18 months after purchase I basically have a fitness tracker that I have to tape to my wrist or pin to my shirt…Sitting at my desk the other day my VAM3 just fell of my wrist.  Thought the band just came undone.  Nope one of the 4 band contact points is broken off.  After closer inspection there are small cracks on the remaining 3 points of contact.  Sorry but, these devices are way too expensive to be rendered useless after 18 months of wear.  While I wear it nearly 24 hours a day, it hasn’t been abused, I sit at a desk all day long, run with it most mornings/evenings and take it on the occasional swim.  I’ve had cheap plastic Timex watches that have lasted literally a decades!

Very disappointed because this watch did everything I wanted a watch to do, except last.  I reached out to Garmin via messenger as others suggested, no response yet…Apparently this isn’t unique to my watch or even the VAM3, there are many complaints from customers having the same issue on Vivoactives and Forerunner models.  I hope they fix this flaw and make a watch that will actually last, until then I won’t be buying another Garmin.

  • Yup - add me to the list.

    My VAM3 just fell off my wrist yesterday.  Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the strap support had cracked and it was just barely hanging on.  After a little research, I found the form to request a repair/replacement.  In the process of filling out the form, it initially said that I have no coverage as I am beyond the warranty period - I am at 18 months.  But, when continuing on to provide a description, the form indicated that I am eligible for a refurbished replacement!  A follow-up email indicated that Garmin Support will contact me within 3 days.  It's the weekend, so I may have to wait a bit to hear back.

    I am glad to see that it appears that Garmin will do the right thing.  These VA3 models seem to be really faulty in this area, as the case of a watch at this price really needs to last longer than this!

    I will probably follow-up with Garmin on Monday, just to move things along.

    Thanks for the posts on this thread!

    -bjk

  • Well, Garmin did the right thing!  I returned my broken VA3M today.

    I sincerely hope that the refurbished device they send is in as good condition as mine (except for the newly broken strap lug).

    Has anyone received a refurb?  Happy with it??

  • I've received a refurbished VAM3, it's perfect got a new strap too

  • Nice.  Great to hear.  Thanks!

  • I had my watch replaced but unfortunately there were minor problems with the touchscreen, I sent it back and received yet another refurbished watch. It works perfectly. I am very happy 

  • Thanks Barry.  Good to hear that they eventually got it right!

    Mine is in-route to Garmin.  It's weird my wearing my VA3M.  Looking forward to getting a replacement.

  • Best of luck Billy , I'm very happy with the service and remain a big Garmin fan.

  • I received my refurbished 645M 11 days after I sent in the broken one. It's like new and as someone else said, it came with a new strap. The whole process was user/customer friendly. I wasn't expecting much since my broken watch was two years old, but Garmin came through.

  • Exactly same has happened to my watch. Only a year old and the watch basically falls off my wrist where the strap pins locate. Garmin UK won't touch it because it was an Asian import even though I bought it from a UK company. Garmin just told me to contact the seller. The seller won't replace it because they say I physically damaged it. Absolutely gutted that my £200 watch is useless after one year! Customer service was rank rotten!

  • So sorry to hear that.  My experience was quite different, but initially, I thought that Garmin would not stand by their product.  They did, but it was under a different set of circumstances.  Still, regardless of where or how it was purchased, this watch has a well-documented issue with the strap lugs.

    I'd try approaching the bench again with Garmin to see if a second try will surface someone within Garmin that cares about customer service.  Maybe point them to this thread?

    I hope for the best for you!
    Keep trying!

    -bk