Watch Broken Where the Band Connects To The Case

Garmin sent me a refurbished replacement due to this specific issue - very happy with the product and their service

Garmin sent me a refurbished replacement due to this specific issue - very happy with the product and their service

So this is apparently a known issue. My Garmin 245 Music blew the band yesterday while I was getting ready for work. The band mount cracked, and shifted the grommet that holds the watch band pins. When I took a closer look I could see hair line cracks on all four of the mounts. It was just a matter of time before this happened. I should mention that I've had the watch for 23 months and I'm not hard on it at all. I wear it 24 hours a day, I work an office job and I use it primarily for running, walking, yoga and some swimming.

After checking this forum, I decided to give them a call. Right away they offered a replacement. I could either send in my current broken watch and they would send a recertified replacement after they received it, or I could pay a deposit fee, they would send the replacement first and then I could send my broken watch when I receive the replacement. I decided on paying the deposit as I am training for a 1/2 marathon right now and I really like the features the 245 has. 

Garmin's customer service was really good, I was impressed by how helpful whey were. Thank you to the forum members for recommending I call in. 

I just had this happen again; I have had this happen to 3 of my garmin watches i've owned...just so sad that they can't make a product that is not defective and then won't give you a new one to replace this one. not going to buy garmin much longer if this is the best that they can do.

so even though they plan to replace the watch, i am going to probably go with another product. this is sad cause they have a decnet product but not good enough if the housing falls apart for no reason and it is an ongoing problem. I hope that they can figure out why

Mine broke during my holidays and I contacted Garmin Support. Even though it is officially out of guarantee they will replace it with a refurbished one. Too bad this is a construction failure, but great appreciation of the service supplied. Replacement was without question or debate, so good job Garmin.

Jusr received the refurbished one and it looks brand new. Hope I get more than 2 years of life on this one. 

I had the same last weekend and after reading this chain contacted support. I was surprised when they said as mine is > 2 years old they are charging €117 to replace with a refurbished model. Has anyone else been changed for their replacement or is that just happening in Ireland?

I'm pretty reluctant to pay for a refurb that could break again anytime due to this flaw.

It might be related to local law. In NL there is a difference between ' normal wear'  and design/production flaws. The latter category typically extends to the expected lifetime of a product rather than the guarantee period as stated by the supplier. Anyway, they gave me a free refurbished since I told them it was obviously the latter category since there was this nice forum with people mentioning the same problem. Yes, I run the risk of the same flaw in another couple of years, so I would not spend 117 Euro on a refurbished one. 

Thanks for the reply, may I ask, was your watch over or under the two years old when you contacted them in NL? I've emailed Garmin support after your comment as the online support was very dismissive. 

The more I think about it, asking someone to pay €117 for a refurbished version of a discontinued watch with a known weakness is almost insulting TBH. I'll definitely not put any more money into the 645 range, thanks for the input.