Garmin and Two to Four Weeks of Waiting

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A few days ago I think I ran and then swam. While waiting for lunch I noticed that the Garmin Forerunner 570 had a bit of plastic sticking out of it so I pulled on it, to see if it came loose. It didn’t. It stayed put. It appeared to come from between the case, and the screen. I suspect that it is part of the o-ring or adhesive mateerial that keeps the screen attached to the body of the watch that came loose.

I would have taken it to Galaxus last week but because of Paléo and a sleep deprived state of being, I chose to go on Monday, when I had had time to recover.

It was amusing to go to Geneva, and go for a walk by the lake side before returning to the shop because when I arrived in front of the shop I saw a queue of people waiting. I continued ym walk and by the time I had walked around the square the queue had disappeared within. I got the ticket and then I waited a few minutes.

It is often funny when you go to an Apple Store or Galaxus and either return something, or drop it off to be repaired because it is relatively informal. You give them the case number, they look it up, you reset your device, and then you wait.

When I took the Apple watch for repair it took two to three days, if I remember correctly for them to replace it. With the Garmin Forerunner 570 it might take two to four weeks, which, with a fitness track, if you have just one, is a month of untracked training.

That wait is because there are two to three hops. Hop 1 is you taking it to Digitec, the second is from the Geneva store to the main warehouse, and from there to Garmin’s warehouses, to be looked over and fixed or replaced. That’s why it takes two weeks to a month.

Years ago I had the Apple Watch 4 and the screen had a hairline fracture after indoor climbing. My suunto devices never had any issues, despite outdoor climbing.

The defect with the 570 is the second defect I’ve had with a watch, after decades of ownership, and after owning Garmin, suunto, Apple, Casio and possibly two or three brands.

Hypothetically I could have snipped the plastic that was sticking out but the watch is still under warranty so it was worth handing it in for two to four weeks to get it “good as new”, or possibly “replaced”, although I doubt the latter.

Two weeks seems reasonable, but an entire month feels like a long time.

It’s amusing that I didn’t consider the two to four week wait.