Jawbone has pulled its newly-released UP health band and offered a “no questions asked” guarantee that customers can get a full refund and keep the product.
In an official statement Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman says “We recognize that this product has not yet lived up to everyone’s expectations – including our own – so we’re taking action.”
Earlier this year, we unveiled Jawbone’s vision to help people live a healthier life with UP. We’ve been thrilled by the passionate response to this product. We heard from tens of thousands of you through emails, tweets, blog posts and on our forums about how you’re changing your lifestyle and becoming consumers of your own health. In just four weeks, UP users have collectively taken over three billion steps, gotten more than 300 years of sleep and captured hundreds of thousands of meals.
While many of you continue to enjoy the UP experience, we know that some of you have experienced issues with your UP band. Given our commitment to delivering the highest quality products, this is unacceptable and you have our deepest apologies. We’ve been working around the clock to identify the root causes and we’d like to thank everyone who has provided us with information and returned their bands to us for troubleshooting. With your help, we’ve found an issue with two specific capacitors in the power system that affects the ability to hold a charge in some of our bands. We’re also fixing an issue with syncing related to the band hardware. Typically, these issues surface within the first seven to ten days of use. The glitches are purely performance related and do not pose any safety risk.
The health monitor tool was initially met with positive coverage, but the UP failed to be the game-changer that everyone expected. The UP looked trendy and hip with its sleek design and companion iPhone app, but it failed to work well for most people.
Starting tomorrow, UP customers can take part in Jawbone’s new program and get a full refund in either the form of cash or store credit. Jawbone doesn’t even want its wristband back. Keep it and keep trying to track your stair stepper workouts.
The refund program lasts through December 31 and begins tomorrow. Jawbone has also cancelled all pending UP orders and removed the product from its retail partners, including Amazon and Apple.
