Broken loop on black woven nylon band

[MrMars]

What's the general opinion? Should this have happened from normal everyday use? Band is just under a year old.

 

[robertk328]

Normal wear and tear, no. But every condition is different. I'd take it into the Apple Store and see if they'll swap.

 

[Spencerdl]

Normal wear and tear, no. But every condition is different. I'd take it into the Apple Store and see if they'll swap.

Yes, I would have to agree with Robert. Take it to an Apple Store, anything is possible with their #1 customer service.

 

[duckduckgoose]

What's the general opinion? Should this have happened from normal everyday use? Band is just under a year old.//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170531/d60fbb61fbbacec336d114cfd60f96d3.jpg

To me it looks well worn, I think after a year you've gotten your money's worth.

 

[fyrfyter]

To me it looks well worn, I think after a year you've gotten your money's worth.

It doesn't look well worn to me. NATO style woven bands should last well beyond a year.

Apple has a quality issue with that strap. I am sure a 3rd party NATO style woven strap would last longer than a year.

 

[robertk328]

It doesn't look well worn to me. NATO style woven bands should last well beyond a year.

The loop does look like it's knicked up a bit which could indicate it's been caught on things in the past, which could lead to it coming apart like that.

Apple has a quality issue with that strap. I am sure a 3rd party NATO style woven strap would last longer than a year.

It should, which is why I'd suggest taking it in. Should last longer than that even if it has been caught on something a few times!

 

[Garz]

If it's less than a year old and you have proof of purchase, apple will exchange it.

 

[MrMars]

UPDATE: I called Apple support and they are sending me a replacement band. SWEET!

 

[rangerdeyo]

UPDATE: I called Apple support and they are sending me a replacement band. SWEET!

Congrats!

 

[Lee_Bo]

UPDATE: I called Apple support and they are sending me a replacement band. SWEET!

Keep an eye of your form of payment to see if you get billed for it. A few months back I bought one from the Apple website and right out of the box, the short strap would not lock into the watch. I tried the same band of a few other watches with the same result. I called Apple and they gladly sent me a replacement.......then I got notified of a new charge on my card. The charged me for the replacement band. I called back and after about 20 minutes of arguing I finally got a supervisor on the phone who reluctantly credited my card. Now I just go to the local Apple store where I make sure everything works before leaving the store.

 

[MrMars]

Keep an eye of your form of payment to see if you get billed for it. A few months back I bought one from the Apple website and right out of the box, the short strap would not lock into the watch. I tried the same band of a few other watches with the same result. I called Apple and they gladly sent me a replacement.......then I got notified of a new charge on my card. The charged me for the replacement band. I called back and after about 20 minutes of arguing I finally got a supervisor on the phone who reluctantly credited my card. Now I just go to the local Apple store where I make sure everything works before leaving the store.

Hmm...I will have to keep an eye on that. They said it would be a "warranty replacement" and didn't ask me for any billing info. I'm hopeful I won't be charged. Attached is a partial screenshot from the email showing no charges.

 

[fyrfyter]

UPDATE: I called Apple support and they are sending me a replacement band. SWEET!

Awesome! They rightly should, or they shouldn't make a NATO style strap!

 

[robertk328]

Hmm...I will have to keep an eye on that. They said it would be a "warranty replacement" and didn't ask me for any billing info. I'm hopeful I won't be charged. Attached is a partial screenshot from the email showing no charges.

//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170606/bbc3791cc9b34b06a0bfdf34d9408aed.png

Nice!

 

[Mac Guy]

they shouldn't make a NATO style strap!

They don't. The only thing they have in common with NATO-style is the stripes. And the OP's band doesn't have any and shouldn't be considered NATO-style by any stretch of the imagination, along with Apple's other Woven straps.

While there is no such thing as an official NATO watch strap, what was actually produced and subsequently UNoffically called a NATO strap was something more like this:

As you can see, an actual NATO-Style band would never work for the Watch. And most of the sites selling NATO-style bands aren't selling actual NATO-style either. They lack the key feature.

So given that Apple doesn't make a NATO-style band, they should honor whatever warranty comes with any band they sell. Good that they replaced the OP's band under warranty. But I'd opine that with the amount of wear shown, he could have caught it on something and broke it without ever feeling it.

You can decide, rather arbitrarily, for yourself, how much 'life' any given product should have. If you disagree with the manufacturer you vote with your dollars. Of course I wish it would last forever but think that one year of daily wear is about right for a Nylon Woven band. If I wanted to wear one every day, I'd get three and switch them off as I do shoes (one pair every three days).

A Sport band is my daily driver and I never wear a Nylon Woven or Leather band more than one day in a row. Before the Apple Watch, except for a few bracelet banded watches and while in the military, I never wore the same watch more than one day in a row.

 

[robertk328]

A Sport band is my daily driver and I never wear a Nylon Woven or Leather band more than one day in a row. Before the Apple Watch, except for a few bracelet banded watches and while in the military, I never wore the same watch more than one day in a row.

Sport band is definitely my favorite. I want a few more of the Nylon but I just don't wear them enough (mostly due to how much more comfortable the Sport bands are) to justify the $50/ea.