Jawbone suspends production of Up wristband, offers refund even if you keep it

Bluetooth headset maker Jawbone issued an apology today and will be giving broad refunds with “no questions asked” on its recently launched Up health wristband after many users complained of issues, including battery and syncing problems.

“While many of you continue to enjoy the Up experience, we know that some of you have experienced issues with your Up band,” Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman said, in a statement. “Given our commitment to delivering the highest quality products, this is unacceptable and you have our deepest apologies.”

Jawbone is mostly known for its stylish Bluetooth headsets, so when the company set its sights on the health and fitness space, we were intrigued. Using the Jawbone Up wristband and an iOS app, you could get reminders to move when you sat at a desk too long, be told exactly how long you’ve slept, be prompted to wake up in accordance with your natural sleep cycle and track how many calories you ate by snapping photos of your food.

Unfortunately, the first set of users for the wristband appear to have had many issues — so many that Jawbone is suspending production until it can fix all the problems. The main issues appear to be that some wristbands can’t hold a full charge due to capacitor malfunctions, and some don’t sync properly because of a hardware issue. Jawbone said it is “working around the clock to identify the root causes” and it will take new orders for Up wristbands once all of the issues have been addressed.

The most interesting aspect of the refund is that anyone who purchased the wristband, even if they haven’t had any problems, can still get a refund. The somewhat hilarious wording from the press release reads: “This means that for whatever reason, or no reason at all, you can receive a full refund for Up. This is true even if you decide to keep your Up band.”

The “Up No Questions Asked Guarantee” refund applies to any Up wristband purchased in 2011. So, in theory, you could go buy an Up wristband right now and still get a refund even if you don’t have a single problem. And if you do have serious problems, the company will send you a replacement band in accordance its standard product warranty.

[Lemon image via platinum/Flickr]