TLDR; it a product is damaged by water, how is it known if it was used beyond the rating (and therefor not covered by warranty), or if it was used within the IP rating and is therefore a fault with the item and covered under warranty?
My kids use smartwatches, gps, text message etc. We’ve used the same brand for years, although haven’t had to deal with warranty before.
I purchased a new watch in November 2025 as a Xmas present. He didn’t start wearing it until Jan 2026. By March my son had mentioned a few times that I was restarting for no reason. I tested it all and was unable to replicate, so assumed it was just running out of battery and turning off and my kid was confused.
Finally in April I saw it turn off when at full battery, and then while testing I couldn’t even start it back up.
I emailed through for warranty support and got some instructions on a different reset procedure and tried that. I got it on video. It started up normally, but 1 min later came up with an error message about the temperature, and turned off. I sent this video to support and they asked me to post it to them.
Eventually they got back to me saying the watch was water damaged, and therefore not covered by warranty. They are advertised as IP67 rated and my kids have always worn them to school, when washing hands, maybe in light rain, but never in the bath and never in the pool.
So I emailed asking for more information, expecting that the phones data should have information on when the damage happened. I’m open to the possibility he got it wet and I didn’t know, and thought if they could provide an approx day, I could see on our calendar if it was possible he had gone swimming without me knowing.
They said that there was no data, it just showed that it had water inside, therefore not covered.
But if water got in there and we were using it as per IP67 recommendations, doesn’t that make the watch faulty??
So how can the maker assume that it was used incorrectly?
Further, I would have expected that if he wore it swimming, or if it were submerged for an extended period, it would have stopped working immediately, not a gradual decline?
I did reply with these questions but it appears the support emails are being done by non English native speakers and they just keep repeating the same thing.
I’m extra concerned as my other child got a new watch in June / July last year, and is telling me it’s randomly turning off… but to date I can’t replicate it.
I don’t want to be in this boat again in a few months.