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Apple Watch band exchange
- Thread starter gabo864
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- apple watch bands
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I sure hope so because I ordered a solo loop with mine and am worried it won’t be the right size as I’ve never bought a solo loop before. I did use a measuring tape per Apple instructions so I hope it’s correct.
I did this last year. Bought the Series 6 with a Nike strap. Decided I wanted a sport loop instead, and Apple exchanged the straps for me.
Good to know. I’ll probably be trying to exchange my band tomorrow so I’ll report back what my experience is.
I have read that the official policy is that you must return the entire package and repurchase... but I've also seen reports (including some above), that the seem to indicate that the stores/managers have some flexibility on if/how this is enforced. Good luck.
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Edit: it turns out that the custom configuration is not available, so the only alternative would’ve been a no receipt return, but I was advised that that would make the watch unreturnable so I went ahead and took it with the band that was packaged with. Sorry for the misinformation earlier.
I’m at the Apple Store now picking up my SS watch. I was offered either a no receipt or a custom configuration swap. They told me that if the swapped the BAND with a no receipt return I wouldn’t be able to return the WATCH later. We went with the custom configuration.
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Why would someone not want to do the custom configuration swap in that case, I wonder.
Quick update. It’s impossible to exchange the band so I take the watch like that. In France, we have 14 days to change our mind and have a refund so I’ll see.
The good point is that they take my SE for trade in
Just walked out and same story. Bought an SS Graphite with Abyss Blue sport band this morning for pick up since it was the only model available. They had the band I wanted at the store, but I would have had to do a return for the whole thing to swap the band. The check out options for them did not have a separate option for the band at this time.
i just took it as is and left.
i just took it as is and left.
Every store must be different which is bizarre. I went to pick up my SS Graphite as well, and wanted to trade the Abyss blue band, said they can do it without an issue, wouldn't need to do a whole re-turn re-buy. Unfortunately they said they have to call apple in order to do it? Which didn't make sense to me, but said the holds times were about an hour, and I didn't have the time. But said I could do it within the 14 day window without a problem.
You would, and the store person said it was possible, but the system wouldn't accept the swap for the watch/strap SKU. They offered a no receipt return, but I'm not 100% sure I'm going to like the new display so I want to make sure that the watch is returnable - so for now I'll hold onto the strap. If the S7 is a winner, I think I can try a no receipt return for the strap within the 14 day return period (although I don't actually know that).
That sounds like what I'm doing, except that I didn't trade in my S6 today because I'm not completely certain that I'll keep the S7.
I'm planning to keep this Series 7 so I'll stop by the store and see if they will return or swap the band. I need to trade in my S6, too. Hopefully both go smoothly.
It absolutely is possible to exchange just the watch band. I've just done it. Ordered Series 7 online and collected it earlier in the week. The Solo Band was far too loose for me (despite carefully measuring when ordering). Went into the store today to ask to exchange the Solo Band for the same colour in the Sports Band. All done with no issues. There's an official process for doing it (the staff member I spoke with had to have a colleague come over to show her) whereby they class it as a product swap. They scan the barcode on your original order email. They then double check and take the Serial Number of your Apple Watch. Then you exchange the band for the new one that you want. Soon after I received a new email invoice for a "new" order of a whole Apple Watch with the new band but obviously with no charge on the invoice.
This is all despite the person on Apple Support app originally telling me this wasn't possible at all and that I'd have to return the whole watch and order a new one from scratch.
This is all despite the person on Apple Support app originally telling me this wasn't possible at all and that I'd have to return the whole watch and order a new one from scratch.