Will Apple do a Band Exchange?

[Caliber26]

I just bought my series 6 from Best Buy but their options were very limited. So now I have a watch with sport band that I have no use for. Would Apple allow me to swap it for another one of equal value at one of their stores?

 

[jbachandouris]

No. This has been already discussed in previous threads. The watch and the band are considered as one unit. They only allow a complete return and rebuy.

Many of us, myself included, thinks this is ridiculous, but that's the policy.

 

[Caliber26]

No. This has been already discussed in previous threads. The watch and the band are considered as one unit. They only allow a complete return and rebuy.

Many of us, myself included, thinks this is ridiculous, but that's the policy.

Ah, thanks for the info. Agreed, this is a silly policy. Hopefully we will one day have the option to buy a watch without a band.

 

[russell_314]

Ah, thanks for the info. Agreed, this is a silly policy. Hopefully we will one day have the option to buy a watch without a band.

Would Apple even exchange the whole thing since he didn’t buy it from them? I don’t know about watches but Apple won’t take back computers that you bought from another store. You have to exchange it at whatever store you bought it from.

 

[va1984]

No. This has been already discussed in previous threads. The watch and the band are considered as one unit. They only allow a complete return and rebuy.

Many of us, myself included, thinks this is ridiculous, but that's the policy.

This is incorrect. I swapped a band at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue yesterday, in fact. They were very nice and they replaced a white sports band that came with the stainless steel watch I had just picked up with a green sports band.

The rules are, of course, that you must have purchased the watch/band combo from Apple and not from a third party reseller like Best Buy.
Also, the band in question must be the one that comes in a combo package but in its own separate packaging. For example, I have a Titanium watch which comes with a complimentary sports band inside the watch’s own package as well as the band that you selected when you ordered. You can swap the band you selected (in my case a nylon sport loop) but not the one that is complimentary to the watch. Also, I believe some kinds of bands cannot be swapped — apparently the new braided loops.

 

[va1984]

I just bought my series 6 from Best Buy but their options were very limited. So now I have a watch with sport band that I have no use for. Would Apple allow me to swap it for another one of equal value at one of their stores?

See post above — the problem is that you bought from Best Buy, otherwise you’d have been able to.

 

[Never mind]

https://www.macrumors.com/2020/09/21/entire-apple-watch-returned-solo-band-bad-fit/.

loop or braided band link above

 

[russell_314]

See post above — the problem is that you bought from Best Buy, otherwise you’d have been able to.

Yeah that’s why many retailers are able to sell Apple products cheaper than Apple. They don’t have to deal with returns and merchandise that they lose money on. Unfortunately when you buy something you’re also paying for that customer that just bought an item because he was bored then returned it because he really didn’t want it in the first place.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Buy another band, sell the one you have, and keep the watch. That makes thing easier for you.