Pebble founder Eric Migicowski says his 30-day guarantee is about trust

Pebble founder Eric Migicowski says buyers of its new e-paper smartwatches should know what they’re signing up for and trust Pebble to make things right if they encounter problems, despite the short warranty period. “I think the most important thing is trust,” Migicowski told me in an interview this week. “Do people trust the product we make, and do they trust the company and the people behind it?”

Mijikovsky Pebble revived Early last year, after the original company closed in 2016. The new generation of Pebbles has the same aesthetic, but with updated technology, including larger e-paper displays. I was excited about the Pebble’s return after missing the originals, but hesitated after noticing its 30-day warranty. That’s roughly the same battery life as the Pebble Time 2, so you may not even need to charge it before coverage runs out. While I ended up ordering a Round 2 pebble Which I’m still waiting for, and others have too Raised concerns About the watch warranty.

People have also reported experiencing early hardware issues, such as a cracked front glass on the Pebble Time 2. Earlier this week, Migicowski addressed the issues in Blog postSaying that Pebble has replaced 330 Time 2 watches for free so far, out of more than 19,000 “in the field.”

Pebble’s blog says it “will continue to replace reasonable reports of cracked glass for free for as long as possible. At some point, we will switch to offering a replacement at a greatly reduced amount.” Additionally, Pebble is “considering” offering replacement parts so people can perform manual repairs on their watches.

While Migicovsky did not offer a timeline for when the shift might happen, he emphasized it Edge A “very small percentage” of watches have this problem, adding: “It is, for all intents and purposes, not at all easy to offer direct free replacements to anyone who has a problem.”

“Every step of the way, we communicated, and over-communicated, what to expect (and) what the product would look like.” Pebble warned customers in advertisement As for the Pebble 2 Duo and Pebble Time 2, they shouldn’t buy one if they need a “fully polished smartwatch,” stating that “things can’t last as long as you want them to.”

“This is a grassroots relaunch of something we love and really wanted to see out in the world,” Migicowski told me. “In terms of how we support the product, there are certain things we can sign up to do, and there are certain things we can’t do.”

“You can expect a product that will work great, something that will make you smile, but we can’t guarantee that for as long as other companies or other consumer product companies can with their supply chains and store networks around the world to help with replacements. We don’t have that.”

“It’s pebble, all the way through,” Migicowski says. “If you enjoyed the first round, you’ll love the second one. But having said that, it’s not exactly the same as the first era.”