Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a difficult review to write because I really wanted to like this band and I don't relish admitting that I wasted $100. I've had it for a month now. If I'd written the review in the first week, it would have been glowing since none of the problems had appeared yet. I love how light it is and how comfortabe. It's effortless to wear and the software is great, in theory. It ought to be the perfect band for me and it would be, if it worked. But, unfortunately, it really doesn't. It may, someday, if Jawbone can figure out how to fix their issues, but they admited to me on the phone that they're not sure how or when that will happen. The best way to explain what I mean is by doing a pros and cons list, so here goes...As a side note, I reached out to Jawbone customer support, so the responses they gave me are included in this review. Pros: 1. Lightweight 2. Comfortable 3. Software is motivational, easy to use, and has fun challenges (when it works) 4. Integrates well with MyFitnessPal 5. The vibrating alarm and notices are a nice feature. I like that I can use it for reminders to move and for my morning alarm without anyone else hearing it. 6. One size fits most. I almost went with the Fitbit Charge HR, but I'm just barely a large and once I lose weight, I would need a small. The adjustable nature of this band elminates me having to buy two during my weight loss process. Cons: 1. Does not stay on my wrist. --Another user recommended using a #7 o-ring to keep the band in place. These are cheap and easy to get at the hardware store and they do work; however, I feel that Jawbone should have something in place on the band that will keep it from falling off. Paricularly since their response to me when I emailed them about this was that using anything on my band, including an o-ring, will void my warranty. Good to know, so if it falls off and I don't notice it, that also voids my warranty. They also told me that if I keep it snug, an inch above my wrist bone, it won't fall off. It seems to be the party line, but it's not true, unfortunately. If you're active, as you should be, the clasp will loosen and will unbind. 2. The corners of the clasp snag easily. --Unfortunately, this includes my chidren, as I discovered when I put the newborn down for her nap and she woke up screaming because it scratched her neck. This probably won't matter to most people, but for those in a similar position it's worth mentioning. Their response is they'll pass it along to design, but it's not really a concern for them. They recommended I move it to my other wrist (my dominant hand, even though they also said it should be worn on my non-dominant hand). 3. Tapping response is inconsistent. --Sometimes it takes 10 to 20 taps to wake it up. Sometimes it doesn't wake up at all and I have to use my app to revive it. And sometimes the lightest touch sends it into sleep mode (such as the shower or my infant's cheek brushing against it). The first customer service agent I spoke with told me to do a soft reboot (instructions are online) and if that didn't improve response, they would exchange it. When that didn't work, the second agent told me that tapping with two fingers, hard, on the side produces the best results. She asked me to try it for a couple of days before trading it in. I've been doing that for about 12 hours and I haven't had any issues, but we shall see. It has gone a few days and been fine before, then will go a day or so and only work 20% of the time. 4. Mileage and sleep logging is inconsistent. --Although these seem like two separate issues, Jawbone customer support has told me they're actually the same issue. Logging miles has been drastically off. Some of this is because I'm carrying children at times, so my arm isn't mobile. I don't blame them for this, but other inconsistencies bother me. Nearly every walk or run on the treadmill shorts me by approximately a mile. The treadmill is accurate by my Garmin foot pod, but the band is way off. It also doesn't register my elliptical workouts well at all (hundreds of steps only for 45 minute intense workouts), even though I'm using my arms. This is a problem and demoralizing when I'm trying to make my daily goals and I'm off by the number of steps (or less) I walked but the band didn't log. Not logging also messes up my averages, which funnel into my stats and challenges. Sleep seemed accurate at first, but has started showing serious inaccuraces over the past week. One night it said I was awake and moving around between 1 am and 7 am and logged me with steps, even though I was asleep in my bed (and not sleep walking). Jawbone customer support says this has nothing to do with the band and everything to do with the next issue, which is 5. Software is seriously buggy. --As I said, I love how easy it is to use, the way the data is displayed and the motivational challenges that change every day based on my averages and current activity. But those are only good points if it works. It fails to find my band on a regular basis (support says I must be losing my bluetooth or wireless, but neither is the case since I'm able to access other bluetooth features and the internet at the same time it can't find my band) and when it does find the band, it under and overreports steps. The number of steps bounces up and down to over 10K, under 6K, over 10K, etc. all within the same 30 minute window. In addition, customer support has admitted that the reason #4 complaint happens is because there is something wrong with the purple logo app and they can't figure out what it is. They just know it's not capturing data properly. What's worse, they say they're working hard on it, but they have no idea when it will be fixed. Essentially, I'm wearing a beta product that they charged me a lot of money for and it doesn't make me happy. If the software isn't reporting properly, none of my stats are correct, which makes my challenges useless. I'm wearing a brick until they can fix it. So why am I still wearing it? The first customer service person told me that the band keeps data for a long time (I think she said a year?), so once the software is fixed it will upload the data properly and fix my stats. I don't know if this is true or not, but I hope so because I can't stomach the thought that I wasted my money and I can't afford to go with Fitbit now, which is what I wish I had done to begin with. The last point I want to note is really a mixed bag, which is why it's not on the pro or con list. Customer Service, which is important to me for any product I own, has been both good and bad with Jawbone. I've dealt with two agents. The second has been wonderful, helpful, and friendly. The first made me want to never buy a Jawbone product again. She was rude, told me essentially that she can pass along my comments to the design team but they really don't care, and at one point told me I needed to let my hungry 3 month old cry, that "she only wants your attention, let her be" because she had a checklist to get through (the baby kept fussing during the call). I'm glad I wound up dealing with a different agent the second time! Still, the first woman respresents the company and it's worth noting that customer service is inconsistent (which is probaby the case with many companies). If you get a rude person the first time, I recommend trying again until you get someone more helpful. Bottom line for me is, although this product feels like a waste of money at the moment, it has potential. This is why I've given it 2 stars and not 1. The clasp is a poor design and needs to be reworked, but I can figure out ways around that. The tapping inconsistencies I can also live with since I'm rarely without my phone. But the software and data collection are huge issues that I can't overlook. Until they at least get this fixed, I can't recommend this product. My advice is wait and see what they do and if/when they get the purple app fixed. I hope they do. For now, I'm saving up for a Fitbit. Update: One June 11, Jawbone emailed me to say they'd launched the new software (4.4.1) and would be closing my trouble ticket because they considered the matter fixed. It's now June 25, 2 weeks later, and the new software still isn't live in the Android Play Store. The rep said that they'd launched it for Apple, but wasn't sure when it would go live for Android. They have no responded to my recent email about worsening issues with the data (it now doubles my sleep hours intermittently and I've given up wearing it). Given the horrible service, uncaring attitude that they've put out a worthless product, and won't back the product, I'm downgrading my rating from a 2 to a 1. No amount of potential can overcome what has been a frustrating product and a complete waste of $100.