Disappointing Longevity and Costly Battery Replacement Process
I purchased two LB Pro - Endurance 4G GPS Trackers in 2021, expecting reliable performance based on the advertised features. While the devices worked well initially, I encountered issues from the start with charging. Conventional USB chargers struggled to initiate the charging process, often requiring multiple attempts before the devices responded. I tolerated this inconvenience as the trackers only needed to be charged twice a year in my case.
However, after 3 years and 2 months, one of the devices stopped charging completely and went offline. Unfortunately, this occurred just outside the 3-year warranty period. The company advertises a 15-year battery life, but this was not my experience. When I contacted support, they offered to replace the battery, but the cost of doing so was unreasonable. Shipping the device from abroad (at least €30 for me), combined with a £12 battery replacement fee and a £47 return shipping charge, totaled nearly €100. Considering the device itself costs just over €150, this made no sense financially.
To make matters worse, there's also the issue of import taxes when shipping outside of the UK. This can add an additional €40 in fees, plus the actual import tax, making the total cost of the repair even more prohibitive. This also applies to new devices.
In the end, I had to discard the device with the faulty battery. The company did refund my yearly subscription fees from the moment I requested it, but not retroactively to when the device actually broke down, which was four months earlier.
While the product functions as advertised when operational, the lack of durability, the expensive repair process, and the potential import tax issues make it hard to recommend. I expected more from a device promoted for its long battery life.
EDIT:
> we agreed to replace your battery and perform any necessary repairs free of charge if you could return the device to us
This is not true, they offered to replace the battery at the price of 12 pounds plus shipping back and forth. Totalling the costs to over 100 pounds from my side.
> Our customer support representative, despite all of this, sent you an email asking you what we could do to make it right
They offered to find further solutions only after the termination of the subscription and the partial refund and weeks of back and forth. Too late for it.
> Our new devices have addressed the charging problems by the way!
So, you confirm that your older models were faulty from the beginning. Isn't this ground of a replacement at no extra costs?
Reply from Lightbug
-- Copying the response made to you on Google here --
Hi Andrea,
It is unfortunate that you've felt the need to leave a negative review but we understand. We tried all reasonable ways of helping you but yes, unfortunately there is no getting around shipping and customs costs.
We would like to set the record straight on a few things however:
- The device that you purchased only had a 1 year warranty: we only introduced 3 years as standard last year. Nonetheless, we agreed to replace your battery and perform any necessary repairs free of charge if you could return the device to us
- You decided this was cost prohibitive, which is understandable. We then offered you a 50% discount on a new device, which you rejected.
- Our customer support representative, despite all of this, sent you an email asking you what we could do to make it right, stating that she would escalate with a manager to see what we could do to resolve the situation amicably, which possibly would have led to receiving authorisation to cover return shipping costs despite it being outside our processes & agreements. You did not respond to that email.
Our new devices have addressed the charging problems by the way!
Thanks