My Garmin let me down

I've had my Garmin Vivosmart HR exactly one week and I love it! No issues with syncin for me.

amandaeve wrote: »

I have a hunch the issue is that I have an obscure phone, but I like my phone, so...

Could very well be.
My Forerunners used to sync great on my LG G4. Connect updated a couple weeks ago, and now it's not totally automatic.
They Wouldn't sync half the time on my old HTC.
My wife's Vivoactive syncs perfectly on her Samsung Note 5.

Had a Vivoactive and now a Vivoactive HR. Both worked great with my iPhone 6 (now over 2 years old) and I just upgraded to the HR about 6 weeks ago.

I've heard Garmin support is great! Have you contacted them?

I've had mine about 2 months, but I had a massive issue with Blutetooth the other day. I used the online chat to speak to Garmin Support and they were great help. I had already done the usual stuff myself:

Unpairing the watch from My Devices in Garmin Connect
Un-installing Garmin Connect and re-installing it
Restarting Phone & Watch
Hard Reset (be prepared for losing data if you haven't synced using USB) - hold both buttons for 15 seconds
Factory Reset (Settings in the watch - again be aware you'll lose any unsynced data)

After trying all of the above I spoke to them and they sent me these instructions:

"I am happy to help. I would like for you to clear the sync queue from your Garmin Connect account, follow the instructions to reset the device from the instructions for the "Vivoactive" to ensure all non volatile memory is removed and fully remove the device from your account. At this stage you should be able to pair to the phone again and transfer information. If this fails please try to use another phone so we can look into this further.

To clear the sync queue:

Sign into your Garmin Connect account from a computer.
Select the Sync Queue icon from the menu on the left
Click the X for each item in the queue to remove it, then Remove to confirm
I would suggest that you update the software on your device and transfer your files to your account:
To update your unit to the latest software, you need to use the Garmin Express application.

To download the application and view the installation instructions, please click the link below:

http://software.garmin.com/en-US/express.html

There may be situations where you would like to remove a device from Garmin Connect Mobile - a new device purchase, app troubleshooting or removing an old device. Depending on the device, you may also need to remove it from the Bluetooth settings on the phone. Please remove the device from your account and phone settings. I would also suggest clearing the cache for all apps on your device.

Android:

Open the Garmin Connect Mobile app
Touch the Menu button
Touch Garmin Devices
Press and Hold the device to remove.
Touch Remove Device when prompted
Remove from Bluetooth settings: (only necessary with certain devices)

Open Phone Settings
Touch Bluetooth
Touch the Gear icon next to the previously paired device(s)
Touch Unpair
Occasionally you may need to remove the device from the Garmin Connect website in order for it to be completely removed. To remove a device from Garmin Connect:
Log in to your account at http://garminconnect.com.
Click on the Hamburger Menu
Click on Devices in the side menu
Click on the Garmin device to be removed
Click on the Gear icon (top right)
Select Remove from the drop-down menu
Your device should now be completely removed from your account
I would then recommend performing a master reset of your device.

Please click the link below and follow the steps on the guide to get instructions on how to perform a master reset of your device:

http://static.garmincdn.com/shared/uk/customer-care/Master_reset_instructions.pdf

At this stage when you have fully reset the device, cleared the cache and removed the device from the account the device should pair and sync. If it does not please follow the guide below to go through pairing issues to check.

Please refer to the guide here: Bluetooth Troubleshooting
If you continue to have issues, please try another phone or tablet and pair again. If this successfully pairs then we will need to set up a case to determine the issues with your device.

If there is anything else I can help you with then please let me know. Alternatively you can search for a solution here: https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/"

If the device is up-to-date, it's probably the phone. Sad times.

I'm eyeing up the vivomove as a step up from my little gen one vivofit...

amandaeve wrote: »

@NorthCascades I've spent hours on this, tried every combination of rebooting and Bluetooth button pushing order possible. It took about 10 attempts to connect before, so giving it that same allowance is time consuming...Retry....Retry....retry.... I've all but given up on the watch. I'm more venting than troubleshooting at this point.

If you give up on it, and want a good price on a Fenix 3 HR, shoot me a note.

If you haven't done so already, call their customer service line. They are amazing. They've replaced a watch for me that went bad and a heart rate monitor. With the HRM, they didn't even make me send the broken one back 1st. Also, their people are in the USA and not outsourced to another country that reads scripts. I have a Polar HRM that went bad too and I had to deal with a CSR in India reading a script, and I had to ship back the broken part at my expense.