Wow...where to begin. This saga has been going on since December 7, 2023...and now I'm at a loss on how to proceed.
Wait wait--first the TLDR (well somewhat long) -> My Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery will sometimes not be detected by the headset. Since 12/7/2023 I've been going back and forth with Meta and they agreed to send me a new Elite Strap with Battery, then waffled and is now saying I need to send the (mostly) good strap in first. Then I received an email this morning from Meta saying, "hey put in your serial number into this site and we'll see if you're impacted by an issue with the Elite Strap and we'll send you a replacement free of charge". However, since there's an existing ticket ongoing, I cannot proceed with that avenue. I need help escalating this request as the support staff basically will not respond via email...and the live chat person just told me they have no way to send me a replacement elite strap without me first sending my strap in...and hung up on me in the chat....
So on to the details! Here's more background on what the actual issue is:
**When the head strap is NOT detected, after the Meta Quest 3 is powered up, you can hover over the battery indicator, and it only will show the internal Meta Quest 3 battery. If/when the Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery IS detected it will show you an average for total power. Then when you hover over the battery indicator with the controller it will display the Meta Quest 3 battery level and the Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery level.
To repeat, if it does not detect the head strap, you only see the internal battery read out for the Meta Quest 3. If you unplug the USB C connector from the Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery to the Meta Quest 3, wait a few seconds, and then re-plug in the Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery to the Meta Quest 3—it will be recognized by the Meta Quest 3 (usually!). You will then get a message on the headset that you have plugged in an external battery, it plays a little alert sound, and it will display the information detailed above…note, this usually will show the Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery as not being fully charged as it was not being detected by the Meta Quest 3 headset and thus not getting fully charged.
On some occasions this is not enough to restore it. If so, I will have to unplug the Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery from the Meta Quest 3, I will need to hold the power button on the Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery for ~20 seconds, and then re-plug the strap back into the Meta Quest 3.
When it "doesn't" recognize the Elite Strap the headset boots up wicked fast (2 seconds to see the Meta logo). If it "does" recognize the Strap then it takes 16 seconds of holding the power button down to see the Meta logo.
I reached out to the Meta support team (via email) and we went back and forth...a lot. I was up front that I did not want to send my existing elite strap with battery back first as...well...I didn't trust the replacement to be better. I wanted to be sure the replacement was good to go and THEN I would return my existing Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery if they wanted it back to play with.
Meta support agreed (and I have all the emails!) and they said it would take a few months. After not hearing back after a few months I pinged them again via email in February 2024 and I received return instructions for my Elite Strap with Battery...which again is NOT what we agreed upon. I emailed them again (and sent allllllllll the email correspondence) and they pretty much ignored me for roughly for the past month (since 2/19/2024).
I then received an email from Meta this morning (3/13/2024) saying my strap might qualify for a free replacement and to check the serial number on the support site...and when I did that, I received an error stating "A request to replace your Elite Strap with Battery was already submitted. If you did not make this request, please contact Meta Store customer support."...which I assume is the RMA which again, is not what was agreed upon.
I opened up a live chat with Meta, and received a very much AI Bot response that there is no advance replacement, and I needed to send my Elite Strap back in FIRST (again not what was agreed upon). After some back and forth and providing a screenshot of the email I received this morning that called out that I may qualify to receive a free replacement. I asked them to escalate this as this isn't a normal situation...and the rep said they were correcting what the Meta rep had told me/agreed to before, I had no option but to send in the strap, and then they ended the chat...ignoring the 3/13/2024 email.
For reference, here is text from the 3/13/2024 email I received:
We are reaching out to let you know we are voluntarily replacing select Meta Quest 3 Elite Straps with Battery.
We are aware that a limited number of these straps were not being detected by Meta Quest 3 headsets or losing connection and not charging the headsets. Even if your Elite Strap with Battery is functioning without any issues, we would still like to offer you a new and updated Elite Strap with Battery replacement to help you have the best ongoing experience.
Click here to check if your accessory is impacted and order a replacement, at no cost to you.
If you have trouble accessing or completing the form, please contact us.
Thank you,
The Meta Store support team
So, now that story time is over! How can I get this escalated? The chat and email support teams seem to be stuck on a script and trying to repeal what was already agreed upon (by Meta!). Heck, I would even be okay if they canceled the weird RMA and let me try my luck with the email I received...because I'm pretty sure my Elite Strap will qualify for the swap based off what I'm seeing. I'm not even going to go into the unprofessionalism of ghosting a customer via email and/or closing a live chat with the issue not addressed. I just want to see if someone can definitively tell my if my serial number is one of the impacted units (Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery) and if so get me the replacement strap with Battery. I purchased all OEM Meta products, which is "not cheap" with the 512MB Quest 3, the Silicon interface, the Elite Strap with Battery, and the charging bar. I think I've been pretty patient trying to work with the support groups...but...I'm at the end of the line. THANK YOU in advance for any help that can be provided.
Hey Maroszek! We are so glad to hear that our support team was able to help you out. We are always more than happy to assist you so if you have any other issues in the future do let us know and we will give you a hand!
If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
Hey there, @Maroszek.Thank you for bringing your experience to our attention! While we know it has been a journey to address your Elite Strap concerns, we'd love to step in to help to have you up and running smoothly once more. So that we're able to gather more details, please send us a PM.
To do so, either select our name to get to our profile page, or click here while signed in to the community. Next, click "Send a Message" to privately message us! We look forward to hearing from you soon!
If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
Support has since reached out to me and I believe we're on the right track now. They have a replacement heading my way, I received notification this morning that it should be here this week.
Hey Maroszek! We are so glad to hear that our support team was able to help you out. We are always more than happy to assist you so if you have any other issues in the future do let us know and we will give you a hand!
If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
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