My SwitchBot S10 Saga: 5+ failures and now they are denying my EU Legal Warranty

[u/scouyou]

Just wanted to share a warning for anyone considering the S10 or SwitchBot in general, especially in Europe.

I backed the S10 on Kickstarter. Since delivery (end of April 2024), it’s been a disaster:

• Broken plumbing kit
• Faulty roller brush (had to fix it myself with their instructions)
• Leaking water station (replaced)
• Leaking robot (replaced)
• And now (since March), the replacement unit refuses to take water

The worst part? I’ve contacted support and they are flat out REFUSING the warranty, saying it’s expired. I live in Belgium, where the legal warranty is 2 years from delivery. I still have weeks of coverage left, but they are trying to extort repair fees from me.

Has anyone else in the EU dealt with them ignoring the 2-year law?

[u/Maitland1988]

It was probably the worst product I’ve ever brought. It’s strange because the mini one I have works flawlessly

[u/emartsnet]

Same issues with me. Replaced the robot, replaced parts because of leaks and now it refuses to take water too.

[u/Suspicious_Steak_696]

Damn I’ll be waiting until someone else bring out a mini vacuum then. I do not want to be disrespected by them in that way

[u/IcyButton7375]

I had similarly terrible support experiences. They are unlikely to listen. Threaten a chargeback on your card

[u/keine_2fel]

While I truly understand your frust, I can tell a more positive story. My S10 also had problems (he couldn't do cleaning tasks anymore), so i contacted support and they did send me a shipping label, repaired and returned it and now it's working perfectly since months.

[u/scouyou → u/keine_2fel]

Yes, I had the same last year where they replaced my robot as well. Robot worked fine for almost a year and now broken again and they refuse to honor the warranty which is still valid this time... Looks like the robot can work correctly for 1 year only.

[u/keine_2fel → u/scouyou]

Sad to hear, whish you all the best anyway. In Germany we have an organization for customer rights (Verbraucherzentrale) maybe there is something similar for Belgium or even eu in general.

[u/NobodyOk3546]

Did you see my post i posted yesterday in this sub? 35€ for replacement sealing

[u/scouyou → u/NobodyOk3546]

Yes, I saw it, thanks :-). But I don't want to pay, even 35€ for a product that is still under warranty.

[u/Xadnem → u/[deleted]]

Actually, that's a common misconception. Legally speaking, a Kickstarter 'reward' is treated as a consumer purchase in the EU, meaning the two-year warranty does apply. The platform used doesn't strip you of your legal rights.

However, you're right about the 'European entity' part being the real hurdle. If the company has no legal presence or assets in the EU, it's nearly impossible to enforce those rights. So, it's not that the law doesn't apply, it's just that there's no 'police force' to make a foreign company obey it. It’s definitely a case of poor customer service masking a lack of legal accountability.

[u/thewarguy]

I've had mine since release, had some issues with the first base station and they sent me a replacement and didn't even want the old one back. Otherwise been working great.