We told you some days ago that Fitbit would buy out Pebble for its intellectual property and operating system and eventually phase out the brand. Well, it seems as though buyers of the Pebble Time 2 and Pebble Core were promised full refunds after the company announced it would be acquired by one of its longtime rivals. Well, according to a new report, it appears as though the Kickstarter backers aren't getting their full refunds for their pledges -- and they aren't too happy about it.
9to5google's very own Ben Schoon wrote earlier this week that he purchased a Pebble Time 2 for $179 but has only received $70 back from the pledge. Schoon is not alone, though: it turns out that others who paid $179 are seeing only $70 on their credit card statements, while those paying $249 are only getting $131 back; other customers are seeing even lower totals.
Some Kickstarter supporters aren't having these problems, though, so it should be noted that it seems to be a hit-and-miss when it comes to getting a full vs. partial refund. We don't know the reason behind the partial refunds, and we have no word from Pebble as of yet, but it appears as though Pebble should've delivered the Pebble Time 2 and Pebble Core to customers or refunded their money right away when they decided to sell to Fitbit. The Pebble brand will phase out quickly, but these partial refunds seem to be nothing more than pouring salt on an open wound.
Pebble has not only launched the Pebble Time 2 and Pebble Core on Kickstarter and confirmed the Pebble Time 2 would have Amazon Alexa voice integration, but also launched the Pebble Time Round Special Edition Polished Silver and Polished Gold smartwatches on Kickstarter as well.