Problems with nextbase 612gw

I bought a 612GW in Dec 2017 for £250, brand new.
A year later (8000 miles), a few days out of warranty, it failed. No matter what I did, it would not power on. Just a blue light on it when you plug it into charge, but no response when you press any button or the touch screen. It turned out it was the battery which had failed. After sending it back to Nextbase, they sent a replacement device. 18 months later (another 8000 miles), it's failed again with the exact same problem.

After contacting customer support, they want £32 + p&p to repair it. Which is 15% of the price I paid for the device. After reading many other reviews, it's obvious that the battery they have chosen to put in this device is poor quality and not up to the job. Nextbase insist that the battery is a consumable, and therefore this problem is okay. My issue is that they have chosen a battery for the product which is not up to the job, and then built it into the middle of the device so it has to be sent back to the manufacturer for repair at a disproportionate cost. By comparison mobile phone manufacturers produce batteries for touch screen devices which are always on, and those batteries survive much longer with many more charge cycles (my iPhone battery is 4+ years old with no signs of deterioration yet). GoPro batteries survive much harsher treatment and last longer. Yet, Nextbase can't make their battery last more than a year, and think in this day and age its justified? This is where I have a problem with them.

In addition, their customer service is pretty poor at the moment. I provided all the info they'll need in my very first communication (name, address, email, phone, serial number, proof of purchase etc). The different customer service staff who respond, don't actually answer the questions I'm asking, and then ask me to provide the same information again because they haven't read the email trail fully. One person tells me I can replace the battery myself, so when I ask for instructions, the next person tells me I can't replace it myself, as it's too difficult. Plus they're extremely slow to respond.

Overall I'm disappointed with how Nextbase are handling the situation. It's clear the batteries are not up to the job. They should be recalling the devices to swap out with batteries which last. Or when customers who have paid top dollar for their most premium device at the time contact them, they should at least replace for free, or offer a hefty discount to upgrade to a newer device (hopefully with a better battery). Then, if you add on their inconsistent customer service, I'm struggling to find a reason to believe in this manufacturer any longer.
Let me provide an update. I reluctantly sent the dashcam back to Nextbase for a battery replacement. 3 weeks later I hadn’t heard anything, so I contacted them for an update. This is when someone tells me that the problem is not the battery, but the circuit board. This wasn’t repairable, so a replacement device would cost £85 with just 3 months warranty. They offered no futher explanation, just told me to pay the money using a link they provided.

If I hadn’t have contacted them, I wonder how long I’d have been waiting before they got back to me.

And I’m disappointed that now the circuit board is toast. How does such a thing happen when it’s permanently plugged in with a fuse protecting it, and never moves etc etc. This circuit board lasted approx 18 months or 8000 miles.

I got it repaired and sent back. But I’ll be selling it on before I get another 12 months down the line as I’m sure something else will fail. Any reccomendations on a decent dashcam? I won’t be buying nextbase again. So far I think a go pro would do a better job, if it could record over itself when the memory card gets full.

I agree with some of the feedback re parking mode. I find it to be useless. The camera is either pointing in the wrong direction so you don’t capture anything anyway, or you’re about 5 seconds too late because all that’s actually running is the g-sensor. When it detects an impact, it starts up the dashcam... which seems to take about 5 seconds to get going.
 
This is when someone tells me that the problem is not the battery, but the circuit board. This wasn’t repairable, so a replacement device would cost £85 with just 3 months warranty.
That should be a warranty claim, paid by them, well within the timescale specified by UK consumer rights.

 
In time gone by Nextbase would have repaired that without question as a blown circuit board may arguably be a design or manufacturing defect.

There have been lots of complaints here about the series 2 dashcam range and I wonder if they are starting to bite.

I switched from Nextbase when the series 2 came out as I could see 2 worrying design flaws. Battery and still on a ball joint. I looked elsewhere and found what so far has been a perfect solution for me.
 
LThis wasn’t repairable, so a replacement device would cost £85 with just 3 months warranty.
Guessing this £85 would be a refurbished model. Noticed Halfords have started selling the 612 again but in refurbished form now for around the same price, Which tbh if it was abit cheaper and can guarantee it wouldn't have any marks or signs of use on it I think they're a good buy as they'll be full of new parts.
 
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