Whoop Promises Free Upgrades - But Some Users Will Have to Pay to Extend Their Subscriptions

Whoop fitness trackers had promised free upgrades to anyone who'd been a member for at least six months — and then reneged. "After customers began complaining, the company responded with a Reddit post, according to a report from TechCrunch: Now, anyone with more than 12 months remaining on their subscription is eligible for a free upgrade to Whoop 5.0 (or a refund if they've already paid the fee). And customers with less than 12 months can extend their subscription to get the upgrade at no additional cost.
Whoop acknowledged that they'd previously said anyone who'd been a member for six months would receive a free upgrade. Friday they described that blog article as "incorrect". ("This was never our policy and should never have been posted... We removed that blog article... We're sorry for any confusion this may have caused.")

TechCrunch explains: While the company said it's making these changes because it "heard your feedback," it also suggested that its apparent stinginess was tied to its transition from a [2021] model focused on monthly or six-month subscription plans to one where it only offers 12- and 24-month subscriptions...

There's been a mixed response to these changes on the Whoop subreddit, with one moderator describing it as a "win for the community." Other posters were more skeptical, with one writing, "You don't publish a policy by accident and keep it up for years. Removing it after backlash doesn't erase the fact [that] it is real."
Other changes announced by Whoop:

• "If you purchased or renewed a WHOOP 4.0 membership in the last 30 days before May 8, your upgrade fee will be automatically waived at checkout..."

• "If you've already upgraded to WHOOP 5.0 on Peak and paid a one-time upgrade fee despite having more than 12 months remaining, we'll refund that fee."

"Thank you for your feedback. We remain committed to delivering the best technology, experience, and value to our community."

So they lied to get more customers

[viperidaenz]

And fixed it by saying it was a mistake when it came time to pay out.

Must be nice to be a company in a market with no sense of consumer protection

Re:

[alvinrod]

I've never heard of this company. I'm sure they realized the silly promises they made would burn through whatever venture capital they had amassed and have altered the deal (pray they do not alter it further) so that everyone (or at least the management) can ride the gravy train for a few more months before the bubble bursts. They already know that they're dead, but they just want another six months to line up their next job.

Kinda like Steven Slate Drums.

[Anonymous Coward]

When Steven Slate was starting out in the drum VST field, he offered free new version upgrades for life to those who bought version 1.0. When SSD 2.0 came out, the ground floor buyers came to collect, and Steven reneged on his guarantee. He gave some mealy mouthed "I have mouths to feed" excuse.

Re:

[andrew_r]

Whoop owner (subscriber) here-- is it lost on anyone that renewing for 12 months is identical to buying one from scratch with no previous history? You buy a 12 month subscription and get the hardware... This is inherently different than having 6 months left on my subscription and getting a free hardware upgrade for the remainder. which is the original "mistaken" promise.

Re:

[viperidaenz]

What's it feel like to be lied to by the company you're trusting with your health data?

Don't be surprised if they say "oops, our previous privacy policy was a mistake, our new one applies retroactively and all your data has already been sold to anyone we could find"

Re:

[viperidaenz]

Never mind, I just read the current privacy policy, and they already share "wellness" and geo-location data with affiliates, law enforcement and their LLM training partners.

They don't need to update it to do anything they want.

Re:

[coopertempleclause]

Hope the ladies in red states aren't recording and data that could show a miscarriage... straight to jail.

Re: So they lied to get more customers

[CustomBuild]

Hyperbole or outright lie?

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Hyperbole or outright lie?

Fuck off, Nazi.

https://www.pregnancyjusticeus... [pregnancyjusticeus.org]

Re:

[mmdurrant]

Uhhhh try paying attention to the world around you. It's neither.

Re:

[mysidia]

In short they have not fixed anything. They posted either a statement that constitutes either Fraudulent Inducement and False Advertising or Erroneous advertising that resulted in detrimental reliance by their customers upon official statements made by them about promised benefits of purchasing the product and their subscription. Removing the post containing the so-called "error", otherwise known as attempting to hide the evidence -- does nothing to remedy the damages caused to their customers a

Whoop de dupe

[rossdee]

I think I read this on Friday

Sorry

[thegarbz]

We're sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

Not yet they aren't, but if they come across the right user they will be. Making a post like that constitutes an offer that may be binding if anyone based their purchase decision on it. They are in for a world of legal hurt if a user wants to take it that far.