Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- OnePlus just launched the Watch 3, but missed a typo on the back, where it proclaims to be “Meda in China.”
- The company already acknowledged the mistake and offered to replace affected units.
- Apparently OnePlus is also taking the step of sending out a letter explaining the situation with early orders.
We all make mistakes. Some of us are better at catching those mistakes than others, but on a long enough timeline, all of us are going to slip up eventually. And when we’re talking about a mistake that’s as small as a typo transposing two letters, it’s not hard to see how that could slip through the cracks. Right now, OnePlus is doing a little bit of damage control over the slightly embarrassing typo that made its way into the initial production run of the company’s new smartwatch, and apparently that includes sending out some “mea culpa” letters as it fulfills orders.
The OnePlus Watch 3, like so many mobile devices, is manufactured in China. And to acknowledge its origin, OnePlus intended to have the wearable’s case back feature a “Made in China” message. As you may have heard by now, OnePlus kinda whiffed that, and ended up delivering watches reading “Meda in China,” instead.
Once word got out, the company took the error in seemingly good spirits, joking that these were now limited-edition collector’s items. But even as OnePlus pushes back deliveries in order to produce new hardware that corrects the typo, some early orders are receiving their watches alongside a special message from OnePlus.
Over on Reddit, user redtkdtigre1989 shares the letter that showed up along with their recent Watch 3 order. The messaging communicates pretty much exactly what OnePlus already shared when it publicly acknowledged the typo, offering affected customers the option of keeping the misprint watch, or choosing to exchange it for a corrected version (once those become available).
Considering that not every smartwatch shopper is going to pay nearly as much attention to wearable news as we do, it sounds totally conceivable that some of them might have missed all the hubbub online, so this is a good way to at least loop everyone else in. That said, it does feel a little odd to see a company go to the trouble of shipping a product that it knows might be returned, rather than proactively reaching out to see what customers wanted to do ahead of time — why not just confirm things over email first, and avoid what might be a bunch of unnecessary shipping?
Have you gotten a letter like this from OnePlus along with your Watch 3? Are you going to keep it or send it back? Let us know in the comments.
