Fitness tracker Whoop faces unhappy customers over upgrade policy

Whoop has backed down, somewhat, from the controversial upgrade plans around its Whoop 5.0 fitness tracker.

When the company first announced Whoop 5.0 this week, it said members who wanted the new device could either extend their subscriptions by 12 months or pay a one-time upgrade fee of $49 ($79 for the model with EKG sensors).

This seemed inconsistent with Whoop’s overall value proposition, where it charges higher subscription prices (ranging $199 to $359 a year) while allowing customers to upgrade their hardware for free. More specifically, it seemed to contradict a statement on the company’s website promising users free hardware upgrades if they’ve been members for at least six months.

After customers began complaining, the company responded with a Reddit post both announcing a more expansive upgrade policy and claiming to clarify its overall approach.

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.

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 model focused on monthly or six-month subscription plans to one where it only offers 12- and 24-month subscriptions.

“We also want to acknowledge that a previous blog article incorrectly stated that anyone who had been a member for just 6 months would receive a free upgrade,” the company said. “This was never our policy and should never have been posted.”

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.”

There were also a number of complaints from users who said they had 11 months left on their subscriptions, so they just missed the free upgrade cutoff.