[TheRealInterMafia]

edit: Below is a disclaimer regarding this method

As the user Vola so kindly pointed out, he was able to get to the point of eluding to replacement. Though he fell short in providing POP that pertained to a store that carries the attempted product, as well as one that falls within their one year warranty. Granted this method is a little bit old, and hasn't been used by me in a while - though what I can say, is that Sphero are very likely unwise to most if not all forms of SE and warranty fraud, so if you are a budding social engineer or are good at doing your own thing Sphero is untapped and unsaturated potential.

Original method and post below : )



Here is my first gift to the community, a Sphero method I tech'd together whilst on vacation a few years back - I know this company isn't saturated, so this should still do nicely.
The first thing you're going to want to do is obtain a serial number for the product in question. This can be done a couple ways which I will detail below unless your friend owns one or something.

eBay: Go onto ebay, message a seller saying something along the lines of: "Hey, I want to purchase one of these for my son, but the last time I did so I got scammed.. would you be able to send me a picture of the serial number so I know you have it?" obviously you budding social engineers will write something with a bit more suave and personality, but for the sake of demonstration this works fine.


YouTube: If you don't know this one, it's a good piece of info to have in your arsenal. Essentially look for an unboxing of your desired product and then skim for CSI style to try and find the serial number, works even better if you can get a clear screenshot that looks like a picture - pretty simple, aye?


Now that you have your serial number, head over to: https://support.sphero.com and find the relevant emails, numbers or whatever.

Send an email to them saying you got the Ollie very recently and it just isn't turning on, provide the serial number etc.
They should ask you to send it back (but maybe not), at this point wait a day or two and then write back saying something like: "I'm unable to send it back because the battery is bulging and the postal service cannot take it for risk of explosion."

At this point they should ask you for your shipping address, provide it and enjoy : ^)


This is my first post, so sorry about the weird format - I like to be wordsy because I think it helps me get my point across although it probably doesn't lmao.


Be sure to upvote and comment - all that good jazz : )

[Realfunder]

First of all welcome back to the darkside! I have literally just started this for a different product of theirs and i have already got replacement confirmed within 20 mins from the initial email i sent. Great contribution im excited to see more threads from you

[mothered]

A well written guide that's effective and easy to follow and understand.

Good work.

[Andrea Bags]

Where is the serial number???

[mothered]

Where is the serial number???

"Hey, I want to purchase one of these for my son, but the last time I did so I got scammed.. would you be able to send me a picture of the serial number so I know you have it?"

look for an unboxing of your desired product and then skim for CSI style to try and find the serial number

[Andrea Bags]

Where is the serial number???

"Hey, I want to purchase one of these for my son, but the last time I did so I got scammed.. would you be able to send me a picture of the serial number so I know you have it?"

look for an unboxing of your desired product and then skim for CSI style to try and find the serial number

someone is asking me and I have no idea what to tell them to look for there's a lot of numbers apparently

[mothered]

someone is asking me and I have no idea what to tell them to look for there's a lot of numbers apparently

Are you referring to Identifying the serial number?

[Vola]

they asked me for a receipt
do I photoshop one?

[mothered]

they asked me for a receipt
do I photoshop one?

What was their exact reply?

[Vola]

This what they said

Dear vola,

Thank you for reaching out about the battery on your robot. I'm sorry to hear that it's not turning on. We can test to determine if the battery in your robot has reached the end of its life. To test this, please follow these steps:

1. Leave your robot charging for at least three hours
2. After the three hours have passed, launch the Sphero Edu app on your device
3. Connect the robot to the Sphero Edu app
4. Once connected, you should see a battery indicator in the upper right-hand corner of your app showing that the battery is at 100%
5. Remove the charging cord from the robot and keep an eye on the battery indicator
6. Drive the robot around for a few minutes. If the robot disconnects immediately, the battery indicator quickly drops, or the robot flashes red, this would indicate that your battery is no longer holding a charge

Over time, lithium batteries degrade, and because the shells are fused together, there is no way to replace or repair the battery.

We do have a one-year warranty, and if you fall within that one-year, we can look at replacement options for you. Please send over your original receipt, and we can start that process. If you are outside of our one-year warranty, unfortunately, we are unable to replace the robot.

And my stupidity instantly answered with a fake receipt forgetting that the robot has been actually discontinued for few years on amazon.

So in conclusion if you want to successfully se them you gotta find a product that is sold by them on amazon, target and Best Buy’s and has to be within 1 year warranty that they have.