Disappointing and costly delayed or lack of information from Discovery Vitality

In December 2018 I checked on the Discovery website which devices were accepted for the Vitality programme. I wanted to buy my 19 year old daughter one as a Christmas gift to motivate her to use the Vitality Rewards programme.

Tomtom was one of the recognized brands, so I bought a Tomtom Touch for R999. My daughter linked the device to her Discovery/Vitality APP, but could never get it to read her workouts. She then delinked and relinked the device, but it still didn't read. We then learnt that from January 2019 Discovery was no longer accepting Tomtom devices. Her initial linking of the device was before the "cut off" date which they would honor, but because she delinked and relinked they wouldn't accept it.

She then used her own money to buy a Huawei Color Band A2. I first called the Vitality call centre to find out if they accepted this device and was told they would. Once again she could not get the Discovery APP to read any of her workouts, and after calls and messages between myself and Vitality, they have now come back to say this specific device will not be part of the Vitality approved devices.

We are now stuck with two devices which were accepted by Discovery at the time of purchase, but which they will no longer accept.

Discovery need to provide better information and feedback on their website and APP regarding which devices they support - all they currently show are the brand names, and not the specific devices. They should also provide advance warning when they will no longer be supporting a device/brand. By December 2018 they should have been aware they wouldn't be supporting the Tomtom brand from 2019, and should have disclosed this.

This said and done, I must commend Discovery Vitality for replying to my queries. Their follow up on queries is good, its their ability to provide relevant information and advice upfront that is disappointing.