I got a hold of a representative very, very early this morning. Went through the whole thing about there being many community posts about their Alta HR suddenly dying and if this was used as an incentive to buy a new one, it was backfiring and a very bad marketing move. Long story short, he said they would never do that (O.K.) and he walked me through the same steps he's walked everyone else through. It's currently charging, but, from what I've read in previous posts, this may not work for a long period of time. I will be optimistic and keep my fingers crossed!
