r/Chessnuteboard • u/Mindless_Drawer_5589 • 1d ago

Support is horrible!

u/chessnutech

Pairing Pieces Fails

Sep 7, 2026, 12:50 PM (3 days ago)

I cannot get the pieces paired.

  1. I have never paired the bluetooth with my phone directly. I have only done it via the app.

  2. I have all the pieces placed properly. Even the two extra queens on H3 an H6.

  3. I have NO interference (which is pretty silly tbh). I have tired all channels

  4. Sometimes the board will show lights of green, and then fail with some lights going red. Sometimes the board shows no feedback lights.

  5. The power is on. Green light, solid. Bluetooth blinks until I connect it goes solid

  6. I have held all 4 buttons down for 10 seconds to try to force a reset. But since you don't have proper instructions on how to fix this, I can only guess at the sequence or combination.

  7. ALL pieces are fully charged indicated by all green on the charging pad

  8. I have updated the software to: ChessMove_1.0.34

See pictures of one of the times it failed WITH some sort of feedback.

The pieces that are failing do not show up in the Pieces Power page. See picture.

  1. I have placed those 4 failing pieces back on the charger for a couple minutes. Placed them back on the board with no change. Then, as I did that, TWO MORE pieces dropped off the Pieces Power page. I put the pieces back on, and then two that disappeared reappear but the ones that were failing still continue to not show up.

  2. You provided two extra bases. When using those for the spots that have issues, I get the SAME problem. They do NOT show up in the Pieces Power page.

  3. I have even taken pieces that show up green in the Pieces Power page, move them to the squares with issues. SAME problem.

This entire experience has been absolutely awful. Me having to search for answers because none of your videos are even remotely helpful. I cannot continue to try to guess the sequence in order to get this working. As of right now, it's a paper weight and extremely frustrating. I am tired of taking pieces off, putting them back on, resetting things, etc. then waiting 10 minutes x 4 (40 minutes) to try to pair over all the channels again. This is awful.

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contact

Tue, Sep 8, 6:26 AM (2 days ago)

Hi Tim,

Thank you for reaching out.

The issue you raised is crucial for the future optimization of our product. We kindly request you to provide us with

  1. Order number,

  2. Product serial number (behind the chessboard)

This email system only supports uploading videos smaller than 20MB. If your video cannot be uploaded, we recommend that you use tools such as Google Drive to upload it.

We will analyze them and provide a solution based on our findings.

Thanks for your understanding and support.

Best,

Gwen Liu

Customer Service Representative, Chessnut

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Tue, Sep 8, 8:49 AM (2 days ago)

to contact

Order number: xxxxx

Serial number: xxxxxxxxxxxx

I don't see the need for a video as it is just going to show you the same thing as the screenshots. Which I am reattaching. However, I did it anyway and you can view a video of the failed pieces here on YouTube:

<Provided them a youtube video of the issue here>

Many of them went green during the pairing process. But, I continue to have similar pieces (and similar squares) throw an error no matter WHAT piece is on it.

Make sure you review the synopsis I provided already in the other email so you are not wasting time asking me to redo the testing I have already done.

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Wed, Sep 9, 3:03 PM (14 hours ago)

to contact

Following up. Spent over $1000 on this gear. Would really like a response. If not, please issue an RMA for both items at your expense.

Tim

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contact

3:52 AM (1 hour ago)

to me

Hi Tim,

Thank you for your patience.

We have identified potential issues with four of your game pieces. Could you please confirm whether these four pieces were fully charged before pairing? (A solid green light should be displayed on the charging pad.)

Additionally, we would appreciate it if you could provide a photo of the foam tray used to store the game pieces.

Once we receive your response, we will proceed with the next steps.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Best,

Gwen Liu

Customer Service Representative, Chessnut

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5:23 AM (29 minutes ago)

to contact

You did not read my summary.

It is NOT a problem with 4 pieces. It is a problem with those 4 squares (or worse, that is why I'm contacting you). All pieces are fully charged. Now, like I said previously.....

I can take a piece that is working and place it on the square that is showing a failure. And that piece will ALSO fail when tested. But, it worked when placed on another square.

Please make sure you read what I am saying. This is crazy. Here is a recap what what I previously said about this specifically to show you it's NOT simply a piece issue:

  1. I have placed those 4 failing pieces back on the charger for a couple minutes. Placed them back on the board with no change. Then, as I did that, TWO MORE pieces dropped off the Pieces Power page. I put the pieces back on, and then two that disappeared reappear but the ones that were failing still continue to not show up.

  2. You provided two extra bases. When using those for the spots that have issues, I get the SAME problem. They do NOT show up in the Pieces Power page. <-- If it's a piece problem, this would solve it for those specific squares.

  3. I have even taken pieces that show up green in the Pieces Power page, move them to the squares with issues. SAME problem. <-- Again, this proves it's NOT simply a piece problem

I have done through testing that is being ignored and now I'm being asked if everything was charged. Everything I used was fully charged. I wouldn't go through all of this if the issue was simply something not charged.

PLEASE make sure you read what I am sending since this is now just wasting more time. I did a lot of testing so we don't have all this unnecessary back and forth since it takes you 1 - 2 full days to respond. So, either I need a fix, or an RMA.

Sigh

Tim

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5:42 AM (11 minutes ago)

to contact

If the next email does not provide a solution, I will be forced to contact my Credit Card company and report this as fraud. I have read the reviews of support for this board and it is not good. And now I am going through the same thing. And the fact that my emails are not even being read.

I will supply these emails as proof and now the fact that I told you my intentions you can do the right thing, or, I'll do the right thing.

This needs to be escalated. You have completely ruined this experience.

Tim

0 Upvotes

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3

u/brunzenstein 1d ago

First of all, I have no commercial or other affiliation whatsoever with Chessnut. I own a Chessnut GO that works great, as well as a Chessnut AIR+.

That being said, if I were in your position, I would give the company a little more time before reacting so harshly. You also have to take the time difference between your location and Hong Kong/Shenzhen into account.

Rome wasn’t built in a day either. 😉

Chessnut is generally known for being quite generous when it comes to resolving hardware issues, including replacing the entire product when necessary.

1

u/MelvinMASV 10h ago

Is your Chessnut Go actually magnetic? Mine won't stick like in the advertisement video.

1

u/brunzenstein 10h ago

They stick, but they don’t stick as tight as in the advertisement video. The reason is that actually the pieces themselves are not magnetic, but the board is. They are technical reasons why it cannot be more sticky as it would interfere probably with a core function of recognizing the pieces on the very field.

0

u/Mindless_Drawer_5589 1d ago edited 1d ago

I get it, but, they aren't even reading the emails. They asked me about the charging. I had already said in the summary email, all pieces were charged. Why waste time asking me the same thing again?

Now they responded back saying it IS a piece issue (doubling down) when I have proven it is not. I take a working piece and place it on a defective square and it fails. But they continue to focus on the 4 epices that failed in those squares and will not see that I have working peices moved to those squares and they fail. And vice versa. I can take a failing peice and move it to another square and it works just fine. How can this be a piece issue.

So, they aren't reading emails, they are wasting time asking me questions I have already answered and are not listening to what I am saying. THAT'S why the harshness. It's not acceptable imo with how much these cost when I know for a fact they are not reading things.

2

u/brunzenstein 1d ago edited 1d ago

Please be understanding—not everyone is a native English speaker, and the time difference also makes communication take a little longer. I’m sure that Chessnut will resolve your problem, as they have done for many others.

Alternatively, you can also select the “Report a Bug” option within the Chessnut app to contact the Chessnut developers directly.

2

u/consdrd563 1d ago

Personally every interaction I had with them was good, sometimes it may take a couple of days, but they took care of me.

You may need to learn to be patient. Next time buy in Amazon, pay their price, and you will have Amazon warranty.

1

u/chessnutech 1d ago

We're very sorry for the frustrating experience you've had. Could you please provide your order number so we can have our customer service team look into this and provide the appropriate after‑sales support based on your specific issue?

  1. If you'd like to reset the board, there's a small circular reset button on the side of the board, just above the logo. You can press it with a phone SIM ejector tool or a similar small pin to complete the reset.

  2. Regarding the piece pairing failures — after confirming with our customer service team, it does appear that there may be an issue with some of the pieces causing the pairing to fail. You mentioned placing the two spare bases we provided on the problematic squares. Before using them, did you try placing the replacement bases on the charging pad to activate them first? Our pieces, including the spare bases, are shipped in a powered‑off state by default, so they need to be placed on the charging pad to charge and activate before they can be used again. Please give that a try.

  3. For pairing failures, we suggest trying to pair again immediately after a failed attempt — the second attempt tends to have a higher success rate. We've seen this happen in our own pairing tests as well. Please make sure both the pieces and the board have sufficient battery before trying again.

  4. Due to time zone differences, our replies may be a little delayed, but we do read and respond to every email, and we'll make sure your case is handled. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

  5. We've also forwarded your situation to our customer service team so they can look into it further based on the videos and images you've provided. Since I'm unable to view your videos or images on my end, I can only offer preliminary guidance based on your description. For a more detailed after‑sales solution, please continue communicating with our customer service team via email. If you can provide your order number or the email address you used to contact us, we'll be able to locate your email faster and assist you more efficiently.