I have two that I purchased when it came out and tried charging recently and it does the same thing as others have mentioned. It would be green when plugged, but does not have a charge when unplugged. I contacted The Wand Company and here’s their response:
Thank you so much for getting in touch with us.
I'm really sorry to hear your Sonic is no longer holding a charge as it should. As you may be aware, the Tenth Sonic contains a very small lithium polymer battery. Which, if left uncharged for a long period of time (even if not being used) can become damaged. It sounds like this is what has happened to your Sonic.
Unfortunately, we are no longer manufacturing our Tenth Sonic Screwdriver. We do now offer a battery replacement process for the Tenth Sonic. For this process, we would ask that you send us back your Sonic alone in a small padded envelope and as soon as we receive it, we will send it to our workshop for the battery replacement process. Because this process can be both a bit tricky and time-consuming, we are making it available at the cost of £40 (GBP). To avoid delays, as soon we receive your Sonic, we will send you back one of our previously refurbished Sonics. These are Sonics that have had brand new battery replacements and have been tested to ensure they are fully functioning. You will therefore not get back the exact sonic that you send us.
Alternatively, if you would like to attempt to replace the battery yourself, then we can send you out a new battery free of charge. If you would like us to do this, we would advise that you read through our dismantling instructions first (please see below, as I have attached them to the end of this email) to make sure you are comfortable in carrying out the replacement process. Of course, if you were to damage the Sonic whilst trying to repair it, this would void any valid warranty as we do not cover accidental damage.
Please let me know where you would like to go from here.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kindest regards
I of course opted to be sent the batteries, and with the instructions they sent me, was able to replace the batteries on both Sonics.
-Ely
I just got one on eBay that claimed was in unused condition. This describes exactly what happens.
Did anyone ever figure how to fix this? New battery? Which one is the majority rule favorite?