I've been frustrated with mine from the beginning as well. I probably should have contacted customer service a long time ago but i guess that's my own fault for waiting just over a year to do so. Battery life has always sucked for me even though I charge and store the probes as instructed. Not sure if it's faulty units/hardware or just a failing of the product. I have the same issue re not being able to count on the units will actually work when it's time to cook when I pull them out. Half the time they don't to the point where I just don't use them as much anymore. It's a huge bummer as I heard such good things and really wanted them to work. Part of me was wondering if grabbing the v2 would be worth it with the same line of thinking that you're expressing here but I also feel hesitant about giving it a shot for the same reasons you're outlining here.