I am not doing well on this thread... ...I mention a strapless grounding strap for fun... not my finest hour.
Not sure why you are being this hard on yourself, Andy. To me, you made it clear that "cordless" (not strapless) ground strap was rather useless by saying, in
bold italics, no less, that it was "
Most amusing".
I personally think it was good you posted that as it provided an opportunity to point out to those unsure, that they should avoid those gimmicky devices completely and get a real, quality strap, or get into the habit of frequently discharging any static by touching bare metal of the case interior.
just sent it back to the shop where I bought it without saying ESD shock killed it
Again, the two main issues with ESD are (1) destructive discharges are too small for us mere humans to see, hear or feel. And (2), the
only way to determine if a device was destroyed by ESD is by close examination of the device under a very powerful microscope.
So, since there is no way for you to know if you killed it with an ESD shock, you did
not technically commit
fraud (a serious criminal offense!) by knowingly destroying something through negligent abuse then trying to get a refund or replacement for free, with
deception (intentionally omitting facts).
Now if you want to incriminate yourself, that's your business.