Ace 2 came out of the band and lost

[mlbil]

My son is 10 and was wearing the Ace 2 device. He received this Fitbit as a gift on August 27, 2019. During recess on September 25th he discovered the Fitbit has come out of the band. We searched the playground after school. I tried syncing the device and also installed a Bluetooth tracking app while searching for the device. No luck in finding his Fitbit, and customer service was unhelpful. I was told this device was designed and test by children. I don't believe it's been designed for an active child to wear and we're very disappointed with this product. We won't be purchasing another Fitbit device and I certainly wouldn't recommend this product to anyone after reading that other families have had the same issue!

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[LiliyaFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @mlbil.

I appreciate your participation in the Forums and sharing that your son lost his tracker which he received as a gift. Thank you for your efforts to find it and letting me know that the tracker came out of the band. I totally understand how you're feeling about the resolution provided by Customer Support. I've sent the additional details to the Support team for them to review your case and provide further assistance. You should be getting a reply soon. 

I'll be around. 

[bdrit]

Just had the same issue with my daughter's tracker she's had since June. While I didn't expect a free replacement, I thought there'd be some discounted offer on just the tracker portion given the quantity of these issues that I see on social media. (And, we still have the band too of course!) But, that wasn't the case. We have three Fitbit units, and I just purchased a Versa 2 despite it not being a part of the offer from my Ionic that had an issue and was a few months out of warranty. Hoping there might be a way to resolve this that doesn't involve me buying a full price tracker (or some other company's). 

Edit: they reached out to me and resolved this issue. Thank you!

[LiliyaFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @bdrit.

Thank you for joining the thread and sharing that you've experienced the same issue with your daughter's tracker. I appreciate you being a Fitbit customer. Thank you for your feedback since this helps us to keep improving. I've shared your post with our Support team and they've mentioned that you already have a case with them. I've sent the details you provided and recommend to continue the communication through email. I know they will be glad to help you out and provide a solution.

Let me know if you have further questions. 

[CiaraOC1]

I have purchased a number of Fitbits including myself and my husbands Fitbit Versa. Compared the cost of Fitbits to other fitness trackers we paid a considerable premium for these devices with the understanding that we were getting a High Quality Premium device at a Premium price. I recently purchased two further Fitbits for my sons including one Fitbit Ace 2. I assumed again that I was paying for a quality product that was well designed as it was actively being marketed towards children. I was under the impression that during the design and testing process this device was tested on children to ensure it was a suitable product for this market and was durable.

Two weeks ago I discovered my son lost his Fitbit which just fell out of the strap. I followed all the usual advice to track the device to no avail. Looking at the manner in which this device is housed in the strap I realise that the design is completely flawed. The device is simply housed in the strap without any restraining clamps. The design is totally unsuitable for children and I am sure hundreds if not thousands are lost every week, adding to the profits of Fitbit who may end selling  replacement devices to these individuals. When I came across this Community forum I realised I am not alone and this makes it all the worse. I feel cheated and let down by Fitbit who obviously  went to market with a poorly design product and sold it as child friendly and durable.

This has certainly made me wonder why I would pay a premium for Fitbit products I trusted your designs were worth the premium price but in this case I was wrong. I will certainly question my decision to purchase your product in the future

[LiliyaFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @CiaraOC1.

Thank you for joining the thread and sharing that your son's Ace 2 tracker was lost. I appreciate your efforts to find it. I totally understand how you are feeling as you've invested in the Fitbit Family and appreciate your feedback. We're constantly working on improving our devices and user experiences, and your comments are always welcome. I've sent your information to the Customer Support team so they can get in touch with you and provide further assistance. You should be getting a reply soon. 

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.

[resqprincess]

I bought 3 (one for each of my kids) and so far have had this same problem with 2 of them. Luckily we were able to eventually find my son's Ace 2, but never did find my daughter's. So disappointed with this product and customer service.

[CiaraOC1]

They replaced my son's as it was still under warranty. I changed his band
to one from the inspire so he won't lose it again

[LiliyaFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @resqprincess. It's nice to see you around, @CiaraOC1. 

@resqprincess thank you for joining the thread and sharing your experience with product and Customer Support. I am sure our Support team tried to help you in the best possible manner. I totally understand how you are feeling. I appreciate your feedback and time you took to let us know your frustration since this helps us to keep improving.

@CiaraOC1 I am glad to here you were sent a replacement. Thank you for posting the update here. I hope your son continues enjoying the Fitbit experience without any issues.  

I'll be around if you need further assistance. 

[warnie_cbr600]

Same issue for me.  I bought an Ace2 to replace my son's Ace as he really wanted the upgraded model.  About a month ago the Ace2 display fell out of the wristband while my son was playing at a jumping castle entertainment venue.  We attempted to locate it using Bluetooth tracking options to no avail.  I've called the venue every weekend since to see if has turned up, but it hasn't.  My son is pretty devastated at having lost his main Christmas present.  We have been to this same jumping castle entertainment venue many times while wearing the Ace and never had this issue.  Given how many other people have had this same issue with the Ace2, I'm hesitant to go and buy another one given the same issue could easily reoccur, but my son is very keen to have it replaced.  Is there any chance Fitbit can offer just a display at a discount?  Or can it be replaced under warranty given it was only 2 months old at the time?

[warnie_cbr600]

Exact same thing happened to my 9 year old son.  He lost his while playing on some jumping castles - he is devastated.  I contacted Customer support as I was hoping they might be willing to replace it under warranty like they did for you, or at least provide a small token of goodwill given the significant number of people that have had this issue, which clearly represents a design flaw of the product.  Even just an offer of a slightly discounted product would have been nice, or at least an empathetic response would have gone some way to keeping me loyal to the brand.  Below is the response I received.

Hi Mark, 

Thanks for providing additional information. Unfortunately, your product doesn’t meet the replacement requirements of our warranty policy. For details about our warranty policy, see fitbit.com/returns.

You can learn more about the latest options in the Fitbit family of products at www.fitbit.com/compare and fitbit.com/store.
 
Let us know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

the Fitbit Team

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[n3tto]

My son is very active and had the Ace 2 for Xmas - He wore it during football sessions at academies and really enjoyed tracking his workouts (we alwasy made him wear a sweat band around it to protect the fitbit and him and to prevent it falling out) He has been wearing it recently during the lockdown but sadly lost it while out running around a field. Tried everything to find it but sadly it has gone. I'm very disappointed that the design build didn't have measures to prevent all these children from losing the tracker unit. I am now looking at alternate devices that offer better security. Come on Fitbit - Update the design! I won't pay another £60 for another one of these - what is everyone else using?

[CiaraOC1]

We're still using the fitbit but with the strap from the fitbit inspire instead, its far more secure than the childs strap.  

[EddyEdz]

My 9 year old has been wishing for a fitbit for so long and finally received his Ace2 last month. Today when picking him he said he had been on the swings and all of a sudden the clock was gone, left only the wrist band. We have looked and downloaded bluetooth trackers and know it is somewhere in the sand and gravel but after three hours of combing the ground  we are unsuccessful. He is heartbroken and I feel bad as I initially thought this could impossibly happen, only to find out it is not unusual. I wish I had known so I could have bought the right accessory.

[Qwyjibo]

We had this same issue ... this was a Christmas gift for my son and the sensor fell out in late February. I did not expect a replacement so I purchased one. Now that replacement has stopped working, it won't charge at all. I came to this forum to try to find help with the issue and found that many other people also dealt with the first issue of the tracker falling out. I'm going to continue looking for help regarding the no charging issue, but wanted to chime in on this one, in case Fitbit is keeping track of how many people are having this issue.

[Sarahwittenauer]

I just chatted with customer service and was told replacement is NOT offered, on lost device. 

My son lost his ace2 because it came out of the band and its not even 6 months old.  I recall my daughter losing her fitbit several years ago and it being replaced for free, due to it being less than a year old. 

Why is this not offered any more?   I have been a Fitbit customer for over 7 years, very disappointed in the way I was treated by the chat person. They suggested that I shouldn't have gotten a replacement for my daughters and that they would look into why someone replaced it for us.  What a Jerk. 

[Sarahwittenauer]

The same thing happened to us. Our Ace2 isn't  even 6mo old. 

My son lost his while at his grandparents house, out in the country not near our home, while with his dad.  We can't go back and try to find it, and if I had known the replacement wasn't covered under the 1yr warranty as it was in the past I wouldn't have let him wear it when going to visit his dad. 

[JuanFitbit]

Hi everyone. Thanks for sharing your experiences. 

@Sarahwittenauer  Thank you for your feedback and posts. I requested information regarding your case. As Support couldn't provide me with the info, I've sent you a PM. Please answer it and I'll be following up with the investigation, and will provide the necessary feedback. 

Please keep me posted. 

[n3tto]

@JuanFitbit 

Assume the other people who have had issues are not getting a response? Terrible product and now customer service. Will never use Fitbit products and will make sure I tell friends and family the same. 

[warnie_cbr600]

Hi everyone, I posted earlier this year about how my son lost his Ace2, and I provided a follow up a short time later with the email response I got from Fitbit Customer service.  But I thought I'd just let everyone know what the final outcome was for me.

Essentially over the course of about 2 weeks, I continued to argue with customer support that the product was clearly faulty and not 'fit for purpose', as demonstrated by the many, many, people complaining on the forums about their kids losing their device while they were doing everyday kid activities (eg. running around the playground).  Customer support continued to respond with the almost identical response of 'all Fitbit products are tested rigorously before entering the market' and therefore 'the product is suitable for the purpose it was designed'.  I would make the point that given 7 more people over the last few months have added to this forum page indicating their kids also lost their Ace2 continues to demonstrate the product IS a bad design that is NOT fit for purpose.

I also asked Customer Support to identify exactly which part of the warranty excluded my 'faulty' product from being replaced under warranty.  Each reply continued to only refer me to the warranty - in its entirety - with the last email received telling me bluntly 'I would find the reason within the warranty documentation'.

Essentially I gave up.  And after explaining to my son that if we bought another Ace2 he would just lose it again, we looked at other devices/brands.  We ended up purchasing a Garmin Vivofit 4, which is essentially exactly the same as the kids Garmin Vivofit Jr.2 - my son just wanted a plain black one, and the kids ones only came with bands that had cartoons or movie prints on them.  The Vivofit 4 (and the Jr.2) is awesome.  It doesn't even need charging - you just replace the battery when it goes flat every 12-15 months.  This was a big plus for my son, who always seemed to have a flat device just as we were about to go for a run, or a play at the park.  Admittedly the screen on the Vivofit isn't as bright or large as the Ace2, but its a small downside for a device that won't get lost again due to a bad design.

Fitbit have handled this issue very poorly in my opinion.  The fact that this issue continues to be a repeat problem demonstrates that there is an issue with the design of this product.  Fitbit should have admitted this problem, and helped customers with at least a discount on a new device as some compensation.  But instead, they're steadfastly sticking to their claim that there's nothing wrong with the product design, and that they can't replace the device under warranty for reasons you will find somewhere in the 120 page warranty document - just go find it yourself.

I've had quite a few Fitbit products in the past, and had been very happy until this recent experience.  But after this I won't be getting another Fitbit ever.  Samsung and Garmin devices it is from now on.

Best of luck to all those still trying to get some sort of help from Fitbit on this issue.

Cheers.