Can't add children to family account

[ben86]

Hi

I can't set up family account to set up Childs ace 3

I bought a ace 3 for my daughter, im not a Fitbit user so had to set an account up 1st. I used my google account to log in. I set up my family how ever on my family it just say

to add children, make sure they're part of your family on Google, then set them up on Fitbit, their name will appear

I have made my daughter a account on my account as she is only 5 and added her to my family on google but nothing is showing up in my family on Fitbit app

please can someone help 

thanks

ben

[RikDangerous]

The article may be updated, but the app still behaves the same (and there are no updates available). It tells me to either delete all accounts from my device (?!), or set up my child on their own device. A childs activity watch should not require me to remove all accounts from my phone, or have a dedicated Android device to set up. This is an absolute farce, no wonder the general theme of this thread is frustrated customers who plan to throw away their devices and go to a competitor.

[rrbb]

Thanks to all who provided answers on this -- was such a nightmare setting up my daughter's Ace 3, lots of disappointment and hours wasted.  I'm not sure if this is because we are using iOS devices, but all we have is iPhone/iPad/Mac.

I finally got it to work by, on my phone, using the Google Family Link app to + Add Child -- even though my daughter already has a google account and we had already added her as a child.  When I created a new account for her through Family Link (with new email address), everything worked fine.

Good luck to all!

[AnneKu]

I'd love to get an answer tot my question, Lizzy. When will Fitbit solve this issue? 

[sallyspy]

I tried doing this, I opened the 5th google account for my child and i still end up in the same loop. I wonder if it is a problem with Android phones, which does not make sense if this is owned by Google now!

So frustrating, I really did not want to return this, but it will be returned.

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It has been months and they have not. 

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Yes, but it was escalanted 3months ago and there has been no resolution. What kind of service is this?

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I have been dealing with it for 2months. I was about to return it, but thought Id try one more time and it is still the same loop. Very frustrating

[Csladden]

Unbelievable. It’s Sept 10th and I’m having the same issue. Very disappointed birthday child and I’ve wasted hours. Support acts like it has no idea this is a pre-existing issue and wasted my morning on slow useless chat. I’m going to tell everyone to avoid Fitbit like the plague. This is the worst customer service possible. 

[Csladden]

This doesn’t work Lizzy. How can this issue still be ongoing??

[Cloudyb]

My son has an iPhone and I’ve just spent hours on this. Fitbit - this is the worst product / onboarding experience I’ve had in years! I’m returning the Fitbit Ace3 on Monday, lost too much of my life on this already. Can reach support because they’re too busy (no surprise given the user experience). This should be easy. This is why it’s worth spending a bit more on an Apple Watch - a seamless user experience really is worth the extra money. Fitbit - fire your UX people.

[Ryan-23]

I don’t see a video. It’s 9/16/2023 and I have the same issue. I can’t add family members nor kids. We have a google family created. 

[AnneKu]

Exactly! Please Lizzy, tell us when this issue will be solved so we can FINALLY start using the watch we bought weeks ago. How does Fitbit not realise that not solving this simple issue will cost them tons of customers who will never want to have anything to do with Fitbit again??

[FrankieGo]

I bought a Fitbit Ace 3 three weeks ago. I noticed very quickly that I couldn't "Create Child account" under "My Family". I have been on the phone and via email with Fitbit support for three weeks. To today, I have not received any valuable information. My case has been escalated three times. I was told the upper support team and their supervisors will ONLY communicate with end users via email. I understand the amount of inquires they must be receiving. what I don't understand is the level of support and quality of their service provided.

Fitbit has been in business for 16 years now. I have my first fitbit since 2015. Loved it until Google bought it. Now their support doesn't want to get involved in customer satisfaction. Their application service team doesn't want to work with Google support on the migration.

Please, someone from fitbit, pick up the phone and talk (not email) to your customers. They need your help on getting things up and running.

[MandaC77]

I went to the article. 

You cannot set it up! If your child signs in to their google account you get the message "Can't use Fitbit with this Google Account"

The option to add to my account is STILL MISSING. Are you actually attempting this yourself Lizzy? Is there a video walkthrough that shows this actually works?

I would really love someone from Fitbit to reach out. This was a much wanted gift for my daughter for her birthday in July. 

Why can't someone from Fitbit be reached by phone?? 

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Also - why is this marked SOLVED. It is not solved. 

[LouiseAL]

What if my child does not have her own device? 

I want her to use the fitbit app on my phone. 

[Lacking]

I completely agree!! 

Why does a child who received an ace 3 need THEIR OWN DEVICE TO SET UP THEIR WATCH?!? 

My eldest has his ace on my family Fitbit account, no problem! WTF Fitbit!

It also does not state ANYWHERE on the Ace 3 box that they'll need their own device. Horrible

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Do you mean you got a new Gmail email address & account for your daughter? Or something different? 

We would appreciate finding out how you made it work. 

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Agreed! It's not working on my android either! So frustrating! 

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Sept 26th birthday here for my son, and same problem! 

The most frustrating thing is my eldest got an Ace à few years ago and no problem with his on my account... 

And no where on the new Ace 3 box does it say your child will need THEIR OWN DEVICE to set up their phone! 

Absolutely ridiculous!

Let me know if you find a solution! 

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YES! SAME HERE! 

Why should my child need their own device?!? It's absolutely ridiculous 

[rrbb]

For me, even though my child already had her own gmail address, I used the Family Link app and let it walk me through the steps of creating a new user (including making a new gmail account for that user). 

[KatieT73]

Why is this so impossible?  My husband bought my daughter an Ace3.  I tried to set up the app with her google account. I then realised I had to have a google family account, which I did, with my daughter as a member.  I then went ahead an supervised her account (stupid idea obviously).  I now can't add her because it's a supervised account.  I can't unsupervised her account until she's 13 (she's currently 9).  Why is this so impossible?  Why are so many people having such massive issues with this and they're still selling the **ahem** things!!!!

[KiaSohc]

Thanks for this rrbb!

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Bought the Ace 3 for my son's birthday. Good thing I decided to set it up immediately. It was such a nightmare doing this!!! Total waste of time!!! I tried searching and luckily saw this discussion board. Imagine requiring another mobile device for your child so you can complete the setup?!?! I kept circling back to the same app response again and again! I ended up creating 2 separate google accounts for my son trying to make this work. 

What is totally unacceptable here is that Fitbit still continues selling the Ace 3 to the public without any clear solution or workaround to resolve the issue. I guess once a customer ends up purchasing this then we are on our own. I would have expected that this went through proper testing (and passed!) before releasing it to the public! What I don't understand is how this product ended up getting good reviews with this problem?!?! 

This topic should have never been tagged as SOLVED! Yes it has been answered but not in any way fixed or working!

NOTE: The details shown in the link provided as a solution does not in any way help in fixing the issue! It is just basically the same steps on how to setup Ace devices - which obviously does not work! It does not tell you how to resolve it!

Link as provided by the moderator: https ://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/2346.htm

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[D5843]

My situation, whilst slightly different, boils down to the same problem. My son has an ace 2 and has been using it happily for ages. Fitbit (when they were Fitbit) had a really simple solution to this. The adult signs into their account on the Fitbit app, adds the child profile and pairs the Fitbit. They can then switch between thier own profile and the child's profile at will within the app. I made the mistake of merging my Fitbit account with my Google account last night and that has broken the whole thing. As some have already pointed out, Google expects the child to have their own device (tablet / phone) to register the Fitbit to. My son doesn't have any of these so now his Fitbit is eWaste. What a shambles.

[JC3000]

I have been using FitBit for YEARS. With this new update my two kids Ace3 have been having serious issues and require to be re-paired. I chatted with Fitbit customer service and this is what I was told:  Google requires the kids to have their own google account AND their own phone in order to activate them. But apparently you only need a phone or the activation and pairing..... makes no sense to me.

FROM FITBIT:

Before continuing with your kid’s Ace 3 set up process, please be sure of the following:

• You have a Google account
• Your kid has a Google account
• Your kid has his/her own phone (only needed for the set up process)
• You have downloaded Family Link app on your phone
• You have downloaded the Fitbit app on your kid's phone
• Both devices (your phone and your kids) are up-to-date. 

Getting my child a phone at 8/10 years of age for this purpose will never happen.

[wazzy24]

I'm in the same boat.  I had a Fitbit family account, where i could toggle back and forth between kids view and parent view within the Fitbit app.  I've since been told I have to move my fitbit account to google.  So I did...had to create two new google accounts for my two kids, even though they already had google kids accounts.  As they are google kids accounts, they're supervised by Family Link.  Now when I try to log into the fitbit app with their kids google accounts, it won't let me, as they are supervised accounts.  Customer service, for two weeks now has been of no use.  So now, it seems like both my kids Ace 3's, are bricks and useless.

[WimVanGelder]

Did not see this post yet before posting my own frustrations, but I am in the same boat as well.

My son cannot enjoy his brand new birthday present because of this absolute nonsense.

Shall I return this and get a cheap eBay activity tracker that's a breeze to set up?

Kind regards

Moderator Edit: Word choice