Bought these for my 3 kids for Christmas, but all of them don't work.

[ThisBadProduct]

So we bought 3 of the Fitbit Charge 6 devices for our kids for Christmas, here we are on Christmas morning and none of them will allow our kids to log in.  We have tried to make them work now for a few hours and read many forum posts here but have not found a resolution, i am posting here to avoid having to return all 3, hopefully there is a solution.

The problem is that my kids all have Android phones with family link enabled, this prevents the use of phones during certain hours and sets time limits on app use.  When opening the FitBit app it says that its incompatible with Googles Family link feature.

I tried creating a new google account to use with the FitBit but it was not able to login either while the device has family link enabled.

Removing family link is not an option that any parent should consider, I find it hard to believe that the makers of this product didn't cover this eventuality.  They took the time to make an error message but not the time to document this limitation on the box or sales listings, leads me to believe there is a workaround.

What am i missing?

[jatala22]

We are running into the same issue. I am not able to get around setting up the device with them having a supervised account.

[notryanreynolds]

Ugh. Same. The worst part is my children were super excited about them.

[jatala22]

Okay, I have found a work around, but it involved creating new google accounts. Still a dumb issue they should fix, but we are up and working now. Inspire 3 and an ace 3. Now to try and add them to family link after the fact...

[ThisBadProduct]

Interesting, i couldn't get the new account to work.  We also had one kid with a Charge 5 device, that one worked by creating a non-google account using fitbit.com/signup, but the same process does not seem to work on the Charge 6.  I wonder if that's the case for the inspire 3 and ace 3 as well?

[MPinCA]

I'm having the same issue!  The new account wouldn't work because a small child still needs supervision so it's linked.  I'm about to return this product. 

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @ThisBadProduct , @MPinCA , @jatala22 , @notryanreynolds , welcome to the community. I've not tackled the challenge of setting up devices for family members though I'm confident other community members have. You may find this article helpful, How do I manage my child in the Fitbit app? Please note the age limitation.

I hope it's useful.

Cheers

[ThisBadProduct]

Unfortunately no, not helpful

Is there not a solution to this problem?

[MPinCA]

According to someone else's reply, not at this time. It's a glitch from the
merge with Google.

[ThisBadProduct · Accepted solution]

Well I figured i would try one last time by removing Family Link, adding the account and putting Family Link back.

Did not work. The documentation provided everywhere on the internet was inaccurate, referencing menus that no longer exist.  If you are reading this and thinking about buying a Fitbit device please do yourself a favor and buy a competing product instead.  These devices and their documentation are frustratingly incomplete and buggy.  All in I have at least 12 hours of effort invested in this, over $500 in devices and nothing to show for any of it.

The support given is almost non-existent and all replies i have received from the company seem like they are AI bots, recommending articles that are unrelated and unhelpful. 

I will be returning all of the devices my kids received for Christmas.  I recommend that all the people that responded to this article do the same.  I will also be leaving negative reviews where i can on various sites to try to help future people avoid the Fitbit pain.

[Nelson0509]

Just call Fitbit to talk to a real person.

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @ThisBadProduct, also consider this article How do I manage my child in the Fitbit app? 

Cheers

[HENK2]

Fitbit doesn't exist anymore. It's all  Google