Aria scale stopped working

[Sportspice]

Hi. Recently my Aria scales have stopped working. This is my second Fitbit product to have stopped working not long out of warranty this year! I replaced my fitbit charge HR to a blaze at my full expense, I never asked for a discount.
However, I have been emailing back and forth to see if some assistance can be provided to help me with a new set of scales. I understand my device is out of warranty but it doesn't seem unreasonable when spending hundreds of $s at a time that these products work for at least a few years, especially when there is no option to repair them! I have found many examples in online forums of not only discounts being provided but in some cases full replacements provided for free when devices out of warranty have stopped. I have now spent a lot of money replacing a product that I would not have done had I realised yet another would stop working so quickly too. Just waiting for the husband's Fitbit to complete the trifecta. Where is the customer service!

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Praseeja]

Hi Team,

I am facing the same problem. I was a die hard Fitbit fan. Had almost all Fitbit watch models until I bought versa.. n one day it died on me so had to throw it away. I was so frustrated that I decided to switch to Apple watches n it been working fine so far. Now it aria that’s dead. I am okay to throw it away tho with a heavy heart. But please remember you will be losing customers this way. I am sure not getting a second Aria . Will buy some other sturdy brand

[wimp35]

Aria scale just conked out. Never buying another fitbit product again. Forget this noise.

Stupid fitbit watch slipped out of it's casing. No replacement. Now 170 dollar scale I bought a few years ago does not work. I'm leaving a scathing review on Amazon.

Never again!

Moderator edit: merged reply

[TedvR]

My aria 2 went blank a few days ago. Replaced the batteries, did a factory reset and the best I get is a reload of the firmware followed by display of an exclamation mark and the thing goes dead again. I suspected there was a botched firmware download, but how can you be sure?

[suet43]

You can try calling customer service. I did when my aria crapped out on me
and was very disappointed by the result however. When my earlier version
Fitbit tracker crapped out they at least offered a 50% off a new or
improved model, but when I called about the aria the answer was that there
was no help for me. Good luck to you

[TedvR]

That's interesting. Aria 2 scale requires alkaline cells. Akaline cells are supposedly known to develop a slight insulating coating on the electrode contacts, so this may be what needs to wiped off, even if the contacts appear clean?

Well thank you, and good advice. suet43.

I spent over thirty years in software development and computer & digital communications product management. And from my experiences, the way FITBIT  / Google handles customer service of poor product design speaks volumes about the internal challenges they face. Working with computer scientists I can tell you as smart as these folks are, they really do live in an "alternate reality" when it comes to their software and hardware product designs. The best way to encourage some actual reality with these good folks is to "vote with your money".

Aria 2 is a severely disappointing product, I will not recommend to anyone. Poor product support is very damaging, as it takes about seven times the effort to win back a customer as it does to get them onboard in the first place. Once bitten, seven times shy.

Generally, I find FITBIT products are "iffy" when it comes to their communications software, as witnessed by the syncing and updating problems they all seem to have. It is a complex problem. Being among some of the better fitness product developers does not shield FITBIT from customer ire.  Although, I would like to think FITBIT is working on improving this, BUT, when you get frustrated "you vote with your money" to tell the developers and their management that you do not value their efforts and they need to do better. I am tried of wrestling with my FITBIT product problems, I want them to work seamlessly.

I think I'll go back to a spring loaded mechanical bathroom scale, and calculate my own BMI etc. because ARIA 2 is just more trouble than it is worth.

Good luck indeed.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[SunriseRun439]

The Aria scale is a piece of garbage. I had to throw mine and have read several hundred people having to throw theirs. Fitbit customer service has been completely absent.

[Chrystea]

Same thing happen to me. I chatted/contact customer support. Basically nothing they can do and that is it. I own 3 Fitbit products and all have issues with no resolutions. For the price they charge, there are better comparable products I am looking into. Disappointed. 

[Gigi430]

I hear ya. I have a $15 scale now that works better. What a rip off for that Fitbit scale. I am done with Fitbit products.

Gigi Jannace
631-972-5110

[surfbeach]

I did read through the thread of conversation and Kenny hit the nail on the head. Just use a little cotton bud and wet it with Isocol (rubbing alcohol), which you can from Coles/Woolworths, and clean the battery connections, and it will bring your Aria back to life.

The problem is, that alkaline batteries over time do leak, and even though you may not see any residue, there could be enough there to affect the connection. I'm not sure this would fix all the problems mentioned, but I do think some people may have thrown away perfectly good scales.

p.s. I was a rep' with Eveready for 3 years and am familiar with the problem.

[LeVuong]

If your scale doesn't turn on when you stand on it, you may need to replace the batteries. For Aria Air, check the battery level icon on the display. ... If the battery level is low, replace the batteries. If the battery level isn't low, remove the batteries for at least 10 seconds and reinsert them. If that doesn't work, try taking out the batteries and clean the contacts of the scale with a cotton swab and a little bit of alcohol in order to remove any dust that the contacts accumulate sometimes. After this, put the batteries back in and see if your scale gets back to life.

[ElanorG]

What a useless unhelpful reply.

[Neneca]

My Aria has stopped weighing properly too. it weighs differently every time for the same person, completely unreliable. I am still waiting for some help from FITBIT. I got an initial email but nothing else so far. it is out of warranty which is a problem but it should last for the price you pay for it. I am hoping this forum will activate a response from them...

[bernalbenson]

I am having this same exact issue. What can be done to fix this ERR problem ? 

[surfbeach]

If it has just stopped working, use some rubbing alcohol on a cotton wool bud to clean the battery connections. In Australia we have a product called Isocol, but not sure about other countries like products.

I don't work for FitBit but have used their trackers and scales for tenish years, and have had every problem to be had.