Blaze not turning on

[Mnewbound]

My Blaze is dead it won't charge, no lights or logos, dead! Don't know what else to do, tried reboot nothing works. Prior to it dying it was giving me pulses all day for what I don't know.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[WendyB]

Restart
http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1186/?q=restart&l=en_US&fs=Search&pn=1

If that doesn't help
Contact Support
http://help.fitbit.com/?cu=1

[Gonzob]

As I just asked in another post, how do you restart a dead device? It seems that if it's dead, you can push the buttons until your fingers bleed and it won't do anything. You're just pushing the buttons. Nothing is going to happen as the device is UNRESPONSIVE.

[AlejandraFitbit]

Welcome to the Community @Mnewbound, it's great to see you around @Gonzob and @WendyB thanks for stopping by.

First of all, I appreciate the efforts in trying to fix this issue. I would like to know if you have followed our friend's recommendation and get in touch with our support team, have they offer you a solution for this?

Hope to hear from you soon. 

[Gonzob]

I've tried:

- cleaning the contacts

- changing the charging adapter (the one that plugs into the wall)

- checking the voltages on the pins (2.7v and .7v, IIRC)

- pushing the buttons to restart WHILE it's in the charger

So the charger is working and it won't even restart with power applied. Guess it's time to call support back with my case number. Hopefully they can handle this. 

The thing is, I used it for a year with no issues. Yeah, it needed a restart occasionally. But no issues. My wife then bought me a new (mechanical) watch that I've worn for several months. I decided to go back to the Blaze and it's now dead. It was fine when I stopped wearing it. 

[AlejandraFitbit]

Thanks for the information @Gonzob. If you already have a ticket with our support team, I recommend keeping an eye on your inbox for their reply. I hope you receive a solution for this issue.

Catch you later. 

[Gonzob]

Duplicate post. Moderator, please remove if possible.

[Gonzob]

So here's the deal (or not, depending on your point of view, I guess). 

I talked to a tech 2 days ago. They suggested I clean the contacts and try resetting it again. That failed. 

I then called back yesterday and talked to another tech. He did all kinds of troubleshooting and found the following (proven in one fashion or another, I can explain, if needed):

1. The charger works. 

2. They were getting info from it on their end yesterday (seems it sends them the firmware version, data, etc.)

3. This issue (and this is key) STARTED BEFORE the warranty expired.

3. it will not restart on my end.

So the watch is apparently working (taking what he said yesterday). Yet it will not reset or come on. He also agreed that it started before the warranty expired. He went on to say that it "appears" to be caught in a firmware update loop. That is, the firmware is old (relatively speaking) and that it is trying to do an update. But it is caught in a loop trying to do this so it won't start. So while this started BEFORE the warranty expired AND it is apparently an issue with the firmware, all he would offer is a 25% discount on a new one. I told him that was ridiculous as it's obviously a problem they caused. He said all I could do was talk to a supervisor/manager. 

Today I called (previous conversations were via chat) and talked to a "supervisor". He held by the line citing that it is out of warranty so he can't do anything except offer the 25% discount if I wanted to buy a new one. He also agreed that it started before the warranty ran out and that it was an issue with their firmware. But, that's all he can do. 

So for those of you that have gotten replacements out of warranty, good for you. I asked how that could happen and he claimed he had "no knowledge" of how that could happen. Once the warranty is expired, 25% is all they "can" do, despite the documented cases where it's NOT true.

I asked him then why would I buy another $200 watch that may very well do the same thing in a year? He had no comment. I pointed out that, even to their own admission, this is a firmware issue and that it started before the warranty ran out. Again, no comment except to offer 25% on a new one.

Take this as a word of caution along with all the other issues written in these forums about the Blaze. If you have an issue with yours, there is no guarantee FITBIT WON'T REFUSE THE WARRANTY. A warranty is only as good as the company honoring it and in my case, they won't. Despite them even agreeing it is their issue.

You will ask, why would I expect them to honor a warranty 6 months after it expired? My answer is simple. By their own admission, it is a firmware issue (no control over that on by me) and it started BEFORE the warranty expired. So why shouldn't I expect them to honor it? OK, the firmware became out of date. Does that mean the watch should quit working altogether with no recourse to bring it up to date? I've worked in IT for over 30 years and have dealt with a lot of firware upgrades. I have NEVER seen a case where outdated firmware would cause the device to completely fail.

I told him that if this is all he can do, despite having several fitbits in the past and it being their issue, I will NEVER buy another and that he just lost a customer and that it will be written up in this forum as a very unhappy customer. Sorry to say...

Oh, and for what it is worth, their 25% discount brings the price down to what you can get it for on Amazon.

[AlejandraFitbit]

Thanks for sharing your experience @Gonzob.

The good news here is that you received a 25% discount which you can use to purchase another Fitbit tracker, if you can use that discount on any other tracker, in this page you will be able to see all the Fitbit trackers and see if there is one that you like. Also, if you haven't checked our warranty policy, I recommend taking a look at it.

See you around. 

[Gonzob]

"The good news here is that you received a 25% discount"? That's good news? The whole point of my post was that was NOT enough. They should have honored their warranty, which I feel (and you can disagree) they did NOT do. THEY admitted the problem started BEFORE the warranty ran out AND it is a problem with THEIR firmware, which I have no control over whatsoever. 

Look, the issue is simple. The firmware caused the device to become unusable. They offered no path to get it to work even though they claimed the device was sending data. So it is blatantly obvious that the issue is the firmware, which, again, I have no control over. All I did was let it sit too long without doing updates. OK, that was my error. But here's the thing. THEY admitted it was their issue, not mine. THEIR firmware has an issue and that issue is causing the device to become unusable. NO WHERE does it say that you MUST keep the firmware updated. While working in IT, I agree that is a good idea, but it is not REQUIRED and NO WHERE do they say it IS REQUIRED. And since that is the root issue, coupled with the fact THEY ADMITTED it started BEFORE the warranty ran out, they should still honor the warranty and do 1 of 2 things:

1. Give me path to make the one I have functional again (some way to fix the "update loop" it is stuck in, the fault in THEIR firmware), or 

2. Replace the device entirely.

Barring either of these avenues, why would I want to use their "discount" to buy another that may very well have a similar issue in a year? Also, the "discount" is worthless. As I pointed out, 25% off the price from their store brings the price down to the same price I could buy a new one on Amazon. ($199.99/MSRP - 25% brings it down to $150. When I checked the other day, one seller had it listed for $147.95.) So the "discount" is meaningless. Sure, it's 25% off FULL MSRP, but the SAME discounted price can be found elsewhere. So in reality, it's nothing but an attempt to appease a customer with a meaningless offer. Now if they were willing to actually DO something that would help, I'd be all ears willing to listen. Until then, I have a useless device.

[Vitusdemilo]

Yeah, I contacted customer support.  They sent me a new one.  I went out and bought a new charger too.  The new one lasted less than a week and is now dead too.

I am fed up.

[Gonzob]

Well, at least you got that much. Sorry to hear of yet another person having the SAME issue.  I’ve not heard anything further from customer support so they’re  obviously not willing to do anything about it either. And again, it is clearly a fault in their firmware that they are not willing to stand behind.  

It’s real simple. They either have to fix this or they will lose the smart watch game. 

[Kyrenialamb]

Mine has done the same thing this morning. Up until now, it has worked fine but I only bought it in March 2017, and am far from happy that this product seems to have lasted for less than 2 years. I tried to charge it, and now the lights have gone out, and the screen has gone dead. 

[TAK83]

I am on my 2nd FitBit Blaze. I purchase one in June 2017 and it would not turn on. They sent me a new on and it became active July 13, 2017. Just the other day my Blaze stopped holding a long charge. I tried 2 different OEM chargers and my charge only lasted about 2 hours. I emailed customer service and we’ve been going back and forth. They offered 25% off a new one. I said $200 is a lot of money on a device that only lasted 15 months. Again they said 25% is all they can do. I know when I got my replacement the first time they sent me a link to get the same one for free or get any other device for 50% off. They won’t even offer that. 

[Thatcher_B]

How the hell is that good news?! His Fitbit died before the warranty was over and then they offer 25% which brings the price down to $150, which is $1

[FitgoalSW]

For what it's worth to any future readers, in February 2019 my Blaze stopped working in the same exact fashion.  Offered 25% discount on a couple designs and 40% off an Ionic.  I went with the ionic to try for $161 (with free extremely slow shipping. As a result I don't have a fitbit for next week's trip to Park City and Salt Lake City).  If it happens again, I'm going to another brand.  Obvious problem that Fitbit has YET to resolve with their own operating system.

[Lauralyle]

Ditto, ditto, ditto! I am shocked that Fitbit is unwilling to honor replacement of a failed watch model! Nobody should expect that a watch in this price range has a lifespan of 2 years or less! I can not understand how if it is a firmware issue, why Fitbit never came up with a fix for this! It is unacceptable, and offering a 25% discount to purchase another model, is absurd! I personally gave 3 of these Fitbit Blaze watches to my staff that work at my gym, and all 3 of them have now failed. Not a single one will hold a charge, not a single one has anything that comes up on the screen, it has just been 2 years since purchasing these and I too can promise you, that Fitbit has lost 4 customers, who will never ever go back to purchase a Fitbit. Shame on Fitbit, If this is the way they run their company, to just cop out on their peoduct, I hope nobody ever goes back to buy another product from them again!!!

[profeazy]

Hi guys. I've used my fitbit for 2 years too. I have had it fixed by local repairers here in Nigeria 2 times. It's been working since. The problem fixed started with the charger that came with the watch. I observed that whenever I use the charger, my blaze fails to hold charge until it completely wont come on. I ordered extra chargers from Alibaba. After the second repair, I threw the original charger away using only the new chargers I bought. Watch has been working ever since. Today, I hit my exercise goal with half battery charge and tried to transfer workout data to my phone. Blaze was dead. Connected it to chargers. The charging device to which my charger was connected showed the watch tried to charge but failed to continue charging. I came here and I saw the direction to hold the left single button and the lower right button for up to 30seconds. I held both and started counting. At 13secs or thereabout, watch came on with a flashing low battery sign. It is presently charging normally.