Various problems with Charge 3 and no support

[SunsetRunner]

I have had it. 

Fitbit, you are about to lose another customer. 

We’ve purchased 4 of your devices. 2 Charge 2 devices, of which one died. 2 Charge 3 devices of which one is constantly giving wrong readings, and the other one is again not starting up. 

Followed all tricks, updated firmware and app, and tried to get answers on this forum. 

Nothing!!!

I have just spent another two hours on trying to get my wife’s Fitbit up and running again. 

Smiley face and then nothing. It sucks. 

I have just posted another update on the inaccurate floor count. 

No answers, no reaching out, zero feedback. 

This is the first time I have ever used language like this on a forum like this. 

Show some decency and get in touch, will you...?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity. 

[JohnnyRow]

Looking at your other posts, it seems your biggest issue is inaccurate floor count.

I refer you to Why does my Fitbit device count extra floors? 

Fitbit devices detect floors with an altimeter, which is a sensor that calculates altitude based on atmospheric pressure. Your device is designed to detect pressure changes based on elevation gain, but other types of pressure changes—such as a gust of wind, a weather change, or opening a door—can occasionally cause your device to register extra floors. Your device registers 1 floor when you climb about 10 feet, which is the average between residential and commercial floor heights. If you climb long staircases you may find that the floor count on your device doesn’t match the number of floors you climbed when the staircase is taller than 10 feet.

However, floor count does not affect any other measurements, such as calorie burn.

If accurate floor count is a requirement for you, perhaps Fitbit will not meet your needs.  But I suggest you carefully research other choices to be sure the same issues do not affect them.

[SunsetRunner]

hi @JohnnyRow 

Thanks for the quick response. 

Unfortunately, it is not just floor count. But it is the one thing that bugs me most. Why? Because all of the explanation is nonsense. While maybe technically correct, it was not how it was sold. It has become an answer with stupid workarounds and I am certain it is easily fixed. 

The non-answers on this forum are a disrespect for the customer. People first spent money on the device, followed by spending time on fixing something that can’t be fixed by themselves, and then spending time here to not get an answer. 

But it is more than just the floor count.

Start-up issues, syncing issues, pairing issues. 

At some point, people just accept that the product is flawed. At the beginning, we’ve had the clock face limitation. Then the time the device needs to pair with the phone to get GPS data. The syncing is another thing: sometimes it takes minutes to get it to sync. Screen turning black and not showing anything. The problems are numerous.

You say “if floor count... not meet your needs” - What kind of response is that? It was advertised differently and promoted that it would work. Plus: Charge 2 users that switched to Charge 3 were accustomed to getting realistic (or at least probable) readings and suddenly get weird readings. 

If you would have read the threads, you would have seen the decent communication and the request for Fitbit to respond. There have been suggestions by users for real workarounds. People try to help and are willing to believe in a good product. Your response translated to “fitbit may not be for you” is exactly what’s wrong here. It’s a defensive tactic to step away from all that has been discussed in the various threads. It is simply pushing it away, defending what has become the answer after the problem appeared.

“can occasionally cause your device to register extra floors”

how about: “will constantly cause your device to...”?

Update:

I am in a friendly Twitter direct message conversation with Fitbit support about the screen not waking up. For now, we're running through the standard support procedure of following the suggestions posted on the website and going through the motions that we've done already by ourselves numerous times. Connect charger, push and hold button, reset device, wait for progress bar and smiley, disconnect and reconnect charger. Nothing.

Let's see how this pans out.

The issue with stair/floor count on our other Charge 3 is yet to be answered on.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Rich_Laue]

@SunsetRunner if you are interested in receiving help from your fellow fitbit users. We will need to have some information on what is not working with your particular tracker. 

It will also be helpful to include any error messages and the phone model. 

[SunsetRunner]

Update: faulty Charge 3 device sent back for replacement.

Hello @Rich_Laue,

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.

Phone model is an iPhone Xs, running the latest version of both the OS and the Fitbit app. Device runs the latest firmware.

My biggest issue is with the floor count. As explained in numerous threads, it is simply not working as expected and very different from the Charge 2 that I had before changing to the Charge 3. The workaround is a silly solution that makes absolutely no sense.

Next is the unfulfilled promise of the SPO2 sensor reading. One of the reasons to change from Charge 2 to Charge 3 is the ability to get more insights into my sleeping pattern.

For months, syncing and refreshing took a long time to finish. Sometimes still, I need to quit the app and relaunch in order for it to actually get the data from the device into the app.

Long time ago, I suggested a feature to automatically sync the Fitbit data to Apple's Health app. I had to purchase a 3rd party app to get the data from Fitbit and transfer it into the Health app. It remains mysterious why this basic functionality is not included.

Another suggestion was the option to easily and quickly log water. For food, I reverted to using MyFitnessPal, since that allowed using local food databases. Water intake seems so basic, it would be helpful to be able to log it directly on the device.

At the start, we have had the clock face issue, where existing clock faces of the Charge 2 were not present in the Charge 3. Still today, some clock faces have weird layouts or use fonts that get scrambled.

All of a sudden, after an update, the device shows an active call when on the phone. While being on the phone, the clock face is not visible. The device will allow tapping the screen to erase the log on screen, but that cuts the connection of your call.

I have had several minor issues with the screen not showing anything. It would always come back eventually, sometimes needing the device to be connected to the adapter to do a reset.

I question the reliability of the measurements. Mostly due to the floor count issue, I tried to compare steps with other tools, such as running/cycling apps. Step count is off. Even when not walking at all, wrist movement would trigger the device to record steps, even though I would sit in exactly the same spot.

The issue here is that I assumed the Charge 3 would be as stable or constant as the Charge 2, only adding features I was missing (SPO2, waterproof, connectivity, auto-activitiy recognition, battery, brightness). But, as it turns out, the Charge 3 has (had) various problems, issues, challenges and is not doing a good job at being reliable.

The one I am wearing seams to operate as a watch quite well and is now doing fine most of the time. The one my wife is wearing is now shipped back due to the black screen problem. Her device stopped reading heartrate, had to be restarted over and over again, did not sync at all. In short, seemed a Monday-morning model that was ill constructed. But the Charge 2 we had and gave to our daughter, is running without any problems and seems to give much better readings and is much more consistent with floor count, step count etc.

To my disappointment, I found that this forum (to which you are directed to get support in the first place), only seems to give copy and paste answers for the usual stuff. Once a thread is marked as answered, it seems to disappear in the "done" corner and further questions or suggestions are simply overlooked. Even trying to wake up moderators by including them (@) in a post doesn't seem to trigger any feedback.  On occassion, posts were deleted.

All in all, not a very good experience.

BTW: even though I really appreciate the rapid response by the support team re. black screen and replacement, it does leave a bitter taste, as it seems such a "normal" and frequent problem that device swaps are seemingly easily offered. Which feeds the idea that the device is indeed having lots of problems.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Jjoyce]

I quit using mine as a fitness tracker months ago. I only wear it as a watch. A pretty darn expensive watch. I will never own a Fitbit again. I also have stated my concern about inaccurate floor count numerous times. I drive a Jeep and on my ten minute drive to work (in flat Iowa) my Fitbit will love up to 35 floors and that does affect your step count. 

[Rich_Laue]

Actually @Jjoyce step count is not affected by the number of floors recorded, but floors will not be counted unless steps are being recorded. 

I was wondering wehy all the concearn about floors, when this number is not used for any step or calorie counts with no complaints on the steps that are counted during this time. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hello @Rich_Laue,

You say: "step count is not affected by the number of floors recorded, but floors will not be counted unless steps are being recorded. "

Then why make it a key metric with its own activitiy tile and add community badges for it, if it does not do anything at all? I would assume that climbing stairs is a higher intensity activity then just walking around and that the software will take that into account. Or is it just for fun and a bit of gamification to trigger people to climb more stairs? - I am using a tracker to track activity and get actual readings that make sense. If it were the case that it doesn't do or add anything, than stop advertising/hyping the functionality and give people the option to deactivate it.

The second bit of your statement seems not quite right. When I am sitting in my car, I am not making any steps. Yet, it adds stairs. So, following that logic, it would also register steps. And that would influence my daily end result. Sure, I understand that Fitbit adds steps when I am cooking and stirring in a pan, or doing things it cannot distinguish as not moving around: it can't be 100% accurate. For that, we have the option to set dominant hand and sensitivity. But is it really up to a customer/user to start questioning, comparing and verifying whether a tracker is actually doing it right?

On top of this: if the workaround would be followed and we'd manually log an activity like driving (which is not readily available as an option to choose) that covers actual activity and thereby get that out of the daily end result, the reading is still off. If I would follow the suggestion to take the device off of my wrist to not record stairs/steps while driving, it is also missing other data to record. Besides, both workarounds would have users actively mind what they are doing and give them extra tasks to have the device record everything in the right way. It is supposed to be unintrusive and practical. All the extra effort is simply not worth it. I, like many, favoured the Fitbit for it's long battery life and its no-frills approach. If I wanted a wristwatch that I had to take off every day and gave me all the bells and whistles I don't need, I would have gone for an Apple Watch.

And, last but not least: people that had a Charge 2 and switched to Charge 3, all of a sudden needed to be much more aware of the device's quirky changes. With the Charge 2, I just believed and trusted the readings and the data it would provide. It just worked. And even if the readings would have been off, I wasn't bothered that much as it was consistent and gave plausible results.

[Rich_Laue]

Floors are only counted for the user to view, the user may do what they want with the data. Fitbit has never used floors as a factor in figuring out calories. Floor counting by looking at changes in pressure may be a problem when we are looking for a change a out the weight of a few square inches of paper. 

When it comes to calories,, besides BMR, age, gender, etc, the units with heart rate, take the heart rate in consideration. The other trackers only look at arm movements. 

So why monitor stairs, users want this function. 

As for steps recorded while sitting in the car.. Your tracker is looking at arm movements. You say you have a short wheel base jeep which has a bumpy ride. On your Next ride monitor both steps and stairs. The bouncing down the road may be detected as steps, just like while preparing dinner, and the changes in air pressure gets recorded as stairs. Look at the back of any truck, you will see dirt. Why? Simply because an object moving through air will have a low pressure area behind it. As this low pressure changes while the arm is bouncing around and adding steps. Floors will be counted. 

As for manually adding an event called driving, this option has been availible for at least 8 years. 

Let's click on the help link below and read the help doc. 

How do I delete steps and floors in the Fitbit app?

Or install an app like travelbit on the phone to record the time as driving. 

Yes Fitbit tried to have everything as accurate as today's technology allows, and in the background as much as possible, but their is only so much that may be done when trying to tell what the feet are doing by looking at arm motions. Last time I checked, arms and legs can move independant of each other. 

Currently occaisional false steps are a problem with every non mechanical step counter on the market. 

As for the Charge 2, do a search of their board, step counting and floor counts have never been as precise as you claim. 

On my charge I received almost a thousand steps when Super storm Sandy came through*, the air pressure dropped that fast. Due to outages in power and phone service I was not able to sync for 4 weeks. Fitbit only remembers 30 days. 

* The barometer only read down to 29 inches and the needle was way below that. 

[SunsetRunner]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

You say you have a short wheel base jeep which has a bumpy ride.

That was not what I said. You are mixing up responses by different people. Yes, bumps may occassionally give a false reading. But when it concerns floor counts or step counts, normal car driving on normal streets in a comfortable car with nice suspension should not have a great effect on the readings.

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

Or install an app like travelbit on the phone to record the time as driving. 

This is not really an argument, nor a solution. This seems to be acceptance that the issue exists and finding a weird way of circumventing the problem. Why would anyone want to install an additional app to actively and continuously influence something that should work without having to think of it?

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

Let's click on the help link below and read the help doc.

Already did that. And tried that. And I already explained why this is not really an option. Let's say most of the misreadings take place during a car ride. I get into my car, drive a bit. I get out. I do some work, or visit some place. I get back into my car. I do some shopping. Again the car. Do some cooking. Have a walk. Watch some TV. Go for a ride on my bicycle. At the end of the day, I would then have to look at the logs to see when to add an activity that "overwrites" the misreadings. Reading the help doc: "Your steps, floors, and calories burned will decrease for the time period you specified." So, I would do a lot of extra manual work to fix an issue, and I automatically introduce more misreadings...

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@Rich_Laue wrote: Last time I checked, arms and legs can move independant of each other.

Also not really an argument, but thanks for the sarcasm. This does not help the discussion or with trying to find a solution.

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@Rich_Laue wrote: As for the Charge 2, do a search of their board, step counting and floor counts have never been as precise as you claim. 

I am not claiming anything. I am saying that the Charge 2 gave plausible values that resembled values of other devices. Moreover, I have been saying that there is an obvious window for false readings. From comparing the Charge 2 with the Charge 3 (I still have both), I can prove that the Charge 3 gives erratic values, where the Charge 2 still seems to do a decent and, more importantly, a consistent job.

Plus: what is it that you are actually saying? You simply seem to confirm that both the Charge 2 and the Charge 3 are not as accurate as we would like it to be.

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Instead of trying to counter the arguments by replicating what Fitbit is saying, I would appreciate a real Fitbit response that tries to solve the matter or at least be honest about expectations, instead of trying to dodge the questions. There was a sales and marketing story that does not seem to represent reality. People have questions. Users are not happy. There clearly is a feeling that the Charge 3 is not performing on the same level as the Charge 2.

[Rich_Laue]

Your right about one thing, my charge 3 out performs my Charge 2. 

[415Ribera]

Same problem dude!

Right, in order for it to even work a little they tell you to turn off all the things that you need on the product, so basically you’re left with the bare minimum. That is not the purpose of this watch we did not pay this much money for bare minimum, get your product to work correctly or don’t sell It.

fitbit is proving to have no integrity.

Moderator edit: format.