Charge 5 blank screen

[Carterdave]

My charge 5 screen just went blank since morning 

[Mizgwendar]

Thank you for the info regarding your trials with Fitbit Charge 5.   Had I known all this Inwould have kept my good money.  I appreciate your suggesting we all get replacements--the perfect remedy for now!  Good luck with your 4th replacement 😊

[TeckLee]

I just did an internet search, most fitness trackers will last between 24 to 36 months. For my usage pattern, I use Charge 5 primarily for tracking my treadmill, runs, walking and do not even bathe or swim with it, no extreme sports. The help forum, "Life span of Fitbit tracker" in this community may interest you. Fitbit should extend the standard warranty to 2 years if their product quality has such a short life span. I have been using various Fitbit trackers since 2013, a good 9 years although I have encountered numerous issues with the wrist strap, data accuracy and reliability, maybe time to change.

[SunsetRunner]

My Charge 5 has had the same issues. So frustrating as this is a replacement one.

I got my new charge 5 in Nov 2021 - it failed in June 2022 (only had it for 7 months), it was under warranty so they sent me a new one,  I asked if the new one would have a year warranty on it,  they said no, the warranty is only good with the original purchase. So now,  8 months later (Feb 2023) my replacement charge 5 isn't working and its no longer under warranty.  So with both my watch faces, neither of them lasted a year. Such crap. They've offered me a discount for a new fitbit watch but why would I buy another product off of them,  when my others ones didn't even last a year??? So frustrating as we bought it when it was still new and cost about $300 CAD. 

A crap product and a money grab. 😞

[SBHAzhikode]

My Charge 5 went blank (black scree) three days ago and since then I've tried all the tricks I could gather from the net, but it's still not responding. I see that my activities like sleep, exercises etc are getting recorded and synched with my phone, but I simply can't see the screen. I tried your method several times, but in vain. What's the last resort? 

[AndrewGe]

Hi SBH...

Your last resort is to contact customer service to claim a replacement, if you are still in warranty.   In fact, I suggest that even if you are out of warranty, call them to ensure the statistics for Charge 5 failures are captured. 

I do have to compliment the customer service department.  On each of the four times I have had to contact them over the last year, they have been very prompt in offering replacements.   

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone, and welcome to our new members.

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts about the Charge 5. I understand your point of view and apologize for the experience that you've had with your trackers. We're constantly working to improve our devices, and your feedback is appreciated as it's a big part of the process.

For the ones that have contacted our Support team, while I don't have access to your cases, I'd recommend replying back and keeping an open communication with our team in order to receive more information about their resolution.

[katatpeace]

This is the answer I'm looking for. On my 3rd Fitbit since 2020...ridiculous. At least customer service was decent back then, but since Google took over...nothing but silence rather than help.  I'm in the middle of a challenge that requires me to have my Fitbit, but it's just a high priced tracker as I can't see the screen to do any other functions I've paid for.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @katatpeace.

Thanks for joining this thread, and I'm sorry you're having this experience with your Charge 5. I went ahead to check your details and it seems you already have a case created with our Support team. Please keep an open communication with them as I'm sure they'll continue helping you.

In the meantime, let me recommend using MobileTrack which is a feature that records basic stats such as steps using your phone's sensors, and this data will count toward your challenge totals. To learn more about it, see this help article.

[vkaz]

My fitbit charge 5 went from working  to a black screen. It was like it just died. It is just over a year old. Was it designed to fail so precisely at 1 year? I never swam or showered with it on and took good care of it.

I followed all the steps for cleaning, resetting the device, tried my husbands fitbit charge 5 cord too...nothing worked. I talked to an agent who had no other suggestions to offer. I was not offered any discount or incentive offer to buy another fitbit product.

The call basically ended with a "Ok good bye good customer. Good riddance." Super disappointed.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[TeckLee]

Fitbit Support has offered me a 35% discount as the Charge 5 is beyond repair and the only solution is to get a new one. I have decided to move on to another product rather then going through this situation again. Fitbit failed to recognize their product reliability issue, loyal customers and take the community's feedback seriously. In my opinion, the reliability of Charge 5 has disappointed me miserably. 

[SBHAzhikode]

Hi, thank you for the response and yes, I did approach the Support team and they were really helpful in this case. After multiple chats and voice calls, they agreed to replace my Charge 5 and right now my new device is in transit. I'm getting it on the 1st of March. 😊😊

[pugs4us]

Hi agree, they offered me the same 35% off and I was insulted but then I ended up buying another one anyways cause it was around $100 so it wasn’t too much out of my pocket. I’ve had many fit bits and they all seem to fail, but for some reason I still keep buying new ones from them. 

[grntlltt]

I'm facing the same/similar issue. I did notice a new update available in the app when I first saw the device was having issues, but never took the action of applying the update. It seems that many are facing issues after this recent availability of a firmware update, but how can that be if no action is taken to apply the update? Was something modified with the device's software without any action by a user that is causing these issues?

[LizzyFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone.

Thanks for joining this thread and the steps tried on your own. I'm sorry for the inconvenience you've had with your Charge 5. Our team is always working to improve our devices and the experience with them, and your feedback will help us to make that happen.

@vkaz, @TeckLee, @SBHAzhikode and @pugs4us Because you already have a case created, I'd recommend replying back to our Support team in order to receive more information about their resolution.

@grntlltt Because your post didn't mention, may I know if you've tried restarting your tracker as well as changing the clock face? These steps have helped other members, so please given them a try and monitor your tracker's behavior afterward.

[TeckLee]

The solution from the Support team is to get another Fitbit product. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @TeckLee.

Thanks for getting back sharing the information provided by our Support team. If you have questions about your case, my best advice is to reply back to them in order to receive more details.

[AndrewGe]

Update:   

My Charge 5 that was replaced in February 2023 (the second replacement within a year) has just failed - Blank screen, then intermittently flickering lines on the screen and then back to blank screen.   The latest replacement (my third device) lasted just over two months - this is just unacceptable.  

I have been in contact with Customer Service, and because I am (unfortunately) so well versed in the reboot, change clockface, washing the device, there was nothing else for them to do but escalate to the warranty team.  That team has now authorised my third replacement Charge 5; but with a new condition of taking a video of the reboot procedure.... Oh P-L-E-A-S-E.   However after that, it was replaced very quickly by the Customer Service team. 

Now fast forward to May 2023, and my wife's Charge 5 has failed; again!  So she is also about to get her 4th Charge 5 within 18 months.   

The Charge 5 is a devise that has great features; but for some inherent reason it continually fails and must be replaced. 

On LinkedIn, I located the "Head of Product Quality, Fitbit at Google", Mr Pete Buckley.  Unfortunately I was unable to connect with him or send him a message.   I wanted to express my concerns both as a customer as well as a shareholder in Alphabet.   LizzyFitbit, can you please forward a link to Mr Buckley of this, highlighting the unresolved longevity issues with the Charge 5?   If you can't forward it, then please explain to the Fitbit Community why you can't or won't.  

[Kev-_-]

After a lack of efforts to come to a resolution or even get a replacement I decided to just switch to the garmin venue 2s. I was fine with my Fitbit but the customer support just turned me off 

[grntlltt]

I also ended up forgetting about any chance of recovering or replacing my Charge 5 and got a Garmin Venu 2S. Hopefully they won't brick devices with bad software updates, and are more responsive with customer service. It's too bad I lost all my data from Fitbit though.