Charge 5 dead after swimming

[Mbi2022]

I swam on 2 consecutive days.

The screen went blank after 2nd day, decided to let it dry out before recharging.

Connected it to the   charger started flashing a light green screen & now its dead as a dodo.

Help?!!

[DonnaScruggs]

Thank you for your reply, as a fan of fitbits, the charge 5 has shaped up to be a big disappointment. I used to walk and my old fitbit's were just fine for that. I took up swimming and killed an old one which never even had a swim option on it and I knew that was on me.   I was so excited that this one did. As you said it should be water resistant , especially as I use it specifically to map my swimming. They just don't hold up, you see all these replies. I swim 4-5 days a week at about an hour and always rinse and allow it to dry before putting it back on. It did not help, both of mine were dead within 6 months. I have the 2nd replacement as your support team is top notch, but they just don't hold up. If I were the only one in here stating that I figured it could just be me. But there are too many people and it's a serious design flaw. 

[Triplebeam175]

Same thing happened to me. This is my second Fitbit Charge that died after getting splashed with water. Both shortly after the warranty period ended

[Frogby]

Had this problem today (Charge 5 died after swimming - been using it swimming for several weeks with no issues), reset the Charge 5 using the button on the charging cable (which I didn’t even know existed until about 2 minutes ago).

Put the dead Charge 5 on the charger (connected), pressed the button on the USB connector end of the charging cable 3 times (holding it down for about 1 second each time) within 8 seconds.

Charge 5 buzzed (very briefly), Fitbit logo appeared about 5-10 seconds later, after a further 5-10 seconds the device came back to life. 🤷🏼‍:male_sign:

[arthurchankf]

I tried this restart method, before the support instruction on the phone, with no luck.  My device is definitely death.  I am happy that they sent me a replacement within a week, I do not kept my receipt or package.  Hope this device could last longer.  I do not want to create electric waste.

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, thanks again for all your feedback and comments. 

I'm sorry to see that some of you had trouble to receive a replacement. It is particularly difficult when the device is no longer covered by the warranty or if there are other warranty limitations. Even tough Support is eager to help with any problem you may experience with the product, they do need to adhere to the official warranty policy, this would start counting from the original date of purchase.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your feedback regarding the quality; comments from users are always useful to continue to improving the quality of products and services. If you haven't done so already, please get in touch with the Customer Support team here. 

[Summer31]

I’m just waiting for my third replacement both stopped working after a 30 minute swim, so I’m catching you up 🤣 Seriously though it’s so annoying and I’m not confident to wear my next one in the water now

[DavideFitbit]

Hi, thank you for confirming that you're experiencing the same problem with the Charge 5 and for all your feedback. 

I've been informed that you already contacted the Customer Support team for further assistance with this. In this case, they will let you know how to proceed. 

[rhodgkin]

Didn’t think of it at the time, but my Charge 5 took a dump after being on vacation last week where I did swim in a pool with the watch on. Didn’t associate the two as I’ve swam before with the Fitbit on. Reading here would indicate a common problem. Anyway I got my replacement today (just the watch, which is all I needed). Not sure if it’s worth risking in water again… think I’ll just take it off like in 1975!

[Jockie3]

The Fitbit charge 5 clearly isn't waterproof and should not be advertised and sold as such.

[DoxieGran]

Mine just did the same thing. In my pool for maybe 15 minutes, it died. Was able to get it going, charged it, the charge lasted maybe 6 hrs. Had a chat with customer support said I would get an email with a resolution. 7 hrs later, no email. Called customer support said I would get an email in 45 minutes. Will see what happens. I have had this device since Jan 2022, have had syncing and other issues constantly. Always took it off to go in the pool, and decided it's made for that, might as well, engaged the water lock, and off I went.  Bad decision! If they don't replace it which I'm sure they won't I will not give them any more of my money. This is my 3rd Fitbit, I had the Alta, and the Charge 2, never had any problems. This one has been nothing but problems! I am also a premium subscriber. Will not recommend Fitbit, look elsewhere.

[Atasha]

I gave up on fitbit, I had charge 3 and it was OK to swim with, but Charge
5, the first one stopped charging after a few times of swimming with it, I
didn't associate it with swimming as swimming is one of the activities
meant to be tracked. I got the replacement and it stopped working after
swimming with it once, all this was within one year but Fitbit couldn't
replace it again. They should categorically state that the tracker is not
be worn while swimming, way so many complaints

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[eatdrinkrepeat]

My Charge 5 died after swimming too. Contacting the Customer Support team was a waste of time as I had owned my Fitbit for 21 months by the time I took it swimming for the first time, so it was past the 1 year mark. After trying the obvious troubleshooting steps with Customer Support (plug it in, reset it, etc), they sent me the following email:

"It seems that the Fitbit's limited warranty which covers the device for one year has expired. We hope you understand that as much as we want to cater to every request of our customers and we apologize for the experience you had regarding this matter. We’re looking forward that you'll still consider Fitbit if you decide to buy another tracker in the future."

No suggestion of what the problem might be, no interest in collecting more information about this defect to let the development team know, no further action to try taking, not even an offer of a tiny discount to replace the defective product so soon. Just a canned response of "Oh, sucks for you."

What actually did work for me was letting the device rest for 2 weeks (so it could dry out? or so the battery could fully drain? Who knows — certainly not Customer Support as they just gave up when they saw my warranty for my supposedly water resistant device was expired). I left it in a drawer for 2 weeks while on vacation, and when I returned I plugged it in once more just for good measure, and it magically worked again. 

I hope others that are out of warranty have this good luck, because these things are too expensive to be buying a new one every time the warranty expires.

[Noka]

Did they at least offer you a discount on a new Fitbit? The one time I had an issue with my watch outside of warranty, they offered me 50% off a new one. It is disappointing that they do not seem to care that the product they advertise as waterproof with swim settings does not at all work!! I do not think my next watch will be a Fitbit for this reason. Until this happened, I was a very loyal Fitbit customer. Glad to hear that your watch did come back to life after “drying out”.

Nancy



Sent from my iPad

[ToddBitFit]

I had a similar issue recently. I went swimming and my Fitbit Charge 5 stopped responding. I followed all the troubleshooting tips and after letting it dry out and resetting dozens of times it eventually started to display the main screen and sync to the app (no response to finger swipes so only time displayed). I tried changing the clocks, which worked, but the touch screen still did not respond. If you can get to this step DO NOT let it go back into the pool. It seems to be compromised.
I popped back in the pool and the display died again. I was at month 13 after purchase so the warranty was void, I just had the discount code to apply to a new FitBit Charge 5. I suggest not purchasing the device from FitBit direct as they have no way of verifying inventory at the point of purchase. After waiting 2 weeks for my device I was emailed yesterday stating the device was finally sent for delivery. They will not notify you if the device is on back order and will not proactively reach out to you. I was able to confirm this today with Ken via FitBit's Live Chat. He also indicated my feedback would be shared internally but had no way of verifying that. He then proceeded to disconnect the chat when I asked how a customer knows this information is relayed to someone at FitBit that could resolve this poor user experience. I have been using FitBit products since 2015 but I can't keep spending hundreds of dollars on devices when they flake out after months of use. I absolutely love my FitBit 5, but this whole experience has me questioning whether I stick with FitBit once my new Charge 5 eventually bites the dust.

[FranchissimaV]

Hi Davide,

I have exactly the same problem and I would like to contact support.
I am based in Germany and it seems that the only way is via Twitter - where I don't have an account.
Please advise. Thanks!
Francesca

[Erewert]

The same thing happened to me! What do I do? 

[SunsetRunner]

I went swimming and my Charge 5 was under water for perhaps 1 minute, tops, and now it won’t detect my heart rate, continues to not sync with my mobile app, as well as various other things just not working properly, and this is not the first time it’s gone awry. I just don’t trust FitBit products anymore, after having gone through several hard resets.

[UG26]

I'm having the same issue. Since July, my battery took a hit out of the blue. I went swimming in 4ft of water (mostly splashing around with my kids, my head never went under water) and now the device doesn't work at all. I've tried all the troubleshooting I can think of and now nothing reads, no steps are counted, and it barely turns on despite charging for over 12 hrs!! I've tried rebooting, uninstalling, unpairing, etc and nothing. I called Fitbit and since I'm at 1 yr 5 months, it's out of warranty and they only offered me a 35% discount! This is ridiculous and unacceptable. I'm very unhappy with Fitbit and despite having used an alta and now this charge 5, I think I'm taking my business elsewhere. Do they really think 1.5 years of an item working is acceptable?! Come on! 

[Nenzi]

I was so happy they replaced my Fitbit it died at 6 months. Sadly the
replacement also died almost 7 months old. They sent me 35% off. I will
not spend a penny for a new one. They clearly don't believe in the
product. What does that say about a company? No warranty on the
replacement. Sounds like a scam.

No longer a Fitbit customer

[SunsetRunner]

@EmilyBronte Just curious - did you get the inspire 3? Did you like it? I am in the same boat now and debating between replacing my charge 5 or moving to inspire 3. or away from fitbit altogether.

Agree with everyone else re. false advertizing. I really enjoyed by Charge 5 but am frustrated by its randomly dying like this.