Charge 5 screen won't respond to touch

[MaryJFit]

I tap. I swipe. I turn my wrist and screen does not respond. Fitbit logo keeps popping up. Occadionally i get the clock face ranfomly turning on and off, but cant get snything else. 

Moderator edit: subject updated for clarity

[BMN.22]

Hi @MaryJFit 

After making some complaints here, I got an email saying that I got a replacement, the funny part is Fitbit saying "We'll be happy to provide you with a replacement for your Charge 5 as a one time exception", they are writing as they are doing me a favor, but the watch stopped working before the warranty expiry. Anyways just to inform everyone.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @BMN.22.

Thanks for keeping us posted. While I'm glad you're about to receive a replacement, I understand your point of view on this situation. Your feedback is appreciated and please know we'll continue working to improve our devices, as well as the experience with them.

[SunsetRunner]

My Charge 5 started struggling to hold a charge, then the display became unresponsive. Restarting from the charging cable did not help. Trying to change the clock face failed with connection problems and then created a black screen situation. Removing the device from the Fitbit app also didn’t help. I opened a case and Fitbit offered me 35% off the purchase of a new Charge 5 because my unit was out of warranty. Why on earth would I spend 100.00 (with discount) on another Charge 5 when there’s clearly an issue with these devices? I won’t be buying another Fitbit.. really disappointing.

[Chemical]

I'm in the same situation, they offered me a 35% discount but will not be purchasing another device and not recommending them.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @Chemical. Welcome to the forums, @SunsetRunner.

Thanks for letting me know about your Charge 5, and the time taken in contacting our Support team. I understand where you're coming from and I apologize for this experience. Our team constantly works on our devices, and the input we receive from each of our members is a big part of the process. Your feedback is appreciated and we'll continue working to improve the overall Fitbit enviroment.

[shimsim]

Having now had my 4th replacement device fail, I don't think offering people a discount to buy another one makes any sense, at best it lasted 6 months for me. This product has something wrong with it, this community forum is filled with reports of devices failing in different ways. The problem is we are all posting in different places and starting new threads, so in effect, our voices are being diluted. I originally had the battery draining too fast issue, that topic now has more than 1600 comments and 220k in views but my last 2 devices didn't have the battery drain issue, they just failed in different random ways.

I've since shared my experience in this topic and recommend we all start to share out experience with the charge 5 failing here (no matter how it failed) - https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-5/Charge-5-experiences-reliability/m-p/5291482

[raymondraymond]

My advice is contact the help desk immediately, they’ll walk you through the recommended self-fix and then when that fails they’ll help you trigger the warranty and get a replacement.

I spent two hours trying to reset mine using advice on here, then called them and had to go through the process again. To be fair to them though they were fantastic and my new fitbit is already in the mail.

[shimsim]

Agreed, that is the correct course of action but what happens if this happens to your Charge 5, not once, not twice, not three times but four times and despite not having any single one last more than 6 months, you are now out of warranty (party because you also had to wait for the whole replacement process 4 times) ...... being fantastic at sending replacements is very little consolation and avoids the real issue here, which is ..... why are they so unreliable?

[Beks15]

My charge 5 touch screen stopped working at 14 months. Too bad so sad for me says fitbit but here's a coupon. The first fitbit I got the clasp was broken and it took them weeks to send me a new one. I have no desire to stick with this company. I am so unhappy.

[MindyMoo69]

For the first time ever, the display on my watch face is blank - have tried all of the suggestions, nothing works. Have had no issues before - watch is under 18mths old.

[shimsim]

@Beks15 @MindyMoo69 thanks for sharing, I would really like Fitbit to address the reliability issues, please consider sharing your experience here - https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-5/Charge-5-experiences-reliability/m-p/5291482

I feel that part of the reason this has not been addressed is that all of these reliability issues are spread across different topics because there are different failure symptoms. Regardless of why or how they are failing, the reliability is not what it should be and this needs to be solved.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone, and welcome to our new members.

Thanks for the details and trying to troubleshoot your Charge 5 prior to posting. This isn't the type of experience that we want you to have and I appreciate your feedback as it'll help us to keep improving the overall Fitbit environment.

@shimsim, @raymondraymond and @Beks15 I noticed you already have a case created and because our team has access to all your details, my best advice is to keep an open communication with them so they can help you with your inquiries.

@MindyMoo69 I understand you've tried some steps, but could you confirm if you've tried restarting your tracker and changing the clock face? If not, please give it a try and monitor its behavior in the next few days.

[shimsim]

@LizzyFitbit appreciate you taking the time to troubleshoot and point us in the right direction. I hope that as a moderator you can express my concern to someone or anyone in management that you might have a line of communication with because I like many others am understandably concerned and disappointed with the quality of the Charge 5. I am not here to bash Fitbit or belittle the support received thus far but having personally had 4 x Charge 5 fail (within 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months and 6 months of use) and struggling for over a month now to get a replacement unit (I am in some kind of support loop where I keep being asked the same question over and over), I think its fair to say something is very wrong, not just with the product but how support it being handled. The community forums are filled with similar experiences and even within the small circle of friends that also own the Charge 5 (based on my recommendation, which I now regret giving), there is a 100% failure rate.

Whenever I bring this up with support there is not even an attempt to address the reliability which adds to the frustration, nobody likes having their concerns ignored but it does speak volumes about the lack of willingness to engage and address these issues. If anything I wrote is out of line or based on a misunderstanding on my part, please do correct me, I would really appreciate knowing where I am going wrong, but more than anything, I would like to know how I get a device that will last longer than 6 months without failing because I didn't plan on it being a subscription service to own this device.

[Beks15]

I have a Dyson vacuum that is past the warranty and they just sent me a new part for free because I paid for an expensive product and it failed. They stand behind their product and their customers whereas Fitbit created a product with so many issues and yet they are so still so strict about the warranty. I am two months past the warranty and I had just paid for another year of your premium service. I was going to be a loyal customer but you guys are not a loyal company. Reading all the other reviews, I guess I lucked out having it last longer. But a $150 product should last longer than 14 months. In this economy we're not made of money and quality products should last. Being stingy is only going to lose you customers but after all my interactions with customer service, you guys don't care. So hopefully people looking to buy from your company will see these forum posts and choose a better, more loyal company with better quality products. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @shimsim and @Beks15.

Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. I understand your point of view as our devices are created to last longer, and I apologize this wasn't your case. Our team constantly works to improve our devices, and the input we receive from our members is a big part of the process. I appreciate your comments and if you have questions about your case, please get in touch with our Support team in order to receive more information.

[Fituser100]

I used the Charge 5 in the pool and it died

tried everything to fit. 
Fitbit tried to help me but that failed

They said it was out of warranty

35% discount approved by Fitbit for new tracker

Specs say 40 M and I was in a 8 foot pool

second or third Charge 5 replacement 

Not good but when it works I like the tracker

[4wheelerz]

Same thing is happening with mine even after sync & restart we’re done. I’ve had the black screen or unresponsive clock screen numerous times. Certainly makes me reconsider any future Fitbit purchases 😕 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @4wheelerz. @Fituser100 Welcome on board.

@Fituser100 Thanks for sharing the information provided by Support. This isn't the type of experience that we want you to have, and I'm sorry you went through this situation. Fitbit is always striving to improve our devices, and feedback like yours is truly appreciated as it helps us to make that happen.

@4wheelerz Thanks for taking the time to troubleshoot your Charge 5. I understand how you're feeling and just to make sure our possible steps were exhausted, may I know if you've tried changing the clock face? If not, please try it and keep an eye on its behavior to see if that works.

[4wheelerz]

Yes, I have changed the clock face. One of the issues I experience is the battery no longer holding a charge as it did when it was first purchased and needing to be charged every two to three days. And now for the last three days the battery can’t even hold a charge for 24 hours. One day it lasted approximately 10 hours and another it lasted a little less than 3 hours. This is after being charged to 100% according to the battery percentage display.

[shimsim]

@4wheelerz that is a very typical story for how a Charge 5 stops working (at least one of the ways). The battery will go from normal 7-9 days (not sure why normal for you was 2-3 days) to only lasting a few hours. The clock face has nothing to do with that unless you changed the screen to be on all the time instead of auto/manual wake. Fitbit has never officially said what the issue is, most likely it's the battery that is failing or the IC responsible for managing the battery, regardless, you will need to contact support and depending on your warranty status you will either get a replacement (after a painful troubleshooting session where you might have to perform things that have to obvious connection to the fault and seem arbitrary) or a discount on buying a new Fitbit of 35% which effectively turns this physical product into a subscription service because there is no guarantee it won't fail again.