Charge 5 vibrating constantly

[Lucy19]

My Charge 5 turned off suddenly today, and won’t turn back on again. I have connected it to the charger and it is now just constantly vibrating (and still not turning on). I have tried resetting it from the plug several times, but it has not worked. What else can I do? It is about a year old.

Moderator edit: format

[DavideFitbit]

Hi, welcome to the Fitbit Community forums, @Lucy19. 

I appreciate the information provided about this inconvenience with your Charge 5 and for confirming that you already tried the restart. 

In addition to the three pulse restart procedure using the charging cable, please try the following steps in case it's related to the battery or to the display: 

1. Please follow these steps in case you're having trouble to charge your device. 
2. Please sync your device in the Fitbit app by tapping your profile picture > Charge 5 > Sync Now.
3. If you  can't sync, tap on your profile picture > Charge 5 > Tile to see if a firmware banner appears. 
4. If it's still unresponsive, please try changing the clock face as well and check if you're able to see anything on the display. 

[Clarew86]

I am having this exact same issue and can’t find a solution. I’ve tried the 3 button reset and it still doesn’t switch on, just continues vibrating. 
I’ve tried syncing to my app but the app can’t even find the charge 5 so not sure what else to try.

Thanks

[millenialpink]

Mine just started doing this in the last week. Last time it happened, I was able to put it on the charger and it kicked back on but now it's unresponsive. So frustrating. 

[Tracy2023a]

Same here.  Working fine.  Noticed an intermittent vibration. No face/appears dead.  But it appears that it did sync when I tried.  Put it on charger and vibrated continuously. No life. Opened app and saw an update.  Trying to do update now, with phone on charger and fitbit on charger and my device can't find the fitbit - "Looking....." What else should I try.  I can't try shutting down because the fitbit is acting dead. 

My reply to fitbit's reply - 

This is very unimpressive and reflects poorly on Fitbit.  

• This device was purchased in October of 2021, 1 year, 7 months ago.
• It’s not a case of some random malfunction with my particular device. An online search, even in your own Fitbit community reveals the same problem I am having is happening with many other Fitbit Charge5 devices.

I can understand not replacing it altogether, but a 35% discount makes the consumer, me, and I’m sure many others, look like a fool.  Since I have been tied in with Fitbit since 2013, I’m sure Fitbit understands why it is hard for their customer to go elsewhere.  So the fool that I am, I am going to order another one.  This is not how a loyal, 10+ year customer should be treated.

[Mspeggster]

Isn’t it weird how a SUBSTANTIAL amount of us are running into the same issue, particularly around May 10 - May 13 timeframe? OR this very specific update that was installed on May 11 (version 1.188.58)

I’m out of warranty so I am out of luck and going through my credit card but this is clearly their fault. See other post:

[SunsetRunner]

Same thing happened to me! Nothing you can do! They will have to send you a new one! Mine wasn't even a year old. I use mine for an alarm and EVERYTHING I depend on these lasting longer

Same!!!!!! I've used a fitbit FOREVER I depend on it for everything!!! They can't even make them work for longer than a year. I had to get mine replaced for the same issue!!! Third time I've had it replaced! Sounds like I need to look elsewhere toooo!!!! 

[millenialpink]

Mine is out of warranty, so the best they could do was a 35% off coupon,
which only ended up being $5 cheaper than the mother's day sale and wasn't
able to be used on sale prices. I am really disappointed at how quickly it
died, I won't be buying another Fitbit.

[Tracy2023a]

Hi Tracy,

We understand your displeasure, but we really do our best to improve our services and also the quality of the products.

There are millions of customers who use them for years and do not report any failure and when it is reported, assistance is provided as we have done in your case and if the mishap persists, the warranty is reviewed, as we have also done with you, the which unfortunately has expired and there is no other option to offer. If there were, we would gladly do so.

If you have any concerns or questions, we kindly ask you to visit Fitbit Support.

Sincerely,

Paula M. and the Fitbit Team

my reply -

I understand that.

The point is that within a couple weeks time, lots of people had the same problem, specifically with the Charge5.  Your own community shows that, in multiple threads. And no, millions of customers have not used the Charge5 for years.  I purchased it when it was a new product and that was less than 2 years ago.  The problem is on your end.

I have already ordered a replacement.  You do not need to reply.

[colossal]

Mine vibrated itself to sleep about a week ago, and has been behaving badly since then.  After charging it was able to turn on again, but took forever to finish syncing apps while showing an old date/time.  I had to terminate the sync and restart it in order to eventually get the correct time to show.  Then when the battery died, I had the same sync issues after charging it up again.

Today it showed an X in a red circle when I tried to check the time, and after trying the pulse reset, it is stuck on a blue logo.

[SunsetRunner]

Same! Sad to say it's junk now!! Hopefully you can get a replacement and IN A TIMELY MANNER!! It's been a joke for me. Shipped Monday was suppose to be here yesterday, but shows it's still sitting there! 😔

[Lucy19]

Hello, thanks for your response. Unfortunately this has not worked and the device continues to be unresponsive. Are there any other steps I can take?

[Tracy2023a]

Same here also.  Expected delivery was yesterday. Tracking info says it hasn't even started the journey to me. 

Yep - buy another one.  That's the only option other than ditch Fitbit. At least try to get yourself the 35% discount by calling customer care.

[Lucy19]

It’s really frustrating. Seems like they’re built to break as soon as their warranty is up! 

[SunsetRunner]

That's what I said to them. Looks like they flipped the switch 2 weeks tooo soon on some of these!!! Absolutely horrible customer service mine says it was shipped Monday the 15th and I should have had my replacement yesterday. Look up tracking and it is still waiting to be picked up! I was told to vontact USPS and I did, but I can't inquire about it since it isn't picked up! Shouldn't someone in shipping realize there are packages sitting there since at least Monday when it's Friday now!!! Thus is unexceptable.

[ronskis]

Today I started to experience the same issue with my Charge 5 as all others on this thread and haven't found a way to fix.  During my software developer career, I spent part of the time (17 years) supporting upgrades for major products.  This experience has led me to sense when a problem can be tied to an upgrade, and in this case it certainly feels like it is, based on comments on this thread and elsewhere.  Fitbit support, please own up to this problem and help out your community.

[Anaiscoolx3]

Mine is now doing this too. Literally vibrating itself to death. Not even a full year old. It's ridiculous and extremely disappointing. 

[DarthWoo]

Mine started doing this right in the middle of a swim today. From what I can tell, I had taken a break after my first set, finishing the tracking (I miss being able to pause like I could on the Charge 3, even if that was technically cheating) and starting a new session for my second set. I initially noticed something was wrong when I tried to flick my wrist underwater to check my time like I normally do, but nothing would come up on the screen. After I finished and exited the pool, I found the Fitbit to be completely unresponsive, but randomly vibrating. Oddly, it did still sync to my phone at least, but it tracked none of my second set. It did seem to be tracking steps and such for the time it was misbehaving. As soon as I got home I fiddled with the charger, and thankfully I was able to get the unit to reset. I'm just not confident that it's not going to happen again in the future. I'm quite tempted to ask for a warranty replacement now rather than once it falls out of warranty.

I had noticed the first month I owned it (November of last year) that one day it randomly went from around a 60ish percent charge to completely dead within an hour while I was at work. I was quite set to bring it right back to Best Buy and return it, but gave it a second chance and it had performed relatively without fault until today.

Edit: I had to edit my post before posting it due to content supposedly not allowed in this community. What in the heck is wrong with "sixty hyphen seventy" written in the numerical form? It was in reference to the charge remaining in my second paragraph.

[mhellgre]

Mine started doing this last Thursday. I let the battery run out, as soon as I charge it, it starts nonstop vibrating. The funny thing is, the Fitbit app is recording huge amounts of steps still, even though I'm traveling and haven't even been close to the Charge 5 these days. Nothing else is syncing since Thursday though..

I'm in the EU and we have 24 month warranty, so I'm not too worried about getting a new one since my device is less than 2 years old. 

LIMITED PRODUCT WARRANTY FOR NEW PRODUCTS

Fitbit warrants to the original purchaser that your Fitbit-branded device and accessories that are new (the "New Product(s)") shall be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of one (1) year from the date of purchase, except that if you reside in the European Economic Area (EEA) and you purchased your Fitbit product in the EEA, the warranty period is two (2) years from the date of purchase (the "New Product Warranty Period").

[NathalieJessica]

This happened to me yesterday and I followed all the steps but nothing works. I'm so sick of fitbit, it's not the first time I'm having issues and their customers service is appalling. Never have I experienced more lack of care for customer satisfaction. This is the last chance, then I'm switching to a better brand!