Display and battery issues with Charge 5

[kathleenjames]

Suddenly many people are dealing with sudden loss of battery and black screen with no possible way to fix it. Could this have anything to do with the update? It seems not so coincidental it's all happening at the same time.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[ennylhsub]

here is an update. i am laughing and crying at the same time. 

I changed the watch face on my charge 5 yesterday, which seems totally random, but it seemed to help. It ran fine for the rest of the day. this morning it was dead again. Back to the charger and reset. 

I noticed a message that said the firmware update was available. followed the steps. it never finished the update and never indicated that it had not finished. so i decided to go to customer service to ask for a discount on a new fitbit. despite my grousing, i have been happy with my Charge 5 until this set of issues started.

After asking me what steps I had taken to try to fix the problem and then running me through those same steps again (supposedly this has something to do with warranty) , I balked when I was asked to send a video of me resetting my Fitbit by pushing the button on the charger. I don’t know why but this request fried my circuits. I asked to have a supervisor contact me. 

I received an email saying I need to send the video and by the way also change the watch face. I am laughing as I type this.

All i want is the stinking discount. I don’t want to again run through the useless steps I had already tried three or four times before going to customer service. I honestly do not want to switch products but I feel like buying a new Fitbit just rewards their poor corporate practices. Anyone have any advice or some Advil for my tech induced headache?

dies your battery hold its charge?

[Cobbycobb]

I bought two Charge 5 devices last June, one for me & one for my daughter. Neither work anymore conveniently just after 12 months… I have used a Fitbit device of one sort or another since they came out. This is the absolute worst device. Alphabet has screwed up the Fitbit name and I’m not bothering to buy another. They should send everyone a refund. 

None of those steps worked. 

[Lblumchen]

Nope. From 1% to 0% in a minute 

[Dareed56]

No--

It does not even start up--
null

[KHH]

No reaction whatsoever from customer support

partially share your experience, change clock face, happy for a few hours, the back to the same problem, switch off bluetooth and reconnect, nothing, no update available, ??????

only for a short while

[Ponytail40]

I have the same problem and they also offer 35% off

[What-a-pain]

Still haven't got the update and struggling like everyone with the black screen of death.

[bbunge]

@What-a-pain it is likely you got the upgrade and it failed. A Charge 5 that has been working well suddenly gone bonkers is an indication of a failed upgrade. The firmware version will show the old firmware when this happens. Fitbit/Google support will not tell you this but it is what has been happening. Sad that the customer support folks will not tell us the truth.

[Phoenix2023]

Two weeks ago..noticed after a full charge by the next morning an email notification as well as a fitbit app notification saying battery low.. thought I may have touched something in the  setting like always on display by accident. I charged the fitbit charge 5. Same message again 14 hours later. I come on to search internet and see folks complaining. Thr charge  5 only would get to 99% charge then in 12 hours for the third time dip to 27%. Fourth time charged did not wear it overnight. Woke up dead as a door knob. Took it attached it to charger. No fitbit logo..no vibration. Well it eeked out one. Made sure to turn it to nest on the sloppy designed charger. Rubbed alcohol on the pins to make sure as that was a suggestion. Nothing. Charge 5 now a brick. This was a week ago. Called customer service. Useless folks. Of course telling me my fitbit which I bought February 2022 is out of warranty. Gives me 35% discount yet the charge 5 is back ordered for at least 3 weeks including delivery time. Asked him how to expect folks to wait around.  Vowed not to spend so much money ever again. Considering I bought link bands to replace the plastic one. Ended up ordering the inspire 3 last Sunday it came Thursday. Used the 35% of plus the site wide sale discount. Paid 70 bucks.

Fitbit now with google..what's next..it doesn't even track properly steps. Despite it being dead. The app was recording calories used.the 4 days no fitbit on.How is that possible...?. 

[Kdor]

It seems like hundreds (maybe more) users are all having the same issue. Mine was 6 months old and like everyone else, my screen just randomly went black and is unresponsive. I've tried all of the tricks suggested by customer service. Customer service said I can get a new device (great), but it's on backorder until August, yet my warranty is just ticking away... this is completely unacceptable! I requested a refund and they refused. 

[DavideFitbit]

Hi everyone, I appreciate all the comments that you've shared so far about these issues. 

I understand that you've exhausted all the troubleshooting options available in the forums. If you're new to this thread and you continue to have any problem with the battery or the display and you already followed these steps mentioned earlier, please make sure to get in touch with the Customer Support team or to continue the communication with them if you already have a case created.  

[Dede1846]

Yep, july 8th (ironically the day my premium expired) my charge 5 suddenly died and went black after having a full charge. I too followed all the steps of reboot, change clock face, with it still syncing and draining battery, and  even removed the app and then realized you can’t add it back!

Yesterday, my boyfriend’s Charge 5 went black and now won’t even take a charge or sync. He just recently chose to not renew his premium… coincidence?

I didn’t even know if this is a firmware thing since our version shows super old and I don’t think I have ever seen a firmware banner as it states to use to update!

[DoxieGran]

So basically what you are saying, if your Charge 5 is not charging or has a black screen and you have already spoken to CS, you are basically maybe getting a 35% coupon for a new Fitbit device, if you are lucky. What a crock! 

[Chiguy50]

 

So I received this:

 

I received the first email and then the second one a week later after I told them their first response was unacceptable.

I’m not sure a new Charge will fix the issue. I still think the new one will brick itself, if I can even connect it to my phone.

Not sure if I should send my old one in to them. I may never see it again.

to be continued….

[Kmf017]

This did not work for me. The fitbit logo is on my Charge 5 and it's stuck there. When I did the reset (multiple times now) the screen goes from black like it's trying to startup but gets stuck at the logo. This all started after 10pm EST. It's totally unreponsive.

[DoxieGran]

Does anyone see the version 194.61 on there apps? Mine is still the 188.58, and I haven't seen any pink banner for an update. 

[ennylhsub]

started researching replacement products this morning. garmin vivosmart 5 seems most like charge 5 for about the same retail price. BUT I don’t want a new device. I want my current device restored to its functionality of a week ago instead of its present use as a paperweight. 

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I saw the banner twice. first time i tried to update it said it was updating all night long. then i had a host of other issues that were unresolved. then the banner appeared again so i tried to update. this time it never indicated if process had continued or aborted and still shows .188 as version.

[Kdor]

Given that this many people are having issues after the update and that all replacement Charge 5’s are currently on back order, is there any hope that FitBit will come up with another update that will resolve this issue? This seems outrageous. 

[Cobbycobb]

Mine is still 188.58 version also. Now I can’t even get the brick to sync to the iphone

[Tdhall0425]

You mean get in touch with customer service so we can be talked into spending more money with a measly 35% discount. Not gonna do it. FitBit needs to fix this and stop jerking all their customers around!