Fitbit Bricked my Watch and I Will Not Buy Another

[Jartan]

My Charge 5 worked perfectly fine. Then I updated the software via the app, and the battery started draining in a matter of hours in comparison to days. After dealing with this for a week or so, I let my watch fully die and when it turned back on after charging, the screen remains completely white. I went through with FitBit support, and they walked me through some troubleshooting steps to no success. Eventually they just told me I have to buy a new watch and gave me a 30% discount code.

This would be one thing if my watch was physically damaged, but it's not. FitBit directly broke my watch with a broken update, and then told me to buy a new one instead of allowing me to revert to an old version or providing a patch update. This isn't my first FitBit, but it is certainly my last. I hope others have a better experience.

Does anyone know of any trackers of a similar form factor to the Charge series? I don't like the big square screens of a lot of watches, and I only really want the watch to track as much health data as possible (sleep, heart rate, etc.). I don't need fancy things like spotify integration or anything along those lines.

Edit: FYI guys that FitBit moderators are systematically removing each of my posts other than this one. They are blatantly and maliciously covering up their actions here.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @Jartan. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. Thanks for sharing the details about the inconvenience with your Charge 5. We‘re taking your comments and sentiments in regards to our products and services into consideration.

As you mentioned, I've seen you were offered a discount towards a new Fitbit device and I'd like to take the time to answer (probably) your inquiry regarding why we offered a discount towards a new Fitbit product instead of a replacement of your existing Fitbit product.

With that being said, please note our limited warranty provides repair or replacement of products that have a defect while still in the warranty period. Your device is out of the warranty period, and therefore is not eligible for repair or replacement, but we want to offer you a discount to thank you for your loyalty to Fitbit.

For more information about our warranty, see fitbit.com/legal/returns-and-warranty.

Even though, I truly appreciate that you've taken the time to come here and share your experience, please note for this kind of inquiries/cases, there's no so much we here in the forums can do for you as this is something that our Support Team handles based on our policies. Nevertheless, please feel free to reach out to them again if you need further assistance or clarification regarding the outcome of your case. 

On the other hand, we recommend checking out our comparison page at https://www.fitbit.com/compare, where you can see at a glance the features that each Fitbit tracker and watch provides. 

[Jartan]

@MarreFitbit The warranty period is irrelevant, my watch is not physically broken. My watch does not need repair nor replacement. It needs the software version to be reverted or updated to a fixed version.

Thanks to whomever changed my topic title from "FitBit Bricked my Watch and I Will Not Buy Another" /s

[Jbarbing]

I had a similar series of problems. I can charge my fitbit charge 5 to 99% remove from charger and it shows 1% charge and dies. It's useless. Had a fitbit for just over a year however this one is a replacement as the first broke so it lasted less than 9  months.

Following for an solution 

[aussiechick01]

I’m  also following for a solution as I’ve had similar problems and only really use mine for tracking sleep and HR.  Watch wasn’t broken but latest software update has killed it.  Have been offered a discount to buy another but why would I as this is the second Fitbit I’ve had in 2.5years and both have been rendered unusable after updates.  

Following in the hope that someone will recommend an alternative brand without the ongoing issues that are blatantly being ignored by Fitbit.

[Jartan · Accepted solution]

@aussiechick01 Someone previously suggested the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 which looks pretty nice.

[GuillermoGonz]

Fitbit's update is bricking our devices. Almost everyone in this community is stating that their devices were working fine up to the time Fitbit pushes the update. They know it is bricking MANY devices and THEY chose continue to roll out the updates to devices that they know are going to be bricked and are not covered by warranty.

This is a known issue since July.

How are THEY not liable for breaking our devices? Why should anyone be loyal to a company that does this to their customers? Why should WE have to replace a perfectly working device that THEY broke? Not a warranty issue!!

[AndyPR]

I received the exact same response from customer service who offered me a discount after a reset failed to rectify the issue. I purchased the Charge5 for it's ECG capabilities but i mostly use it as a pedometer and sleep tracker. It's useless to me if I have to continually recharge. This was my 2nd Fitbit. It's also my last. I refuse to pay for Fitbit's issue.