My experience with Charge 5 and Customer Service

[asummers0611]

I just spent 25 minutes on the line with FitBit about a watch I have (charge 5) that stopped working less than 2 years old.  Basically after wasting my time for 20 minutes he told me it’s out of warranty but would give me a discount on a new watch.  I already ordered a new watch because I need to have something and hoped the company would do the right thing and fix this one.  Instead he said he could give me a discount on a new one after I already explained I had ordered a new one and paid full price two days ago.  He said he could give me a small discount on the watch but I would have to return it first (the new watch I just ordered) because of the “process” and agreed it was ridiculous and said I should complain on this forum.  He said he was just following orders.  I am going to return the order and NEVER buy another Fitbit again!  Terrible customer service!

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @asummers0611. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. Thanks for stopping by in the Fitbit Community Forums. We‘re taking your comments and sentiments in regards to our products and services into consideration.

Thanks for your question about why we offered a discount towards a new Fitbit product instead of a replacement of your existing Fitbit product. 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.

[user17]

Marre - you would have been better off not saying anything here. To intentionally say that you won't stand by your product that YOU broke with faulty code, is sheer insanity. FitBit is losing a lot of loyal customers right now. And you are only making it worse with these kinds of ridiculous statements. This is some of the worst customer service I have ever seen. I would think Harvard Business Review could do a great case study on this. 

[Jlock556]

The new firmware update bricked my 1 1/2 year old Charge 5. I tried all the different recommended fixes and nothing worked. After reading about MANY who experienced the same problem getting the same customer service response I hope to have a better experience with the Garmin I have ordered as a replacement. It is a shame since I prefer Fitbit’s GUI but, as the saying goes, “fool me once ….”

[mitchtl]

I agree that Garmin will be a better alternative. Getting burned once for a product that is made to fail by it's manufacturer is unacceptable. Paying for a replacement (at approximately the same price, when factoring in buying at full price and not sale price) would be foolish.

Fitbit / Google, you are making a bad name for yourself with formerly loyal customers.