My experience with Charge 5 and Customer Service

[RichardRunner]

Fitbit Charge 5 died. Thought it had run out but it had not. Put it on charger tried to restart it..no luck..spent 2 hrs on 24 hrs customer chat line who insisted I sent them a video of me restarting the watch. Took the video but their system would not accept it as too large.. Unbelievable. More Unbelievable is they refused to help although they could see me restarting or resting the phone. I have never experienced such disinterest in customers. When I asked for an email address to put in a formal complaint they refused. Eventually they said customer services would contact me directly by email. They did. They sent me a 50% discount code that doesn't work in the UK. So my experience is fitbit products last 16month and fitbit don't care. Wow... Had a fitbit 2 before so I used to have dome brand loyalty but that loyalty should go both ways...

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @RichardRunner. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. I'm sorry to hear about your recent experience with your Charge 5 and our Support Team. We‘re taking your comments and sentiments in regards to our products and services into consideration.

Even though I truly appreciate you took the time to come here and express your feelings towards your experience with your Charge 5 and also want to find a resolution to your issue, my best advice is to keep the conversation with our Support Team. 

Note for this kind of inquiries/cases/process, there's no so much we here in the forums can do for you as this is something that our team handles based on our policies. 

Since you already have a ticket open with them it'd be easier to continue the follow up on this matter with them directly. They will tell you what's next! 

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

[RichardRunner]

They saw the light and sent me a replacement which is on my wrist.

[Sandra9999]

Same experience. I had a perfectly functioning device that stopped charging after a firmware update. I followed all of the troubleshooting steps that Fitbit instructed me to perform. Now the device is non-functional. My Fitbit Charge 5 is only 1.5 years old, and I find it unacceptable that a device of this age and price point would experience such a critical issue. By looking in these forums, as well as the complaints in the Better Business Bureau, it is clear that this issue is not isolated. Many Fitbit devices, including the Charge 5, seem to have a limited lifespan, often failing shortly after the warranty expires. This pattern suggests a systemic issue with Fitbit's product design and manufacturing quality. Instead of addressing my concern, Fitbit offered me a 50% discount promo code so I could purchase yet another device. This seems to be a flawed business model, in which Fitbit traps its clientele by selling devices that are designed to become obsolete in less than 2 years. I have already purchased four Fitbit devices, two for myself and two for my daughter, and all of them have experienced the same issue. Despite my past loyalty to the brand, I have decided to purchase a different brand for my next device.