My experience with Charge 5 and Customer Service

[kcglover01]

My FitBit Charge 5 stopped working in less than one year of activation. These help threads really are showing me how flawed the design must be if this is a common issue. I took my unresponsive FitBit Charge through all the troubleshooting advice to reset and clean it without luck. I saw several testimonials that a call to customer service that defective FitBit Charge 5s would lead to a free replacement.

I delayed making this call, due to busy season at work and other more urgent health and financial issues I was navigating. Because I called to describe the issue *after* one year of purchase, FitBit would not replace the device. This is despite customer service acknowledging that they could seeing clear evidence of the FitBit no longer syncing or working in less than a year of purchase. I was told there was no option to retroactively request a replacement under warranty. The best they could offer was a 50% off promotion for a new device, money I don't have to spend within the limited timeframe for the promo.

I'm dismayed at the disruption in the wellness data and very disappointed at the poor design that causes this model to frequently stop working in less than one year. I am also frustrated with the lack of options and ineffectiveness with FitBit's customer service and replacement policies. (My first FitBit, the original Charge, also had issues early on with the waistband separating at its attachment points, and poor fit.)

When the time comes for me to purchase another wellness and fitness tracker, I do not plan to give my business again to FitBit. I will explore my options with other companies.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @kcglover01. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. Thanks for bringing this to my attention and for the troubleshooting steps you've tried. I'm sorry to hear that your Charge 5 stopped working. 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.

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 not so much we here in the forums can do for you as this is something that our team handles based on our policies. Thanks in advance! 

[kcglover01]

Thank you for the attention towards a response, but respectfully it did not contribute much at all towards the issue I expressed. I understand that I failed to *call* to register an issue within the one year warranty, despite evidence that one of our products was so defective it ceased to work within one year. I have already been in conversation with the Support Team, and unfortunately, it was a dead end. I fully understand your warranty policy. I use the Forums to give a heads up to the broader community the flaws I found in your product, your warranty policy, and your customer service. I am disappointed that FitBit could find no way to make an exception and deliver a full replacement at no cost. Such a gesture of goodwill would have gone a long way to keep my future business and customer loyalty.