My experience with Support

[bogin]

I purchased a Charge 5 in June 2023 at an major electronics store near my house here in Japan. It worked fine until about a week and a half ago when the watch stop displaying for some reason. After doing a bit of Googling, I came across various site discussing the problem and potential fixes. I tried the "push the charger button three times" fix and that seemed to work for about a day or so before the watch went black again. Since then, I've tried the same fix, changing the clock face, cleaning the charger and the contact heads multiple times but nothing seems to work. According the app, the tracker is fully charged and it is tracking my steps, but there's no display. I've checked the app and found that it is still on version 20001.188.58, which I don't believe is the most recent version released; however, I can't figure out how to upgrade to the latest version. 

I emailed support about a week ago and got an automated reply with a ticket number of ****, but have heard nothing since then. As stated above, I purchased my Charge 5 in June 2023 so I think it still shoud be under warranty. If possible I would like support to let me know what my options are and whether there's a way to fix my device.

This Charge 5 isn't the first Fitbit I've purchased and it's also not the first one that I've had problems with. I started with a Charge 2 that worked fine for a couple of years until the watch display suddenly started endlessly scrolling. It was replaced by Support, but then the replacement also started having the same issue after a few months. I then purchased a Charge 4 which was great until the screen became so dim that it was pretty much impossible to see during the day and was just barely visible at night. After several months dealing with that, I took the plunge and bought the Charge 5. So, it seems I've had three swings and misses with Fitbit products so far. I thought things might improve after Google took over, but it seems that might not be the case. I highly doubt I will ever by another Fitbit product if the best that Support can do it tell me they can't help me out, but here's a XX% on a future Fitbit purchase. I totally get that the approach these days is no longer to make products that will last a lifetime, but instead to plan that they eventually become obsolete to encourage purchases of newer models, but the product like the Charge 5 shouldn't basically become half functioning after only a few months.  

Moderator edit:  updated subject for clarity & removed personal information

[JuanFitbit]

@bogin , A warm welcome to the Community ! Thank you for your feedback and for sharing your experience with Support. 

I verified with them and they confirmed me that they received your message. You'll receive a reply soon. My apologies for the long waiting time, but our team has been notified.  

[bogin]

I appreciate you doing that, but I still haven't heard from support. It's been almost weeks since I first emailed them, and I have to say the lack of a response isn't making me want to recommend Fitbit products to others. My tracker is still working, but the display is still black. If there's no way to fix this and no chance of getting a replacement or refund even though my Charge 5 should still be under warranty, I'd rather know sooner than later. 

[JTLancelee]

Hi there, my charge 5 turns black screen yesterday unexpectedly, the battery still 80%. I have tried to let it charge for few hours and perform force restart however the device doesn’t appear turn on. 
I purchased this in this year Feb 2023. What can I do?

[RiekoC]

Hello @JTLancelee 

The other recommended troubleshooting step for an non-responsive screen is to try to change the clock face. Some users have had success in getting their devices "unstuck" by changing the clock face. If this is successful, you can change back to the clock face you prefer. You might have to do this a few times before determining that this doesn't work.  If you would like instructions on how to do this, click here: Change clock face on Charge 5

If you're not successful, you should contact Fitbit support (<-- click link) to find out what are your options under warranty. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi, I am getting exactly the same issue. I just logged in the help community and here I see so many having same issues. Bought my charge 5 in 2022... did u get a reply finally and has it been sorted out?

[badcustserv]

Be careful, I made a post about the charge 5 boot looping and the moderators have since stopped me from replying/updating or making a new post on the matter. Some real Gestapo/Cheka stuff going on to help hide their issues. 

[JTLancelee]

Hi Kareen, still not solution for me. Even the Fitbit support was not available. Live chat is not useful at all…

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Hi Rieko, thanks for the suggestion. No working for me. My charge is totally not working now. It didn’t switch on when i charging. By the way, I unable to click to “install” clock face because the button was grey out. The Fitbit app shows my charge 5 is not connected.

[SunsetRunner]

Hi, I saw a post somewhere suggesting changing the clock face. I managed to do that in the short span I got the watch to switch on while it was charging and cross fingers, it has lasted me through the day...8hrs...cross fingers! Try if it works if u can get the watch on...

[Beetlewolf]

I have had the same problem over the last 24hrs. My fitbit suddenly started to vibrate and kept prompting to add a payment card. I restarted the device through the setting and about 2 hours later I find the screen unresponsive. The device appears to be working ( hrt rate, sync, sleep data) but the screen remains black. A couple of times it has all of a sudden displayed the screen only to not wake again.

I have tried all the suggestions regarding pulse start with the charger, changing clock face etc. Appears to be no option in sync settings to try and update firmware.  Last sync says full battery, version 57.20001.188.58.

I have attempted to contact live support but it appears to be down. The device should be under warranty still but that site also appears to be down. Never had a problem with fitbit until now and I have been using it since the charge 2. 

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 managed to contact support through the chat support using the app (that works) and they went through all of the trouble shooting (very quickly) and established my fitbit was in warranty then sent me an email containing a "Replacement offer" and request for additional information.... drum roll... the link doesn't work and throws up an error message saying "that page is following a different trail".... oh how we laughed. 

[bogin]

I finally got an email from FitBit support. Unfortunately most of the the things they suggested are things already posted on this forum and other places online. My FitBit app recently updated itself, but the tracker still seems stuck on an older version. Support did suggest that I try deleting and reinstalling the app, deleting my Charge 5 from the app or doing both those things; however, if the screen remains black even after trying something like that, then I'm not sure I be able to reconnect the Charge 5 to the app since I think the information needed to do so is provided via the watch display.

My problem doesn't seem to be battery or connector cable related since the Charge 5 charges Ok and is still tracking steps despite the watch display being dead.