Activity Groups have been closed

[MatthewFitbit]

Fitbit Update 6/14/19: We have removed the web-based activity groups from Fitbit.com. Our enhanced community features within the Fitbit mobile app provide users with a significantly better experience by allowing them to access fitness-related news and local events, connect and message with friends, discover public groups of like-minded individuals, and create their own private groups.

User-created groups on the Fitbit app also allow members to track their progress through group leaderboards and cheer each other on, just as they could through the web. The Fitbit mobile app is available for Android and iOS.

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As of 6/13/2019, Web Activity Groups have been deprecated and will no longer be accessible.

We know that many of you have used this space to connect with friends and fellow Fitbit users, and we recommend considering the in-app Fitbit Community to continue those conversations. Along with topical public threads where you can discuss personal health goals, the Community also offers closed groups with many advantages - including space for up to 2,000 members, and leaderboard statistics.

For more information on joining and inviting your friends to these closed groups, check out this article. We know that this kind of transition can be difficult, but we are confident that you'll find lots to love in the new Fitbit Community!

[cheltonpei]

Peer support and the challenge of trying to do better were the highlights. Counting one's own steps is just plain boring. If they don't bring the webbased activity groups back soon this things a goner, and so am I...

[cheltonpei]

I now own an expensive watch... 

[checking]

Here is the customer support phone number for Fitbit:

1 (877) 623-4997

I would suggest that everyone call and ask how to get their Community Activity Group(s) running again. Certainly a valid query, particularly with no notification of closure. We deserve more that a single placating post from some forum moderator.

PS - I expect there are a large number of activity group users who do not frequent, or are not willing to post to. this community forum - hope they are ringing the phones off the hook.

[terrellkerry]

Poor choice.  Should have given prior notice and given people the opportunity to choose.

[checking]

@MatthewFitbit  When you have something new to say, would you please put it in a new post. When you edit and add to your single existing post, it does not show up as new information (red bell). Simply put, I have no desire to reread your post multiple times to check if there is new information.

[bachman_marilyn]

Checking I think calling customer service is a good idea. Thank you for the number.

[sj32]

Matt ...I get the impression that you sprew the company line. I do not want or need your app for my phone, I do not use it, I belonged to a group of 20 women who do not know each other personnally but belong to a larger group, we do not know each others email addresses or such...this group of women is now not able to be in touch and supportive with each other because of this deletion of data. We are mostly in our 60s to 80s and used each other for support and your company has now done away with this support. Maybe none of you care about this but you should care about the fact that most of us have a great deal of money to spare and spend and it will not be on Fitbit. We are baby boomers the first fitness generation and you all would be well a where not to pss us off.

[RedondoWalker]

sj32,

I think the Marketing Department at Fitbit didn't learn the most basic, basic, lesson regarding how customers should be treated.

Allow me to enlighten them.

"A satisfied customer will tell their friends.  An unsatisfied customer will tell EVERYONE!".

A proverb.

A truism.

A reality.

A warning.

Fitbit, return the groups, or reap your rewards.

Fitbit, as my parents often said, you made your bed...

[UnicornJean]

Hmmm ... when I posted this it got marked as spam. I hope that doesn't happen to this attempt. 😞

In some ways I think we, as a group, are moving through the five stages of grief. It isn't surprising as the groups had become important to us.

Denial: My first reaction was that this couldn't be happening; that it must be a glitch. I kept checking the links on my profile to my groups. Nothing connected, no matter how many times I tried. I came to this group and found out that not only was it not a glitch, it was deliberate.

Anger. I write my most passionate prose when I am angry. I write and discard over and over because I know that rants are most likely to be ignored. So I harness that anger and explain why what happened was a Bad Thing.

Bargaining. I'm not quite as good at this step. But I asked for explanations from Fitbit so they could regain my trust.

Depression. This is the step that I fear the most right now. That monkey sits on my back too often and some painful anniversaries are just around the corner. 

Acceptance. Fitbit needs to be worried about this step the most. Once people accept that something they cared about is gone, they have no reason to visit the site as much. They'll get those marketing emails and delete them unread. Folks that use the phone app to check their dashboard don't even get the banner ads that those of us who use the computer do. And when their Fitbit wears out, instead of automatically coming to Fitbit and getting the newest release, they will research to see which company has the most highly rated smart watch that they can afford. And if all things are equal, they won't choose Fitbit because of the perceived bad experience.

One thing I have noticed is that one unhappy person can spread that discontent far faster than people who are content spread that. The feeling of righteous anger is a motivator. It is why I always check the one-star reviews before purchasing something. I want to see if there is a pattern. If there is and it is recent, then I move on. In this day and age, there are enough other choices that I can find something else similar that doesn't have a pattern of negative feedback.

The one thing we cannot do if we want management to hear us is to give up, Tell your friends where to post. Ask them to support the request to bring it back. Share why your groups were important and why the new groups don't meet your needs.

And when one of us posts and needs support, offer it. Lift that person up, give them a little of your strength. This, too, is a community of sorts. Let us be the community that we miss in so far as we can.

Thanks for listening. 🙂  I appreciate all the effort you are taking to bring back our groups.

[Dajjer]

Wow, unbelievable corporate arrogance. The community groups were a great idea and used by many but somebody upstairs thought it would be a good idea to remove a good feature of the brand. It looks like you have a spy in your organization trying to take Fitbit down.

shame I say

and

Cersei says Hi

[checking]

@UnicornJean I find it interesting that you use 1-star ratings as shopping metric - me too - I am generally skeptical of items that have one-star ratings much over 10%. I just don't want a product that has a high probability of being a total bummer. So I went to Amazon and gathered some data (percentage of one-star reviews)

Charge 2  11%

Inspire      29%

Charge 3  36%

Versa       21%

Ionic         22%

Garmin Forerunner 935    3%

I think you can see why I bought another (now legacy) Charge 2, before they were only available from scalpers, as a backup for my existing Charge 2. I would not "upgrade" to  any of the newer offerings and would not recommend them to anyone else, even if Fitbit's management style and poor customer relations were not issues.

[sandycrochet]

Going backward is not progress.  Going backward is exactly what you've done by eliminating the single thing that made Fitbit better than the dozen other units and apps available...the groups/forums.  When you can comfortable type from your full keyboard and read and catch up with friends adding the canned stuff with limits on the phone app is NOT a reasonable substitute.  But, that's what people have been telling Adm for over a year and still they/you didn't listen to what people liked and used.  

You didn't listen to the people about cheers and taunts either.  Fitbit used to be a costumer oriented company, seems it no longer cares what their customer base likes or dislikes.  No wonder so many are jumping ship to other fitness systems.  Big thumbs down to you Fitbit on your lack of awareness.  Just read through these many pages of complaints about groups not working.  Disgusted and sad with the result of your latest decision.

[UnicornJean]

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@checking wrote:

@UnicornJean I find it interesting that you use 1-star ratings as shopping metric - me too - I am generally skeptical of items that have one-star ratings much over 10%. I just don't want a product that has a high probability of being a total bummer.

My Charge 3 was a gift from a friend after learning I was still using a Flex 2. I admit I had some trepidation because when I got it, I read the reviews. However, it has worked well for me. Two more friends bought it and it has worked well for them, too. The only thing I did was buy a charger for the workplace so we could reset ours if it locks up (it does, but not any more often than I need to restart my phone because it is moving as quickly as molasses in January) and an extra band in case mine broke.

In general, I have been highly satisfied with Fitbit and with its customer service, especially via their page on Facebook. That is why this move flabbergasted me. They gave us no warning, no chance to make the connections necessary to recreate the activity groups as private groups, and then they announced that they'd made these lovely groups for us and we'd all love them so much more when the new groups don't meet our needs. Willfully keeping their blinders on when so many people are upset is short-sighted.

And yes, there are many people. I was taught that for every one person who approached with a question about something written such as an instruction, there were ten more people who had the same question. From what I have seen in other forums, for every one customer willing to express dismay over something on a forum, there are probably another twenty-five people who feel the same way, but either don't want to take the time to voice their concerns or feel that another person has said it for them. 

[checking]

@UnicornJean I too have not had problems with my Fitbit devices except for the crackerjack build quality of the Charge HR, and I am glad to hear that you also have not had device problems (all my problems have been with software, IT, and ecosystem). As for decision making, I tend to rely on statistical rather than anecdotal evidence.

[maria2r]

@checking 

Thanks for posting the info about the amazon reviews on the devices. My husband has a Garmin because he purchased it before my workplace had the Fitbit discount for employee challenges. Will look into a Garmin replacement when my "watch" conks out.

[jjwillamson]

So these are just 'Gone'?
No thought of moving them to the phone app?
Despite your insistence to the contrary, the ones on the phone app suck.. I have groups of folks who have been my driving force for the last 4 years.. and we were in the website accessible groups, you have now cut us all off..
Thanks for nothing, jerks. Someone was too lazy to port things over, and all our hard work is wiped out.

[Chebrau]

This is a really crummy thing to do with no warning! I'm in a private closed group and it does not appear in the app. When I use the web-based community link it goes to a "Sorry, that page is following a different trail." Really - a page not found message? Why don't you post the relevant information that the groups have been closed when someone tries to access their group link.

[Bosco253]

When I called, I got a message that the wait time was greater than 5
minutes, so I hung up, b/c that could mean a half hour or longer. However,
the message said if the call dropped, they'd call back, so I am waiting on
that.

[Bosco253]

And what's with the "different trail" message? They should just be honest
and say "We felt like removing community groups. Too bad, so sad!"

[tjhsmom]

The problem is that many of us joined a group that we didn't know 99% of the people - these people were from all over the country from different walks of life.  We can't just go back and try to recreate the group because we no longer have a list of people to look at.  The group I belonged to competed against each other in steps, mileage, activity and ranked us over time and encouraged us to keep going.  I know I may be in the minority but I don't use my phone very often to check fitbit. I do it directly from my computer during breaks.  When I go to the community, these groups don't really fit my interests.  I feel like fitbit didn't care what the users wanted.  These are the things that set fitbit  apart from other things.  Now I can't even see my friends (the people I do personally know) on my dashboard.  Without the things that make me check fitbit nearly daily, what do I have but an expensive pedometer.  It is very obvious from the feedback I have read that these changes have upset your client base.  These are the people that help you grow.  For every one who has voiced a concern, how many more are there that didn't bother and have given up?  Please consider your user/customer requests.