2nd Dud Ionic in 15 months and Fitbit Won't Replace It

[ColinSR]

I just had problems with my second Ion and, after 2 attempts to fix it with support, it is once again not working. The touch screen doesn't operate, which means that I just have a very expensive piece of equipment that simply tells me the time. During my second call, I was told that even though I've had this particular watch for less than a year that it wasn't covered under the 1 year warranty as this was a replacement watch for my first watch that broke when I was in Hawaii about 3 months after I first got it.  As another user reported, the response was merely that I would get 40% off a new one. As the watch ended up functioning for a while when I was expressing my displeasure with this, I let the matter drop but now that my watch isn't working again, I am back to square one. 

While I enjoyed being part of the fitbit community, it sounds like they weren't so keen to keep me around. Needless to say, I am disappointed and doubt that I get another Fitbit. I suspect that I will be buying many more watches over the course of my lifetime and it's now time to start shopping with the competitors. I'm the sort of person who is very loyal to people who go the extra mile for me but not when I feel it's not reciprocated.

[johneric8]

Same thing happened to me. Two watches that lasted 13 months total. I was appalled that they didn't care neither watch made it past 6 months. All I can imagine at this poimt is they know about the faulty ionic but they're not financially stable enough to own up to their mistake and do the right thing.

[ColinSR]

Penny wise and pound foolish. I was actually expecting that they would be apologetic about putting me to the hassle of dealing with the repairs and spending several weeks without a watch when the first one broke. In your case, did you actually have a watch for a full 12 months? It took a long time for my replacement to arrive. If the same thing happened to you and you didn't actually have their product for 12 months, there might be an argument to be made that you were still under warranty. For a luxury product like this, however, these are of course actually the sort of arguments that you should never need to raise in the first place.

I also found that I wasn't convinced regarding the accuracy of the GPS and that the bluetooth signal from the watch was so weak that I had to wear my watch on my other arm so that it was closer to the receptor in my earbuds in order to avoid interrupting the connection. 

[MichaelRP]

My Ionic died with no warning after 21 months. It was charged at 60%, and I was tracking using the bicycling app and screen display was fine during the ride. After the ride, when I went to turn off the app, I found the screen black, and it wouldn't wake up. Put it on the charger, and no battery symbol indicating charging. Tried the 2-button restart of the watch, and nothing.

Called customer support, and essentially went through the troubleshooting as I had done, with the conclusion that the watch is dead. I've left it on the charger cable overnight just to make sure, and still nothing. I was given a 25% discount to use in the Fitbit store.

I love the Ionic watch for features and looks. But I have to question whether to spend another $185 (discounted price) for a watch that I can't expect to last more than 21 months.  Maybe Fitbit make their watches a subscription service...when it fails replace it. Of course, $100/yr would be too high! But they must have an expected life of these watches, hopefully longer than 21 months! However, even an extra $60 protection plan only extends the warranty to 24 months.

Any other comments or experiences on lifetime of the Ionic?