Feel left out that there are no XL Ionic Bands

[Techy]

Hello Fitbiters,

I feel completely left out as a Fitbit consumer since August of 2013. Fitbit has been VERY fair with larger people trying to get fit. Until recently and it feels more cliquish. My first Fitbit I believe was the Flex. I had trouble with the large band and contacted support and they mailed me a XL band. I bought onto the Fitbit Force boat and had to call support for the "Band extender" which made it more awkward to wear and pressing into the bottom of my wrist. Eventually the band came "Unglued" from the device housing. I called support about that problem and they told me to throw it away as it was mass recalled. And told me to wait for an email for a voucher. Waited and bought the Fitbit Alta, again calling support for XL band. Eventually I bought the Fitbit Blaze and the Large band was still not enough. Called support for a XL band and that worked for a few months or a year till I needed a new one and they said we no longer support making XL bands for anything. So, I gave the benefit of doubt to try the Fitbit Ionic. And again, the Large band is still too small. Called support and it was a fast-one-sided conversation basically being told to get my money back for the device. After so much digging around I also found why my Fitbit Blaze and Ionic wont register a heart rate past 134(Blaze wouldn't see past 113 or so and Ionic rarely posts 134 so all I'm doing is fat burn ALL the time!) was because the bands are on top of the ball of my wrist so I'm moving my wrist to much thus not getting a correct heart rate because it needs to be further up the wrist. February marked a VERY critical part of my life to change everything about me. (Diet, exercise and many other lifestyle choices) I'm really going all out to become a better person. If my option is to give up Fitbit I'm not sure what to do other than Myfitnesspal to track food. I don't understand why I basically feel like I've been spit in the face for being a big person and trying to get healthier and Fitbit as company could careless because "They've done a study and they don't need to make XL bands". I really want to grow with Fitbit and her community. There are so many great people here and I would rather keep it going.

Where should I go from this?
Should I just say I'm done because they won’t realize that were here too?

I would really like to thank this community and google for helping me come to this conclusion before making the post. I've done the research and seen the threads on here about the bands or problems with the heart rate sensor. To the Features and Suggestions where the idea was shot out of the sky as another spit in the face with a : Status changed to: Not currently planned

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing this suggestion. We're always striving to enhance Fitbit products and services, and we appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers. We do not currently have plans to release XL bands for Ionic, as we recently increased the dimensions of Fitbit ‘Large’ size bands, which we’ve found meets the needs of most customers. We understand that various companies have released third-party XL wristbands (but please be advised that any bands you find through online outlets, or otherwise, are not supported by Fitbit).

You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. For now, we will leave this suggestion open for votes (and closed to comments) so that we can continue to track community demand over time. Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us and we will let you know if anything changes.

Any posts are welcome I guess to come to a conclusion on my next steps are...

Aaron

Moderator edit: format 

[SilviaFitbit]

Welcome back @Techy! I truly appreciate the time that you took to share your experience with every detail you could shared. I'm sorry to hear about the issue you're experiencing with large bands, it's totally understandable that you would Fitbit to make larger bands as every user is welcome and each company is here to support your needs and to continue reaching your goals using trackers. 

At the moment, just as you mentioned you saw the feature suggestion which was closed with the status not currently planned. Fitbit is always welcoming your feedback and comments as we're sure this can improve the features that are implemented on Fitbit trackers and new ones. 

Hope you can give us a another chance in the future! 

[Techy]

@SilviaFitbit ,

              So is there a way to keep bugging the company to make it happen? I'd really like to stay with the Fitbit Ionic but like I said it's a bit tight and I'm not even wearing it in the right spot. If I wear it with the one index finger from the ball of my wrist I would need a band that is at least 10 1/2 inches or larger if I want to put it higher for a more accurate heart rate reading during running. Like I would stop running on the treadmill because it felt like my heart was going to stop and my chest strap would say my heart rate is 202 and the treadmill heart rate sensor would say 207 and this is being given while I'm completely still and just breathing REALLY hard. Meanwhile the Fitbit Blaze or even the Ionic, 124-134 your fine but get that heart rate up because your Cardio Fitness rating is Poor 28-32. I just don't understand. I wish they did a survey of all the Fitbit consumers. I would rather wear it comfortable than force myself to wear it where my left hand feels like it's choking.

-Aaron

[AndreaFitbit · Accepted solution]

I apologize for the delayed response and thank you for getting back to us @Techy. Thank you for sharing your personal experience with the band and how it works during your exercise.

At this time I honestly don't have a way to keep bugging the company to make larger bands happen. The best source to make your ideas heard is trough our Feature Suggestions. I searched for ideas and found these XL and Larger Wristbands and Versa, Ionic XL Bands. They are not currently planned but votes are taken into consideration.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

[Techy]

Thank you for getting back with me @AndreaFitbit 🙂

I want to believe that they take those votes into consideration. But I and many others have been voting since they stopped making the XL bands for the blaze. I honesty believe that Fitbit is more a fit or slightly unfit person. Us bigger people just don’t matter anymore. 😕

All I have is the Aria 2 and when that dies I might as well delete the app and just go back to the regular scale or the Doctors weight scale. 

I will miss everyone I’ve friended on here over the years. 

[AndreaFitbit]

Thank you for visiting the community again @Techy. I really appreciate your comments and yes, our team takes into consideration those votes from currently not planned ideas. 

We really care about bigger people and I thank you for your feedback. I hope bigger bands get in the market again and you can stay with Fitbit.

Thank you for being part of our family and keep on visiting the forums! 

[SunsetRunner]

@Techy I wouldn't count on Fitbit to listen to the customers ( but that is just my opinion ) but if you want to stay with Fitbit devices then have you considered thirdparty straps? There are plenty of ones to buy on the Amazon and probably on other online websites. My favourite are magnetic straps as these are easy to adjust and usually come in size that can accomodate sizes from slim stick to a wooden log 😄

[Techy]

@SunsetRunner 

Yeah I agree. 

Also so for the blaze I was forced to try to find some and of three different types they either broke too easy or added a bulky ness to it. Since it’s a unit that fits into the watch part. 

Now for the Ionic I tried quite a few different straps and same thing broke within a couple days or didn’t feel right on the wrist. Im

sure I could’ve found one if the Ionic didn’t keep breaking. I think I sent it back two or three times before getting a refund before even having it for a year. Even told them that I hadn’t it on the second notch and still felt tight. Which made the HR pointless. Just made it an expensive watch that count steps and stairs. Didn’t want to always depend on a heart monitor strap while working out. Just wanted the watch. 

Thanks again. Wish you a safe weekend. 

[Colinm39]

This link has extendable bands from Amazon.. 

I had to use a similar band on my Surge from Garmin and ironically it had a benefit that the extra buckle allowed more air movement under the band to help prevent to rash the Surge was giving me.. 

I have had no issues with other Fitbits..just the design of the Surge.