Firmware Update Bricked my Ionic, and Fitbit say's "Oh well, buy a new one."

[Nanoman66]

My Ionic started having sync issues so I reset it.  While it was on the charger at 100% battery, the app automatically started updating it when it reconnected after reset, and during the update the Ionic went black and disconnected and is now dead.  The screen will not come on, it will not reset, will not charge, and now I'm seeing whole forum posts all in the last two months that after a firmware push a bunch of Ionics are bricked...  So far, the support responses have been "Go buy a new one with our generous 25% discount."  What!?!?

[Marklingle]

I received an ionic fitbit last night.  Started syncing.  Woke up this morning and the screen is blank.  The watch will not turn on.  

[tatyana90]

Having the same issue now.  

My first ionic wasn't waterproof so I had that replaced under warranty.  My new one that came from warranty had syncing issues.  After working with customer service, my ionic went black during firmware upgrade.  Hoping to still get this resolved but as I'm just out of warranty, I'm worried that they will tell me the same thing.  Ugh.

[Jakesdad]

Same deal, happened to me yesterday.  Ionic went black in the middle of the firmware update, dead and gone.  

Same 25% off offer so I can buy another watch.  It's actually almost humorous.  "Hey, sorry the firmware update we sent out on the product you spent a lot of money on ruined said product.  Because you've been a good customer, we invite you to spend more money!"

Appalling!  

[Keci76]

I agree that it is absolutely REDICULOUS that their firmware is bricking these watches and fitbit is saying to just buy another one!!! They obviously don't care about their customers and don't care if we stay with Fitbit or not. My watch was also bricked after the update (completely unresponsive) and was only 2 WEEKS out of the warranty and they said to buy another one with 25% off....um....no thanks!! I'll go with Samsung instead 

[zerodameaon]

"Our firmware is fine!" - The Fitbit official statement so far. 

[Corvettekid]

They are replacing my Ionic but I will NEVER download another firmware upgrade.

[LwrHrtRt]

After writing the below in another thread, I read the other post in this forum and saw this thread.  Wow! I wonder if that's what happened to my Ionic while I wasn't looking?  Fitbit owes us! This is not just coincidence!

After being with Fitbit for over 4 years, also indulging them with 2 different models (Surge and Ionic), I'm leaving Fitibit.  Almost 2 years to the day, with no apparent reason, no neglect, clean case, my Ionic died today. Supports answer was to offer 25% on a new one.  With spending this much on a device, and features still not even realized from their original marketing material (Oxymeter), it's now dead.  The Surge was a disappointment as well. It advertised 5ATM , which disappeared in later marketing material.  It didn't hold up to sweat. The screen would fog (they gave me 2 replacements under warranty), and eventually died.  When the 3rd one died, I thought they might've gotten their act straight.  I got the Ionic (if it can survive swimming it can survive sweat). I had such pains getting it to sync regularly over the past 2 years with 2 different phones (ios and android).  Now its dead.  Good bye Ionic. So long Fitbit. 

[Tbottorf]

Mine did the same thing!  I have been a Fitbit user since 2011 or 2012.  I just finished with a long online chat and and all they will offer is the same 25%.

Very unhappy camper!

[tatyana90]

I'm very happy with my Garmin Fenix 6 and it goes with my outfits better...
including formal events!

I am upset that Fitbit didn't honor to replace the unit after their own customer service bricked it.  Hopefully, I have better luck with Garmin.  It was either that or the Apple Watch 5, which didn't seem to offer much from the 4.  

[njdan]

Mine also bricked during the update after the green-logo screen. 

[Meakin]

I have the same issue. Update went just fine but now a have a blank screen. Tried restarting and changing the watch face but nothing has changed. I won't be buying another Fitbit if this is their attitude so I'm going to look for another option. 

[shawks03]

Watch is now a brick thanks to firmware update. Did the update successfully yesterday, green check, etc. Went to bed, woke up this morning and it's a brick. Tried hard reboot and reset with the buttons... nothing. Contacted support, told me to try the same methods. After that they said I was outside my 1 year warranty and gave me a 25% coupon.

[SunsetRunner]

I just had this problem and managed to solve it, so I thought I would post the details of what I experienced and how I fixed it here in case others might benefit from it.

I updated the firmware in my Ionic on Monday night after be prompted to do so by the Fitbit app. The update appeared to go fine, and after the update the watch was working fine. In the morning at around 7am it buzzed because of a notification, so I know it was working then, and according to the app it synced with my phone successfully at around 8am, so I know it was working then too. But when I got up about an hour after that and looked at the watch, it was completely dead -- black screen, green lights on the back not flashing.

I tried powering on the Ionic, both by pressing the left button quickly and by holding it down for >10 seconds. Then I tried resetting it by holding down the left and down buttons for >10 seconds. Neither of these did anything.

Then I charged the watch for many hours and tried all of those things and again, none of it did anything.

Then I got on a life chat with Fitbit support and they asked me to try the reset (left + button buttons for >10 seconds) one more time, which I did. This time, inexplicably, it worked, sort of. I dunno, perhaps I just didn't hold down the buttons for long enough in the previous attempts? In any case, I say that it "sort of" worked because although the watch powered on, it kept spontaneously restarting after that.

At this point the support person told me to try a full factory reset. Here are the instructions they sent for that:

• On the device, hold all three buttons for about 10 to 12 seconds.
• When the Fitbit logo disappears, quickly release the bottom right button, continuing to hold down the left and top right buttons (releasing the bottom right button as soon as the logo disappears is time sensitive).
• When the device vibrates, release all buttons.
• Wait for approximately 1-2 minutes while the device clears all data.
• Eventually, the Fitbit logo appears and the device boots and displays Fitbit.com/setup.

(Note that this will erase any unsynced data on the watch.)

After this succeeded, I told the Fitbit app on my phone to forget about the watch, and then I set it up again from scratch. It was been working fine for about a day since then.

I hope this helps someone!

[Ethanmw]

Honestly I had a totally different experience from the sounds of things, my Ionic died from the update as well and when I called support I was walked through the basic trouble shooting steps, and they saw my warranty had passed. The rep was beyond helpful, since my Ionic died during the update and the information from my account activity represented that she took a moment to talk with her supervisor. She was able to offer me a full replacement or 50% off any model. I took the replacement, and I got a brand new ionic in the mail today. Really happy with Fitbit's service, and when they next release a more focused device to replace the ionic, I will be upgrading to it.

[Tbottorf]

I am happy that you received a replacement without jumping through hoops.  Fitbit has finally offered me a replacement at no cost, which they should have offered on day one, not after a week of going back and forth with them only offering a small discount.  I communicated with a few different levels of support, made negative reviews on their surveys after my on line chats with them, making a complaint  on their Facebook page and reaching out through other means.

If you still have not been offered a replacement keep at it, I feel that anyone that has a device that died because of the update should receive one.

[chriskwil]

I finally had time to engage with Fitbit customer support, and they gave me the same "RMA or 50% off" offer, which I think was appropriate.  I am glad to hear that they are doing the right thing here, but I'm also concerned that a software update issue can ruin these trackers.

Here's the note I sent to Fitbit support:

----

Hi Daniel,

Thank you, and this is very helpful. I am sure it is frustrating for your support team when well-intended product updates go awry like this. As a software developer myself, I would have been happy to follow technical procedures to reset my Fitbit back to a usable state, but it sounds like with the current set of products, that simply isn’t possible.

It is very unfortunate that that Fitbit’s trackers cannot have their software reinstalled. It is almost like Microsoft saying “since your Windows update went wrong, you need to buy a new computer.” Just as Microsoft has mechanisms to let its users reinstall Windows, I encourage Fitbit to come up with tools that enable its customers to reinstall the software on their trackers. With gigabytes of storage, these devices are simply too complex to expect the operating software to work perfectly, all the time. There is simply too much that can go wrong.

In the meantime, I appreciate your understanding, and your support. I look forward to having a working tracker again!

-Chris

[Corvettekid]

It looks like the merger with deep-pocketed Google is having an effect !!  😀

[acharpentierdd]

I had the same issue, updated my Fitbit and it bricked wouldn't turn on.  Luckily still under warranty.  Received the new one updated it after a full charge.  Three days later it also bricked and wouldn't turn on after charging.  I'm on my second replacement and its auto updating!!!!  If this one bricks I'm going with Samsung.  I'm also telling all of my fitness clients (200+) to stay far away from Fitbit and their horrible customer service.  The second replacement took a full 2 weeks to go through processing after not having my device for an entire month.  It helps me with my job and was a huge inconvenience.  Fitbit should be ashamed of destroying their customer loyalty.  If this one goes I'm definitely getting myself a Samsung. 

[LSM7667]

I have had the same experiences as everyone else.  One day everything was fine then the next blank screen and wouldn't do anything.  Out of warranty so they offered me a 25% discount off of Alta HR, Charge 3, Inspire, Inspire HR and Ionic or 40% off of Versa Lite Marina Blue or Mulberry only...told them I wanted a Versa 2 for 25% off and they said no.   Will not be buying another Fitbit.  What a crock, the problem is evidently on their end and they are doing nothing about it...horrible!