Ionic Problems and Warranty

[dposadas]

I have been a long time Fitbit customer, back to the original Flex and having owned the Force, Charge, Charge HR, Blaze and now the Ionic.  I have always had positive dealings with Fitbit, including the replacement of the flex, when it just up and stopped working, the return of the Force after the recall and several replacements for the Blaze due to screen cracks.

Through this all, I stayed with them and upgraded to the Ionic last November.  The Ionic has worked flawlessly and I thought it was one of the better units, until two days ago.  The unit started going through a restart loop.  When it finally stopped, the touch screen stopped working.  I did some troubleshooting on my own with resets and finally 3-4 factory resets.  Nothing worked.

Today I reached out to customer support and found that because I purchased the unit, NEW, from an individual on Ebay, the warranty is not valid and I have no options for a replacement.  If I had purchased the unit from an "authorized retailer" it would have been a different story.

This did make me take a long hard look at my history with Fitbit and came to realize that maybe it wasn't worth it.  I hate to change platforms but looking at the problems I have had, I'm not sure their products are that great.  They only seem to last about a year with my Fitbit Charge HR lasting the longest.

I can't keep my business with a company who offers no options of coverage to someone who isnt the "original purchaser" even for a brand new unit.  Therefore, if you received your Fitbit as a gift, you have no warranty.

[WendyB]

there is no way to verify a seller on Ebay. Its also not on the supported list which you should know about as well

https://www.fitbit.com/retailers

Its also clear in the warranty

"This Limited Product Warranty applies only to the original purchaser of the Product that was purchased from an authorized reseller or sales channel and manufactured by or for Fitbit that can be identified by an authorized “Fitbit” trademark, trade name, or logo affixed to it."

[dposadas]

I don't think most people actually read the warranty on a fitness tracker before buying it.  My posting was mostly venting about something that seems unreasonable and a warning to those who receive Fitbits as gifts.  Since the gift recipient is not the "original purchaser" of the product they receive no warranty.

If there was some question of the authenticity of my product, which would be the only reason to say "Authorized Retailer," I would gladly have shipped it back for inspection, along with the original packaging containing the “Fitbit” trademark, trade name, or logo affixed to it."

There are clearly some issues with certain Fitbit products.  I experienced issues with the screen on my Fitbit Blaze cracking, which is a well documented problem in these forums.  I decided to stay with the company and upgraded to the Ionic with the thought that they had worked out any issues and each product would be better and more reliable.  Now I see a trend where customers are complaining that the touch screens don't work on the Ionic.   

If a company is developing and designing a quality product, they should stand behind it regardless of where it was purchased.  I realize that a company can't warranty a product for life but they should cover it for at least a year.