Ionic is not working

[sh211]

I have loved my Ionic until last night,. It was working fine, fully charged, and then It just died.  Black screen, no green light heart sensor.  Chatted online with support, they told me to clean the connection with rubbing alcohol then press all three buttons for 10 sec.  None of that worked. That was it! Their solution...a 25% off coupon to get another one?  Really?!?  The support person said all technology has an unknown expiration date.  I'm sorry but a $300 smartwatch should not die after 2 years for no apparent reason and a 25% off coupon to get another one just seemed like an insult. Anyone else have this happen? 

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity

[Teebarnes]

I edited my post response and said almost 2 years.

[zerodameaon]

That was the Ionic, not the Versa. I was actually wrong about my launch date, it was April 2018, but I guess you could be a beta tester or something. 

EDIT: Oops someone else responded. 

[Suskarmat83]

It's the Ionic that came out in Oct. 2017, versa is a newer product, it
came out sometime in 2018.

[zerodameaon]

Wait you had to buy another one at only two months? do you live somewhere that Fitbit only has to provide a 30-day warranty?

[TashiDiki]

My previous Fitbit I bought it from Kohl’s and they only accept any electronic with 30days. So yes, since it’s been over 2 months. They won’t take it back and I had to buy a new one. 

[zerodameaon]

Fitbit support should have helped you, they have a one year warranty. They don't always honor it but they are at least decent about replacing them in that time period. That said it should be much longer, especially with how unreliable these things are, and many of them are getting bricked by Fitbits own updates 

[TashiDiki]

So my current Fitbit Ionic only had it for 7 months. Do you think they will replace it? 

[JCM801]

if it is 7 months since you activated a new purchase, they should honor the
warranty.

[hate_windows]

Mine died today.  I can't find a record of exactly how long I've had it, but it's been working for close to 3 years.  For the last year or so it would sometimes reset in the middle of a work out.  I'd have to restart the activity tracker for whatever I was doing (most often treadmill).  Kind of a PITA when you just want to run!  I often used it to listen to music while running, and that's why I'd reactivate it after the reset.  Not sure if listening to music had anything to do with it.  Today it died in the middle of my run and didn't come back.  No lights on the back, not resettable, no communication with app - completely dead.  It was pretty good while it lasted.  It was too lengthy a learning experience figuring out how to put music on it.  Surely there has to be a more intuitive way to do that! 

[zerodameaon]

To put a time on how long you have had your Ionic, they came out in October 2017, so it didn't even make it two years before it died unless you have a pre-production unit. 

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi everybody! I'm glad to see you here in the Forums, your comments are very important for us.

I noticed you have a lot of questions about this topic. I'll glad to help you out with your inquiries.Thanks for posting the steps that you've tried with your Ionic.

If your Ionic is still not responding, I'd suggest to clean the contacts of it. These contacts can become obstructed by microscopic dirt or debris that prevents them from making a good connection to the charger. Use a toothpick or toothbrush to clean the charging contacts, do not scrape them with anything metal because this may damage the plating and result in corrosion. 

You can also check this useful article: Why isn't my Fitbit device's battery charging?

Please try to restart your Ionic. How are you changing your Fitbit? We recommend plugging your charging cable into a USB port on your computer or other low-energy device. If necessary, you can use a UL-certified USB wall charger. Don't use a USB hub or battery pack to charge, and only use the charging cable that came with your tracker. Did you have issues before with the charging cable?

Please take a look of these recommendations to charge your Fitbit too. If you have tried all those steps and your Ionic is still not working after that, let me know so we can move forward with the next step.

In the case you have question about Fitbit warranty, you can find more details here: Limited Product Warranty. You can also get back with our support team, they will be glad to keep communication open with you.

Let's give it a try and please keep me posted. 

[hate_windows]

Seems like they last between 1.5 to 2.5 years. Hopefully they'll figure
out a way to make them last longer. My wife and I are both on our second
one now.

[robstpierre]

Hello Yojana, all of the steps you've outlined I've tried and naturally, I wouldn't use a metal brushe on a 400$ watch (on any watch actually).  What puzzles me is that the watch was working and had 46% battery and all of a sudden black out.  Since then, lights on the wrist no longer light up, charging usb or electrical plug doesn't do anything and restart isn't working either. There is literally no power. The funniest thing though, I got an email yesterday saying my fitbit battery is low, yet it's been dead for 5 days now.

As you can see, many many people are experiencing this. So..what can Fitbit do about Client satisfaction here? Unfortunately, a 25% discount on the purchase of a new one or 40% discount on a versa lite model doesn't replace everything I loved about the Ionic.  

[JGrubb]

After mine died, I decided to go with the Versa and have been very pleased with it. Still so disappointed that a $400 device died on me and soooo many others. Btw, I did go with the extended warranty on my new device.

[YojanaFitbit]

Thanks for sharing your feedback @hate_windows, @robstpierre and @JGrubb. 

Sorry about the issues that you had with your Fitbit Ionic. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it's very important to us to have your comments in regards to our product and your customer support interactions.

Fitbit is always trying to provide great products and customer experience. Each scenario is different, but I think that you can use the option available according to your warranty information, as it was mentioned by our support team. Please know that we provide feedback to our team based on community posts and we are always working on improving our devices and overall environment based on what you share here.

If you need more details about your Fitbit options, please reply to the last email that you got from our support team. They will be happy to help.

Thank your for your understanding.

[EricF51]

Just got off the phone with customer service and got the same response as the rest of you. 25% off a new Ionic .My Ionic made it to 20 months and then stopped working. It seems to be a common problem with this product and it is a shame that fitbit will not do more than 25%. They obviously don't stand by the longevity of their product. I paid close to $300 for originally. They didn't even offer to fix it( or maybe it can't be fixed?). Maybe if they offer a larger % off a new I might have got another. Anyhow they lost me as a customer I can't afford to pay $250 to $300 every 20 months

[russmbrown]

Well... absolutely DISGUSTED with Fitbit. The saying "Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me" comes to mind. I have now owned THREE Fitbit devices, all of which are (or were at the time) their so called 'top of the line' devices. First it was the Surge - replaced once under warranty, that one failed 18 months later. So $250 (plus taxes), and I got about 30 months use, in total. Out comes the Ionic, with the hype that the issues with the Surge have been taken care of. Purchased it in October 2018, it failed March 8th 2020. "Sorry, out of warranty" is their response, though with an offer of a 25% discount if I buy another. Sorry FITBIT, you will not get to dupe me a third time.👎

[russmbrown]

Yojana - I strongly suspect you are a "bot" providing the same useless response to all the problems reported here.  

Fitbit clearly does not need its customers, though at this time I find that very surprising.  So ok, I will now take my business elsewhere.

[shawnrcody1]

This also happened to me. I have had fitbits for years since like 2011 maybe. At this point I think I am going to give up on Fitbit. I agree these watches should last longer. Mine last ionic that I purchased with a 25% discount due to the previous one dying lasted on 14 months before breaking again. I am sick and tired of buying a new one every 12-18 months for $200+. I am going to look at other activity/fitness watches. 

[russmbrown]

I recently bought the Samsung Watch+....the version that includes the ability to work as a cell phone (think Maxwell Smart and Agent 99!) to replace my Ionic.   Very happy with it,

Sorry Fitbit...  you had your chance.