Ionic not working

[UH60guy]

So this morning I got up and everything was working fine with the watch, went downstairs to watch some TV. At some point I checked it, and the screen would not come on. It continues to be unresponsive to any button press and the screen was black (off). Resets do not work, neither the two or three button press combos even get the logo to appear. I put it on the charger all morning but still no response on the button press. 

This is happened as far as I can tell not related to any use, it just died. Any troubleshooting ideas? I’ve had it 13 months so of course the warranty just expired. 

Moderator edit: Updated subject for clarity 

[bsandbo]

Add another dead Ionic to the count.  I am having the exact same problems everyone else has described and no button sequences have been able to revive it.  The Ionic is 15 months old and is now a brick.  Was working just fine.  Excited to see what features the new Apple iWatches have since I've got a dead Ionic and am on my third Fitbit Flyer headphones...looking forward to buy some hardware that actually works.  The $400 I spent on Fitbit gear (Ionic, Flyer, Aria) ended up being an expensive rental.

[genome]

My Ionic died a couple months ago just like yours did.  I tried the reboot etc and nothing worked.  I changed my clock face to another one and then went back to the one I like and it has worked ever since without issues.  Don't know if this will work for you but you might try it.

[bsandbo]

Thanks for the info. I'd love to be able to try this approach but I am
unable to get the Ionic to do anything at this point. It's basically a
paperweight now.

[EscapeGirl]

CBC did an article on this problem.  I've been contacted by them for my story.  Fitbit offered me a new Charge 2 by accident.  Once I advised I had the Ionic they were back to the pityful offer of 25% off a new watch.  Now they are blocking my posts!

[Joeytmk]

Thought I was story that fitbit admitted update was bricking devices?

[EscapeGirl]

Thought you saw a story? Sorry, not getting what you mean. Fitbit offered
me a free replacement but they thought I had the Charge 2. When I told
them I had the Ionic, they only offered 25% on a new watch,. The Charge 2
was totally affected but the Ionic was too. Fitbit has not recognized that.

[Joeytmk]

Yes that’s right I’m sorry I did read the story. I haven’t heard back from fitbit yet myself. It’s really frustrating and have had Fitbit’s for years but probably not after this

[Disappoint]

My Ionic is also not working or charging.  I’ve tried a few times with different chargers but nothing. I’m so disappointed. $400 is expensive and within 16 months it’s dead.  I’m ssoooo disappointed. 

[EscapeGirl]

I feel your pain.  I loved my Ionic but not buying another.  Can't afford a $350 paper weight.

[EscapeGirl]

Good luck!  They are giving the Charge 2 customers a new watch but are not recognizing the firmware update also hooched the Ionics.  Such a sad state of affairs and so disappointing.

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello, it's a pleasure to continue providing assistance with the difficulties experienced with your Ionic devices, sorry for the delayed reply.

Thanks for the feedback that was shared on each of your posts, totally understand how frustrating this situation can be for you guys. Please take in consideration that we are always striving to improve the Fitbit experience, therefore, the feedback that was submitted here in the Community Forums is really appreciated and helpful for us. 

Me best advise for this situation will be to check my previous post and try the troubleshooting steps that were shared. For the ones who already tried them and contacted our Support team, for a better understanding of the outcome of your cases with them, please check our warranty policies for more information and details. You can also contact them directly if any additional questions remain unresolved.

I'll be around, let me know if I can assist you with anything else. 

[GammaChad]

The "support" team has zero interest in remedying the case. Just offer 25% on a new FitBit. The fact is, these Ionics were ALL working prior to your update. After the update, they were bricked. As in, won't turn on, won't charge, won't connect to a phone or computer, won't react to any number or sequence of button pushes, won't respond to prayers or sacrificial offerings or anything else. DEAD. I don't see how looking at a warranty is going to help anything.

If I took my car to a car dealership to get the oil changed and they messed up my engine by putting antifreeze in instead of oil and then promptly seized up my engine, they aren't going to flip me the keys and say, "sorry, but you're out of warranty, here's 25% off of a new car," they're going to FIX WHAT THEY HAVE BROKEN. 

My watch was perfectly fine prior to the update. In fact, it sync'd to my phone at 6:08am with a 100% charge. When I went to put it on at 6:20am it was DEAD. Completely bricked. The only difference? The watch was "updated."

I've been posting my complaint in Versa 2 reviews across the web, telling people not to buy a FitBit because they won't stand next to their product OR software. I will continue to do so until this gets REMEDIED.

And for what it's worth, "Me best advise for this situation..." should be, "MY best ADVICE for this situation..."

[bsandbo]

@RicardoFitbit...these tone deaf, repeat responses from the moderators are probably the most frustrating part of this whole situation. Everyone here is having the same problem:

1) We had a perfectly fine, working Ionic until the update turned it in a brick. I’d bet that most people were generally pretty happy with it.
2) We all now have completely unresponsive Ionics and no reset or restart will help.
3) We mostly all have Ionics that are past the warranty stage.
4) Many have open cases numbers with Fitbit support.
4) We get offered 25% to 50% to replace technology that is now 12-18 months old.
5) No one wants to pay (again) for a product that the manufacturer wont stand behind when they make a mistake.

We want someone from Fitbit to acknowledge that something completely out of your customers hands and caused by an update provided by Fitbit damaged our expensive technology beyond repair.

Fitbit could save a lot of business and earn some loyal customers by taking responsibility for a bad mistake and replacing watches damaged by the manufacturer. I’d suspect replacing damaged watches for those affected would be a a far less costly option than having disgruntled users who buy a competitors watch and tell their friends to skip the offerings from Fitbit.

If that doesn’t happen I’d suspect many of us will be checking out the products offered by your competitors that are more reliable or have better customer service like Apple or Garmin, I know I certainly will.

Sent from my iPhone

[SunsetRunner]

Christmas is coming. For my part when I find myself at a store selling the Ionic and see potential customers inquiring about it, I will go out of my way to earn them to stay away from Fitbit products but especially the Ionic FitBrick!!!

Sent from my iPhone

[arvind4637]

hi all my fitbit ionic was 1 year 9  months old. took for swimming first time in 1.4 meter water,. after swimming , watch is dead . support says they cant do anything , pls buy new watch . No repair...

is it worth spending so much when they cant even repair?

[EscapeGirl]

This post is totally NOT helpful in any way. We have all tried the
troubleshooting steps. We have all contacted support. We all know our
warranty is just slightly past the one year mark. Take the time to read
and understand the posts.

[Joeytmk]

 Fitbit’s update bricked so many devices conveniently right when another new model is coming out, again! 
 And you expect us to be happy with your “advise”

 not right and no attempt to make it right is a joke. 
 Sad to say but I hope someone sues

[FordtoughMomma]

Since the new Fitbit ionic update my ionic won’t even turn on! 

[FordtoughMomma]

I would love to know how you got yours to start working again. 

[Joeytmk]

I have no idea, I left it on charger all night after trying for a day to get it back on. 
 I was literally walking to trash to toss it when I decided to try restart, I almost dropped it in barrel when I saw it was lit up.