Ionic stopped working after swimming

[Etheshuffler]

My wife took her Ionic swimming 2 days ago and when she got out of the pool it wasn't working. It was "weeping" moisture and the transparent window over the sensors on back of the watch were fogged with condensation. I contacted Fitbit and got the usual tiresome runaround: take a picture, upload, wait for one of their "experts" to review and then to get an answer they didn't see an condensation. Well, dunh, it had been a day and the condensation had evaporated but the watch is clearly still dead. I've also had an Ionic replaced in the last year, after much ado with Fitbit support. As a purchaser of at least 6 Fitbit products I feel like a fool to keep buying them. They are unreliable and support makes returns as difficult as possible. If the Apple watch had a little better battery life I'd be gone in a heartbeat. What other company can make it so hard to return defective merchandise. Great companies like Nordstrom and REI grew successful with "no questions" returns. Why can't Fitbit do this?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Whistler888]

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@Etheshuffler wrote:

My wife took her Ionic swimming 2 days ago and when she got out of the pool it wasn't working. It was "weeping" moisture and the transparent window over the sensors on back of the watch were fogged with condensation. I contacted Fitbit and got the usual tiresome runaround: take a picture, upload, wait for one of their "experts" to review and then to get an answer they didn't see an condensation. Well, dunh, it had been a day and the condensation had evaporated but the watch is clearly still dead. I've also had an Ionic replaced in the last year, after much ado with Fitbit support. As a purchaser of at least 6 Fitbit products I feel like a fool to keep buying them. They are unreliable and support makes returns as difficult as possible. If the Apple watch had a little better battery life I'd be gone in a heartbeat. What other company can make it so hard to return defective merchandise. Great companies like Nordstrom and REI grew successful with "no questions" returns. Why can't Fitbit do this?

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Probs has to do with the number of defective units that appear in and especially after the warranty period draining the bottom line.  From the number of continual complaints of water damage and bricking of devices after factory resets and firmware updates -> would suspect the brand would lose profitability quickly.

Actually many report multiple device replacements like yourself.  Indicating the reliability is very suspect.  Mine was replaced after one week as it kept on randomly crashing.  Many on here also have this crashing problem -> but most have not yet realized this is deemed defective and should replaced immediately.  Very unfortunate as they live with using a defective device.

Can say to be fair my replacement has not yet crashed.  So replacements working really is hit and miss proposition.  Question is -> will it last after the warranty expires.  Probability not looking promising based on real user reports.

[Etheshuffler]

I'm coming up to a year now, after my own Ionic replacement. So far, so good. I took a close look at the back of my wife's defective unit and compared to mine, which is likely a couple of months newer than hers. There are some subtle differences in the way the "window" seals around the charging outlet. My unit looks more integrated around the outlet, with less likelihood of leakage. I imagine Fitbit has made this improvement in response to leak problems. But it galls me they won't just say "send us the unit, we'll replace it." Terrible way to run a business but maybe a version of the Greater Fool theory holds here. Why worry, if people keep buying them.

[Whistler888]

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@Etheshuffler wrote:

I'm coming up to a year now, after my own Ionic replacement. So far, so good. I took a close look at the back of my wife's defective unit and compared to mine, which is likely a couple of months newer than hers. There are some subtle differences in the way the "window" seals around the charging outlet. My unit looks more integrated around the outlet, with less likelihood of leakage. I imagine Fitbit has made this improvement in response to leak problems. But it galls me they won't just say "send us the unit, we'll replace it." Terrible way to run a business but maybe a version of the Greater Fool theory holds here. Why worry, if people keep buying them.

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Yep this has been my suspicion for a while now.  Some units are upgraded with newer better parts on the quiet.  Probs with better QC as well.  This would account for many older devices dying and some not having many problems like my replacement.  Your observations are important.  My replacement build serial number was much different than my original.

No doubt is a terrible way to run a business.  But as long as users think a defective device - is running normally always glitching - then they are none the wiser.  At least you got a replacement.  Others have no clue as they are told it will be fixed some day.  Which never seems to happen.

[Rich_Laue]

And many more @Whistler888 have their first Ionics with no problems.

[Whistler888]

My first Ionic was deemed defective after about a week -> so am not confident in the Ionic even when dry.  But all you have to do is read thru the multitude of threads and posts to realize how many have problems with water intrusion.  The water resistance does not seem to be a strong suit by any stretch.  If you are confident yours is -> put it in water test by constantly dunking it and report back here.  See if your seal remains water resistant.

Just refer to the other threads you have recently been posting in and you will see and read the magnitude of the problems with water intrusion.  That is indicative of the true problems that real users actually have with their Ionic.  Why discount and ignore their concerns by saying others do not have this problem?

[Etheshuffler]

For a consumer product that costs about $300 the defect rate on something so critical as water resistance should be almost zero. 

[SunsetRunner]

This is also a worry for me. I've only had my Ionic for 2 weeks and did my first run with it yesterday, the screen went dead and only the first 1.5 miles of my run actually registered. I contacted support and all they could offer was to try a restart. I will be testing it to death over the next couple of weeks and if it happens again I will be returning it to Amazon.

[DediGrigoroiu]

Hi,

My ionic broke after one year and  they have replaced it after a long email conversation. My wife’s versa and another one of a friend were replaced quickly after taking water in the pool. The watches ARE NOT WATER PROOF! It’s a very dangerous marketing lie for the company. I totally lost my trust in them. We should all tell our story to the officials that can solve this problem. 

[Rich_Laue]

Hello @DediGrigoroiu you are correct about the watch not being waterproof. 

No watch can be labeled as waterproof since there is no legal definition for the word waterproof. 

USA made it illegal to classify a watch as being waterproof back in the 1960's