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Ionic suddenly died

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I've come to think it is unethical to recommend that anyone, for any reason, buy Fitbit watches. Beyond their other problems (like the brace of different cables that all do the exact same thing, but just have to be entirely different), they die. They just quit, totally and forever, for no reason. Well, except bad design and construction. 

Like so many others, I've just experienced Fitbit sudden death syndrome. For the second time, personally. Of the 7 we've owned, 3 have just died for no reason.

The Ionic had just been charged about 3 hours before, was working fine all day. I turned my wrist to check the time and thought, "Wow, sunlight must be really bright... I just can't see the screen AT ALL."

Yeah... no such luck.

My Charge 2 died this way. My brother's Blaze also. 

Why we kept buying these things, I have no idea. I know none of us will make the mistake ever again. 

This is on top of having to deal with the constant hassle of a entirely separate charging cable for EVERY DIFFERENT MODEL. Even if the rest of the family has Fitbits, you have to make sure someone has your specific model if you want to borrow their cable

Why? They all do the same thing. They're not even complex chargers. Just to force you to buy more of their cables, obviously. 

And then there were the regularly cropping up bluetooth sync problems. 

I liked the Ionic for it's sleep tracking and it's swimming features, along with some others.

But now this Ionic has failed, the second Fitbit I've owned personally to do so, the third in our family. These haven't had rough treatment at all. They just die. A lot of people have this happened. Some get replacements, only to have those die, too. 

I've tried all the steps I could find searching all through forums - resetting, factory resetting, resetting then connecting cable while holding buttons down, etc.

It's just dead and gone.

Well, not gone - still sitting here, reminding me of how stupid I was to buy keep buying Fitbits, and wasting money on stuff like bands. 

I think mine is less than a year old, but I can't find the receipt. 

And much the reason I'm so annoyed and cynical here is that, reading through the MANY, MANY others who've faced this same problem, over multiple Fitbit models, it looks like the best I'll get is a discount coupon to buy another one, another hunk of junk that'll day around the end of the warranty period. Or, even if it's within, I'd better be able to find that receipt, or I'll be SOL. Again.

Or would be. Fool us twice, shame on us. Fool us three times... what the heck is wrong with us? 

Fitbit should replace something that just dies for no reason. They should stand behind their products. I'm so disgusted that they don't. 

I'd like to think I'll receive something other than a "Warm welcome", but I'm pretty sure that's all I'll get, and it'll have all the warmth of somebody pissing on my leg and telling me it's raining. 

 

 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

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It's telling when best buy stops offering extended warranties on your product. They will sell a warranty on pretty much anything. I told a woman who was considering one last week that she should consider the extended warranty, the sales guy was quick to point out they don't sell them anymore. She decided maybe a apple watch was the way to go.

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WARNING 

:warning: I tried to do the latest update on my Ionic. It went blank and can’t be restarted. 

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Mine died at the start of the month, bought last year Feb. In conversation with Fitbit Support they told me my device was out of warranty and that they can't do anything. Checked on the retailers site and they are advertising 24 month limited warranty. Sent the device back through them and it is now with supplier undergoing evaluation. It will be interesting to see what comes of it. BTW I see the Versa models are also getting hit with these mysterious deaths...

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I upgraded my Iconic yesterday and it died at 1:38 a.m. and I can't get it started again. This is my second fitbit in less than a year. First my Charge 3 got lines all over it and customer service told me it was dead. Sent me coupon for an upgrade. I upgraded to an Iconic Addis. Now this **ahem** thing died. I'm out about $300 and still have no device. What do they expect, me to shell out even more for another device that will die.

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Thanks so much for this useful information.

I find it unbelievable that a high value item can be dealt with in this way by the supplier.

What makes it worse is that mine died when I tried to update it - in line with a request to do so from Fitbit

Craig

Sent from my iPhone
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Oh man this takes me back to last June when I had a two week multi channel battle with Fitbit to get some customer service. In the end I tried the ionic. Guess what. Screen of death yesterday! Can’t face the patronising bot responses again but I guess I best prepare to do battle again. Anyone got some garmin recommendations for running and swimming? Thanks in advance!!!

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So this!!! My ionic (replacement for a dead fitbit last June) just died. Just out of warranty. Again. Yah. That. 

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It is quite obvious that there are major problems with the Ionic and Fitbit just seem to  make no attempt to accept any responsibility. Giving the usual standard out of warranty responses!!!! They broke all of our devices by pushing out updates 😞 how can this possibly be the customers fault. I have tried several channels and get the same BOT replies. It is obvious they do not value their customer base, especially outside the US as I am. Fitbit we are waiting for a response admitting fault and doing something about it

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Amazingly I just got a replacement offer!!! Tbh I can’t complain about that
atm because last time it took two weeks of arguing 🙈
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Sent from Gmail Mobile
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Well done !
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Moderator edit: Updated subject for clarity 

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I understand now, just read an article that Fitbit are selling out to  the giant Google, no wonder they do not care about all the devices they have broken. Surprised they can sell the company surely Google would of done some due diligence on the devices and customer service record over the last six months...... not that it matters, the customers come last in the corporate world of business these days 😞 what do they care if a lot of us are hundreds of dollars out of pocket due to their updates when they are millions of dollars “in pocket” 

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So the Ionic went back to retailer who for the last couple of weeks have been trying to get their supplier to replace the **ahem** thing. Yesterday they gave me the option for a full refund or carry on waiting. I have taken the refund and will be waiting for the Garmin Vivoactive 4 to launch in South Africa and when it does buy that with the Fitbit Ionic money. Not a bad way to get an upgrade, thanks Fitbit!

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Interesting post. How long since you bought the Ionic?

Sent from my iPhone
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I had it for about 7 months before it died after updating the software.

I returned the item through Amazon and received a repaired replacement after a couple of weeks.

 

My main concern now is the regular requests I get to update the software. Do I really want to take the risk that it will 'die' again?

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I bought my Ionic in Feb 2018. Thankfully the retailer on advice from their supplier had advertised that the unit be sold with 24 month limited warranty. Since it still fell into that advertised warranty period I was able to get my money back as in-store credit. Now I am just waiting for the Garmin Vivoactive 4 to be released through the retailer and I will jump to Garmin.

 

/Interesting that the word d/\mn is censored. It is a mild word that conveys a lot of frustration and should therefore be seen as helpful but who am I to say...

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Fitbit is now censoring usernames, they changed myusername from IONIC VICTIM to the the one you see now. guess they are sweeping complaints under the rug in prep for Google sales. 

Screenshot_20191107-072303_Gmail.jpg

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Same thing happened to me for 2 Ionic watches I have owned.  Will be buying Garmin from now on.

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Great idea, Fitbit is such a scam they even changed my name from IONIC
VICTIM to this sunrise nonsense.
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Hi Silvia,

My Ionic seems it died this morning. I contact fitbit support web chat and the person (Mark) tried to reset but I did not work. So, I bought this watch at Bestbuy in Sawgrass mill mall in March 2018.  In this case I simply miss the watch or is there anything I can do?

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I had the same issue this morning. Simply it goes down forever.

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