Ionic won't power on (just out of warranty)

[aro0023]

About 2 weeks ago my Ionic bricked (it had about 2/3 battery level at the time). I haven't been able to get it to power on since. Tried factory reset, cleaning charging contacts, new charging cable. No luck. Fitbit support says it won't repair or replace because it's out of warranty (by about 1.5 months). I see on the forums that others with similar problems are getting replacements under warranty (which obviously makes me feel out of luck and penalized for being an early adopter) but is there anyone who has found a fix for this problem (or a place that will repair) so I can maybe salvage this $300 brick...

[Drew_Watkinson]

Welcome to Fitbit where you believe you have bought our flag ship device!

Truthfully you paid a premium to rent our sub par quality device but if you grovel to support we will gladly give you a discount on your next rental period. 

[Whistler888]

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@aro0023 wrote:

About 2 weeks ago my Ionic bricked (it had about 2/3 battery level at the time). I haven't been able to get it to power on since. Tried factory reset, cleaning charging contacts, new charging cable. No luck. Fitbit support says it won't repair or replace because it's out of warranty (by about 1.5 months). I see on the forums that others with similar problems are getting replacements under warranty (which obviously makes me feel out of luck and penalized for being an early adopter) but is there anyone who has found a fix for this problem (or a place that will repair) so I can maybe salvage this $300 brick...

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Many early adopters have reported bricked devices now out of warranty.  Unfortunately that is the penalty as many in the warranty period now have one -> up to four or more replacements.  Apparently the device cannot be repaired and like Drew noted they sometimes will offer a discount on another device.  Most decide to switch brands at that point as the reliability is too suspect.  My first device only lasted about a week before it was replaced.  So that particular unit was junk.

[VinLap]

I just finished a Fitbit chat dealing with the same subject. I got by ionic on November 24th, 2017. It stopped working Jan 24th, 2019 {exactly 60 days out of warranty}.

They were 'delighted' to offer me 40% off on a replacement Ionic or 25% off any of the other fabulous trackers! Seriously?!? My wife and I have purchased 6 Fitbit products over the years (with much success) but this is foolish. I even asked the 'chat specialist' if they were willing to end a relationship over 60 days of warranty coverage and she said "this is the best we have to offer" and you have 30 days to use the coupon.

Now I begin the search for a new tracker and scale. I hate being one of "those guys".  But I think my history with the company and the fact it is a defective product that has no repair-ability should count for something. Maybe offer us (others experiencing this issue) a refurb for free or minimal cost?

Time to start backing up my stats and moving on. Thanks for letting me share....

[johneric8]

I don't think I've ever been as frustrated with a product I purchased!  They know there is huge problems for us as early adopters but they refuse to do the right thing. Here is how I see it, they must be hoping that this gets swept up under the rug or they are working on a more viable solution to help us hard working people who slaved away to earn $300 for this lemon of a device. Shame on you Fitbit this is not okay.

[patpawks1]

Your story just happened to me January 25th. My Ionic (purchased December 2017) got bricked (plugged it in to charge, the screen went black right away) and was 7 days past the warranty grace period, and they offered the same 25% off another product. I will be moving on to another brand, but it's sad that they can't keep a customer happy because of 7 days past the grace period... Customer service really needs a wake up call.

[gdakin]

Same experience here. 16 months after purchase. Bought mine first day it was released. Was working fine one minute, dead the next. Got the same 25% discount from support that I put towards a Versa. Hoping that will be a better experience.

However, after reading all the comments on the Ionic forums, with so many other people having the exact same issue, I can't help but speculate that this is product issue that conveniently didn't show itself until after warranty expiry for many of us. 

[aro0023]

Well, at least it's good to know I'm not alone. I received the same discount offers. I just wish there were a repair option. They seem really uninterested in getting to the bottom of the issues with this device (just tossing discounts around with no real attempt to troubleshoot with me, as if they were saying to themselves "Oh well, another broken one"). 

Perhaps an ironic place to ask this, but does anyone have a non-fitbit watch/tracker with GPS that they like? 

[Claire_Myers]

Same happened to me. Husband bought my Ionic on 17th Dec 2017 and on 30th Jan 2020 the screen went down whilst on my wrist. Unresponsive to factory reset and a 25% off my next Fitbit was the offer! Just out of warranty and gutted. Meanwhile my Garmin forerunner is 10 years old.

[wizll]

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@Drew_Watkinson wrote:

Welcome to Fitbit where you believe you have bought our flag ship device!

Truthfully you paid a premium to rent our sub par quality device but if you grovel to support we will gladly give you a discount on your next rental period. 

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accurate. when they offered me the discount, I asked them why the 2 year old ionic was still listing premium prices. I would have maybe considered the discount if it didn't still cost so much for another broken device in a year or two.

[SunsetRunner]

Well folks. I am heavily frustrated and disappointed in FitBit's lack of understanding and care over our "dead" ionics. I bought mine in Dec 2017 and it's been great. Right up until mid March 2020, a firmware upgrade and BOOM - dead. Completely died. I am sure the firmware "upgrade" was not an upgrade, but a kill command sent from FitBit to the watch to kill it, in order to force us to get replacements. After numerous chats and emails, I've decided it's not worth it. I was only offered a 20% discount (Australia), and sorry, but not sorry attitude from the chat bot. After reading in some cases, people having received literally 10,15,20 replacements during their 1 year warranty, it's obvious the watch is a dud, a complete and utter dud.

JB Hifi have it for sale still for way less than what I've paid at $198 less 20% discount. It's not good enough, so I've jumped over to AmazFit Bip. Fantastic watch, no numerous requests for firmware upgrades, better written software and best of all 50% off what JB are selling the Ionic for.

Get rid of FitBit people. You'll save a lot of headaches.

[Claire_Myers]

It's utter daylight robbery isn't it. Well done for trying. I'm never 'renting' a Fitbit ever again, and I'll disuade anyone who will listen. Happy Easter and stay safe 🐣🐇Sent from Samsung Mobile on O2

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks mate. Happy Easter. Yes it is robbery. It should be raised with
politicians and consumer affairs.

[SunsetRunner]

Hi guys.

Well, having just emailed Customer Support about my long history being pretty loyal to Fitbit (previously had Charge HR) and now an Ionic, I can pretty much guess what is coming my way as an offer then!

Had Ionic since Xmas 2017 so I admit it's not brand new but it is a £300 watch that has lasted 2 years nearly 4 months, not great value really, is it!

Watch went wrong on a run and then screen got the green lines, soft and hard reset to no avail and now I can't read the screen.

Will look around at other watches now as I can't justify another £300 (ish) for what should be a premium product but just doesn't seem to last for so many people.

[Eumeme]

Please check the contacts under your watch, in my charge hr and ionic there are dark holes in the gold plated contacts, due to poor design, which over time makes impossible the recharging. If this is the case please contact me by email: eumemes@gmail.com.

it’s due to a faulty engineering design, (many fitbit competitors choose wireless charging system to avoid the problem), but customer service doesn’t offer me a refund for the money paid, just a replacement with another faulty design device. Appaling.
I will make sure everybody i know would never buy a Fitbit product ever and make sure Google would know it too, before completing the 2 billions takeover.

[Elles023]

Well. Looks like I have found my community.  This is what happened to my Ionic as well.  Bought March 2019, it was working just fine until April 2020 - now it won't charge up at all.  I even bought a new charger and have tried out multiple USB ports and outlets. 

So long, Fitbit...

[LouN]

This is not the first time, but the 3rd time I have a problem with Fitbit watch battery problem. 

My first Fitbit watch was the Fitbit Blaze I bought when I was in college. It was working fine for 2 years , it then completely dead, I could not charge it at all, and I have no idea why it was death. My roommate bought the same Fitbit, and his watch was still working well at the point. 

I contacted customer support. They told me that the Fitbit Blaze had discontinued so they could not do anything for me, but gave me a 40% discount offer to buy another smartwatch to replace my Fitbit Blaze, or 25% offer to buy something else. I took the offer and bought the Fitbit Ionic. 

After using the new Ionic for 1 year, the Fitbit started to act weird. It lost the charge capacity very quickly. I charged it at 9 AM to 100% (as an indicator in the watch), and the watch died at 10 AM on the same day. I had no idea what happened, and I contacted customer service. They then gave me the offer again: a discount code to buy a new one or a replacement. I took the replacement. It was 2 months ago when they sent me a replacement. 

After using the replaced Ionic for 2 months, it quitted charging again. I contacted customer service, and I got no reply from them. 

This is not the 1st, but the 3rd time I have a problem with Fitbit on their battery's problem. 

I do not think it is worth to give Fitbit another try. 

[Alyssawilliams]

Mine dis the same. It wasnt syncing to my phone so i powered it off and went to turn it back on and wont come on. Its dead. Tried 2 different chargers and USB ports wont charge or nothing. They gave me a discount to us for a new one. Everyone else gets a free one.. Very frustrated 

[AAkseki]

I chat with the fitbit also and they asked me from which country i was and also my email i used on the account. I did also everthing he said, but there is no juice left in the fitbit. It's died also. It was very sad to hear about the offer and that the watch is not repairable. Also that my warraty period  was out of warranty. I used fitbit from 2011 , but there was always a solution for problems. But the amount and the solution what they offer is very sad. 25% procent of discount on a new fitbit. And you have to use it 30 days. no hurry...:). After 2 years of use you can't throw it away again. He didn't react on that.

For know i said enough and my frustated mind says to me that it not helps to wrote on this forum. This is just another text for fitbit and i think they are laughing very hard. I think there are also people that uses the offer. So they are laughing harder. It's probably to do business like this way. Make Aliexpress Throw away watches and you can buy new one after 2 years with discount. It is a nice revenuemodel for a company like Fitbit.

This was the last fitbit for me. I wish for the fitbit users very much luck in the future and i am thinking about Garmin other Aplle smartwatch where you get a better service than Fitbit.

[kimbanyc]

Yeah...I'm disappointed.....