My experience with Ionic warranty service

[canavp]

On the 9th August via a phone call to fit bit they agreed that there was a fault with my iconic which was still within the warranty period. They said in the call that they would replace it under warranty. They followed their promise up by an email, saying I would be "notified". Since then I have emailed them FIVE times asking for a date when I could expect it to be delivered. I have has just two replies that have not answered my direct question, just that I would be "notified". The other three emails have been completely ignored. I know that all the emails have been received and also read as I have received automatic acknowledgements from their email server that they have been all received and in addition read. Surly 17 days is long enough to send this replacement. Very poor customer relations I would say.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity 

[LiliyaFitbit · Accepted solution]

It’s good to see you in the community, @canavp.

Thanks for the details shared in your post and for already trying to resolve the issue. I am sorry to hear about your experience, I understand how you are feeling and appreciate your feedback. Our team is always working on improving our devices and user experiences, and your comments are always welcome. While we’re no longer offering support by email, I was able to see that you have already contacted our Support team over the phone and that they were able to help you. Thank you for your time and efforts.

See you around.

[canavp]

Re you comment on "Time and Efforts". You send me emails and I use the option of "REPLY". Why give that option if you don't use emails. OH !!! But you do because you replied to two of the five I sent, but did not answer the prime question asked five times. You just ignored the other three emails. Despite you saying you do not use emails, it rather strange that for every email sent to you I received automated conformation acknowledgements that the email have been RECIVED and shortly afterwards a acknowledgement that the email had been READ.  As for you phone service it leaves a lot to be desired. I eventually phoned after seventeen days and had the ordeal of having to listen to horrible elevator music for over fifteen minutes, before I got to speak to a person with a very heavy Carrabin ascent. I had to ask him to repeat slowly what he said on occasions. His understanding of English was not that good as I had to repeat things I said to him several times before he was able to understand them. The phone call in total duration was very nearly thirty minutes. And during the phone call his excuse was that Fitbit (Googgle) had a IT system problem and my promised replacement under warranty was lost or stuck within your IT system.

Your customer interface is absolutely terrible and needs looking at and improvements made all round. The original Fitbit company was much better at talking to customers than it is now under its new ownership.

[canavp]

Well Done !!!!   Only took you TWENTY FIVE days to get the warranty replacement to me. Several hours in the meantime spent on phoning/web chat/emails etc to get any where. Then when you did dispatch it eventually you gave me a  DHL tracking code that for days was not recognised by DHL (Neverlands). Eventually when recognised by them in was on its way to the UK. DHL (UK) also did not recognise the tracking number this morning when I looked (2nd September). I went out today and when I returned late this afternoon I noticed that there it was on my front door step. No txt/email etc to tell me it was going to be delivered today either. No card through the door when it was left on my front door step in full view of passer-by's. Considering that you agreed to the replacement on the 9th August I consider that you service is absolutely terrible to have taken 25 days to get it to me. I only hope now that when I get it charged up it works. Today when delivered the internal battery was flat. I have lost all faith in Fitbit and encourage anyone of getting one not to bother. Customer service is appalling.

[IonicIronic]

I’d love to know if the new watch works and if it does, will it work for more than a couple of months. 

[canavp]

Well I hope it does, but it's early days as yet. It was a bit of a pig to
set up, It needed a firmware update that took nearly an hour to download
from a 60Mbit Internet connection. You would have thought that Fitbit would
have sent out a Fitbit with the update already done in the case of a
warranty replacement.

This has really been a saga, and there is no way I'll ever again buy a
Fitbit device. When they work their good, but problems with a faulty one
and the crap service from Fitbit is almost unbelievable, that I experienced.

[adriancash1]

I wondered was it only me that was having these type of problems! Ionic packed in on about 3rd or 4th August, contacted Fitbit via web chat on 6th & they agreed to a warranty replacement, very quickly got an email from them to replace or get a discount for a new one, immediately chose a replacement and received an email saying they would be in touch….and then bang. Radio silence. No proactive word since from Fitbit. I’ve had numerous web chats with them (I think 6) and each one was apologies and wait for an email from their “specialist department”. It was only on the 6th chat last night that they said they were having technical difficulties. But get this….went to dinner with friends on 14th August, told one of them of the trouble I was having, he has a Fitbit and his was acting up so he contacted them on 23rd, they agreed to a replacement, issued it to him on the 24th and he received it on the 27th! I just can’t understand what the difference is between his case and mine!! 
It’s 11.30pm on Friday 3rd of September so I’m now a calendar month with no working Fitbit and I’m not holding my breath that they will be in contact any time soon. 
I fully agree that the customer service for Fitbit is atrocious. 

[canavp]

Well at one stage they admitted to me that they had an IT problem with
their systems but that was well early in the saga. I ended up doing
numerous emails/phone calls and web chats with them, but there was never
an immediate response doing what they said they would do.

Eventually the replacement was sent from the Neverlands and they gave me a
DHL tracking number that on DHL Netherlands tracking was never recognised
by DHL until they informed me it had been sent to the UK when they told me
to use the DHL UK website to track it. The uk DHL tracker did nor recognise
the tracking number either. Checking it daily it denied all knowledge of it
for several days. Then one afternoon I came home to find a box on my front
door steps that any passerby could have seen and pinched it!!.

The address label to me on the box was from Deutsche Post. (no DHL Label).

Just checked DHL (uk) and there is nothing saying it was about to be
delivered or that they had actually delivered it.

In the middle of January this year Google bought Fitbit, so one would have
thought that in seven months any IT problems/Dispatch problems would have
been sorted out!!!

When your replacement turns up (out of the blue probably) I would be
interested to know if you have had the same tracking problems with a DHL
tracking number as I had. Must of admit I was lost without a watch of any
sort during that twenty fives without it. The fault on my Fitbit was that
the Bluetooth had failed completely.

[adriancash1]

So you were 25 days without? I’m now 32 and no sign of an email from Fitbit about the next steps or about it being dispatched or anything. Total radio silence. I wonder if there is a record for how long someone was waiting for a warranty replacement because I feel that I’m going to run them close or break it!

It’s laughable how bad this service is and
after your comments I don’t have faith in their tracking system, will let you know how that all goes (probably in 2022 by the time it gets resolved) 

[NomadicTexan]

25 days??  Been waiting for replacement since August 3rd.  Today is Sept 17th.  NO ACTION.  PARTIAL answers and Inappropriate humor are par for the course.  Have repeatedly asked for return of my Luxe so I can return to retailer Costco during 90 days warranty.  I'm traveling and have encountered WORST service reps ever.

[adriancash1]

Hello again, So eventually I was contacted by Fitbit on 8th September by the “specialised team” that looks after replacements. After but more to and froing the replacement was issued to me on the 10th September and I received it on the 17th. Altogether, I was 52 days without a Fitbit despite contacting them on day 2 or 3 of not having it and being told on that day I was entitled to a replacement. I didn’t have much of an issue with tracking it, I was able to track it on DHL Netherlands site until it was received in Ireland by An Post, and was then able to track it on An Post’s website with the same tracking number until it was delivered. Initially my intention was to return the replacement to them and have them send me the replacement email again so that I could take advantage of the 50% a new Fitbit offer, but now that I have received the replacement Ionic I’m just going to stick with that. I would have had to pay for registered post to the Netherlands for returning the package to them and would then have to wait for them to contact me to confirm they received it, wait for them to send me the replacement email again and finally wait for them to issue the new Fitbit to me (was going to go with the Sense). So on balance all of that seemed like an exhausting waste of time and money on my part, I wasn’t filled with confidence about how long all that whole process would take. And finally, I’ve decided that I’ve wasted enough time with them that I am not going to spend one more cent on a Fitbit as the after sales service is extremely poor and I don’t feel like a valued customer after all I’ve been through. So, fingers crossed now that the replacement Ionic works and stays working! Thanks, Adrian


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

[canavp]

Hi,
Well glad you got it eventually. I was told it was a DHL tracking number,
but was not told that once it got to the UK it would be handled by an
alternative company AN Post (never ever heard of them).

I'm in the same state of mind as you are. I will never again buy a Firbit.

Thanks for replying.
Vince.