No warranty with unauthorized retailer

[Cheshirecatie]

The button on my brand new ionic fell off after three days of light wear. After chatting with a customer service person online, they said there's nothing they can do as I bought it brand new, in box, but off eBay. So basically, they are not standing by their own product, which I bought brand new and was defective. This happened to my charge, too. Stand by your products, Fitbit. I've been a relatively happy customer until now. If it can't be resolved, you've lost my business. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[DonaldMReif]

You probably would not have had this customer service difficulty if you had ordered from Fitbit.

[Jeff2017]

Why would you buy it off Ebay? They are available at many retailers that are licensed to sell it. You might have gotten a knock off that looks just like the  real thing but is not. I hope it was not because you got it cheaper cause that is a red flag right there for me.

[SteveH]

I think fitbit do stand by their products but, as mentioned, they need to be sure that it is one of their products. As it says in the terms (see link at the bottom of this page):

"This Limited Product Warranty applies only to the original purchaser of the Product that was purchased from an authorized reseller or sales channel"

The list is at: https://www.fitbit.com/retailers

[SunsetRunner]

Go back to the seller in eBay. It's them you have the contract of sale with.

Not coming from an authorised seller, Fitbit are within their rights to not be too helpful, as they don't know it's not counterfeit stock  

[Cheshirecatie]

I can provide them with the serial number to verify it is not counterfeit. There are ways of telling whether or not something is counterfeit. 

[SunsetRunner]

In any sale of good dispute your first port of call is always the seller 

[Cheshirecatie]

And I contacted him and he will help, but he didn't sell me a knock off. He sold me a brand new, never opened product. It was not his fault or responsibility. This isn't a unique defect. I know it has happened to other ionic users and it happened to me when I owned a charge. 

It is not like I don't understand their policies, I do. But to not even look into whether you have a legitimate product is frustrating. I would gladly pay the shipping and all costs associated for them to look at it and see whether it was a legitimate issue. It is something they should know, regardless, because this isn't an issue that should occur after three days. 

I would feel trapped if I won this product or were given as a gift without receipt and then told by Fitbit "sorry, we don't support you". 

[Cheshirecatie]

Also, what happens if you lost your receipt or threw it away in the case of when I bought my charge from Target and was told they couldn't help?

[SunsetRunner]

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@Cheshirecatie wrote:

Also, what happens if you lost your receipt or threw it away in the case of when I bought my charge from Target and was told they couldn't help?

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Most receipts are electronic nowadays. If the retailer is no good then you complain to PayPal assuming you used this method.

Apply your same "losing receipt" result as to losing cash. Game over unless you used a card/electronic transaction and the retailer is going to be very helpful.

[NickRuns26Point]

 We all learned a good lesson here...Don’t buy brand new from it from eBay when you can pick them up at a local store

[SunsetRunner]

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@NickRuns26Point wrote:

 We all learned a good lesson here...Don’t buy brand new from it from eBay when you can pick them up at a local store

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?

"And I contacted him and he will help, but he didn't sell me a knock off".

If you use eBay use PayPal and make sure it's delivered by post.

[Cheshirecatie]

If you use eBay use PayPal and make sure it's delivered by post.

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I did both those things. How can that help me?

[SunsetRunner]

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@Cheshirecatie wrote:

If you use eBay use PayPal and make sure it's delivered by post.

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I did both those things. How can that help me?

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Then you are covered by PayPal if you cannot resolve with the seller:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/first-dispute

[WavyDavey]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

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@Cheshirecatie wrote:

If you use eBay use PayPal and make sure it's delivered by post.

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I did both those things. How can that help me?

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Then you are covered by PayPal if you cannot resolve with the seller:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/first-dispute

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From what I read at that link, there's not much you can do. There's not a basis for dispute, unless the ebay seller was advertising as an authorized Fitbit seller. 90+% of items sold on ebay are not from authorized sellers. 

It's beyond the counterfeit issue. Fitbit has no way of knowing how many hands a tracker may pass through, so they only cover the first sale (from them or authorized dealer).

[SunsetRunner]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

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@Cheshirecatie wrote:

If you use eBay use PayPal and make sure it's delivered by post.

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I did both those things. How can that help me?

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Then you are covered by PayPal if you cannot resolve with the seller:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/first-dispute

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From what I read at that link, there's not much you can do. There's not a basis for dispute, unless the ebay seller was advertising as an authorized Fitbit seller. 90+% of items sold on ebay are not from authorized sellers. 

It's beyond the counterfeit issue. Fitbit has no way of knowing how many hands a tracker may pass through, so they only cover the first sale (from them or authorized dealer).

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Not sure why this for accepted as a solution. If the quality of the goods is poor/there is some problem with it then PayPal should help you resolve it. They have their own terms and conditions when selling it's as simple as that.

If the seller doesn't do anything it's likely PayPal will force the seller to do a refund. PayPal are pretty powerful.

It's got nothing to do with being authorized. If anything being unauthorized will work in the buyers favour when getting a refund. It's called buyer protection.

[bbarrera]

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@Cheshirecatie wrote:

So basically, they are not standing by their own product

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Correct. Was surprised to learn Fitbit warranty only covered a) first owner, and b) purchased from authorized reseller. 

With electronics I prefer supporting companies like Dell and Apple that stand by product - and I can verify warranty status before purchasing used gear by asking for serial number and plugging into company website.

[PureEvil]

@Cheshirecatie,

Just because it's original and in packaging, doesn't necessarily mean that it's up to Fitbit standards...

How a device is stored and transported also contributes...  For instance, a Fitbit tracker may be completely unopened in its original packing and driven cross country in a truck that peaked over 120 degrees.  I'm sure that will affect its durability.

Think about it, if you look at the packaging for a television, there are many restrictions on how they're stored.  The boxes must be oriented a certain way ('this side up')...  They may not be stacked too high... etc.  Should Sony honor the warranty on a television that was stored flat on the screen and stacked 7 or 8 units high?

No?  How do you know that the Fitbits that you purchased from unauthorized dealers were handled properly?

[SunsetRunner]

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@bbarrera wrote:

Correct. Was surprised to learn Fitbit warranty only covered a) first owner, and b) purchased from authorised seller 

Fitbit isn't alone with this. Lots of companies have warranties that are "not transferable".

[NellyG]

As far as I am aware most warantees do not transfer when an item is sold. Yes I am sure you can find products that carry the warantee over to the new owner, but it is not the norm. Basically you bought a cheaper Ionic and unfortunately you got bitten. Probably not the sellers fault, just one of those things. You took a risk and it didnt pay off. Thats life.