Not Able to Sync Ionic

[tppt]

I have had my ionic for a week tomorrow. Still have not been able to sync it properly and use it. I have talked  to the customer service team multiple times and spent hours trying to trouble shoot with them.

It takes about 2 hours to get it set up. It syncs for about 5 minutes and then disconnects. It then goes back and forth from looking and syncing but never connects.

How long do we need to wait before this gets fixed or they can give some update. I have tried all the trouble shooting including factory reset, etc. Very frustraing.

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject for Clarity

[Colinm39]

@Bill145I had that issue in the early days and I couldn't workout the problem.. Emailed Fitbit Support what I had gone through, and they told me of the pairing on different devices.

I had done a factory reset, couldn't get the Android to recognise and then to the iPad, and finally got the Android to pair on the Windows 10 App..

But then I struck all sorts of issues until I unpaired the Ionic from the iPad and the Windows 10 PC. I couldn't turn off Bluetooth on those devices because my wife was using them..

So same result..

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@Bill145 wrote:
I must be one of the few. I got mine on pre order and set it up with my Blackberry Priv without issue. Then installed the app on my Ipad Mini 4 and that worked without issue. Using the dongle from my Surge I had no problem using my computer. I just have to remember not to have the bluetooth enabled on my Ipad and blackberry at the same time. That is the only time I have had any syncing issue.

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[Colinm39]

I don't know how we can help you put up a case to Fitbit.

To get mine replaced, fortunately I had Fitbit devices which worked and because it was primarily the GPS not working, I had my phone and Surge which were tracking perfectly. Also two GPS Satellite Apps that showed I had on average 12 satellites active.

But like @catherinekirby has posted, I have definitely found my replacement more reliable on syncing.. This one came direct from the factory OS to Australia in 3 days....

Being a cautious person, I had also taken out an extended warranty which hasn't been needed to be used. Like all of these warranties I have never had to claim on them.. even on my car but it was peace of mind...

[Lmeric1234]

Never found a phone number to call

Lynette
Sent from my iPhone

[Colinm39]

@Lmeric1234Here is the information you require in this link .. Just change your Country Code..

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@Lmeric1234 wrote:
Never found a phone number to call

Lynette
Sent from my iPhone

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[moosewagon]

I have restarted my Ionic and it syncs but only partial information.  It does not show my active minutes for the day, even though I went 3.2 miles.  My Ionic will stop syncing part way thru the day and fails to upload information when it finally does sync

[Lmeric1234]

I just spent about 30 minutes chatting with Fitbit help to get my Ionic to sync again. Wonder how long it will sync?

Lynette
Sent from my iPhone

[PeteG-1]

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@Bill145 wrote:
I must be one of the few. I got mine on pre order and set it up with my Blackberry Priv without issue. Then installed the app on my Ipad Mini 4 and that worked without issue. Using the dongle from my Surge I had no problem using my computer. I just have to remember not to have the bluetooth enabled on my Ipad and blackberry at the same time. That is the only time I have had any syncing issue.

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Sure, I could get mine to sync with my PC, VERY consistently, using a BLE dongle with one of the latest Broadcomm chipsets.

Everything else I have is on QC BT chipsets, or at least everything I was sync'ing it with (phone, tablet, occasionally a laptop).

I knew then, that they had a problem with the BT chipset, and I've had some experience on the engineering side.  It may have been fixable by uploading some new microcode/firmware to the BT chipset, or maybe not, it depends on how they designed it (some manufacturers don't add the extra linkage/code to be able to update individual chipset-firmware, some do.

Sure, I could sync to my home PC, every day, but if I ever wanted to sync to my phone, tablet, or whatever, it was a 3-ring circus, sometimes rebooting everything, sometimes re-pairing the Ionic, there was a myriad of "solutions", none of them perfect, and NONE of them being necessary, in a 2017-2018 BLE *flagship* device, IMHO. 

As such, mine went back, while I was still withing the stores' timeframe.  Going back to my Charge2 was a bit of a bummer, but all the basic functionality "just works", as it should.

I would tend to doubt that if you exchange one of these through a retailer, as mentioned above, that you'll really be able to get the "new" model, reliably.  The vendor may have 500, 1000, ..., of them, in a distribution center somewhere, and until those are gone, everyone is getting those, first.

I suppose that FB could've quietly recalled these, from retailers, but I think it would've been caught, at some level, and talked about here (in terms of an overall recall, if they were doing a pre-sales one).

[ed_cwenga]

The Technical Support is pathetic.

Takes forever to answer and then they say my phone is "not compatible". Strangely it did sync before, so how could it suddenly become not compatible? Clearly Fitbit has a problem with their software and devices, and are blaming this on their customers.

Which will become ex-customers.

Not sure why I'm bothering, they don't seem to read these, and don't care very much.

[ed_cwenga]

Could be the device, I suspect faulty batches from the number of complaints.

Why can't they admit the fault is on their side?

[Nobblytanner]

my experience is that they are very polite, but can't fix the sync problems, because it's software/hardware problem so embedded into the device, no app settings will fix it.

They must know that the problems are this bad, because of the 100s of posts here.

And guess what? After spending an hour on the phone with them last night, with them saying everything is now fine, the sync failed this morning, along with all notifications.

Ionic simply does not work properly - it really is that simple.

[ed_cwenga]

Please be honest with your customers and admit that the problem is on your side.

Either your hardware is faulty, and you need to recall al the devices and replace them free of charge.

...or your software is full of bugs. In which case, tell us and stop wasting our time. Get it fixed!

[ed_cwenga]

I'm ready to give up on this.

Why can't they fix this problem?

Best Regards

Moderator Edit: Personal Info Removed

[Behive]

After 5 days of talking with support I have today returned my Fitbit to the Netherlands depot. 

All they have told me is that another department will be in touch to advise of the next stage. 

I wont be at all happy if they just “tinker” with my ionic and return it with the same fault   

I will keep you all posted 

[Nobblytanner]

Today, after another call with Fitbit Support, they have arranged for a replacement Ionic to be sent to me, once I return my existing one. Hurrah!

First, I want to thank people in this forum for highlighting their issues, so I know this is a common problem, and to encourage us all to persevere with fixing a problem that we really should not have to put up with for months on end.

As I've said before, the FitBit help team are always really polite and patient. But they have been reluctant to accept that a unit is faulty, even when my own error reports back to them started back in October last year!!

So - I would say to others here on the forum - don't do what I have done, and simply put up with the syncing problems (and notification issues too in my case). I got used to rebooting every day and that's dumb. Instead, start logging each failure with Fitbit team. I know it's painful and time-consuming, but it's the only way to create the trail of problems they need to demonstrate a fundamental problem.

I hope that helps others, and I also hope to report in again in a couple of weeks with a replacement Ionic that syncs reliably! 

[Behive]

@Nobblytanner I totally agree with you about not putting up with issues. I put up with this syncing issue for about 3 months. I could see from the forums that it was an obvious common issue and I naively believed that Fitbit would address it in an update. 

After two updates the syncing issue got worse for me and even the twice daily rebooting was no longer reliable. 

If your ionic isnt isn’t working as it should report it immediately to Fitbit and persevere until you get an acceptable solution. 

[ed_cwenga]

Reports are ignored, on a standard response that doesn't help. If fitbit don't know by now they have lots of unhappy people I'm not sure they are interested



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[Behive]

@ed_cwenga I can only speak from my own experience but I think it’s unfair to say reports/complaints are ignored. As soon as I approached them through the proper “contact” route they have been very polite and listened to me. As I said previously, my mistake was in waiting before I approached Fitbit directly.  Exchanging our thoughts and views on this forum can not be mistaken for formal contact with support. 

My ionic has been returned today as requested and I will keep you guys posted 

[SilviaFitbit]

Hey everyone!

Thank you so much for the troubleshoot you've mentioned and for following each step carefully, our intention to solve the inconvenient you're currently facing and that's why we provide the process that has worked for some users. Your frustration with this is totally understandable as we can imagine how great you feel to complete your goal each day and you want it to be reflected on your Dashboard. 

If you have already contacted Customer Support, they should reply shortly. Rest assure that each case is reviewed individually and the solution that you'll receive is based on the Fitbit Warranty. 

Just in case, you haven't followed this syncing steps .I'm adding them so you can try them out and see if it resolves the inconvenient. If you keep having this issue, let me know and I can continue troubleshoot this with you or share your post with our Support team. 

Your understanding is appreciated! Hope this helps! 

[ed_cwenga]

I don't think it is unfair to expect good customer service.

[blazer_1789]

Previously I posted that my Ionic started syncing again more or less reliably after firmware update... Well, let me take that back: it doesn't any more. It now syncs once in a blue moon, and only after rebooting both phone and watch at the same time 😞