Self Destruct after 12 Month Warranty

[morn0013]

My wife and I purchased two Fitbit Ionics and began using them in January 2018.  We have both had issues where our Ionic was functioning 100% fine and only moments later the device became a brick.  When speaking with the customer service representatives they confirmed the devices were still of significant charge remaining on the battery, but the device was screen had gone black, the lights on the back were no longer on, and no troubleshooting methods were helpful to bring it back to life.  

My Ionic watch lasted 13 months and my wife's Ionic watch lasted 16 months.  Both are now total bricks.  I believe the customer service for Fitbit is excellent.  They are very good at helping with the troubleshooting, the problem I have is the design of the product and the warranty length.  I am beginning to believe this product has a self destruct feature embedded in the coding of the watch to fail sometime shortly after the 12 month warranty period.  The excellent customer service group walks you through all the steps and then sends you on your way with a 25% discount to have you purchase a new watch.  This is nuts!!!!  There are plenty of other smartwatches available.  As much as I love the Fitbit community as my family all use them, I am now very certain that I will begin looking at other options for my wife's replacement.  This just should not be happening.  I understand electronics not lasting forever, but it is safe to assume a $250 watch should last longer than 13 and 16 months.  I am not happy.

After reading more posts on this forum, I am beginning to believe my conspiracy theory of the SELF DESTRUCT AFTER 12 MONTH WARRANTY is more and more a reality.  I wish Fitbit would simply confess to a design fault and halt sales of the Ionic until they have this resolved.  This would be the correct and ethical steps to take when seeing this many issues happen; that or extend the warranty if you believe your product to be designed well enough.

Thanks,

morn0013

[NigelA]

I am one of, it seems, many people who have discovered that the GPS stops working after 12 months. The question is: is this a design fault, or something else?

[FJN]

I totally agree with your assessment of the Fitbit Ionic watch.

I have been a Fitbit customer since 2013. I have purchased several Fitbit trackers for myself and my family. I purchased the Ionic watch Dec 2017. When the watch suddenly stopped working (June 2019) with almost a full charge (92%) - the display went black on my wrist. I never dropped the watch. I charged the watch for 2 days and then attempted a factory reset several times and was not successful. When I contacted customer support, all they could provide was a discount for a new watch since I was outside of the warranty period. In my honest opinion, a factory reset MUST always function 100% of the time, if the watch was not physically damaged. Also, the fact that FITBIT will not service their defective products is totally UNACCEPTABLE in today's technology industry. By offering a discount for another Fitbit watch is NOT ACCEPTABLE and it is simply another mechanism for FITBIT to generate more revenue. FITBIT has FAILED on so many levels in providing proper customer service and this will translate to a PERMANENT loss of customers. FITBIT warranties are extremely limited - only 12 months for the watch itself EXCLUDES all software (watch operating system, all apps, and battery). If your watch has stopped working within13 months, there is a small possibility they will replace your defective watch. But once you have passed 13 months of ownership, don't waste your time - FITBIT WILL NOT provide any assistance whatsoever. Since FITBIT does not service their defective products, I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND OR PURCHASE ANOTHER FITBIT PRODUCT. I will make every effort to inform as many potential customers to not waste their hard-earned money on FITBIT products since their products are NOT RELIABLE and are still beta test phase. I will, however, recommend an APPLE smartwatch (3 series) as a perfect replacement to the FITBIT Ionic watch. BUYER BEWARE!

[SunsetRunner]

My Fitbit stopped syncing yesterday so I did a factory reset. The update started and at 11% it became disconnected, Now it’s completely dead with no display and it will not power on☹️

I have tried all the recommended step.

Mind also was a gift in December 2017

 I am reluctant to call customer support don’t have two hours to spend on the phone  only to be told I’m out of warranty and offer me some sort of crappy discount

[hades666]

Great post. expect this to be deleted but you are correct. Keep the posts open so we get the word out.

[Asmith1979]

Just replaced mine with a apple series 4 44mm watch. I like the layout better on the Fitbit but the apple product will last and of coarse will do much more. My ionic the GPS never worked from day one but I didn’t use it so I didn’t complain. This is my first day with the new apple watch so I’m still adjusting but I’d recommend it, and everything works. 

[NigelA]

I've just ordered a Garmin Vivoactive 3. Looks like a much more capable product, from a vastly more competent company.

[zeb146]

Hi morn0013,

My Ionic literally fell to bits 15 months after purchase.  The guy in the shop I bought it from in New Zealand just laughed and suggested I read what Consumer New Zealand said about FitBit products:  

Fitbit reliability results disappoint

Only half of Fitbit owners “very satisfied” with product.

More than a quarter of Fitbit fitness trackers bought in the past three years needed repair or replacement, our technology reliability survey has found.

Of almost 800 Fitbits purchased by Consumer NZ members, 16% had faulty construction and a further 10% had battery, charging or connection problems.

Consumer NZ head of testing Dr Paul Smith said the Fitbit result was disappointing. “Fitbits generally do well in our fitness tracker testing and we’d expect more from such a well-known brand. But the reliability of these products means we’ll no longer be recommending them.”

Dr Smith said only half of Fitbit owners were “very satisfied” with the product and just 40% were “very likely” to repurchase the brand.

However, survey results showed making a reliable wearable device was possible. Apple smartwatches led for reliability with just 3% needing repair and four in five owners “very satisfied” with the product. The next most popular fitness tracker brand in the survey, Garmin, also scored higher than average reliability.

 full survey results.

I have moved to Garmin and I'm very happy. Also the constant sync problems I had with my Ionic are a thing of the past.  My Garmin just works. 

[zeb146]

Hi All,

Further to my last update... My Ionic was a Lemon from the start and you can probably find other rants of mine on the forum.  When looking inside the LCD display (after it fell a part) it was held on by a sticky brown gasket. This had failed possibly even in manufacture as the only other thing I could see holding  components together was a a bit of double sided tape. I was shocked to say the least.

Peter

[MatthewFitbit · Accepted solution]

No Fitbit device is equipped with a self-destruct mechanism, or anything designed to interrupt normal operation as suggested in this thread. If you are having trouble using your device, please reach out to our support team at https://contact.fitbit.com so that they can offer assistance.