Voluntary Safety Recall of Fitbit Ionic Smartwatches

[FitbitCommunity]

Fitbit, in conjunction with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), announced a voluntary recall of Fitbit Ionic smartwatches, which the company introduced in 2017 and stopped producing in 2020. The battery in the Ionic smartwatch can overheat, posing a burn hazard.

The health and safety of Fitbit users is our highest priority. We are taking this action out of an abundance of caution for our users. We will offer a refund to Fitbit Ionic customers.

This voluntary recall is specific to Fitbit Ionic devices. It does not impact any other Fitbit smartwatches or trackers.

If you have an impacted Fitbit Ionic device, please stop using it and visit our webpage where you’ll find:

• Answers to common questions
• Information on how to receive a refund 
• Access to a special discount on select Fitbit devices, bands, and services, if available in your region, for a limited time.

[TomDuke]

@VMMage-  I'm surprised you were told by someone to just send the Ionic back in the mail.  The return kit comes with a special battery bag to place the Ionic in that I presume is supposed to be fire proof and then the pre-addressed, self-sealing box to put it in.  Best of luck.

[Visual97]

@TomDuke - I'm gonna keep waiting I guess.  I have registered 3 times.  I'll ask the wife about UPS My Choice as she has ours and you can only get one per household address thing it's saying.

[Nathan1970]

@TomDuke Thanks for your wishes and  you are lucky enough Tom. I am happy for you. 

Will wait for the return kit within the next few days then will call customer support. Hope Fitbit shows full responsivity for it's recall procedure in the fastest way for all their fans.

[Brawny]

The web site FAQ said $299.

[Gregg123]

I have completed the Recall form, but I am unable to sync my device. I have called the number as I was told, but having been connected for 20 minutes twice now and then mysteriously got disconnected, no one calls you back (as the message advises!). They were going to tell me the steps to sync my device I think, but honestly I am almost certain that this will not work. How do I contact someone about this by email, or can someone call me back? Is it possible to just return the Ionic for a refund - I already have a Sense now, I no longer use the Ionic and I don't want to have to remove my Sense.

[Greylock]

I got my Ionic return box today and I have to say I'm very sad to say goodbye to my Ionic.

It's not just because I've purchased multiple accessories for it (that now become useless,) after my Surge died I was so impressed with the Ionic that I feel it's pretty much the perfect smart watch imho.

I not only use it to track my steps and runs (with "phone free" GPS and Music,) I also use the alarms, timers, stopwatch, and more.

I've also been a huge fan of FitBit for many years, and have purchased several of their devices for myself and family members, and while the new "Sense" has some great features, the fact that it doesn't have offline music means I'll likely move to a different smart watch vendor.

That said, I really wish they didn't recall the Ionic -  I never experienced the issue they are recalling it for, but once you know about the issue it's hard to justify not returning it.

So I guess I'll do one more sync and then say goodbye to Fitbit... maybe for good 😞

Best wishes,

Shawn/Grey

[Joel17]

I've rang Fitbits dedicated Ionic recall line four times only to be fobbed off every single time, I've applied for my refund and even have a reference number but to complete the process I need to sync the watch to my account however it will not charge no matter what I do.

Fitbit's response oh sorry we cannot deal with this its another department they will email you.

Me when? 

Fitbit, not sure just look out for an email.

Me, when a few days, weeks, months, years? 

Neen two weeks now and no answer, Customer service is shocking with a dedicated line that cannot do nothing.

[vitoboy]

Hi all

Shame about this as I love my ionic and I can't help but think all the other fitbits now avaliable look rubbish.

Still I understand it can't be helped.

On the other side .. now I've disabled my watch and followed the instructions..fitbit have totally failed to supply me with a working code to access the discount store ..or indeed refund me as per advertised. 

So no watch .. no contact from fitbit .. despite now over 2 hours spent on chat and emails .. theaccess code given for the discount store only shows the error message that the code has expired (within 2 hours of it being sent) or that it's already been used ... support chat just tells me to wait and my case has been escalated .. but no direct contact from them .. and im starting to really wonder if I'm going to get anything that fitbit had promised me if I unsync my watch .

How's everyone else going ..?.. got access to discount store ..?.. got refund.. ?.

Happy with fitbits handling of this so far.

Love to hear from a fitbit staff member .. how long should I have to wait without a watch after complying with your request to stop using it..?

Disappointed 

Vitoboy 

[Joel17]

Hi Vitaboy,

I've not heard nothing from the mystical team that are supposed to be emailing me, I've received no discount code no promise of a refund and no return instructions.

Fantastic way for Fitbit to retain their customers.

[Navishbajwa]

Hi Team,

I tried to order fitbit sense but they don't have the black in stock. I am from Australia. Did anyone else had the same problem? I tried contacting them but it's a no go.

[pizzacheeks]

I can't explain why.  But if you want through this site https://www.fitbitionic.expertinquiry.com/ properly as a US citizen then they will have you choose Paypal or prepaid MasterCard debit card for the refund which will be sent to you in 3-6 weeks.  As for returning the device, you will be sent via UPS a return kit with instructions on how to pack up the device to return.  In all other countries, they disable your device on their end send you the refund in the same amount of time to that country's preferred refund method.  As for the discount in the refund email, you will get a link to Click Here for Fitbit Discount discount activation page where by using your reference number you can apply for the discount in which the codes will come in a separate email along with a link to the discount site.

Make sure you are checking your email's spam folder as people had said where the emails have gone for them

[VMMage]

Yes, I was surprised as well, which is why I pushed back on Danny hard.  It's clear to me that the support team has not received the proper information and training from Fitbit to handle the support calls, which is a bad sign for Fitbit's future.  I'm still waiting on that email that Danny promised me, perhaps that fell into the support black hole.  I checked the help pages, thinking that perhaps there was somewhere to input my case number and see the status of my case, but it appears that Fitbit has chosen to not provide a support portal to customers for case status.

[JLV6]

I received the return box but there isn’t any paperwork to include.  If I mail it, how do they know who to refund?

[pizzacheeks]

You should have given them your information when you applied for the refund.  If you choose Paypal it will be sent to your Paypal account directly and as for the MasterCard, it will either be mailed or emailed to you.  We are not sure if the MasterCard is physical or digital.

[Joel17]

Hi pizzacheeks, yeah done two out of three steps the last being sync my watch to the app which I cannot do due to it will not charge, I've explained all this to fitbit and got no adequate response apart "Your receive an email from an unknown team" how no actual time span could be years.

Update: Exactly spot on VMMage no support at all, the process is a shambles ! 

Moderator Merged posts

[TomDuke]

@JLV6 - there's a unique code on the pre-paid UPS label on the return box that ID's you.  I returned three Ionics and each box had the same number on it (different from the tracking number). 

[SunsetRunner]

After a week of different approaches, I tried again tonight with a chat. I explained that I have yet to receive a discount code, I was told that higher management would contact me by email. Will wait a few days and advise ( still nothing in my junk folders either ) 

[Mjones1013]

I have received my return box.  Is there any paperwork that needs to be included in the return?  The instructions don’t say that, just to include the device.  How will Fitbit know it is mine to get the refund?

[TomDuke]

@Mjones1013- If you look on the UPS prepaid label there is a identification number on it that I believe is linked to you. This is different than the UPS tracking number. I say this because I had three Ionics that I returned and received three boxes with three separate tracking numbers, however each label had the same ID number on it which I believe is how they can tell that all three devices are mine. You don't need to put anything else in the box other than the device in the battery bag, no straps no chargers no papers. 

[dvpatel]

I too got the return kit on Friday. A couple days late from the original 5 business days. But I got it. I have not yet returned my ionic. I am on the fence between Sense and Versa 3. Seems Versa 3 is on sale. $50 discount at $179.99. 40% on top would make it a much better economical replacement to ionic.

Anyone have any insights? Does the discount store also have the Versa 3 for $179 before the discount?

Now, my plan is to get the replacement and then turn in the ionic. I can wait a few days more for the $299 refund.

The reason I haven't tried to go to the discount store is because while the FAQ says you may browse the store any time for 90 days, and use the coupon code ONCE, there are several people on this thread claiming they can't get back into the discount store after they backed out and did not make their purchase and I do not want to deal with this pitiful support/customer service to restore my access/ discount code.