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.

[SunsetRunner]

As you’ve already said your refund will take 3-6 weeks! 

[SunsetRunner]

You won’t have anything to show for your disabled watch yet, the refund as you’ll have seen (or didn’t you read the webpage? - also, it’s been mentioned numerous times on the 113 odd pages on here!) when you did the recall verification said 3-6 weeks! The refund is 299 dollars so ‘if’ it’s a straight conversion it’s around £225

[RedDeviluk]

Still hard to believe that weeks later were still working off "IFS"..... It's like Fitbit simply forgot they've got customers outside the US who might want more than no information.

[Scottsaiyan]

Can't see why people can't use a simple calculator  or online converter ......if half these people had  any anitiative they would of read. Through the comments section 

Update: Not sure why yours asking where the refund is  ...unless you've already waited 4-6 weeks after your watch was disabled already .

Moderator Edit: Merged Posts

[RedDeviluk]

When you buy something that costs $299.... Have you EVER paid £225…?. What Fitbit, Google, Apple, everyone in fact do is change the $ to £... So the price of an Ionic has always been £299. I can't understand why you're struggling with that concept, the refund here should match the sale price, not a conversion.

As stated, I'm only two weeks in, so my question wasn't "who's had their refund", because I know it'll be at least a month before they arrive, it was "do we know how much"... Please see above for an explanation.

[vitoboy]

Hi Maria

Thanks for your reply .. Nice to see fitbit taking some interest in this thread.

But can you tell us why we are suffering so many problems .. your faq page is great .. but from the fitbit side the things your saying should happen are obviously not happening for a whole lot of your customers. 

In short the access to the discount store is not working for many .. let alone the refund.

We contact support multiple times ..but get fobbed of and see no action.

We don't even get a support ticket number or email to confirm its being looked at.. and with limited stocks of watches it seems we maybe looking at months without our replacement watches .

I just can't believe a company such as fitbit - Google can't do better... 

Please set up a dedicated team in each county to address the issues we are all having .. for me UK especially. 

Vitoboy 

[AdCom]

@RedDeviluk... "When you buy something that costs $299.... Have you EVER paid £225…?. What Fitbit, Google, Apple, everyone in fact do is change the $ to £... So the price of an Ionic has always been £299. I can't understand why you're struggling with that concept, the refund here should match the sale price, not a conversion."

Fitbit make it clear - they're offering $299. Not what you paid. Not a one-to-one conversion to £ or Euro's. Just $299 US dollars. What they "should do" isn't relevant.

I think it's a generous offer. I've had a few years use out of mine (what's the value of a 4 year old Ionic?), didn't pay £299 (or the equivalent of $299 come to that) and whilst I wasn't planning on changing, it won't cost me anything. The only criticism is the process which appears log-jammed, and the standard "Here's a link to the help page" replies from Fitbit moderators that don't address the process failings.

[Tontor]

Hi @RedDeviluk  I'm from Australia and got more for ionic than I paid . Although with extra charger stand and new band would be equal to total price. I do agree with you :hundred_points:  that should cover total price paid but considering the offer is also 40% of a replacement watch from fitbit you should be equal to or money to spare plus new watch.  

I would have bought different brand if wasn't for ease of use and battery life. 

Samsung phone so Samsung watch would have made sense but battery life is poor on Samsung.  

[aprema]

Hi - Can FitBit team let me know when the Carbon\Steel Sense will be available from the discount shop and back in stock, so I can buy as a replacement.

Seems to be available from the usual online FitBit store and other online retailers - thanks.

[johnzamper]

Hi James,    Did you register and receive the return packing yet?   I registered on March 3rd and have not received anything yet.

thanks

[Alliekatz]

I have two Ionics and both died so I cannot connect them to my account to carry on with the recall process. What do I do now?

[Deoge]

I believe all you need is the email that you registered them with

[Scart67]

I have received confirmation that my account has been verified, however I have not received a discount code. The verification email has a link which says 'Click here for Fitbit discount', but when you click on that it just takes you back to the registration page. 

I am currently without a watch. How do I get my discount code? 

[mattuk82]

Spoke to uk customer services- they advised submit via Google chrome, clear internet cache/cookies and resubmit.  They are having a high volume at the moment and the error code they didn’t know what it was-  just said be patient and keep trying.  Both me and partner having same issue 😞

[Zakkoholic]

I found a solution which worked for me.

Instead of clicking the button in the mail after completing the first step of the registration process, I visited the page below and clicked the url in it.

This brought me right to the page to verify my account and finalyse the registration process.

https://help.fitbit.com/en/ionic3.htm

[Visual97]

Got my return box yesterday for my first of two ionics.  All packaged up.  Took a picture of the label so I have the info.  Need to get it dropped off at a UPS location and then check to see if my other box has shipped out from sedgwick for the 2nd ionic.

Short of it taking some additional days to receive the return package to get the refund, so far so good.  

[TomDuke]

@Visual97 - that's good news.  I just checked this morning and of the 3 Ionics I sent in last Thursday, 10 March from the same UPS Store one was delivered this past Monday the 14th, the second was delivered yesterday the 15th and the third one which tracking showed was supposed to be delivered yesterday as well now shows "The delivery date will be provided as soon as possible" so hopefully that happens sooner than later.  It will be interesting to see how long the refund actually takes to be received; if Fitbit was smart they'd under promise and over deliver and hedge their bets with the 3-6 weeks projected time and actually issue refunds sooner than that.  Time will tell.

[TammyLynn_17]

---

I've updated my update, see below. 

@TammyLynn_17 wrote:

Update...

First off, thank you to everyone posting updates. I, as I'm sure most others are as well, are most appreciative of any and all information. 

My new Fitbit Sense has arrived! Yay! 

A brief timeline of events for those keeping score: (Everyone's experience is different, depending on website traffic & location around the world)

1. Wednesday 2nd March - First heard about the Fitbit Ionic recall. Checked mine for the code on the back that was mentioned. (FB503). It was there so I logged into my account and started the recall process. 
2. The recall process went quite smoothly for me, I think I was in before the big rush. Received email confirmation with a link to get discount codes. Did not receive any follow-up emails about the refund though. I understand the refund to be $299 USD. I'm in the UK so that'd be about £230 GBP for me. I had the choice of Paypal or a pre-paid Mastercard. I chose the Mastercard. (Wishing I'd chose PayPal now) (Some who are having problems with the access codes and switched computer and or browser say that solved their problems)
3. Thursday 3rd March - Decided that I didn't want to wait for my refund nor be without my Fitbit for 3-6 weeks. So went ahead and used my 40% off discount on a new Fitbit Sense, a free band & free year of Fitbit Premium. (Fitbit Premium started automatically)
4. Friday 4th March - Received official notification about the Fitbit Ionic recall via email. 
5. Received notification that my order has been shipped. um from the Netherlands! Quick panic about having to pay customs charges, but the Fitbit team on the helpline were brilliant and assured me that I shouldn't be but if I was to call them back. 
6. Wednesday 9th March - My new Fitbit Sense has arrived! No customs charges. Yay. No extra band either, but I hear from others that they are arriving separately so that's OK. 
7. Wednesday 16th March - Free band arrived. 
8. No word or email or update about the refund yet. But it's only been 2 weeks now and they said 3-6 weeks. 

I admit, I was a bit upset about having to give up my trusty Ionic, but I'm really loving this new Fitbit Sense. And I have to say Kudos to Fitbit for going the extra mile for their customers. I know the technical stuff crashing was a pain for many, but at the end of the day, Fitbit has done us a good turn. I for one am grateful to them. Thank you. 

Ohhh look at my shiny new toy! 😄 

---

Thoughts about the Sense after wearing it a week. Really love it, glad I chose to get it. Having free access to Fitbit Premium I've turned on all the features, which unfortunately runs the battery down every couple of days. Problem solved by having charger near dinner table and I charge it while I'm eating or watching a show. It charges really fast! Even so, I don't think I'll keep them all turned on and probably won't keep Premium. We'll see. 😉 

[T_L]

Hi there. Just found out about the recall & started to complete the refund page. Can I just clarify that this is a legitimate site that I'm completing the form on? The reason I ask is because it's asking for debit card details or other refund method. This always makes me nervous so just want some clarity before I continue. 

Thanks 👍

[TammyLynn_17]

Hi @T_L Please read through the thread for answers. You know this is legit because you can get here from your Fitbit account. There is no request for any bank details. Depending on where you are the choices may be different, but most people seem to be asked if they'd like their refund via a prepaid Mastercard or Paypal. No one is asked for their bank details. Good Luck!