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.

[ACharlieH]

Same here went through process and didn't get the refund email with a code I have now logged 3 calls they acknowledge the call but havn't resolved the refund / discount 

[Northeastlady]

@VictorE yes you needed to add the premium at checkout.

Sent from my iPad

[Akash_Goel]

I registered for Ionic refund but unable to add Indian currency and address to the page…9811114822

[jgtwrites]

I did the Ionic recall and replaced it with a Sense. I regret this. The band is worthless and disconnected the first day and the unit fell off my wrist. Tucking the end of the strap underneath is a nuisance, and I think this is causing stress on the connection to the unit. I expect this will fail repeatedly.

Even though I had the temperature units set at F in the Fitbit app, the weather display was in Celsius. Digging through the Community Forums, I found that to change this setting: Fitbit app > Gallery > Sense > weather app > settings > Unit. Wow! I had the Fitbit app set to Fahrenheit already, why did I have to dig through all that?

When set at "Strong" the vibration is incredibly weak compared to the Ionic. After using my Ionic as an alarm clock for years, I've lost that feature with the Sense.

The Sense Timer does not retain the previous time used. Why was this feature removed?

I was happy with my Ionic, except for the cumbersome updates. After three days, I would trade this Sense back in a minute for my Ionic. This recall stuck me with a downgrade.

[Odyssey13]

https://help.fitbit.com/en/ionic2.htm#contact 

[dvpatel]

@TomDuke 

There are numerous complaints about the Sense having too low of a heart rate and missing sleep stats. Do you have those issues with your Sense?

[xinvasion]

In my country, fitbit gives 10 USD discount for most of the trackers & smart watch except the most expensive one such as sense, versa 3 & charge 5. So the device discount code does not work for other tracker or watches. So basically I can only use the 40% discount code on the 3 most expensive models and not other models. On top of that, all the straps have 1USD discount which makes the accessories discount totally not usable in my country. Yet the code will expired after 90 days. Just doesn't make sense. It seems like FitBit is not genuine in giving this discount code. It is just for display yet cannot be use on most of the items in their website

[TomDuke]

@dvpatel - so far the Sense seems on par with the Ionic for HR but I think it is over estimating step count.  I rotate through a Fitbit, a Samsung Galaxy watch, and a Garmin Vivoactive3, and the Sense appears to be overly generous with steps in comparison to the old Ionic and these other devices. 

[Kellyld77]

I have had a sense since they came out and kept my ionic in reserve for rougher activities as I found it too large and bit uncomfortable to sleep in with only having slim wrists. I have POTS and my sense picks up my high heart rate readings of 150bpm and even higher bpm with no issues and as for sleep rather embarrassingly it’s very accurate with recording it as my daytime napping routine is testimony to. I’ve had no issues with the strap interfering with the connection, you just need to make sure your wearing the right sized strap. I find the vibrations on the sense stronger than on the ionic. I love both of them and both of them have their merits but I’ve honestly had no issues with the sense, but as one post said if it’s not really the watch you want then you’ll find fault with every detail with it 

[pizzacheeks]

Since it has now been 3 weeks with my Fitbit Sense I feel it is time to tell what I think of it so far.  I have had no major issue with it so far. The only thing was it took a couple of tries to get one of my free bands attached on the one side which was an infinity band. As for the functionality of the device, it has performed like advertised. It is definitely an improvement over the ionic. I like the charger connection better as it holds better than the ionic did.  Also, I notice that it charges faster which is great. I like that the newer Fitbit OS which shows notifications better. 

As for the design it is so much better than the bulky square design of the ionic. It looks more like a watch first than a fitness tracker.  They have also improved on the band designs.  On my ionic the includes bands started warping at the connection allowing water to get down in there and it worried it would cause it to eventually not connect to the device.  That warping occurred after they stop selling bands and I had to buy a 3-party band that either fell apart or the silicone started yellowing very quickly.  I also think the new bands help to improve the comfort of the watch even further. So far the watch has not felt uncomfortable on my wrist except after I shower but that was the same with the ionic. I also don't miss not having physical buttons and it helps with the design.
In the end, it is a definite upgrade from the ionic which I don't miss.

[ACharlieH]

Just want to say I got an email from the store i bought my Ionic took it in today and they gave me a full refund so I could buy a sense 🙂 

Very happy 

[Frenchie757]

Hi Tammy, thanks for you advice. So

i received the discount code however no refund, I don’t have a PayPal account so opted for the pre paid Mastercard…is this really taking 3-6 weeks? Like most of us I’m now without any sort of watch and it’s driving me mental. I’m also in the Uk and expecting a refund. A discount is no good to me as I’m not willing to pay out £120 still for a watch when mine was was perfectly well X

[HelD]

Has anyone managed to get a full £249.99 refund?  I don't want to start the process as 299USD will be less than I paid.

I could take it back to John Lewis for a full refund but I understand I can't then get the discount code as I won't have used the Fitbit process.

What have others in the UK done?

[SunsetRunner]

I only paid £114 from Amazon a year ago so the refund is a win for me.

I'm not going to buy another fitbit, with the discount, simply because I don't like the look of current offerings and my overall experience with Fitbit and their processes hasnt been particularly good.

It will probably take six weeks to actually see any refund so my date that I would expect anything is 17th April.

If you take it back to John Lewis and can get a full refund then you could buy on Amazon whatever model you like,  at roughly the same as the fitbit store with their discount.

[Kellyld77]

@Frenchie757  I’m in U.K. and in week 3 so yes as stated in email and q+a it is really taking3-6 weeks and I should probably guess due to sheer numbers towards the latter stage of that

[HelD]

Thanks, that's really helpful and it's confirmed the path I was thinking of taking...I just hadn't done the comparison of prices with Amazon.

Like you, I'm also feeling a bit fed up with Fitbit s processes, so it's probably time for a change!

[RistinK]

Were you able to redeem the free band and free membership when you purchased your sense?  They are showing up as full price in my cart.

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I have reached out to Fitbit via Twitter, phone, and several emails as my free band and membership arr showing full proce in my cart.  (usa) Have you reached out?  What did Customer Service tell you?

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So your code worked for the free band and membership?  Mine are showing up in my cart as full price....

[xinvasion]

Mine is because all the accessories are having 1USD off, you can compare the price shown in the item page before you add to cart. If once you add to cart and the price differ in the cart, then that item is having some sales and not eligible for the free accessories promo code

[NormT]

I like @VictorE did not see the Premium membership listed and therefore did not add it to my cart. Of course if it was not there then it would have been impossible to add it. I contacted Fitbit on Twitter and explained that I did not see it or that it was not there. They asked for my order number and email address and they would look into it. After many hours of no response (which has become the norm for Fitbit) I inquired again. This time they replied that there was no way to provide me the Premium membership, which I find to be unlikely. Why not provide everyone who uses the discount the Premium membership, duh. But considering how this recall has been handled so far I wouldn’t really expect that. 

Moderator edit: word choice

[Frenchie757]

Ahh ok chic thanks for that. I think I’m just in week 2 as I was overseas when I received the email about the recall and very bad WiFi!! So am I right In thinking of we’ve chosen to be refunded by a pre-paid Mastercard we’ll receive an email regarding this and joe to use it, where to use it and the amount? Until then we have to wait, without any watch 😂 and also I’m confused as to the fact that a lot of folk are taking about their discounts and a free wrist band……I did get this email about the discounted fit bits but obvs I’m waiting for a full refund so not going to buy a £125 discounted fit bit!! Maybe it’s geographical and we’re different here in the UK X

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I’ve never received a refund so I’m not going to buy a discounted watch. I’m waiting until I receive my full refund by pre/paid Mastercard