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.

[MiaHanson]

Thats weird for me its not working.. do u mind sending the link

because i dont have any link that is working

[Nunupop]

That’s great idea with John Lewis voucher thanks

Sent from my iPhone

[grother]

I had that message but then it asked me to create a user name and password, enter my dob etc. When I tried to access it again it said my password was wrong. I asked for a new password and it said my registration code does not exist. I seem to be stuck!

[Carly2020]

I'm also in the same situation thinking the link to B4B is suspicious asking for a bank account number from card?? The security aspect of this refund has been handled very badly by Fitbit.

Have you received any assurance that the B4B link is secure??

Rehards

Ken

[HaggisBasher]

So, it is legit after all. The reference code you need is in the same
email, and you don't enter any card details. After entering your reference
number you need to set up an account once all that is done, you get access
to the virtual preloaded Mastercard. Very confusing, but it does work.

[Kellyld77]

@Carly2020 is that because you’ve logged out and now trying to log back in again? Mine asked same thing so I put it in (it’s the number on the card not any of your own personal ones) and got into my account. I suggest you add it to wallet of phone or ideally save the link to the login page which asks for username and password as easier 

[Blakinsop]

Hi,

I have my refund and my discount codes.

The refund is in US Dollars in my PayPal account but my country is UK.

Do I need to convert to GB Pounds to use the discount in my "local" store?

Cheers.

[SCRAG]

In New Zealand the price for the band is $35 thats the discount price when according to the email I recieved tup to 5 bands are free, the watch price is hiked compared to my local store, so if the store gives me a 15% discount we are even so I'll buy mine locally, seems like the pressure is causing them some problems as this will cost the company around $340,000,000. Lets hope they staay afloat as if they go under, they take our nice new watches with them.

[Tontor]

@Hammeroo . Lots been asking for Sense "2" for 9 months now. Heart rate example had a sense last year and hours cycling barley reached burn fat zone so hardly any active minutes. On Ionic same ride average heart rate 136bpm and peaked at say 170bpm. Fitbit help at time agree faulty so got money back and went back to Ionic. Now I have same problem. How can a hours cycling at 22kph burn only 234 calories compared to 600+ on Ionic. 

[SriGutha]

I had the same issue with Virtual Visa Card.

[Hammeroo]

@KellyId77. Thanks for your positive input, it's refreshing to get some for the Sense. 

For the record I had been very happy with my Ionic for over 4 years and was very sad to have to have it put down, so to speak. The only real time I was having trouble with the Ionic it turned out that a good reboot (holding  the reset buttons in for at least 10 seconds) did the trick and then all became good again. 

Like I said earlier, I would prefer to stay with Fitbit but need some reassurance after reading so many stories of poor quality and less than satisfactory support. It just doesn't make sense for Fitbit to not help out more with these issues (pun intended!).

[TammyLynn_17]

Update on my timeline and my experience so far. Thought it might help someone. I know I've been trolling through the thread looking for information. 

I've received my refund! (I'm in the UK)

1. March 2nd - Heard about the recall, registered for recall refund and discount code. Received the discount code. Chose virtual prepaid MC for refund.
2. March 3rd - Ordered new Fitbit Sense with discount, free strap, Premium year trial. (Order coming from the Netherlands)
3. March 4th - Notification that my order has been shipped. (Received official notification via email of recall)
4. March 9th - Fitbit Sense arrived! (Had worried about import charges but there were none) (No band, coming separately) 
5. March 10th - Band shipped
6. March 16th - Band arrives 
7. April 1st - Refund virtual card arrives via email. The email went to my junk folder so lucky I was watching for it! The subject is: Fitbit Ionic Refund Update. Came from the email address: Fitbitionicrecall@myglobaloptions.com . Follow link in email, follow instructions, virtual prepaid Master Card received. You can use it to buy things online. The Refund was auto converted to GBP and is £223.72. ($299 before conversion) Note: The virtual card will incur charges which will come directly out of the card if not used by a certain date. Some places won't let you split the bill, say if you spend more than is on the card, so be aware of that in advance. I saw where one person got around that on Amazon by using the card to buy credit on Amazon. 
8. April 2nd - I used the virtual card to buy something from Argos online. It worked great! I have a remaining balance now to use up. I'm sure it won't take long. 😄 

Good Luck Everyone! 

[Kellyld77]

@Hammeroo  I think with a lot of things people tend to talk about the negatives. There aren’t many on here who have said it’s a fine experience from first notification to refund, admittedly it’s been a long process but I fully understand and even before any of us agreed to start this it clearly stated 3-6 weeks so no one can complain about that as they agreed to it. 
like most things though people only write or tell others about bad experiences. 
how many on here who said it’s a scam and we won’t get our money etc, this whole prepaid card is a scam, have now had their refunds and sorted their cards out and not either deleted their posts or apologised and others will just read it’s a scam and think it is. 
think sometimes these forums are great but people in heat of moment need to chose what they say 

but I love my sense 

[Hammeroo]

@KellyId77. Thanks again. And I have had no trouble with the refund application or receiving the replies from Fitbit re the process. So I am now 2 weeks and 1 day into my wait for the refund by the debit Mastercard. I am of course well aware of the 3-6 weeks as stated.

Just wondering if anybody in the Fitbit Community has actually waited for their refund to come through, and then applied it directly towards purchasing a Sense through the 40% discount portal that Fitbit opened for us Ionic people online? Anyone???

I am tempted to just go ahead and use my own credit card to buy a Sense, extra band and the free 12 month premium membership all together so I can get on with my Fitbit life. But then what am I going to do with the refund? I guess there must be a way to cash it in to go towards my personal credit card outlay. Hmm.

[MattDavidson]

Just got our refund in virtual card format.   No discount code though

[PaulAvo]

@Hammeroo
I agree with what you say. This whole process needed patience on all sides.
There was some 'mass hysteria' started off with cries of 'scam' etc which
didn't help.

In my experience the 3 - 6 weeks was a fairly accurate estimate.
The problem I faced was an overload of Fitbit customers flocking to the
registration sites.
When trying to register the press to apply or submit buttons they were
'greyed' out. purely because of the overload of submissions. With
patience, returning to the web pages and trying again success was achieved.
In the U.K. we had the same problem with British Gas being shut down
because they were inundated with customers anxious to submit their meter
readings.

Patience is a virtue 😊

[Hammeroo]

@PaulAvo  Agree, patience IS a virtue! I'm glad I was a bit stubborn to register for the refund and start that ball rolling. I waited another couple weeks until I was ready to stop using my Ionic. After all, I thought, I haven't had any overheating battery problem or burnt wrist, and I have my targets to achieve! 

Now my wrist is naked I have lost some incentive to keep my steps up. Fortunately I go to the gym quite often and do weights etc. But I find I am not using the treadmill as much.

Although I am a Dinky Di Pom (born and raised in England), I can't comment on your Gas problem. LOL! My sisters are all still in the Old Dart but I have lived in Oz for 50 years now.

[Kellyld77]

@Hammeroo  I received the virtual Mastercard but what I did (as I did this a few years back when had virtual Mastercard from fitbit for refund) was set it as my preferred card in paypal, then send the money (all of it) to my dads paypal making sure it went through as friends and family so it didn’t get any charges) and then got my dad to send me the money back to my PayPal and I withdrew it onto my bank account. 
I received the email which states the refund would be 3-6 weeks on March 6th and then I got my refund yesterday 

[Hammeroo]

@Tontor  Yes, that's a bit strange about such different readings for your cycling. I don't have a push bike these days myself. But on my Fitbit Ionic I used the Spin setting when I used an exercise bike in the gym, as opposed to the cycle setting which uses GPS. When I used that to start with it gave some crazy results - especially as I wasn't actually going anywhere on the exercise bike! However, I'm sure you would have used the correct exercise setting. Having not used a Sense I don't know what settings it has specifically.

[Kellyld77]

Yes @PaulAvo my refund went to British Gas but I did my meter reading on Wednesday knowin Thursday was meter reading day and would be overloaded 

luckily I already have another fitbit (sense) which I’ve been using since last summer and I love and have had no problems with it 

as I mentioned earlier, people will mainly post about issues and faults rather than positive things and for me the sense was a upgrade compared to ionic