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.

[Ryan.lee]

The device has been disabled for more than a month and I haven't received the email until now, how long do i have to wait?

Please deal with it ASAP and contact to me.

[Charf1990]

I've been waiting for almost 10 weeks now for a refund and just made my 5th call to the UK ionic recall line and finally made progress! I was apparently sent an email on the 30th of March with the virtual Mastercard but this was never received. Today the advisor gave me the b4b payment line and my serial number to give to B4B to ask them to resend the email. All this was resolved in 10 minutes!! Why this took 5 weeks is absolutely beyond me but I'm glad it's finally been sorted.

If anyone else is in the same boat as me and was waiting for them to resend the payment card please call them and ask them for your B4B serial number and their number and hopefully this will resolve the issue for you too. Best of luck! 

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They need to provide a complaints procedure surely!

[Juantwothree]

I have went through the entire process and wanted my refund via paypal to be able to transfer to my bank account. I received the email that my refund was available to claim, yet when I went into to claim there was nothing to claim. 

- I then proceeded to reach out to Paypal for details of why funds were not there.

- So I contact fitbit to get a transfer ID number.

    needless to say for the past 3 days I have gotten the run around to contact the refund ionic claims department which they gave me the number for via customer service. 

- I call the number provided ( Was actually 2 numbers) and the number continues to send me to customer service. 

- I talked to about 5 to 6 representatives who have no idea where to transfer me and continue to send me to the 2 directed numbers. Keep in mind that the numbers are forwarded to customer service again. 

 I AM FED UP and simply want my refund ...    any help on how to get my refund or who to speak with would very much be appreciated?

I am to the point where I am now searching for fitbit corporate number to complain.

I loved my Ionic until the battery popped on my wrist. Luckily I was not injured, but did have some skin irritation. I was also a big fan of fitbit until this instance and am not sure I will buy another. Very disappointed on organization and handling of information.

[Paulaky2878]

Hi this is the problem I got my code. New watch and then refund on a virtual bank card all within 6 weeks my partner who did hers the day after has had nothing but trouble. Every time she rings them it will be escalated and to wait. But every time the escalate it. No one then does a thing and then you wait a week and start the same process. I am disappointed that a global company treats its customers the way the do with not a care in the world. They ignore my twitter messages and when I get angry they just hang up. I won't be staying with Fitbit after this watch breaks which if anything like the ionic won't be to long. 

[Paulaky2878]

You can't as you agreed for it to be unpaired. To receive your discount code and refund. So the watch is rendered useless If the battery dies or the clocks change time. So it is in the trash once the time is wrong sadly. As it won't allow you to re-pair it with your phone to correct the time as it says it has been blocked 

[Amit_Nathwani]

Finally i was able to connect to Fitbit but they are not giving case number for escalation, similarly other friends also tried almost a month ago and they always commit that they will reinitiate but could not happens.

This is not acceptable from FitBit

[WilfredP]

@dra1808 Create a PayPal account, and spend for the international call, ask them to change refund method to PayPal. I have called and they told me Malaysia has only gift card or PayPal. PayPal must same as your fitbit email, according to them, they will pay to your credit. I feel this is much better than Grab gift card as usually gift card only able to use once. Who going to spend food or delivery for USD299 in one time.

* With the condition your claim is not being processed yet

[Amit_Nathwani]

I have Paypal account created but somehow amount was not credited may be due to personal account. I have then converted account to business account and requested them to reinitiate refund. They are just giving fake commitments and nothing is happening. 

[Ajesh]

Hi, I had asked for an gift card from Am...on. (for some reason I'm told I cannot used that name here).

I received an email from 

fitbitionicrecall @ hawkmarketplace.com

The earlier email with case number came from Sedgwick. I called Fitbit support to verify that this was indeed my refund. They said the email was a scam email and to ignore.

It is now more than 8 weeks since I submitted my refund claim. Still no sign of any response from Fitbit as to how the refund will show up and when. The 3-6 weeks is long gone.

[WilfredP]

@Amit_Nathwani Seems I probably won't get any refund for that case even I changed to PayPal. They didn't mentioned about the business account. They ask me to contact Malaysia support but Malaysia has no support line to call. They are kicking the ball.

[Jsukyn]

Can you please let us know the b4b line number?

[Ajesh]

It's been over 8 weeks since my claim was accepted... I did get an email from hawkmarketplace with the Am..on gift card I had opted for. I called Fitbit support to confirm it was my refund and was told that it was a scam email. I'm still waiting here in Canada.

[dra1808]

I did try to request for a change but since I had received the refund in my
email already (though i did not use them), they refused to change the
method. It was not stated that the grab gift card would be in the form of
grab FOOD vouchers. I would still be ok with normal GrabPay credits. Regret
not choosing paypal now...initially did not have a paypal account so
decided to go with Grab thinking it would be in the form of wallet credits,
never even thought they would think to give food vouchers instead...

[Vixunimpressed]

10 weeks tomorrow no refund. What do We do fitbit?  Your third party call centre can only send escalations to fitbit. I have 4 escalations and fifbit you have not contacted me. I post daily on social media, no response. I was told that your issue is because your system was not fit for purpose. You disconnected devices then your systems tell you we don't have watches. I was informed this is for all the people who first did refunds, explaining why others have their refund who did it later. You have to manually go in and check each account. Why don't you communicate with customers?  Why tell us to call a third party who can do nothing and you don't respond to the company either. Try to change the tone. Your reputation on social media is awful. Why not stop policing this and go back and sort refunds 

Moderator edit: word choice

[Paulaky2878]

the gift card I received has one year expiry date in it and I have used it multiple times to order stuff. It can only be used online but whatever I used just gets taken off the total of the card it then shows me my remaining balance. 

[WilfredP]

@dra1808 As mentioned by other user, PayPal seems another trouble method which required you to use business account. Now I guess I probably end up with nothing. I know it wont be Grab credit, but thinking it should be cash gift card where I can use for online purchase.

They make things worse to ask me call Malaysia support which Malaysia is not listed. Then ask to contact live chat who ask me to contact them. Fitbit start with something sounds kind and responsible to consumer, but the process mess up everything. Now I'm thinking to withdraw from Fitbit though I've been using their device for yrs from Surge to Ionic.

[prost22]

Ajesh;I received an email from the same address, fitbitionicrecall@hawkmarketplace.com.

First I called, twice! First time, the person didn't know. 2nd time, it was 'confirmed' that it was a scam. I received an email and community forum post from LizzieFitbit, a Fitbit moderator on April 19, 2022, confirming it IS legitimate. So it's not a scam. Here's the forum post by LizzieFitbit:

Hi everyone!

Thanks for joining this thread and for the details provided. I understand your concern and appreciate your feedback. Let me confirm that, depending of your location, you will receive emails from the following domains which are legitimate and related to the Ionic recall process.

service@paypal.com
fitbitionicrecall@hawkmarketplace.com
fitbitionicrecall@myglobaloptions.com
fitbitionicrecall@sedgwickbp.com

If you already have a case created with our Support team, please keep an open communication with them so they can help you with your inquiries. You can always start a new interaction via phone or chat by clicking here.

Moderator Edit: Formatting/word choice

[Ajesh]

OMG!!  Thanks! I'll look up the Lizzy post

Moderator Edit: Word choice

[djdavidp]

I have just been in touch with the UK support number. The lad 'Zane' went to speak to his supervisor and both were dismayed i hadn't heard anything yet. Apparantly they have had a big clear down of early refund requests this week, so many of us should get our refunds soon. I have to say Zane was very good and even said he would keep a note of my details and keep an eye on the refund process for me and let me know. If i don't hear in another week i am going to ring again

[Nunupop]

I’ve spoken to a few helpline staff over past 10 weeks and some of them have stood out as being more helpful and said same kind of thing but tbh at this point I actually just feel they are saying nice things to appease us because they never follow through with the promises of keeping an eye on things. Nearly 10 weeks and no refund. As far I can see as well there is no reason why we have not received them yet 

Moderator Edit: Word choice