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.

[reisbm]

Hi Jo.

Thanks for the info. Indeed, it's not clear as the email says "Redemption Code" and the website says "Card code".

Everything is clear now.

Enjoy your refund! 😀

[Uniqdeep]

I am facing exactly the same issue and have called them several times. But no satisfactory response. Although the email I received says that, if i dont complete my account with paypal, the ‘amount’ will be sent to the sender by 29th april. I have completed all the details and made few transactions as well from paypal. Lets see if it returns to me by 29th april.

This is the only option i am left with. Fingers crossed.🤞

[Trevorlogy]

It has been more than 7 weeks since I registered for the refund for my fitbit. And till now, no news regarding the refund. Use the live chat and was being redirected here and there and in the end, no one is able to assist. Such an international brand but cannot even manage the refund processes

[WarrenW65]

Perhaps I’ve been too trusting I’ve been told to wait a few days but I’ll contact again if needed once the few days are up.



Sent from my iPhone

[WarrenW65]

I called this number 0800 048 5842
United Kingdom was given it by online chat. All my details they had were correct. I was told because of the sheer volume of applications on 4th and 5th March mine had “fallen through the cracks” and that I had indeed done everything required but Fitbit themselves had not completed the process which is why I hadn’t received an email directly after and therefor the refund/ discount offer. I was told this would be escalated to Fitbit and a refund would be paid into the PayPal account I originally supplied and an email with a discount code towards another Fitbit product should I wish to purchase one with the refund ?
I’ll give it until next Friday and contact again. I did try to re-verify with the original code I was given but it errors and tells me I must contact customer services presumably because the code has already been used and part processed. The link I was given by customer service has numbers world wide and these are specifically for dealing with the Ionic issues
Moderator Edit: Formatting

[BigJohnBoy]

Am in the UK. Finally got my refund after 6 long frustrating weeks and went to the ionic refund store to get a sense. What an awful limited range. So if you choose carbon/graphite (other option is white/gold) you can't get a sensible sport strap to go with it. White pink or orange?! Come on fitbit, what's the point of giving the offer if there's nothing suitable on the store when you go there. Or is that the whole point? Say you're giving an offer but provide nothing sensible when you get there! so disappointed.

[Nunupop]

I’m in same position as you not that customer services have said those exact words but suspect a few have fallen through cracks.

Sent from my iPhone

[Btsupgo]

Me too ordered will be here Monday WooHoo.

[Hsk1997]

Yes i need help with this too, i am facing the same issue. Im from India. 

-----------------

I registered my Fitbit Ionic recall and the process was fairly easy. A couple weeks or so ago I received my refund through PayPal but when I tried to claim the funds, I got an error "the transaction no longer exists". Then contacted PayPal who advised me that the funds have been sent back to FitBit for some reason. I've been trying to contact the FitBit refund centre (from INDIA) for well over 2 weeks now, to no avail. Any help on how I can get a hold of them to process the refund again? 

[shortround123]

Hi, do you know if paypal refund will come to contact email or fitbit linked account email? i did registration for my ionic and gave my paypal email address, which is different to fitbit linked account, and my wife choosed the MasterCard virtual card (we checking what will be faster) and also gave my email address as a contact mail as she got some problems with her email account.

[OwnTooManyBits]

@shortround123 

You can have multiple email addresses on you Paypal account for accessing and receiving funds. I, too have a different email than I use on Fitbit, but I checked to make sure both emails were on my Paypal account after I registered for the Ionic recall and I discovered I had 4 different emails attached. 

[SushiSus]

This was the most useful thing I found. I have been waiting since March 12 for a response from Fitbit... !! Thanks

[Infinita]

Is anyone else experiencing issues with adding the extra band that comes with the deal when you buy a device from the store? I am ordering 2 devices, can only add 1 band and when attempting to add another gives error cart size exceeded. Also, when I go to complete the order with my refund it gives me an error saying payment did not go through.

[KathiiMei]

I live in Alaska and cannot send my fitbit back because of mailing restrictions. one customer service person told me I only had to deactivate the ionic on my fitbit account. Another. Another customer service person told me I need to deactivate my entire fitbit account. I can't seem to get any good answers does anybody know what I should do from here? The only emails I've gotten is to register for my refund and a thank you for verifying here's a discount code email. 

[nuprotocol]

Finally received payment 2 or 2. Took 7 business days this time. The first payment only took 5 business days from the time I received the email stating my ionic has been processed. 

I'm in the US. Sent 1 of 2, first week of March, 2 of 2 the second week of March.

Payment 1 processed to PayPal last Wednesday.

Payment 2 processed to PayPal today.

Good luck everyone!

[Hashknife]

@Infinita , the original email I received noted up to 5 Fitbit devices and up to 5 wrist bands for each of the 5 devices.  The "deal" has changed so that now the offer is 5 "products" and only 1 band.  There's also a notation that "Fitbit reserves the right to modify the terms of the offer at any time."

 

 

[dvpatel]

I am done friends. I am in the US.

Got the Refund Update email citing they have received and processed my Ionic return and that I should expect the payment to my chosen form of payment in 10 business days. I had chosen PayPal. At 5:22 PM Eastern today, I got an email from PayPal that I got the money. You have to go and "accept" the funds from within PayPal and I suppose if you do not "accept" them for a bit they get returned as I am seeing some US based people saying their money was returned too. I just "accepted" the money and initiated a free 1 - 3 business day transfer to my bank and its processing in PayPal already. Prayers and best wishes for the vast majority of the folks on here who are facing one problem after the other with this recall.

Moderator Edit: Formatting and word choice.

[Hammeroo]

@Hashknife Yes, I can understand about your frustration with the diminishing choice of watches and band colours. I saw that coming and I decided not to wait for my refund to arrive, going ahead with a 40% discount of a new Sense in black with an extra free band also in black, using a credit card to buy. I also took up the Fitbit Premium free offer at the same time. And it seems not long after the stocks became limited for choice. BTW, I am actually so far happy with the Sense. I received it just 4 days ago and started setting it up straight away. My wrist felt naked over the weeks since disconnecting the Surge. I am in Australia so we don't actually send it back.

It took one day short of 4 weeks for my refund to arrive after registering, in the form of a Virtual Visa gift card. So I can't complain about that, as they said expect it to be between 3-6 weeks. I had thought I would receive an actual plastic card in the mail but soon found out through the Community that it would be a virtual card with limited purchase opportunity. Better than some countries though, where they have been given food vouchers! I read of some people in the UK adding the card to their PayPal account and then being able to send the refund amount to family or friends as a roundabout way of getting the cash. However that seems to be not possible in Oz from my attempt so far. And I could not move the funds to my actual credit card through PayPal to cover my Sense purchase either. I don't really want to buy something I don't really want from Amazon, or whoever else will accept the virtual card, just to use the refund. I wanted to repay my credit card. Frustrating! The small print says we have 3 years to use up the money.

It would have been nice for Fitbit to let the inconvenienced customer decide how to use their refund. But instead, as we well know, the whole process has been a nightmare for so many people. I have been fortunate that I have been careful to follow the instructions and been a little lucky that in Oz our situation seems not so bad. I am still a little concerned about this Visa gift card situation though. Good luck to you!

[VineethV]

Not much you can do but Please make sure you have completed the KYC
process of PayPal. Many of us from India are in the same situation. One
attempt of refund happened which PayPal returned back to fitbit due to
incomplete KYC of PayPal account. Many of us have tried contacting Fitbit
Customer support and but I have not heard much luck for anyone in getting
the refund. I hope soon this gets resolved. --
Thanks and Regards
VV

[Tbraz]

Had anyone ever successfully purchased anything at the Fitbit discount store in re: ionic return