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.

[katie0]

I have applied for the recall, after a few weeks I went to contact chat support they assured me that the refund was being processed so I continued to wait, But it has been well over the 3 to 6weeks they estimated and there has been no update. I contacted chat again they told me to call the other countries line, but that means I would be charged for an international call...... can someone out here help me on this.

[RosenT]

I have tried registering for the ionic recall but I am not able to since my country is not on the list. I have tried contacting Fitbit on chat , Twitter and got no help since they are just sending me the same link that is in the website. Is there anyone whose country is not on the list that has been able to register?

[WarrenW65]

No sorry

Sent from my iPhone

[fairmaiden64]

Here in Australia. Registered for Refund 4th March. Called for times chasing it up. Still nothing. 7 weeks and one day so far

[Hammeroo]

@fairmaiden64  I must be lucky then. Registered for refund 19 March and received Virtual Visa gift card 15 April. One day short of 4 weeks. I didn’t have to chase anybody up for it. Just wish it was a proper plastic card or some way I could choose how to use my refund. I am in Perth, WA. Did you choose Visa or Paypal?

[FitbitUser1511]

Got my first refund to PayPal today. Watch received 18 March, only 2 of 5 sent in have been processed.  2nd refund should hit next week.  I’ve confirmed that watches have been recieved, but they are behind on processing them.  Appears that watches are not being processed in the order received.

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I would register again

[Nathan1970]

Got the virtual prepaid Master card but not able to validate it since of system error, I also cant request a plastic card for same reason, any one can help?

US friends please.

[fairmaiden64]

I don't remember choosing anything but I guess I must have to have registered. It seems like so long ago, but on one of the calls they told me they would have to send me a visa card because my email for registration is different to my Paypal email. You wouldnt think it would matter once you can verify it's you lol. Anyway, it's going on and on and I am sick of chasing my refund. I just wish they'd get on with it already as I am not happy Jan!

[Nathan1970]

How did you validate it? Are you in the US?

[Hammeroo]

@Nathan1970  I can answer the second part. fairmaiden64 is in Australia. She said so in her previous post, approx 5 posts up. 👆 I'm not being rude, just pointing UP. 😁

[ShaunOR]

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@fairmaiden64 wrote:
I don't remember choosing anything but I guess I must have to have registered. It seems like so long ago, but on one of the calls they told me they would have to send me a visa card because my email for registration is different to my Paypal email. You wouldnt think it would matter once you can verify it's you lol. Anyway, it's going on and on and I am sick of chasing my refund. I just wish they'd get on with it already as I am not happy Jan!

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You've been misinformed by the agent.

As part of the refund process via Sedgewick, there are separate boxes for the email associated with your Fitbit account, the email you wish to be used for communication purposes AND if you chose PayPal for your refund method, there's a separate box to enter your PayPal email address too. For my first Ionic refund, I used my the email for my Fitbit account for communications and my PayPal email (which was different from the Fitbit account one) for my refund. All communications regarding the refund were sent to my Fitbit account email except for the refund itself which was sent to my PayPal address.

[ShaunOR]

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@Nathan1970 wrote:

Got the virtual prepaid Master card but not able to validate it since of system error, I also cant request a plastic card for same reason, any one can help?

US friends please.

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Have you been able to login to the site administering the virtual pre-paid Mastercard using the email it was sent to and the code provided? If so, check that your contact details are correct on their site - especially your name, address and mobile number. When I first tried using my virtual pre-paid Mastercard, it wouldn't validate either. Turns out that I had to correct my mobile number including the country code and dropping the first zero from my mobile number to get it to work.

Note that I'm in the UK, but thought I'd mention what I'd done in case it's a similar issue with the US-issued virtual Mastercards.

[ShaunOR]

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@Hammeroo wrote:

@fairmaiden64 I must be lucky then. Registered for refund 19 March and received Virtual Visa gift card 15 April. One day short of 4 weeks. I didn’t have to chase anybody up for it. Just wish it was a proper plastic card or some way I could choose how to use my refund. I am in Perth, WA. Did you choose Visa or Paypal?

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Did you try logging into the site for the virtual pre-paid Mastercard and double checking that all of your details are correct - especially your name, address and mobile number? I had to correct the mobile number to have the country code and remove the first zero from my mobile number to get it to work. It was only after doing this that I was able to validate myself as being the owner of the card during a transaction (using PayPal) via a text code sent to my mobile.

[fairmaiden64]

I dont know where the site to log into the virtual mastercard is

[ShaunOR]

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@fairmaiden64 wrote:
I dont know where the site to log into the virtual mastercard is

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If during the refund process you stated that you wanted to receive your refund via PayPal and gave them your correct PayPal email address, then they will send the refund to your PayPal email address rather than via a virtual pre-paid Mastercard. 

[fairmaiden64]

No they said they would be emailing me a prepaid mastercard. Im keeping my eye on everything everyday though and over 7 weeks is just ridiculous. I don't know how these people will have any customers left after this

[ShaunOR]

@fairmaiden64

I believe that the agent has misinformed you regarding what happens if you use a different email address for your Fitbit account and your PayPal email address. 

[Nathan1970]

Thanks a lot, I did logging to the admins successfully, made a profile, all the contact details are OK. However based on your experience I would re-check my mobile number again, hope it works!

[fairmaiden64]

Theyre so useless it wouldn't surprise me. I don't really care how i receive the refund as long as they get on with it. How hard can it be to push a few buttons. I don't think I've ever seen so much incompetence in my life as this company

[ShaunOR]

@Nathan1970

No worries. Remember to put a plus sign (+) before your country code (1 for the US in contrast to 44 for the UK, etc. ) and don't put in the first zero of your cell phone number.