Update 7/13/18
Still no replacement watch. Just discovered the Fitbi Aria scale (google it) that I purchased is just as inaccurate as the iconic watch. Lol.
Update 6/24/18
No refurbished watch has arrived after 20 days. I guess it takes time to piece together refurbished Ionic watches with the lowest quality components that will allow it to limp to the 1-year warranty date. After two weeks of research, I purchased a watch from one of Fitbit's competitors. I'm happy with my purchase. The first update was flawless and took 15 minutes! All the function works: GPS, cell phone notification, fitness and sleep tracking, and highly accurate heart rate monitoring (Did you know Fitbit just lost a court case for millions of dollars because their watches heart rate monitor function is inaccurate? Maybe the quality of their watch's components has decreased because they have to settle that case?) Not my concern anymore since I purchased a Fitbit competitor's fitness watch, I've lost 5 pounds using its motivating watch functions.
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Update 6/11/18
I spent 4.5 hours trying to fix a dead defective watch using suggestions from Fitbit Community Support and one hour and twenty minutes creating, editing and emailing six videos of my attempts to troubleshoot the dead device to FitBit's Chatroom Tech Support - LOL. Good one Fitbit! Will my video become part of a comedy sketch of a gullible consumer who troubleshoots a dead watch for free while being supervised by a paid technician who knows the watch is dead? OMG Fitbit, add "Looney Toons" cartoon music to my troubleshooting video, and you may win a comedy award! Like Spielberg, my technician requested videos of my fingers, device, and computer in different positions and at different angles. Did I mention the only way I could get the shipping label was if I emailed the videos? Did I mention this was the first time I created a one-handed cellphone video while my other hand was pressing the watches reset button combinations? Did I mention I had to do it while online with a technician? After one hour and twenty minutes, the technician reluctantly accepted my first video and emailed me the shipping label. I received a courtesy email a few days later stating that it will take 3 to 5 days for FitBit to receive "their" smartwatch back, and upon receipt, I will be notified of the next steps. NEXT STEPS?! (Sounds more like a serious medical procedure instead of a simple product replacement). My emailed reply was "No worries. Take your time. I'm researching watches sold by Fitbit's competitors." What do I expect from Fitbit? I lowered my expectations bar to a few inched below the Earth's surface. I suppose I will be sent a refurbished defective watch to replace my original defective watch in more than 30 days with a few scratches on the watch face and a little dirt under the band. The replacement watch will barely function and die at midnight on the warranty expiration date.
-------------Original Post 6/4/18
I'm weaning myself off fitbit because my $300 fitbit Ionic's screen went black on 6/4/18 after six months. Here's my story: The watch's alarm woke me at 5 am. I got out of bed and tapped the screen to check the time, and the screen was unresponsive. I tapped a few more times, did a reset, and then I went online to check the Fitbit website. Apparently, this is a common problem with the Ionic. I spent an hour and twenty minutes communicating with Fitbit tech support. Tech support required that I record, edit and email videos to show how I troubleshot their product before they would acknowledge that I could not repair their product for them. It took me over an hour to shoot and edit six videos while online with tech support! I was eventually emailed a shipping label to mail back the Ionic, but I had to purchase a $3 packing envelope to mail back the Ionic. Fitbit's warranty policy implies that Fitbit can replace the faulty and working parts of my Ionic with components from another Ionic or send me a refurbished Ionic. Fitbit's warranty is for only one year, so, the refurbished watch has to last for another six months. As I wait for another product, I'm reevaluating my need for a fitness watch. With so many useful apps, do I need to a $300 shoddy quality fitness watch that has difficulty syncing and updating? The last update took me 5 hours over three days to complete! My phone and its apps have everything I need with fewer headaches, lower cost, and fewer problems. I've been Fitbit user since 2011, but sometimes you have to know when to walk away.
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