Disappointing Customer Support -- Washing Machine Mishap

[melreske]

Don't be fooled by the outdated stories on this forum and others that rave about Fitbit's customer support.

I, like so many others before me, found my Fitbit One had made its way into the washing machine. I checked the forums and tried the rice, but nothing has worked to revive it. I also saw the countless stories on the forums about trackers being replaced when they couldn't be revived after a mishap like mine. But the response from Fitbit customer support was very different than the countless responses this forum praises:

"We strive for excellent customer service and in the past often replaced trackers that were not covered under warranty. Though customer satisfaction remains our number one goal, the demands of running a global business require that we now enforce our warranty consistently."

Yes, it was my mistake; the warranty doesn't apply. But a large part of the value -- and a large justification of its cost -- was the implied promise of over-and-above customer support found throughout this forum and others.

So, if you love your Fitbit like I loved mine, be more careful than I was; Fitbit customer support won't be able to help anymore. (Full disclosure: Fitbit customer support did offer me a 25% discount off a future upgrade.)

[WendyB]

I think it great they offered you a discount.

I knew it had to come to an end at some point. Its quite costly to the compamy to keep giving freebies when its the fault of the user in the first place.

this really does say it all

"We strive for excellent customer service and in the past often replaced trackers that were not covered under warranty. Though customer satisfaction remains our number one goal, the demands of running a global business require that we now enforce our warranty consistently."

[changetoiwatch]

It's one thing if you accidentally get the Fitbit wet.  But mine just stopped recording heartrate for no reason.  This seems to be a common problem with charge HR.  I called customer service and they walked me through all of the possible solutions but none worked.  Because I bought my fitbit just over a year ago, they will not replace it.  They will give a 25% coupon for a new one.  But that means over $100 every year if the heartrate tracking gives out after a year.  I have afib and bought the fitbit primarily to monitor my heartrate.  I'm going to look for a new product that will last more than a year--may cost more upfront but will hopefully be less expensive than replacing a fitbit annually. 

[RobertoME]

Hi there @changetoiwatch, good to see you around and I understand your point of view, because I think Warranty policies can narrow many possibilities sometimes. However I also believe that the devices functionality relies on handling as is exposed here and in some occasions like yours, the warranty have expired already. I know the feeling, as a few months ago my phone stopped working all of a sudden and the phone company told me that it was a common issue whit that brand of cellphones but was out of warranty and they weren't able to do anything to help me, beside of repairing the phone at my expense. Parting from that principle, I understand as well why warranty policies are needed. But I can assure our customer support team strive to keep every single Fitbit customer on track and as part of that position they will search for alternatives to reinforce a healthy lifestyle. Is at this moment when such gestures of good will like discounts come in to play.

I'm really sorry that the options to help you were not better and I wish you the best.