Charge 3 Failing to Sync

[Ittybitak]

I just received my Charge 3 on Friday and can not use it because it keeps failing to sync both on my phone and computer.  I spend 30 minutes with custom support with no answer.  How does Fitbit continuously have issues with their merchandise?  First the band was constantly falling apart and now this, extremely frustrating.

Moderator Edit: Updated Subject for Clarity

[SantiR · Accepted solution]

@Ittybitak Welcome to the Fitbit forums! Thanks for taking the time to post the situation you are experiencing with your Charge 3 not syncing correctly to your phone and computer. Thanks for contacting customer support and for providing your feedback.

In this case, I'd recommend trying all of the syncing troubleshooting steps listed on this help article. Try the steps in the order given for best results. 

If it still not syncing, please plug your Charge 3 to the charging cable and restart it. Then, try to manually sync it while it is connected to the charger. This has helped other users in the past. 

If none of that work, please continue to report this with customer support. This way, they will be able to provide you with the best solution available to help you out.

Hope this helps. Keep me posted! 

[Ittybitak]

I tried all those recommendations to no avail while on phone with customer
support. I finally had enough and send the defective item back to Fitbit
this morning.

[Ittybitak]

Your tips didn't work.  I sent the item back for refund. Also no one contacted me from customer service like was told to me.  Another reason why I sent it back. 

[SantiR]

@Ittybitak Thanks for your reply and for trying those steps and sharing those details.

It's unfortunate to read that the steps provided didn't help out. I thought you contacted customer support?

Did they told you what was the root cause of this? Did they offered any other solutions aside from the refund?

Sorry to see you go.

Keep me posted! 

[Ittybitak]

The issue was being passed on to another area but when they were going to
contact me was unknown according to customer support. Which is why I
returned the item.

[Melvin64]

So frustrating that this is considered "solved." yes it's true that if I jump through a million hoops, restart Bluetooth  restart my phone, restart the tracker, restart my phone again, u pair the device, restart phone, restart tracker, pair the device, restart phone. At some point during this mess it will eventually sync again. But it will stop syncing again hours later and I'll have to run through this again the next day. This is not a fix!

[LukaszG]

Hello,

I was a happy user of Fitbit Charge 3 since yesterday and ... today was not so happy at all.

Syncing was failing, even though I followed all steps mentioned in forum but reset.

Eventually reset has resolved the issue (but for how long - 1h, 1d, 1m)?

I see that FitBit crew marked subject as SOLVED, but really... resetting watch (assuming you have watch charger with you) is not a solution, and rather a temporary workaround.

Looking at the forum dozens of users has same problem.

Is FitBit working on the permament fix for Bluetooth failed sync issues?

[Melvin64]

It's just garbage. I finally got it to sync today after basically deleting
it from the app and re-adding it which I need the charger to do. Guess
what? It hasn't synced since. Bluetooth connectivity issues. Why do none of
my other Bluetooth devices have no trouble whatsoever connecting. Reboot my
phone, maybe it will sync maybe not. Might have to unpair it again.

This product could have used a few more rounds of testing before they
shipped it. Just garbage.

[LukaszG]

I could not agree more - it seems there was too little testing done before product was actually released.

So far I see synch issues, dim problem on 'auto' setting whilst in sleep mode, no screen timeout setting which makes FitBit 3 experience a bit dissapointing.

I just hope FitBit staff is listening to their users and fix these issues in a proper and timely manner.

[SantiR]

@Ittybitak Thanks for your reply and for sharing those details. It's unfortunate to read that you had to return your tracker. Did you got a replacement unit? If so, please follow these replacement set up steps for you to not loose your previous data.

@Melvin64 @LukaszG Welcome to the Fitbit forums! Thanks for taking the time to report the situation you are experiencing with syncing. Thanks for trying all of those steps in order to sort this out. Thanks for your feedback about Charge 3.

What kind of mobile device are you using to sync it? Is it a supported device? 

If you keep experiencing this every day, please let me know!

[Melvin64]

Had a very frustrating experience with FitBit support.

I explained to the agent that I am able to sync my device only by going
through multiple steps of rebooting various things, and that it will only
sync once before stopping again. Despite explaining that I have tried all
these steps, he made me do them all again. Uninstall the app. Disable
Bluetooth. Restart the phone. Install the app. Restart the phone. Unpair
the device. Go to the app. Turn on bluetooth when prompted.

I explained to him that I have already done all this, and most importantly,
that while it will "solve" the problem once, it will only work once. I was
ignored. The agent had me go through all these steps and then when it
synced successfully - which I knew it would do - he, and this is what was
infuriating to me, acted like the problem was solved and we were done.

I told him that we weren't done, and explained - for the THIRD TIME - that
while it synced successfully once, it would not work again until we ran
through all that again. I had him stay on the line with me for a few
minutes before I tried syncing a second time, sure enough, *just as I
explained would happen 3 times, *it failed to sync. It said "last synced 4
minutes ago" and gave me the white exclamation point in the red circle.

At this point he put me on hold and went to "discuss with the engineers."

This is SO FRUSTRATING. It is obviously a common issue and not just a
defective device, but a systemic issue with their crappy product. My
Charge 2 was able to sync just fine but the Charge 3 has had this problem
since day 1.

We need to be absolutely bombarding FitBit support with complains so that
they hear us and acknowledge that there is a problem. Please, every body
keep calling them up and complaining or they are just going to keep feeding
us BS about having to reboot the phone and acting like that solves the
issue.

[Melvin64]

Last night there was a firmware update and I really hoped it fixed the issue. 

It did not. 

My watch still syncs erratically and I do not receive notifications. 

[napp05]

Can you help me my fitbit charge three just has a frowny or sad face on it how do you get that down it won't let me do anything and it won't sync

[napp05]

I have a Fitbit Charge 3 and it has keeps showing a frown or sad face on the screen and won't let me do anything would you mind helping me please

[Melvin64]

Still no fix for this.  My Charge 3 syncs maybe once or twice per day if I'm lucky.

One of the features of this product is supposed to be text notifications and so forth.  Pretty useless when you only get them every 24 hours! What a horrible product.

For the love of God can a mod please de-mark this as "SOLVED?"  THIS PROBLEM IS NOT SOLVED.

[Melvin64]

Can Fitbit please acknowledge this problem.. I am getting extremely frustrated. 

My Fitbit has now not synced in over 24 hours despite going through all my usual steps of unpaiting, resetting, disabling Bluetooth etc. Etc. Etc. Contacting support just had them go through all the steps again. I want this problem fixed. 

[Kliffy]

Concerned that my new Charge 3 is junk. I have not been able to snaky for 27 hours and therefore my dashboard is not accurate. I tried all the steps suggested to no avail. I suppose I now need to spend time deleting the device and resetting up. Also, my time is 25 minutes off! Come on Fitbit get this thing fixed. It's unreliable and should never have been released. I should have spent more and gotten an Apple watch, they work.

[Bilbo23]

Same problem, started yesterday. None of the solutions that don’t risk data loss have worked.

[XXXNEL]

Solutions don't work  - only solution is to unpair charge 3 from fitbit app, reset bluetooth, restart charge 3, then setup new device and start over.  Then, will sync once only - have to go through the whole rigmarol again next time we want to sync.

Not useful - looks like Fitbit have screwed up with this device.