Charge 3 floor count too high

[Lanfoster]

I have the Charge 3 and started adding up way too many floors a little over 2 weeks ago now. I have tried the restart/reboot did not work. I sometimes even register floors when I am sleeping. I have been logging over 50 floors a day and can do that without leaving my home or going up any flights of steps. Something is wrong with this and I only had it 2 months now.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[JK001]

Fitbit, is there a solution to this yet?  I have had the same experience.  Just started happening a few weeks ago.  At first I thought it was maybe switching time zones, but I travel internationally frequently.  Was there a software update that occurred? It worked fine for months, but last few weeks, floors are totally off.  

We do need an answer here.  Thanks.

[Poprock]

I just got tired of it always being off. Stopped counting floors. I have now bought a different fit bit.

Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android

[JK001]

That is too bad that we are all still waiting for a fix and some of you are resorting to buying a new one.  I've only had this Charge 3 for about 6 months, so I"m not going to be a happy consumer if I have to throw this away.  Soon this will be google's baby, but that's no reason to drop any effort to stand behind your product, Fitbit.  

Has Fitbit even acknowledged they are working on it?  

Might be time to start posting about this on Twitter to get someone's attention.  Wow.  

If not, time to move to another fitness tracker provider.  This is not an acceptable response and seriously tarnishes my formerly positive opinion on this company.  I've owned several and I've recommended this product highly to many people over the years.    

[MaryFaye]

Mine has resorted back to NOT giving me credit for all my stairs again. It
also doesn't give me credit for all my steps all the time, especially when
I'm pushing a shopping cart. This is very aggravating and makes me wonder
if anything else on it is accurate -- heart rate, sleeping, etc. Very
aggravating that they're not trying to fix these things. This is my second
Fitbit, but I won't be getting another one, I promise you that!

[SirJof]

I just started using Fitbit for the first time, and I have noticed this, but it’s the amount of steps for me that are way off. Almost double what I have actually done...Anyone know a fix?

[JK001]

I just sent a note on twitter (on private message, for now), we'll see if someone addresses this.  I understand this will never be 100% accurate but it appears most of us have had previous fitbits and know they are generally accurate, or enough to provide helpful feedback. That appears to be gone now....the fitbit seems to be acting randomly in regard to the floors, or at least mine is.  And this one is the more expensive one....very bad.

Hopefully they get responsive here, if not, agreed, it is time to move to a different fitness product company!  

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @SirJof,

Is it the step count on the device itself? Or in the app? Or in another health app? What sometimes happens is that a smart phone has its own step count, or that a sync includes a double set. If it's on the device itself, you may want to look at the sensitivity (dominant/non-dominant). 

[SunsetRunner]

---

@JK001 wrote:

Has Fitbit even acknowledged they are working on it?  

---

Hi @JK001,

Nope. As far as I know, they are only referring to the silly workarounds. It seems that they feel it is the way it is supposed to be. Another user explained the inaccuracy and some have pointed out you could just switch it off and not be bothered about it. 

[SunsetRunner]

---

@MaryFaye wrote:
This is very aggravating and makes me wonder
if anything else on it is accurate -- heart rate, sleeping, etc. 

---

Hi @MaryFaye,

That was my exact thought as well and I have posted similar words about it earlier on. Responses seem to only reflect the "official" answer that floor count does not have an influence.

For what it's worth: heart rate seems to be fairly accurate. I checked recently when I compared a reading with a calibrated professional medical device. From articles on the Internet I gathered that Fitbit seems to be less accurate when comparing intense work-outs. As far as I know, the Sp02 sensor is still not activated and does not help (yet) with sleep monitoring. That too is a bit of a letdown. 

What you could do is compare readings with apps such as Cardiio. It uses the light/camera of your phone to measure heart rate. If at some point you're having a check-up in the hospital or at your doctor, you could ask to do a quick comparison and calibration of the reading. 

[SunsetRunner]

BTW, see here: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-3/Charge-3-Sucks-BIG-TIME-Various-problems-no-support/m-p/390...

[JK001]

Wow.  Hmm.  Wish I would have just bought another Charge 2 when mine failed.

Fitbit has been in touch with me--via twitter on their support line--they responded quickly.  I referenced this thread.  They said they will look into right away.  We'll see if anything changes.

In the meantime, my husband and I walked to the grocery store today.  He has an older blaze model.  It was a flat walk, no hills.  He got two floors.  I got 43.  🙂  Just a TINY variation there.  Normally they are generally close, maybe a percent off on floors or steps, although many times they will match.

Here's the twitter support link if it helps.  The more they hear the better, I would think.

https://twitter.com/FitbitSupport

[fiatcars]

I to have a Charge 3 that counts floors when I have not been on them. I also wonder about the accuracy of the steps I have done. both these show up often when I am driving, especially over a long distance.

Today I have logged up 24 flights of steps but I have done none. It's fine for Fitbit to say that's normal but for a $170 item I believe that the manufacturer could do much better. How much of the other information including pulse rate is inaccurate?

[SunsetRunner]

It seems to get worse over time. I set the goal to 10, which is a normal figure for the few stairs I climb. An average of 40 is way off...

[JK001]

Wanted to post a follow up here.  I contacted Fitbit support via private message on twitter.  They responded right away when I referenced this thread and all of us who are experiencing this.  They had me do some troubleshooting but ended up offering to send a replacement charge 3.  I am doing that.  Fingers crossed this one works, wondering if those of us on the thread just all bought from one bad run of these.  Who knows.  Anyway, I feel good again about fitbit since they are standing behind their product.  So you may want to go this direction if it's still doing that...because as we all know the product should do what its designed to do and not give us these goofball numbers.    

[Ashgreen]

My count seem to be getting worse over time my average is now well over 100
floors per day sometime even goes over 200. When I first got it, it worked
fine.

I agree it looks like some of us got a bad batch. Looks like I will have to
try contacting Fitbit via Twitter to see if they will do anything as they
are certainly ignoring this thread

[fiatcars]

Recovery runner its good that you have had success And I hope others do
also, unfortunately I don't know how to do twitter etc so I guess I will
have to live with it.
fiatcars

[JK001]

Hi Flatcars,

I"d just contact fitbit any way that's convenient and send them a link to this thread.  I'm sure once they see this they will respond and fix it for you.  A company of their size just can't afford to not take care of customers so I think just being a bit of a squeaky wheel will help you get this remedied.  Sending someone a link to this thread where there's so many of us with malfunctioning charge 3s should get them to act.  I would hope!  So maybe email or a phone call if that is easier for you.

[SunsetRunner]

The reason for me to post on community forums like this one, is to provide means for others to find solutions, or check whether they have a similar problem. It is always good to read about problems and solutions and about ways others have been dealing with their issue.

When I bump into a problem that seems to apply to me, I find it disappointing when all of a sudden the thread dies and the only response is that support solved the problem and no explanation is given. I think it is beneficial to the people in a thread to get a feel for what has happened.

A forum is generally a good place to understand if and how many problems exist.

[cm.77]

My experience with charge 3 was disappointing and no solution has been provided. One replacement device behaving the same way after couple of weeks. I simply gave up stopping using it. A tracker with fake track values = not having a tracker. Recently I found charge 3 somewhere and I recharged the battery and my son started using it... he was surprised by noticing 20 floors in about 1 hr of usage staying at home (flat apartment)... I hardly believe a solution is available and I will not recommend Fitbit to anyone asking me for suggestions.

[SunsetRunner]

It tells me that I did 72 floors today. I think it’s time to just call it quits.