Charge 3 screen went blank

[Dsimi]

I've had my Charge 3 a little over a month. Last night my screen went blank. It was at 100% battery. It is still syncing with the app so I can see that it is still tracking my steps and sleep, etc. When I tried to restart it by placing it on the charger and holding down the side button for 8 secs. When I hold the button down it does a very quick pulse vibe about 4 times and then nothing. I've tried holding it longer than 8 secs also and still nothing. Very frustrated to be having this issue with a brand new product. Contemplating returning the one I bought my husband for Christmas and returning mine as well if not resolved immediately.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[GDS5012]

This issue has been on going for over a year and half. Since your Fitbit is under warranty, contact them (fitbit.com/support) and ask for a replacement. Using the chat function creates a record of the conversation. Don’t try the reset procedure as it will eventually fail again. 

[R_Jane14]

I am facing the same issue, I charged my Charge 3 this morning and after 2 hours when removing it from the cable, it was a black screen. I tried several times for the Long 15 sec restart but still black screen but it is sync with my phone. It is just no data, no clock on the screen of the Charge 3. Any other solution please?

[joycebrann]

hold the button down while charging, good luck

[kld34957]

I have the same issue.  Screen has gone black.  I tried all the troubleshooting steps on this discussion and none worked.  I called support and i am past the warranty period so they offered me 25% of a replacement device, however that does not apply to sale prices, so their "remedy" is to let me buy a replacement device at a higher price than is being offered to the general public.  

I am extremely disappointed with FitBit on this one.  

[deniseczu]

My charge 3 is less than a year old. A week ago it suddenly stopped working. I could get only a message saying something like 001. I recharged it and it was fine for a few days. Yesterday, however, it went completely blank, with a charge. I have tried to update the Tracker but Bluetooth cannot locate it. After following the steps I see on your Help site, I was able to get a smiley face. But that's all I can get. It is not discoverable, it does not change from the smiley face, and I cannot update the Tracker. Very disappointing.

Is there a solution?

[Keleka9]

call tech support to get a new one

Regards,

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[R_Jane14]

Hi, Unfortunately I am not eligible for a new one. I got a replacement one
in November and no warranty on the replacement one... no solution... very
disappointed

[JoanneS2]

I wondered about this guarantee on replacement products.  I had a replacement in Oct and I keep having to reboot the thing as the screen keeps going black.   Why dont they know the cause of it?  

[GDS5012]

Send it back for a new one. Fitbit won’t honor any unit that isn’t in warranty. I’m disgusted with Fitbit products. Am checking other brands Hope this helps you.

[GDS5012]

Agree R_Jane, throughly disgusted with the Fitbit products. They offered a 25% off their premium price so you can’t use it on amazon or other link. Look into another brand. Fitbit issue is over a year and half old. They aren’t doing anything to fix the issue.

[GDS5012]

They don’t care about the customer. Name brand is popular so they will keep making a crappy product and stiff you on their warranty.

[GDS5012]

Fitbit isn’t looking to fix the problem- cheap parts and labor keeps them in business. Why spend money on engineering to fix something that people will continue buying.

[beals5]

If the root cause for for my Fitbit having these issues is the same as everyone else, then it is a manufacturing defect.  It was one of the two cables to the display that was improperly soldered and glued.  Defects happen, and if you think about it, given the millions they make, even if 10x the folk posting here are having the problem, it is overall a pretty small problem number-wise.  It stinks that we're the unlucky recipients though!  Good news if if the problem happens within the warrantee, you can get a replacement pretty hassle-free.  I could/should have gotten a replacement when I had the chance and blew it.  Where it clearly does hurt is if the problem shows up after the warrantee expires.  That is where Fitbit could do better if they wanted to.

Defects happen!  You are going to get that from any maker of anything!  We're just the unlucky group that got stuck with this issue.  Your odds of the replacement having an issue are going to be roughly the same if you get it from Fitbit, Garmin, Apple, or anyone else--very low, but not zero.  

I did end up buying another Charge3 for $100 on sale locally.  I blew it on not getting it replaced under warrantee, so definitely grumbled about having to buy the replacement.  I'm chalking it up to bad luck (got a lemon) and being slow on requesting a replacement.  My replacement has a brighter display (more evidence the older one wasn't healthy even when working) and all the reasons I originally bought it over others are still valid.

It was likely a bad batch that got out and we got them.  They clearly could do better on out-of-warrantee replacments, but overall it is still a good device.

will

[R_Jane14]

GDS5012 you are right. Since long they are having this issue and they dont
even have a repair centre. They gave us a replacement fitbit which
lifetime is only 3-4 months, so that afterwards you need to throw this in
the bin and buy a new one since you are used to it. I wont buy nor
recommend Fitbit again. For sure we are perhaps the group of unlucky but
they are not doing something for us knowing that there must be a batch of
defects. It can’t be that initially the first one is a defect and the
replacement also is a defect. There must be a strategy in the background
for them to initiate us to buy a new one and this after one year.

[GDS5012]

Great estimate at 10% fails. So millions sold that’s ok??? What sucks is they won’t exchange for a new one no mater warranty. What’s a couple million amongst “friends & valued customers”?????? They really don’t give a

s—t about their product....

[Gabi24]

I tried to reset it a few times and the screen is still black. It vibrates and the green light comes on but the display is still black. I tried to change the clock display as suggested by others and nothing works. Very disappointed ☹️ 

any other suggestions? 

[beals5]

Gabi24: If those don't work--and even if it does but the issue repeats, time to get it replaced assuming it is under warrantee.  It is a manufacturing defect.  The fix they are offering is useful if it is a one-off issue, but if it repeats, the root cause is a manufacturing defect and it needs replacing.

[Gina57]

Mine has gone blank on several occasions. What I had to do was update the firmware. That seemed to care of the problem.

[beals5]

GDS5012: My point was assuming there are 10x the failures than all the people posting here, compared to a million or so sold, the math comes out to a 0.05% problem! All wild assumptions but about 50 or so folk posting here, times 10x more, so  500/1,00,000.  It is unfortunate we're in that group, but that is why once I realized it was a hardware defect and not just a software issue, absolutely the correct advice to everyone is get it replaced fast while hopefully it is still under warrantee.

I feel it important to note I do NOT work for Fitbit, but I am a retired engineer that worked for a consumer electronics company where we did make millions of devices.  When it is that many, even if you get it right 99.9% of the time, that would still mean 1,000 bad devices every million. 

I do agree with that for a known issue, they could be better about out-of-warrantee replacements.

will

[beals5]

Gina57: Yay!  As long as it doesn't happen again that is a good sign it isn't the hardware issue the rest of us are dealing with.  Here's hoping so!

will