Charge 3 vibrating and blinking randomly

[SunsetRunner]

At first the fit-bit charge 3 started vibrating, then the notification screen kept blinking. then it died.I manage to do an restart on it before it died.  I let it charge to the full. it lasted for an hour then it was dead again.It stayed non-responsive. It wouldn't charge. completely dead, so I thought.This morning (12/26/2018) I tried it again, it responded by blinking,vibrating and switching between screens again.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[jholtrop007]

I spent about 45 minutes on Sunday chatting with a Fitbit agent.  She had me try a number of different things, most of which I had tried already.  Finally, she emailed me a link to order a new one at no cost and I do not have to return the defective one.

[golf4now]

My Fitbit screen keeps flipping back and forth from the time and screen wake. 

I tried tooo many times to restart the device...not sure if it ever did shut down.  I stopped wearing it because it drove me crazy.  Please contact me to figure this out.  I purchased this device to provide better sleep monitoring than the MiFit I had; I cannot use it as it prevents me from sleeping.

I am unsure what will happen if it goes totally dead.  Ive recharged it twice in 1.5 days.  Yikes.

I would also like to figure out how to reduce the sensitivity for steps monitoring.  My Harley Davidson can log 35,000 steps in a 6 hour ride with a total of maybe 1000 steps on the various stops.  lol. the only way to prevent it is to take the device off.

[BalmyDay]

Hello,
I, too, have stopped wearing my Charge 3 Fitbit and have gone back to using my old Alta Fitbit. From this forum, it looks like many people have had the same issue but, so far, no one from the company has reached out to me. Maybe they don’t check this forum or maybe they have also given up on the device. Either way, it’s disappointing. Maybe you’ll have better luck with them.

[golf4now]

I hope Fitbit takes care of this. This device is 5 times the cost of the mifit. The thought of throwing it away is rather frustrating and will compel me to avoid fitbit altogether. 

[Nfay695]

Mine was replaced but only worked for a month, thought then it was the
charger, they were going to send me a charger but the order never got
placed, called and they overnighted one which really took longer. Once I
got the charger, I found out it was really a bad Charge 3!! The lady said
they could replace it one more time meaning this time. My warranty is good
through November!! I am very disappointed with the whole experience. And
I HATE being without my Fitbit!!!

[CBA582]

Go directly to customer service at Fitbit. They ended up replacing mine entirely. So far so good (Fingers crossed)

Sent from my iPhone

[BalmyDay]

Okay, thanks. Will give it a try.

[DoomHamster]

This just started happening for me tonight on a week old device. This does not inspire confidence! Hopefully it is something they can resolve with a firmware update and not a large scale hardware issue. 

[marathonjacky]

This is happening to me and I got it just 7 months ago for Christmas. Now what???

[golf4now]

Call them and explain your problem. They will have you upload the latest
update if the problem persists, they will replace the unit.

[Nfay695]

Call Fitbit if it is under warranty they will replace it.

[CliffordJ]

I'll throw in my 2 cents.  Just yesterday, my Charge 3 started doing exactly the same thing.  All of a sudden, the screen started flashing and the unit was vibrating like crazy.  The notification screen was blinking like mad.  It wouldn't respond to any efforts to reset.  I tried MarreFitbit's suggestion to restart it but that didn't work.  As of now, it's somewhat stable but the HR sensor seems to be TOTALLY shot.  Also, the battery is draining like crazy; it was 90% + yesterday, now it's almost completely drained.  I'm totally frustrated.  I bought this thing in December and now it seems to be going out.  With so many people having similar issues, I wonder what's going on.  I think the software update it had me do last week may have had something to do with it.  At any rate, I'm going to contact customer service to see if they can do anything for me...

[CBA582]

They replaced mine entirely and so far so good.

Sent from my iPhone

[golf4now]

Mine was replaced in 3 days. So far its working fine.

[Mzrain13]

Same thing happened to me. Three days ago my charge 3 began vibrating nonstop, the HR light would not stop, and battery died. I connected to charger, restarted it, and charged it fir 2 hours. Once input it on, it kept charged for 30 minutes. The green light would remain lit. Then it started the entire thing again if vibrating and battery dying. Ugh!

[CliffordJ]

@ Mzain13, as CBA582 suggested, call customer service.  As with the others, mine was replaced in three days as well.  While I'm unhappy about what happened to my Charge 3, the customer service experience was really good so I give them an A+ for that. Still, this speaks to a quality issue for the Charge 3. Hopefully, they fixed it for the new and replacement units and they will keep working...

[BalmyDay]

Thank you for that advice; my Charge 4 continued to misbehave so I called them and they were wonderful on the phone. They walked me through resetting the device, assigned it a case number, and told me to call back if I continued to have issues. Sadly, the fix didn’t seem to take and when I called them back they promptly issued me a form to fill out from which they will be sending me a new Charge 3! I am very impressed and hope that if anyone else continues to have issues, they call the company right away.

[Briane3876]

I’m experiencing this exact same issue. My Charge 3 is 3 weeks old.

I tried these steps several times and each time, when it turns back on, the vibrations and screen flashes continue. BEL51.

I’d agree that this Charge 3 is a defective product.

Moderator edit: merged replies

[BalmyDay]

Hopefully the one they’re replacing it with won’t do the same thing. But if you haven’t yet, definitely call them.

[Briane3876]

Same experience here but after 3 weeks. This thing keeps buzzing, driving me crazy.,What a bummer.