Charge 3 won't pair

[Horribledevice]

Posted again because you can’t be upset your $150 watch has never worked correctly and it’s “spam” when your upset. Good customer service Fitbit. 

So my awesome Fitbit isn't working. Couple of weeks ago it went black and wouldn't respond and I did the reset with the charger. It came back but the time was wrong and getting worse everyday and was wonky where notifications selectively worked. I noticed there was an update on the app (I have auto update enabled) from 4/20, no worries only a month behind on that awesome handy feature. Tried to update and it failed (shocking), "Is your Charge 3 turned on?" Of course it is.

So i do the reset with the charger, nothing, still won't update. So i follow the next steps I can find of removing device from my app and phone and re-pairing, which was a bad idea knowing how awful the setup was for this thing. I try to pair, failure. I try again, it works but forever goes by on the app and nothing happens. After 17,987,785,578,576 attempts it "finds" my phone. Now I see a watch on the app but nothing on my Bluetooth. So now I'm here, I have a paperweight of a "watch" that can't tell time, wont pair to my phone, won't update (is your Charge 3 even on bro?) and can't deliver notifications.

This is absolutely the worst consumer electronic I have ever used or owned and I will never purchase another item from this company, I should have known to get the apple watch. Anyways, I paid for it, so does anyone know how to fix this thing?

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[AlejandraFitbit]

It's great to see you around @Horribledevice.

I appreciate all the feedback provided regarding the Charge 3 functionality and would like to know if you keep having problems with it? If so, I recommend taking a look at the following help articles and follow the instructions provided there:

• Why can't I set up my Fitbit device?
• Why can't I update my Fitbit device?
• How do I change the time on my Fitbit device?

Let me know the outcome.

[Horribledevice]

Yes, nothing works as I’ve already said. I’ve done the first 2 of those things and now I have a watch that doesn’t retrieve notifications, won’t pair and can’t even tell the correct time. I can’t “fix” the time because it won’t pair or connect! 

[Horribledevice]

Okay so I guess nobody knows how to fix this thing and make it work, awesome. Well there goes $150, I’m just going to buy a Movado connect. I can’t believe I couldn’t even make it a year with this product. 

[-Trish-]

I understand completely. I’ve actually had numerous Fitbit Charges that I’ve bought for myself and several family members. They all worked pretty well until I went to the Charge 3. Now, like you, I say this is the last Fitbit product I’m buying. Next for me will simply be an Apple Watch.

Wish I could give you a fix for yours. If I could, I’d fix mine too!! What a company.

[Horribledevice]

What a company indeed! Sorry your watch doesn’t work either. I’ve accepted your post as the solution since the realization there is no solution is the solution. 

[JYY-LA]

I think that’s the consensus of all users. Support used to be easy and top notch. Now if I want to communicate online it’s via Twitter? My FB Charge 3 is about 6 mo old. Was fine until recently when I stopped getting notifications. Bluetooth keeps dropping out and now says can’t find my device! Stock $ dropping too - I think everyone is losing faith in product. How sad. I have loved my Fitbit(s).

[Horribledevice]

Sorry you’re going through the same thing!! 

[jtp3jacket]

I got Charge 3's for me and my wife for Christmas.  Mine is working fine, but hers is exhibiting this problem of not pairing.  She too went through the steps of deleting her device from the app and trying to re-pair to her phone, and now like you it will not pair with her Android phone (Samsung).  I wonder if there was some update to the app that is now causing this problem?

[jtp3jacket]

I say mine is working "fine", but in general Bluetooth connectivity really sucks on this device.  When jogging or biking, about half the time the device can't maintain a BT connection to my phone.  Very frustrating.

[Horribledevice]

Hi guys, I have figured it out. Go to your watch, swipe right and go to settings. About. Clear user data and set the watch back up. 

You’re welcome fitbit, I did your QA for you. 

[jtp3jacket]

Thanks for the tip.  That did not work for me however.  Did the "clear user data" (which according to the Fitbit site is actually a factory reset), then tried to set it up.  Still getting the Bluetooth error (after it tried synching for 45 minutes).  **ahem**.

[jtp3jacket]

Also updated the App to the latest (v 2.95).  Device firmware is 1.60.39.

[Horribledevice]

Just burn it than and put it out of its misery!

[KPJGPM]

I know your pain.  I too went through all of the steps in the article "Why can't I set up my device?"  The last step says to reinstall the Fitbit app on my phone.  That makes no sense to me (I'm a software developer) but I uninstalled the app and reinstalled it.  And what do you know it worked!  So if you haven't tried that step you might try it.

[Jduggan17]

I’ve got the same issue, screen went black, charger reset didn’t help so unpaired/ forgot deceive thinking il set it up back. The watch is never found when I search for it.

wasted soo much time on this! Really not happy

[jtp3jacket]

Yes, as I found out on the phone today with a Fitbit rep, apparently there is a problem with "unpairing" a Charge 3 Bluetooth connection.  The Fitbit rep (who was very nice) told me that I should never unpair the Charge 3, that there is a known problem with the device that it won't re-pair, and that none of the approved Fitbit troubleshooting recommendations say to unpair the device.  Never mind that unpairing and re-pairing is standard practice for every other Bluetooth device out there.  So we went through all the troubleshooting steps again while I was on the phone, and the fact is that Bluetooth on the Charge 3 is just not functioning.  Neither my phone nor my Win10 laptop could see the Charge 3 at all.  After some wait, we were offered a new Charge 3, which is being shipped to us.  If this is actually a bug, Fitbit may be replacing quite a few Charge 3's, because once it is upaired there is no way to connect to it again to give it a firmware update.  Fitbit might have wanted to provide a wired backup plan with the charger cable, but I guess that would have cost more money.  In any case, they have treated me right, so at this point I have no complaints.

[KPJGPM]

I was able to re-pair mine by uninstalling the app on my phone and reinstalling.  I also erased user data on the device, rebooted the device and rebooted the phone.  Everything is working fine.

[jtp3jacket]

Yes we tried all of those things!  None of them worked.  Frankly, we believe that the Bluetooth died on June 12, that was the last day it synched.  My wife didn't notice it until several days later when the clock was way off.

[KPJGPM]

I guess I got lucky then.  I'm glad they took good care of you!