My Charge 3 displays 001 error

[Abhijit.Me]

Fitbit charge 3, bought almost 3 years back was working fine till November of last year. Then I left it at home unused. Now when I am plugging in to charge, I get no display. Then after 10-15 minutes, the 001 Error screen appears. On pressing the home button, the watch vibrates, no LED lights at the bottom. 

I tried the various resetting steps described in the forum. On holding the home button for 15 seconds or so, while connected to the power, the watch vibrates for about 6-8 seconds and then turns off. Taking out the watch off the cradle for 5 seconds and putting it back has no effect. Display still stays switched off. Only after 10-15 minutes, the 001 error screen appears and the Fitbit logo starts slowly animating and filling up the dots. 

Seems the watch is likely bricked and probably needs a factory reset. However Fitbit has provided no way of connecting it to a PC to do any troubleshooting. I contacted Fitbit support and they said I would hear back from their team over the mail. That was 3 days ago.

Are there any other troubleshooting steps I can try in meantime?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[EdsonFitbit]

Thank you for visiting the Fitbit Community, @Abhijit.Me.

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you experienced with your Fitbit Charge 3. Thank you for trying to get them resolved before contacting us.

I'm pretty sure that Customer Support will get in touch with you as soon as possible. Please check your inbox over the next days. Thank you for your patience while dealing with this situation.

Have a nice day.

[Abhijit.Me]

Thanks for the reply. It will be a week tomorrow. Still waiting for it.

[Abhijit.Me]

I received the following mail which made ZERO sense. It is common sense that the product almost 3 years old is out of the one year warranty. I have mentioned the same multiple times in the discussions with the Fitbit Team. So what was the reason of unnecessary wait, if there are ZERO repair options? And if Fitbit expects me after all this to buy another device that would only be repaired or replaced only within the first year, then you are simply dreaming. Thanks for confirming me so, this would be my last Fitbit.

Quoting the mail -

Hi Abhijit, 

Thank you for reaching us via chat regarding your Fitbit Charge 3 display that is showing 001.
Apparently, your product doesn’t meet the replacement requirements of our warranty policy. For details about our warranty policy, see fitbit.com/returns
You can learn more about the latest options in the Fitbit family of products at fitbit.com/compare and fitbit.com/store
If you have any other questions, please visit help.fitbit.com

Sincerely,

Ruiza L. and the Fitbit Team

[EdsonFitbit]

Thanks for your response, @Abhijit.Me.

Our team is constantly working to improve our products and services. Your feedback is highly appreciated.

Have a nice day.

[willjoe]

Please restart your tracker and if this process doesn't work, perform a long restart by doing the following: Plug the device into the charging cable. While the device is plugged into the charging cable, hold the button down for 15 seconds. Remove your finger from button.

Regards,

Will