Need replacement spring for Fitbit Charge 4

[myfitusername]

The spring inside my Fitbit Charge 4 gave away. You might ask, "What spring?" The electronic device attaches to the two wrist straps via a locking mechanism. That locking mechanism has a spring inside of it. If you detach a strap, you will see two very small Phillips head screws. Remove those, and you can take off the locking mechanism. Inside that mechanism, there should be a functional spring.

I had one non-functional spring. I think it was due to wearing my Fitbit in water all the time.

Anyway, how do I get a new spring?

[Odyssey13]

Fitbit customer support is doing their best, but right now be prepared for longer wait times. Please be patient. Support is limited by the number of representatives available at a given time and the hours of operation. Chat lines are open when they have live help.
USA: call (877) 623-4997
UK: call 0800 069 8505
INDIA: call 000 800 050 1057
IRELAND: call 01 691 7502 (country prefix: +353)
Other contact options:

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Canada: click for options

[myfitusername]

I still have no answer almost 1 week later. Does this mean that there is no offering of replacement springs? This would mean that a Fitbit can only last a few years tops. It only made it a few months in my case (there's lots of hard water where I live).

[AlvaroFitbit]

@myfitusername Thanks for being part of our Community.

Sorry to hear about this. As @Odyssey13 kindly mentioned, you can contact our Support team as they are the ones who can review your tracker's warranty and provide a replacement if they validate it. The Community forums rely in peer to peer assistance and as mentioned before @Odyssey13 provided several options to contact Support. Still I don't see that you have a ticket with them.so I have created one for you. The team will reach you via email.

@Odyssey13 thank you for your help here.

Let me know how it goes.

[myfitusername]

I dealt with customer support via the web chat. It was terrible. They won't send me a spring. They don't offer a way to buy a spring. They want me to return the entire device. Then I'll have to wait 5 to 10 days for them to "get back to me with next steps." Don't buy a Charge 4 folks. They won't give you parts to fix them. Your Charge 4 will probably last you one year tops in areas with hard water.

[MOOSE_MOOSE]

Have you gotten a solution yet?

[myfitusername · Accepted solution]

Fitbit support got back to me after a week and a few days. The only thing they could do was have me send back the original device for a replacement device. Thankfully, I held onto the box and packaging. The total time between me sending back my device and getting the new one was about 3 weeks. I no longer wear my Fitbit while swimming or in the shower, and I hope that will improve the lifetime of the springs.

[Rich_Laue]

Sounds like you are referring to the pin in the watch band. 

My thought would be to by a watch band from a third party like Amazon. Then use only the pin. 

Or any good jewelry store will have pins. They may not have the quick release. 

[MichaelRPowell]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

Sounds like you are referring to the pin in the watch band. 

My thought would be to by a watch band from a third party like Amazon. Then use only the pin. 

Or any good jewelry store will have pins. They may not have the quick release. 

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The spring is part of the Charge 4 unit, not the band. The little button you push up to release the band has a spring in it.

I am here now looking for a replacement because my device is ~18 months old. Warranty in Europe seems to be 24 months, but since I reside in the US, I only get 12 months. The solution provided by support was using a 35% off coupon. I was hoping to upgrade, but it cannot be applied to any new devices. So the solution they gave me was to spend ~$91 dollars (after the coupon) on another Charge 4 that has a known flaw. The black piece the band attaches to can break easily, and that is when the spring falls out. Here is a 13-page thread on the known issue.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-4/Charge-4-piece-that-latches-to-wristband-broke/td-p/4591186

At this point, I think I need to consider alternatives if the solution for a known issue that leads to a missing spring that probably costs less than 10 cents is for me to spend $91 on the same faulty product. ☹️

[myfitusername]

Agreed!

[Rich_Laue]

If the spring is on the tracker, then it would be covered by warranty. 

[MichaelRPowell]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

If the spring is on the tracker, then it would be covered by warranty. 

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It is not, because I am in the United States and not the EU. In the United States Fitibt only provides 12 months of warranty, my device was about 16 months old when it broke (a week ago or so). The EU has 24 months of warranty without any additional cost. The only option Fitbit offered was for me to buy another Charge 4 for around $91 (before shipping and tax). I just need the spring, and I would glue it back together.

The spring in question fell out because the plastic tab/connector piece seems to have worn out. You can see more posts with the exact same issue below. It is clearly a defect in the product design. You can see the spring in the first image, on the right, of this post. That user is having the same issue I am and has identified the same issue I had.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-4/Fitbit-Charge-4-Wristband-Connector-Broken/m-p/4952453

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-4/Charge-4-piece-that-connects-to-band-is-broken/m-p/4965223

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-4/Charge-4-Broken-Wristband-Connector-from-Frame/m-p/4952445

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge-4/Charge-4-band-holder-has-broken/td-p/4516959/page/2

[Mstlusk]

I have had 3 different Charge 4 devices and the band connection has broken on all 3 in less than a year; 2 brand new and 1 refurbished replacement..   There is definitely a problem with the quality of this product.   And Fitbit knows it and should provide a replacement after a year; because they know the product Is defective to begin with.   There is no way, it is NOT either a design flaw or quality control issue on the part of the manufacturer  of the product considering how many people have had the same issue!   And that does not include those consumers who have the problem but do not post it on the forum.  

Yes,, it would be an easy repair; if Fitbit would either send consumers the spring (which is small so when the connection breaks off it pops off and is lost) or tell you where to find the correct spring to replace it.  

Fitbit, you need to do better.   

[SuG1]

My Charge 4 band connector also just broke off and I lost the little spring.  Do you know the size of the spring or where we can buy one?  Fitbit is simply telling me that I'm not on warranty and offering 35% off a new watch.

[myfitusername]

Hey, @SuG1. If you're outside of the warranty period, you're simply out of luck. Fitbit never tried to help with a repair or replacement springs. They seem to have no interest in making a quality product that can last more than a year or so. I know I made this post a long time ago. I no longer purchase anything from Fitbit because of their "buy a new one, don't fix it" mindset.