Trouble with Charge 2 recognizing walks

[kazzie]

Hi, I've been using a Charge HR since April and didn't have any issues with it until a couple of weeks ago when it started not recognizing my walks. I'd never had any trouble with it. Now I have started using the new Charge 2 and it is doing the same thing. I had to manually log my morning 30 minutes and now also my afternoon 30 minutes. The steps and active minutes are fine. It recognized an 15 minute evening walk on Friday and my aerobics execise I did on Saturday so I know it is working. I thought maybe it was my iphone6 but the updates are all completed and I have no issues with other apps.

I've done all the steps that I have read on here - resetting the charge2, resetting my phone, bluetooth etc.

It is really frustrating as I would like to have a proper record of my walks. 

[Fitlene]

I'm sorry, let me make that a little more clearer, all the information registered to my dashboard, but the summary of my stats when I completed my walk didn't show and under calories burned and avg bpm it said not enough data available. Again this is the first time it did this. I've had no problems up until now. It was fine for my walk yesterday. I'm thinking maybe it could have something to do with daylight savings time? I'm not sure, any help would be appreciated.

[Rich_Laue]

@Fitlene your first sounds like your referring to the walk summary on the tracker. Your second post sounds like it's the walk record on the app. 

If the tracker changed to ST durring the walk I can see this happening. 

[Fitlene]

@Rich Laue, it's the summary on my app. I tried to post a screenshot but it's not showing for some reason. I'm sorry, what is AT? And is this going to be happening from now on?

[Rich_Laue]

The AT is another I did not catch, but I know I did.. It was suppose to be Standard Time. 

Basically if I started a 30 minute walk last night at 1:45, the walk would have finished at 1:15. I could see how this might be not enough data

oitside of a restart of the tracker, place in charger and hold the button down, imnot sure what to do.

Will it happen again, you'll know tomorrow, then ypumoghtwamtto contact fitbit.

[Fitlene]

Thanks, I think that was the issue. I'll just try restarting when I charge it later.

[kazzie]

@SunsetRunner yes, I'm going to talk to support now. I understand what you're saying about the stops and starts with some walks but basically on walks that have not been recognised at all, I've been steadily walking non-stop with no obstacles for at least 30 minutes yet other times when I have stopped at a road for a few seconds or as you said, people are in the way, this has registered. It seems to pay no favourites to which walks or time of day, some are okay but most are not. The other day, I actually stopped walking and went into a shop, ordered a sandwich, paid for it, and then continued on back to work. Later that day I had a look and it recognised the walk as the entire time I was out of the office, it's so weird. I've been walking now steadily since 2011 when I lost a large amount of weight. It's been a struggle to maintain it and I've found that the more assistance I can get from devices like this, the more motivated I am. The charge HR was great and helped me keep up the exercise. 

[kazzie]

Unfortunately I've not had much luck with emailing support.

I've received 5 emails from them, First email asked me to list all of the dates that it didn't recognise a walk which I listed all from October to now. Second email asked me to walk 100 steps and count them and then see if the tracker counted the steps as well. It did, there never was anything wrong with the step count.The third email asked me to re-start my charge 2 and to monitor it for 2 days. I did this it still wasn't recognizing somewalks and the fourth email asked me if still needed help. When I answered this with the reply no it hadn't, the fifth email asked me to walk 100 steps and count them and see if the tracker counted the steps as well which is what i was aked to do in email 2.

[ShelliB.]

Hi Kazzie: the problem with mine not recognising walks seemed to
resolve when I managed to finally link up the accounts on my smart phone
and desktop. Why this would be, I don't know!

Have you tried live chat support? This is where I've gotten best
results in the five years I've owned Fitbit products. Live Chat is open
til 11pm Pacific Standard Time which is west coast U.S. You just get
yourself in the queue and wait for a support person. It can be a
lengthy process and you have to be next to your desktop to know when
it's your turn, but they will walk you through troubleshooting rather
than trying to interpret the problem via email and solve it via email.
Then if it's determined that the problem isnt fixable, they can set up a
replacement right then. I'd encourage you to give this a try even
though it's time-consuming. The Charge 2 is such a great tool for your
fitness journey, it would be a shame for you to give up on it if it's
fixable, or if you need a replacement. 🙂

[kazzie]

Hi

my app and my dashboard are in sync, they always are when I log on to it. this doesn't make the walks appear though. I'm not able to log onto the dashboard during the day much which is why I use the app.

I'm also not able to call the support line and wait as I'm on the other side of the world and I'm at work most of the time it is open.

I've still not heard back from the support desk so I'm not hopeful of a resolution.

[ShelliB.]

Hi Kazzie, are you in Australia? I am. I'm in NSW, and 11pm PST on the
west coast of the States is 6pm NSW time if you can get home an online
before then.

[jaysi]

I would not contact Customer Support by email. In my experience phone them or use the online chat. In both cases I have had them help and in one case send a replacement.

You NEED to tell them everything you did so they don't start going through their script and repeating all the steps. I went as far as referencing FAQ numbers. They all just follow a script and you kind of have to guide them to what you need -- which in my opinion is a replacement in your case.

Side note...while you are going through this process, why dont you manually start the walk using the activity on the device rather than hoping it recognizes it automatically...at least you know it's tracking. 

[kazzie]

Hi Shellie, I'm in Melbourne but don't get home from work on time.

[kazzie]

Hi jaysi, I don't have walk as an option - I have run, weights, treadmill, workout, elliptical, bike, interval workout. Can I use treadmill but walk outside up and down hills?

[jaysi]

Walk is not a default. Those execercies you can scroll through can be customized. You can only have so many set at once. Follow the instructions here to remove one that you dont use and add Walk.

https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1980

[ShelliB.]

Hmm. What about an hour early before work? (I know that's painful!)
Or our Saturdays are still their Fridays. Don't give up! Personally,
I think you need a replacement but I don't think that happens without
authorisation. Shelli

[ShelliB.]

Kazzie, you can add walk to your exercises. I took treadmill and
outdoor cycling off and added walk. Let me see if I can find the link
or get on my phone and walk you through the steps. It's very easy to
add. 🙂

[Rich_Laue]

We have a great help site, link found below, I simply typed in exercise and found this article on customizing the event options.
http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1980/

[kazzie]

thank you jaysi, shelliB and Rich_Laue, that was extremely helpful. I didn't think I could change the settings to include walk.

I'll give it a go!

thank you all

[ShelliB.]

Hi Kazzie: Also I switched the exercises I don't do to "ignore". That
was recommended in the help forum too. 🙂

[kazzie]

yes I have done that.

unfortuately, this isn't solved. The service people have told me there was an issue with the syncing not happening for at least 2 hours so I need to wait and see if it syncs eventually. I waited 6 hours one day but it still didn't register. I assume they are still working on the issue and I hope it will one day be fixed.

in the meantime, I'll add them manually, I don't particularly like setting the exercise to record my walks.