Heart rate broken

[mtf612]

My heart rate monitor on my Versa has been broken for several days. My resting heart rate is typically close to 65bpm. SInce saturday, my heart rate (while at rest) has hovered around 150bpm. The other day, a day on which I did not hit the gym, my fitbit said that I burned 9000 calories and performed 10 hours of strenuous activity. 

Fitbit support has been unhelpful and unprofessional. I am very disappointed.

I have tried wiping the sensor with a microfiber cloth, I have reset the tracker, I factory reset the tracker, and I have tried unpairing my phone. Nothing seems to work. If I turn heart rate tracking off and on in the tracker settings, it seems to work better for a moment but will slowly return to crazy heart rate numbers after few minutes. I am curious if anyone else is experiencing this because support claimed they are aware of the issue but I can't find anyone else discussing it here. 

What my heart rate has looked like every day since the problem started: 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi, you already did a lot of solutions and Support did not help you also. One question: is the HR sensor light flickering on the back of your Versa? If yes, try the following:

1. deinstall the fitbit app from your phone.

2. restart the phone, wait a while and enable WiFi and BT.

3. Reinstall Fitbit app and sync with your Versa and see whether the HR problem is solved.

Sometimes you just need to "reset" your Fitbit app. Hope this helps.

[mtf612]

Thanks, kuzibri. Unfortunately, the problem persists after following your suggested instructions. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi, sorry to read that. Now it's time to contact Customer Support as it seems that your HR sensor is broken. Good luck!

[mtf612]

Kuzibri, I have contacted support several times today. Fitbit support claims they "are aware of the issue and are investigating," but this seems like an attempt to dismiss the issue. They refused to give a timeline and would not provide any further clarity as to what could be the cause, claiming this is a software problem. The Fitbit support staff seem to be either lying or confused. 

[SunsetRunner]

Very strange, normally they are very helpfull. Sorry to say, but I run out of options now. 

[drthigpen]

What if there is NO light on the sensor?

[SunsetRunner]

If you take of your watch and there is no green light flashing, e.g. the HR sensor, this might mean that it's malfunctioning or just broken, whatever Customer Support tells you. 

[mtf612]

Fitbit support team continues to ignore me and to lie to me.

fitbit support continues to claim that the device is fine and a resolution is being worked on. They are lying and claim this is a software issue. I will never buy another fitbit and will advise my friends not to as well.

Update: I called Fitbit support again.

I spoke with a "supervisor" today. I was told that my issue was "escalated" to a special team looking into heart rate issues. I was told that my issue was known to affect some users and that it was being worked on. The supervisor continued to refuse to offer any form of timeline for how long this might take. She reiterated that my problem was either a software or hardware issue (helpful) and that they would not offer a repair until the special team determined which.

I was told that it was possible that "encoding on the device from my account" was the culprit. When I offered to create a brand new Fitbit account and factory reset the Versa, in order to eliminate the above possibility, I was told that even if we ran that troubleshooting step a repair/replacement would not be available. The supervisor was extremely dismissive, "I understand that you think that might diagnose the issue," and unhelpful.

When I asked whether buying a new Versa would produce the same result, I was told that there was a "fifty-fifty chance" that the issue would still occur. When I asked whether Fitbit would replace the device if I did buy a new Versa and didn't experience the problem, I was again told "no."

When I asked whether I would have an answer in two weeks, I was told I would not receive any time frame promise.

Ultimately, I will never buy fitbit again. They clearly do not care about their customers. I am done.

Bump. I cannot believe how terrible fitbit support is. This is effectively theft. I want to file a claim against the company.

Moderator edit: merged replies

[tomdee]

im following this... i have the same issue.. please post any updates here...

my versa is saying 150 h/r and when i put on my wifes versa it says 76

i updated she hasnt.

im following this... i have the same issue.. please post any updates here... my versa is saying 150 h/r and when i put on my wifes versa it says 76 i updated she hasnt

Moderator edit: merged reply

[evilneoprincess]

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@mtf612 wrote:

Kuzibri, I have contacted support several times today. Fitbit support claims they "are aware of the issue and are investigating," but this seems like an attempt to dismiss the issue. They refused to give a timeline and would not provide any further clarity as to what could be the cause, claiming this is a software problem. The Fitbit support staff seem to be either lying or confused. 

I have experienced a similar issue and received the same response from customer service. I wanted to be able to use the HR monitor reliably to detect any abnormalities. Now I cannot trust the readings.

---

[drthigpen]

I contacted Fitbit via their instant messenger the night of 1/2.  Because there was no light on the sensor, and I had tried all other recommendations from the forum, they are able to replace the Versa since it is still in warranty.  I will receive the new Versa tomorrow, 1/7.  I found their Customer Service to be excellent!  Thanks everyone for your responses!

[Princessamy1983]

I'm having the same issue.  Customer service told me my heart rate could be High from exercise.  I told them I was watching TV when I first noticed it and it read 170 while I was asleep.  So dissatisfied.  When you spend over 200 Dollars on a product it should work as advertised for longer than 5 months. They had no solution. I'm so mad I spent money on this brick

[mtf612]

For those wondering, the screen on my Fitbit stopped working and only then did customer service offer to replace the device. There was no repair and they never asked for the old device back. I have a feeling that support did not want to deal with me anymore. 

The new Fitbit works just like my old Versa prior to going in the pool. My heart rate is back to normal but I permanently have a few 9000 calories burned days in my data. 

Never paying for another Fitbit product. Will continue to advise other potential customers that Fitbit has allowed quality control and customer service to go down the tubes. 

[EESmith]

This exact issue just started for me.  I thought I was going crazy that my HR was in the 150's early last week and then the HR just died late on Monday.  Honestly, I've been busy with work so I didn't realize it until today that the HR was dead.  It was the sleep sensor dying on Friday night that caught my attention now on Sunday.  I've reset the thing, deleted my account, deleted my app.  Going through the motions, but not expecting any real results.

[Jo1027]

This just happened to me this week! Same exact thing. I’m totally pissed about it. Says I was active for 305 minutes today. I have a desk job and went to the gym in the evening. So maybe 40 active minutes today tops. Not sure what to do... sigh.

[Jon4141]

My tracker stopped working 4 days ago for no reason

[RexfordS]

I have the same issue. I guess I will look at another brand. The whole purpose of the fitbit is to track HB for me and it either is un-accurate or doesn't track it at all once my HB gets over 130.

[Lindyloulou6]

Me too - just started today. Reset to factory settings & all other instructions given by customer support we’re done. No go. Going back to customer service with a photo of this thread.

[sjusufspahic]

My HR is not working, there is NO GREEN Light. There is no help from Fitbit support staff. Unbelievable