My experience with Versa and Customer Service

[EricCR]

A picture is worth a thousand words... and bad support is worth a thousand customers.

Both Versas died, support wants me to send the still-under-warranty Versa 2 back for inspection *internationally* in the middle of the Holidays with saturated mail services in order to honor the warranty which clearly has no way of ending well.

Why suffer from headaches when I can simply switch brands and be happy? This is exactly how you lose loyal customers.

I miss my Fitbit but I'm very happy with the Garmin. Anything you want to know about how the Venu compares, just ask.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[SilviaFitbit]

@EricCR Hi there. Thanks for sharing details about your experience with our Support team. 

I see where your disappointment is coming from. I've shared your comments with them since they already have access to your case details, please continue the communication through email, they'll be happy to assist and provide the options available. 

Thank you for your understanding. 

[EricCR]

Your support department should check the records of every customer before deciding on how to react. If I'm willing to buy a Charge 2 ($170) then a Versa Lite ($150), a Versa 2 ($200), plus accessories, then I should get a pass when one of my devices fail while on warranty and shouldn't require me to return it. If your argument is that you want to check what went wrong with my device in order to improve future products, that shouldn't necessitate me to WAIT for the new one to arrive. I can still happily ship my dead one back afterwards. Here I am still waiting for that prepaid label after almost a month since the support case got created. What am I supposed to do in the meantime? Sit and wait? And my fitness stats? Should I give you money on a Versa 3 while I wait? It seems like warranties for you are simply a "suggestion".

I can understand for somebody who asks for replacements every few months that you get suspicious and demand a return first, but loyal customers shouldn't be treated the same way.

You know what hurts the most? Fitbit does the most well rounded "lifestyle" fitness trackers. Garmin is top notch for sport-focused people but their sleep tracking is primitive and their app not as intuitive. Apple Watches are great smart devices but fail at battery capacity and lock you into their ecosystem. Oh, but you had to cheap out on quality control and customer support. So sad.

[SilviaFitbit]

@EricCR Thank you for getting back. I totally understand your frustration with this, be sure that your comments won't be unnoticed. 

I've shared your comments with our Support team and someone will get back to you soon. Keep in mind that due to recent events affecting our operations we may take a bit longer to get back to you. 

Thank you for your understanding. 

[EricCR]

Well @SilviaFitbit , 3 days later and apparently my comments *do* remain unnoticed. I understand that it must be chaos this time of the year for the support team, but I've been chasing you around for more than a month now and there has been zero progress in making things right. In fact, my warranty expired while I kept waiting for a solution, which maybe was Fitbit's plan all along.

Besides buying the actual trackers, I supported your third party developers and bought several watch faces (even Lignite's stellar lifetime package), I have a ton of watch bands, screen protectors, etc. and it hurts me to see all that go to the trash, including my trust in Fitbit simply because you refuse to replace an outdated tracker that is* (was at the time I complained) under warranty.

My dad uses a Versa Lite and he just told me half of its screen went dead for a few minutes so I suppose that one is about to fail on him. He knows about my ordeal and he's not giving you a cent. Same as my GF and other family members. These bad experiences are known and propagate. I posted all this situation on Reddit, the Garmin forums and my Amazon review.

Investigate each situation, do some research on your customers. See how many trackers they have owned, how often they synced them. Don't just send the same cookie cutter response to all of us. It's insulting that in your support team's eyes I'm being treated the same way as the guy who resells Fitbit replacements on eBay. Here is my support case if it serves any purpose: #38437844

[SilviaFitbit]

@EricCR Thank you for getting back.

Your comments and feedback are appreciated, we're always striving to improve our services offered. Our Support team provides options based in the Fitbit Warranty They informed that they have been in touch with you please continue the communication through email, they'll be happy to provide further assistance. 

I'll be around if you have any additional questions. 

[EricCR]

It's insane. It really is.

All I've gotten in the 1+ month since the support case was created are apologies, but nobody has sent me the return shipping label for me to send the tracker back (which will likely get lost in international transit, but it's doing nothing here either so at this point I couldn't care less).

If this is all you need to honor my warranty and send me a replacement, how come it's so hard to send a simple email attachment? I've searched everywhere, even dug through my spam folders manually.