Versa 2 not turning on - Water damage

[EricCR]

Bit of background first:

First I had a Charge 2 which was amazing and it's still working to this day, Foolish me then bought a Versa lite, which in less than a year suffered water damage and failed. It first started logging inaccurate heart rate data and eventually died completely. I posted my complaint here, Fitbit Support contacted me and offered to send a replacement (a refurbished/used Lite).

That second Lite was alright besides some scratches on the screen and then since I apparently don't learn from my mistakes, bought a Versa 2. Today my Versa 2 died (bought on Dec 1, 2019). I was finally back to exercising, sweat got in and it simply shut off with around 70% battery left. Came back home and saw the "fogging of death" beneath the sensors. I tried to dry it, connected it to the charger and it started dangerously heating up so it's clearly dead.

Since a couple of months ago I started seeing what naively thought was sticky dirt on the back (the seam between the black sensor area and the aluminum frame). Now it's clear it was the sealant/adhesive Fitbit uses to market their watches as "water resistant" degrading and coming off. There is nothing water resistant about Fitbits, please don't get them near water or sweat or any kind of humidity. Their sealing is a joke.

You can clearly see water/humidity trapped in there. I am so done with Fitbit and I sincerely hope that Google kills off the brand as they usually dismantle everything they buy. I'm off to Amazon to post a 1 star review.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello @EricCR, it's nice to see you again participating here in the Community Forums.

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and personal experience with your Fitbit device, I understand your situation and how frustrating this matter can be for you. I'd like to let you know that we are always striving to improve the Fitbit experience with our products and services, therefore, the feedback that's shared here in the Community Forums is always appreciated and really helpful for us to evaluate our procedures and make sure that we are delivering what our users want and need.

Let me share with you that our Customer Support team was already contacted on your behalf to provide you further assistance with the difficulties you're currently experiencing with your Versa 2. Please keep an eye on your email inbox because they'll be in touch with you pretty soon.

Let me know if you have any additional questions, I'll be around.

[EricCR]

Thank you, Ricardo.

I was clearly hot headed when I wrote the above post, but you have to understand that as a very very loyal customer who has spent more than $500 in the Fitbits themselves, plus accessories and watch faces (just a month ago I bought the lifetime Lignite watch face pack which is now useless) I'm beyond disappointed. I do believe that in their niche, Fitbits are unmatched and not even the latest Apple Watches can touch them (e.g. I don't want to charge my watch every day). I love the exercise and sleep tracking, I love the myriad ways in which I can sort and view my health stats, but having to worry because an advertised "50m water resistant" watch can't handle sweat is insane.

I don't know what happened between the Charge 2 (amazing little device) and more modern Fitbits but the quality simply isn't there and they are now almost disposable in my opinion. I see that the Versa 3 still has the exact same design defect of mating plastic with aluminum on the back. I'm sure that unless you have changed the sealant used around that seam, you will being seeing tons of posts from people complaining about water damage in a few months.

I will see what the support team has to say. Apologies as I'm sure my post above came across as extremely rude, and I'm sure you are not directly responsible for it, but your products have to improve, no excuses.

[EricCR]

To this day my situation is still unresolved, I live outside the US and there is no official Fitbit dealer here and even though my tracker is still under warranty, Fitbit support claims that the only way they can help me is by sending the device back to the US.

I'm eyeing the Garmin Venu, which while being similarly priced than the Versa, seems to be considerably better made. Shame as a lot of family members still use Fitbits, but I will make sure they do not stay with the brand.

[Rstewart123]

Did you replace your watch? My husband and I both got versa 2’s. He was washing dishes and his died. Luckily within the 1 year so they replaced. Mine is less than 2 years old and I went into a fresh water creek (aka less than 10 ft of depth) and mine died. They only offered me a 35% discount on a new watch. I am also looking into switching to Garmin as they have a better warranty program (through Best Buy). I looked into the Versa extended warranty but it doesn’t seem to cover water damage and that is a consistent problem.