Versa counting too many floors.

[Acharpia]

Ever since I got my Versa it seems to be grossly over exaggerating my stair count. I had the Charge 2 before the Versa and it was fairly accurate with my stair count, but now it’s more than doubling the number of floors I climb in a day.

Is this a known issue? Has the way in which the Versa calculates stairs climbed change significantly over the Charge 2? I’ve now gone from averaging 15 floors a day to 34. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified Subject.

[lauchard]

Well I finally found a fix for this issue!!!!  It is the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and it works great and plays well with MyFitnessPal!!!!!!

[tallgeoff]

I agree with every point and have learned to distrust most media reviews as they simply describe the product features and are a press release for the company. Reviewers spend no real time using the device and so don't find any of the issues we have reported.

I also see this is an altimeter issue. Fitbit increased its sensitivity to improve some functions but now see this higher sensitivity has created problems in accurate steps and stair counts.

I suggest users here post to fitness forums or email other social media "leaders" in the field. I may do some research in this.

Geoff

Moderator edit: removed personal info

[13maria]

i've been having the same issue.  I even returned my first Versa and bought a new one thinking it was the tracker, but no... this seems to be a problem withe software.   Are there any suggestions out there?

[Gjjen]

I entered a tech ticket and they totally blew me off and didn’t listen at all. I don’t think they are working on fixing anything.

[13maria]

I agree it's a shame how they are handling this issue.

[GreenHatMan]

Add me to the long list of people with the exact same problem. Just came off a HR2 to get the shiny Versa and amazed at the insane stair count. Spend a day on a tour bus.. actually did maybe 20 floors at best.. recorded 53+ 

My wife also has a Versa same day out and she managed 60+ floors.. Which is just a little insane.

This needs a fix or this is going back.

[13maria]

The worst for me is the company disregard for the complaints.  

[Gjjen]

I’ve tried tech support and Facebook. Fit bit does not acknowledge complaints.

Sent from my iPhone

[ShaunMcGill]

My wife broke her ankle 5 weeks ago and cannot walk properly yet. She decided to do some weeding in the garden on Friday and the movement doing that with her hand gave her 14,857 steps on her Versa. Pretty awful really. She doesn’t trust it anymore. 

[John9876]

I climbed one flight of stairs today. I’ve also climbed into a box truck a few times throughout the day, so I’d understand if it maybe confused that with stairs a few times. But this is just ridiculous.

[13maria]

I don't understand they "test" the products before put them in the market.   I'm not sure if all the versas are having the stairs issue... And just a few are sharing   

[tallgeoff]

Good question. I expect many are not aware if this is their first fitness device (like me) and do not have prior experience or another device in the household they can compare to.

Geoff

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[SallyB605]

I finally received my replacement rose gold Versa. It has the same problem as the other two that I have had - it counts steps, floors and active minutes when I am driving. It seems to interpret steering wheel motion as steps, therefore it thinks I am walking and so elevation increases are counted as floors and time as active mintues. Sigh.

I'm using Drivebit, which I did find for iOS, but to have to remember to use it every time I get in the car or to remember to log driving time later on is just not a viable solution. My Charge 2 didn't have this problem, so I know that Fitbit can make a device that works properly.

I haven't decided what my next step will be. I really like everything else about the Versa and don't want to pop for an Apple watch, but really, how can they get away with selling an activity tracker that is so inaccurate?

I know that when I write back to them in my support ticket about this, they are going to want to run me through all the resets and so forth. Been there, done that, with two other Versas. It doesn't fix the problem.

I can't imagine why more people aren't reporting about this in the forums.

[Gjjen]

I placed a tech support complaint. The response was that as long as the data were accurate when I climbed two floors indoors, it was working. They more or less said it doesn’t work outdoors when I kept trying to explain that was when the inaccuracy occurred.

Sent from my iPad

[SallyB605]

That's ridiculous. An activity counter that isn't supposed to be accurate outdoors. Wow. 

I'm getting closer to giving up hope that they will ever acknowledge, much less fix, the problems.

[spirit_of_wind]

Some has already issued this problem in this topic but I would like to issue it again. Driving your motorcycle. What a pain for Fitbit! I used Charge HR for over two years and it also added quite much extra floors when you were driving. But Versa hit's the top knot! I'm really going mad with this. Today I just drove to my work and back, which is roughly 45 kilometers. Versa says I've done 46 floors. Insane. When I really think hard I've done maybe four floors today. Two weeks ago I drove something like 320 kilometers. Versa says I did 433 floors! Sorry that I really really really like to swear. But 433?!?! You really can tell that NO ONE does that during four hours.

I suggest that Fitbit adds an edit option to the floors. Same way the sleep does have it. You can edit your floor count in the end of the day. That solves many problems regarding people's mentally state about going mad with the floor count. And then you can start fixing the problem itself.

[SallyB605]

I hear you, @spirit_of_wind. I try to find clockfaces that don't show the floors because it makes my blood boil to look down and see that wacked out floor count.

I am currently using the Drivebit app, which exists for iOS and Android. So every time I get in the car (or if I get on my scooter) I'll have to haul out my phone and start Drivebit, then remember to stop it when I get where I'm going. This is such a poor "solution" that it irritates the life out of me, but it's the only way to obscure the false step and floor counts. Well, you could manually enter the "driving" activity, but that's even more work. And who can remember exactly what hh:mm they began and finished their drive?

The fact that my Charge 2 had no problem with car driving shows that Fitbit is capable of making a (much more) accurate device. It's just astonishing to me that they are not even acknowledging the problems with the Versa, much less making an effort to correct them.

[tallgeoff]

Someone said the new altimeter is enclosed to keep it watertight. That's the issue.

Geoff

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[SallyB605]

I saw that post. However, that doesn’t explain why the Versa counts steering the car as steps and active minutes...

[ktejp]

How do we go about fixing these inaccuracies?