Versa stopped working after latest update

[Lisagrace]

I did an update this past weekend. No problems prior to doing this. Since the update my Versa has not held a charge, won’t turn on unless i hold all 3 buttons at same time for 2 mins. When it does come back on it takes awhile and battery is usually near 30% even after a charge. Sometimes the date is wrong, time is wrong, and steps don’t count. Reps at Fitbit said since I’m a few months over my warranty they can only offer me an 25% discount to purchase a new one. It’s almost laughable. Why would i buy another product when this one is defective since upgrade? They gave suggestions, all of which did nothing to help. I spent $200 not even 1.5 years ago and am now to just trash it? Has anyone else run into this? I’ve had a Fitbit tracker for over 5 years and never a problem! 

[LiliyaFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @Lisagrace.

I appreciate your participation in the Forums and sharing the details of the issue you experienced with your Versa after the latest update and your experience with Customer Support. I am sure they tried to help you in the best possible manner, each case is reviewed individually and a solution that's being provided is based on the Fitbit Warranty.Thank you so much for your feedback, we're constantly working on improving our devices and user experiences, and your comments are always welcome. I understand how frustrating this is for you as you have been a Fitbit customer for a long time and would like to continue enjoying the Fitbit experience. Once again I apologize for any disappointment. I hope you could give Fitbit another opportunity in the future. 

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Chubasco]

Our household moved back to FitBit from Apple Watch because the Apple Watch physically came apart after 1.5 years.  Having wasted ~$800 on a defective Apple Watch, under $200 for a comparable FitBit seemed like a no-brainer.    We’ve been back with FitBit for almost a year now, and physically they are holding up fine (so far, fingers crossed), although their software (updates, features) is extremely buggy, slow, and too unreliable.

At this point, we’ll let our dollars do the talking for us.  The wearables / ‘smart’-watch market is too competitive to feel stuck with a bad product or service.  There are so many options to choose from that finding an alternative is pretty easy.  Garmin watches look very competitive and the reviews from within my circle of friends is very promising.  

Also, given Google’s acquisition of FitBit and their porting over to Google’s wearablesOS, I imagine it’s only going to get worse for FitBit, in terms of buggy & broken, before it gets better.  It might be worth reconsidering FitBit in a year or two from now.

[Lisagrace]

This makes me nervous about Apple too! I’m going to check the Garmin our. Thanks 

[LiliyaFitbit]

Hi @Chubasco @Lisagrace, it's nice to see you again in our Community Forums. 

@Chubasco thank you for joining the thread and sharing your experience and feedback. Fitbit's goal is to keep improving the user's experience by gathering important feedback from the Fitbit Community and implementing and enhancing new features and products.  

@Lisagrace thank you for your input. 

I'll be around if you need further assistance. 

[SunsetRunner]

@Lisagrace I opted not to do the update after seeing all the problems users were facing afterwards and continue to have after updating  almost 3 months later.   If you were lucky to still be under warranty you got a replacement if not all that was offered was the 25% discount of another product which if you were looking for something comparable it would have to be the Versa 2.   If you read the recent posts after the latest firmware update exclusively for the Versa 2, the users are experiencing major issues as well.

Lately, it just seems that every mobile  app update ...doesn't matter if it's Android or IOS and the firmware updates are more buggy than the previous one.

Like you, I've been a long term Fitbit user but after my Versa quits working, I'll be switching brands.  

I've seen a lot of users leave the Fitbit ecosystem to Apple, Garmin and Samsung plus other less expensive devices that actually work as advertised. 

Personally, I'm researching the Samsung Active 2 and the Garmin Venu.

[Lisagrace]

Agreed. Honestly, I loved Fitbit from the start and loved my Versa even more. Never wanted to change brands. Sad to me that there’s nothing they can do and so frustrating to me that it was fine before the upgrade. I haven’t been on the forum to know that there were issues but i wish I’d known. It’s ridiculous really. Now i want to make sure others know!!!  And for them to off the 25% off is  crazy. Why would i buy another one when we don’t even know what happened to this?

[SunsetRunner]

The Versa had so much potential to be a great smartwatch that could compete with the Apple watch if the developers hadn't rushed to get it out and if the firmware updates actually enhanced the device and improved functionality  

I've loved mine and that's why I wasn't willing to take a chance with doing the firmware.  What's the point of updating if you loose the functionality of the Versa?  As many users suggested the firmware should have been pulled to address the issues and have the ability to go back to the prior firmware.  It's a shame that suggestion was ignored and users then opted to go with other brands since the Versa became unresponsive or not working as before.

Exactly,  why would you you consider to purchase another device when down the road the same thing could occur? 

[Freida21]

My Fitbit Versa was working fine until the update. Now all I have is the logo dots.  Everyone needs to post their bad experience with their Fitbit on all media available to them. So all there friends and  the public will be well informed on how Fitbit breaks your watch with a update and then offers you a % off for you to buy another watch.  That is what customers had done with older iPhones. The company made them not work well and they got sued and went to court and lost.  They and Fitbit are no different in trying to get customers to buy another product from them. Shame on you Fitbit. 

[SkyMiles]

I’ve had the Versa 2 watch for almost 2 yrs now and updated it because it wasn’t vibrating when the calls or texts came through. I made sure to have it charging on the charger even with a 90% battery just so it didn’t freeze up or die (which it did anyways with the update). The Fitbit app kept saying that it had no signal to the internet- but yet it froze up after it was almost done updating. The watch only showed the little diamond Fitbit symbol and froze with just that. I tried to reset the watch once I realized that it wasn’t working from the update. But all I got was the same screen after every try. Is it still in warranty because it’s an issue with the watch software update or am I not able to use the watch ever again?

[Teknishan]

I purchased a Versa last July.  never did an update until maybe January a few days after I did the update I went to turn it on and it said the battery was 0% I put it on to charge for the day and came up and hit the power button and nothing happened.  the only way I could get it on was by holding all the buttons.  I called and told them what happened and opted for the replacement.  I have had that for a few months now and decided to update it since I saw there was a newer version that what I done before.  I updated it because I wanted to be able to use the newer watch faces.  well the update went through and bam the same thing happened with my 2nd versa.  only way to power it on is by holding all the buttons.  when you get on chat with them they have you try all of these different things and I'm like no this is the 2nd time in less than a year that I did an update and had the versa stop working properly.  I have a Versa 2 replacement on the way.  Hoping this thing works better than the Versa did.

[Gbashey]

same problem as you the customer support have still not resolved my replacement .I’m very angry about it would not buy Fitbit again 

Moderator edit: format

[Teknishan]

I was able to get both of my Versa’s working again with a newer update that came out later last year so now I have 2 Versa 1’s and a Versa 2 that I purchased at half price when my free replacement stopped working correctly last summer.