Why there aren't repair options for my Versa 2?

[Lucipim]

My Versa 2 was ok for 13 months. After that, the heart ratio stopped working. I live in Brazil and contacted support in the US, where I bought It. To my surprise, they said THEY DONT FIX THEIR PRODUCTS. I was stunned as this was never going to be allowed in my country.

Anyways, they issued me a discount voucher that was only valid for 30 days. This was mid-pandemic. Since I live abroad, the voucher was useless. 

Im now traveliing to the US and I want to get It fixed. Ive researched and users are entitled to some support in most states. Has anyone searched legal rights in this matter?

I have never seen a more unsuportive company to their customers. And I cant even imagine How much trash they produce If products need to be thrown in the garbage after 1 year

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Odyssey13]

Hi @Lucipim  Fitbit does not offer any repair services anywhere. You can read more about it here - click to see information. The most you can do is get with customer support and tell them what happened about the voucher expiring, but that is about all you can do. There are third party places that do repairs on these devices, but they often charge more than it would cost to purchase another Fitbit.

[Lucipim]

Maybe in the US that is the case, but in some countries in Europe (and abroad, like Brazil) companies are legally obligated to give the customer an option to fix it (even if the user has to pay for it). I know that has been a topic of conversation in the US for quite a bit with the passing of the Right To Repair legislation in the congress. I hope customers there get these rights because the way it works there right now is just not sustainable. I already explained the voucher situation to them in Twitter and by email but they don't give a rat's **ahem**. I'm going to look for another brand for my next bands but I trully believed they would care more. It is sad, I really liked it at first and thought it was a keeper. Now, it is not even charging. 2 years...it lasted less then my 1980's cassio digital watch, which still works fine if I replace the batteries. I'll make sure EVERYONE knows what they are about in every conversation about smartwatch I have in the next 10 years. 

[LZeeW]

@Lucipim   I did a search and found that New York state passed a Right to Repair law, but there is no US national Right to Repair law.  If you have another source, please share it with us.

[Lucipim]

I read Boston has something similar but I haven't looked further into this because I don't live in the US. In Brazil, this is a federal law so companies need to be responsible for reparing items. It doesn't have to be free after warranty, but the consumer needs to have the option to get it fixed or have parts replaced. 

Anyways, my point is that it shouldn't be something that Fitibit only does when obligated. A quick google search shows: "Since 2010, Fitbit has sold over 116 million devices worldwide and has 31 million active users but has struggled with declining sales in recent years. Fitbit shipped 12.9 million units worldwide in 2020, while Apple shipped over 151 million wearable devices worldwide in the same period."

So if they sold 116 million watches and only 31 are active, that means that at least 85 MILLION watches went to the trash eventually...it's sad and in the opposite direction of the entire sustainability and enviromental movements from the past years. They so don't care that when they offered me a pointless discount code (it barely covered inflation) when mine started malfuncioning a year ago, they didn't want me to ship back the old one.

By they way, my Versa 2 died completely this weekend. It doesn't even turn on anymore. It had a little over 2 years of use. I have countless much cheaper electronic devices (toaster, microave, hairdryer...) that are much older, costed much less and work great. Disapointed.