waterproof versa... not really

[trewee]

I have had my Versa for about a month now and was diligent about taking it off for showering and water related activities despite it being advertised as 'waterproof' up to 50 meters.  While splashing in the water yesterday on a 90+ degree day I neglected to remove the watch.  It seemed to be tolerating the water just fine.  A couple of hours later when I attempted to check the time - the device was completely dead.  I have been in touch with customer service who had me do all sorts of things in attempt to revive the very dead Versa but it still remains very dead.  I placed it in a bowl of rice overnight (old cell phone trick) but even with that there is no sign of life.  I submitted a video of my attempt to 'factory reset' the device and now am waiting for a response.  Lesson learned here folks, VERSA IS NOT WATERPROOF!! From what I gathered, they will assess the video I sent and then provide me with further instruction on how to proceed.  All that said, I believe I will be without my watch for a couple of weeks at a minimum.  Pretty disappointed in Fitbit at the moment.

[swim4lifekac]

That is strange. I swim for over an hour with mine every day and it has been fine.   Have you tried charging it? 

[trewee]

yep - charging it, trying different charging cords, cleaning off the contacts on both the device and charger - it is beyond dead... and I almost think I can see moisture buildup on the underside where the green lights are... I guess I never inspected them closely before this, but looking at them now... it sure looks like there is water in there.... it's strange though because it worked for probably 2 hours after leaving the water... and then just died.  I just hope this gets resolved quickly.

[swim4lifekac]

Sorry, you may have gotten a bad one.   Fitbit should replace it. 

[SunsetRunner]

Good luck with a replacement. Fitbit wants me to wait a month for mind. I refunded as I'm fed up with the terrible support and lack of willingness to stand by their product and resolve these concerns promptly.

[trewee]

why a month? just because they are backordered?

[SunsetRunner]

They won't say. They "reviewed my case" and won't explain. I gave them video and it's only after the firmware update that this happened. If it's backordered, I would understand but they haven't shared that info with me and I've spoken to countless reps. Others seem to be fine getting replacements. I've previously had to get replacements on other faulty Fitbit products (maybe twice in many years), but I've always come back as they used to stand by their products, which I think don't have the greatest quality control, but as a consumer, I wouldn't mind provided they continued providing reliable and caring support. This time, that wasn't my experience. 

[Jayelo]

When my versa died and I had to go through them, my replacement would’ve taken about a month also. If Fitbit paid for my shipping to ship it back it would take 2 weeks on a boat, then who knows how long to look at it and do whatever they suppose to do, then have them ship it back which is another 2 weeks. I did express, along with other issues I had with their customer service, that this length to wait for a replacement is unacceptable. I’m out $200 for at least a month and I don’t even know if I’m gonna get a refurbished one or a brand new one. I don’t want a refurbished one and run into the same issues or new ones again. So I went to Best Buy and they helped me exchange it for a new one. Got it in 3 days (my Best Buy was all out of stock so they had it shipped to me). 

[Cassandraa_]

100% agree . I've heard great things on Customer Service . 
I've been watching the Versa since it came out - I made a goal that if I lost xxx amount of weight, I'd splurge on a versa. 

Unfortunately, I've been having issues with my fitbit Alta HR and it won't charge half the time. 

I reported it today, and right away they gave me the option to replace or get 50% off. 

The Alta HR is currently $199, and the Versa is $299

I figured, since I was looking to get a versa soon anyways - why not use the 50% off now. 

Well ... I opened the e-mail and Versa is not eligible. 

I asked them why - and they told me to post here . I don't even know how to use the community . So here I am ... ranting to other customers and of course, nothing will come of it . 

It's unfortunate because I used to love the fitbit world ... now I'd rather go with Apple .

This is how you lose a customer.

[GreginJaxFL]

Fitbit is not going to offer the 50% discount on its latest model! Only the older models would be discounted. 

[Rcaper]

Exact same thing happened to me today:(. I have been swimming with it in the pool several times a week for an hour or so each time then swam in the lake for 30 minutes today and it died a few hours later. An hour or so before it died the heart monitor quit working so I restarted it and it worked, so guessing there is water in the monitor area. I also tried rice and reset and charging, to no avail. 

[Kadahh]

I am experiencing the same problems I have written to them so I await my reply. There is no way u should spend $200 on a fitness watch that don't last two months. The reason I bought the versa was because I do hydrotherapy for exercise so I was sold on the waterproof and cheaper than the ionic. 

[kiawahfox]

Glad but sorry to hear I'm not alone.  My husband bought me the Versa so I could wear it in the lake.  I also own the Charge 2, which I have different problems with.  I was floating on a tube with my hands in the water and a couple of hours later the Versa died.  The rep that we spoke to verified that it was charged to 93% an hour before.  We sent the fitbit back but have not heard anything yet.  I am very disappointed.

[Rcaper]

Fitbit replaced my Versa—took almost a month but I did get a new one.

[TJohans]

Well, I had my versa in a hot tub twice now, only for maybe 2 minutes before freaking out, and it still works upon drying. They say it's water resistant up to 50m which is like 164ft, which means it's not necessarily waterproof I guess. Therefore, I wonder if you don't go 164ft into water, can exposure time possibly play a factor? Also, it seems on some forums people have had no issues with long exposure, swimming for a couple of hours, and showering with the versa. While other folks have showered, swam for an hour to all day, and their versa's have reset to the factory clock face and slowly shut down only to never return. Seems that some of the versa's are faulty when it comes to water, and others aren't. Fitbit definitely needs to figure this out!

[articulate]

Water resistance to 50m isn't really that. In fact, it's a very common misconception outside the watch world.

The way they test water-resistance is by slowly lowering a watch/device into a tank with water pressurised to however many bar/m they want to test for, the water is still and there is no current beyond the miniscule amount generated from the watch being lowered.

What this means is, something rated "water-resistant 50m" resisted the base pressure at 50m or 5 bar. It doesn't account for anything else. 50m generally means it's good to shower/swim with, but under no circumstances should you be diving with it. Snorkeling is dicey. Even washing the device under a tap requires care. 25m, means it can handle splashes. Anything between 10m and 0? Don't touch water. The only exception is when it says "Diver's 200m"/or similar nomenclature. Then and only then, can you take that watch to that stated depth.

As for the issues mentioned here, I'd hazard a guess that it's to do with care or qc. Even with diver's watches. You're not supposed to do anything except look at it while it's wet. No pulling out crowns or fiddling with buttons, especially not while underwater. If that isn't the issue, then it's some lacklustre materials I'd say.

[Melissa99]

The exact same thing happend to me. 

[Amy8]

Welcome to the club! Mine practically became useless (restarts itself every second, doesn't track steps, HR, batt went flat after 2 days etc) after i swam with it for an hour. I'm not sure if it was the current in the pool (pretty strong wind that day) but whilst i was swimming it was as though the back button kept turning on itself and everything went downhill after that. So lesson learnt, it is NOT meant for swimming. So, i filed a complaint, fitbit was prompt in responding and they said they will ship out a replacement tracker for me. I've waited 2 and a half weeks still no sign. They sent me a Fedex link with awb# yesterday but it just shows "Pending". So i called Fedex and they said the awb was created but they did not receive anything from Fitbit. Not a good sign. I'm still waiting...

[kiawahfox]

I received my replacement two or three weeks after I sent in the dead one.
Good luck!

[Hello5235]

It is water resistant not water proof