Confirm device pairing changes via email

[msa]

Some weeks ago, I lost my One.

I noticed it synced later that day, and that, in fact, whomever had found it, had finished the same race I was running, and hoped they would turn it in.

Unfortunately, they never did.  More recently, the One in question, has disappeared from my account.   Support has informed me that a device 'disappears' when it is paired with another account.

That explanation aside, I still have no idea WHY it's possible to pair a device with another account without confirmation of the original account holder.  

It would be trivial to send an email to the current account holder, requesting confirmation of the change.  (Bonus points for including the IP address of the requesting client)  But it does not appear that that has been done.

Fitbit, please confirm device changes.  It will squash the secondary market for stolen hardware, and make your customers more loyal.

Thanks,

--msa

Moderator edit: Added labels 

[Amy709]

Wow that is unbelievably frustrating!

I agree that if you try and sync a device to a new account, that they should have some way of confirming that it is indeed a requested change.
Hopefully you were able to get a new one, I'd be lost now without my fitbit!

[msa]

Support took great care of me, but it would be nice to encourage people to do the right thing and seems like an easy change.

[SplitRaindrop]

Yeah that seems wrong. I know they have assisted people in finding the owners of lost devices you'd think they'd have some sort of protection built in to discourage theft. 

[zapleahy]

Great idea! Thanks for the suggestion.

[GasCans]

Additionally, when syncing to a new account, give the option to send a personal note to the current account owner.   This further allows & encourages someone who finds a lost tracker to send a note saying something like "hey, I found this ... call or email me if you'd like it back!"

[bertsl]

I have lost 2 Fitbits and was fortunate enough to find the last one that I lost.  I wonder if anyone else has problems with the clasp as I would hope there would be a better way to secure to wrist.  Being an acitve person, I don't always look at my wrist to ensure it is still on - I love the product but sure wish there was a better mechanism to secure to wrist - perhaps like a watch with an actual band.  I did not have anyone try to use it that I know of though.

[tegan74]

bertsl - I have lost my Fitbit once without relocating it.  The replacement fell off right before I walked Relay for Life and was lucky to find it near my car before I started my walk.  I told support the same thing.  A better clasp would be a huge improvement especially at $100 bucks and Best Buy extended warrenty doesn't replace a lost Fitbit.

[judyfish99]

I find that if you go to an auto parts store and buy 3 "O" ring washers and slip them over your band where it doubles up, it keeps it from being lost.  I had to lose one fitbit flex to figure it out.

[AmritaFitbit]

Thanks for this suggestion! We appreciate the feedback and will be sure to let our team know. 

[DrBillySK]

My Charge HR has been stolen last Sunday from the locker in my gym. It would be great if I could deactivate the device remotely, so that the person who stole it would have no use of it.

[DrBillySK]

As the email support directed me here, to add to my previous comment, I totally agree with msa that it should not be possible to pair a device to another account without confirmation of the original owner of the device.

My Charge HR got stolen only two months after I bought it. I was going to buy a new one, but until a feature to disable stolen device gets implemented, I will not buy a new device.

[Insurance]

I recently lost my Fitbit. Within hours, someone had found my Fitbit and synced it to their own account, that's meaning that it was forever lost to me. Please add a notification when a Fitbit is synced to a new email, as well as some kind of authorization/permission for the Fitbit to be synced. Had this feature been in place on the Fitbit that I recently lost, I would not have authorized it to be synced to a new email. That way the Fitbit would've been useless to the person who found it, and he/she may have turned it in to a lost and found rather than keeping it for themselves.

[Neefer]

If a Fitbit is synced to a new account, the Fitbit servers have the account information for the "previous" user and the "new" user.  THEY KNOW WHO PHYSICALLY HAS THE DEVICE IN THEIR POSSESSION! 

The Fitbit app / website need the ability to both proactively "un-link device from my account" and to "report device as lost or stolen" (and then later "report device as recovered").  

Any attempt to link the device to a new account should trigger an alert to the original account holder and allow them to then choose "un-link" or "report". If they choose to "report" they should be able to indicate a message / contact information to be relayed regarding how to return it. (The Fitbit servers can act as a go-between so the two people can message back and forth muiltple times to coordinte recovery.)

If/when a device that has been reported as lost or stolen is then synced with the original account, it can then be flagged as "recovered".

If the device has been reported as lost/stolen, and Fitbit KNOWS WHO HAS IT NOW, and it doesn't get flagged as "recovered" within a certain period of time -- there should be a way let the original usertrigger an "alert the local authorities" feature. 

[SantiR]

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing this suggestion. We're always striving to enhance Fitbit products and services, and we appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers. We do not currently have plans to release this feature. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. For now, we will leave this suggestion open for votes (and closed to comments) so that we can continue to track community demand over time. Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us and we will let you know if anything changes.