Extended Warranty

[KunjShah]

Hello Everyone, I have multiple Fitbit products at my home and I absolutely love the customer service Fitbit provides. I have received free replacements in a timly manner multiple times in past year since my blaze was under warranty. I recently had a chat with one of the representatives to see if I could extend the warranty for my product but they did not have any program like this. So, My suggestion - Please add extended warranty as an option for devices. I strongly believe it will be helpful for both, users and company. Any feedback is warmly welcomed. Thank you, Kunj Shah.

[Jryan6879]

I bought a Fitbit surge 01/2015. In October 2015, the band started to crack underneath at the screws. I was given a replacement at that time. Fast forward to today, 6 months after I received my replacement Fitbit, and there is a problem with the band 'bubbling' up near the watch face. I was told that the warranty does not start over when a new surge is received; meaning now that I am 4 months outside of my initial warranty, I cannot get this defective surge replaced. I do not appreciate this as you are essentially saying that you don't believe your products will last more than 1 year, and are not interested in standing behind it (even if it is a new replacement) after 1 year.

[AndyB88]

I agree that the warranty needs to be explored. I purchased my original Fitbit Charge HR on 28th December 2015, it randomly broke on me during an automatic update and it was replaced around 10th March 2016. Now even my replacement has developed a fault where it wont hold a charge, so I will receive another replacement (today being 3rd June 2016). I was informed today that I have  a 2 year warranty effective of the day I originally purchased my Fitbit, i.e. my warranty will expire 28th December 2017. If the life expectancy is an average of 3 months, then I will get through 8 Fitbits in this time!! I really hope that this is not the case, but I strongly feel that the warranty should be related to each individual product and restarted from the receiving of that replacement. Otherwise, if my Fitbits do keep developing these faults so frequently, I will not be entitled to anything after my warrranty expires, despite having what should be a brand new and fully functioning product!

Under the Consumer Rights Act we have a right to expect that our product is of a good quality and has a reasonable life expectancy/durability. If my product develops a fault through no fault of my own and I receive a replacement, I expect that replacement product to equally be of good quality and have a reasonable life expectancy. For an item like a Fitbit, I would certainly expect for it to be in working order for a full 2 years (implied by the warranty duration) before any such fault develops; if it does develop a fault, I would expect that replacement to last at least 2 years also, and therefore the warranty should be related to that product not the original one. 

[Bdoctor]

When was the warranty policy extended from one year to two years? I have been told one year all along.

[Finalclearance]

I am so disappointed with Fitbit. I bought my first Fitbit February 2016 and loved it. The sides started lifting and I realized it wasn't counting my steps accurately. After several email conversations it was determined that Fitbit would replace the broken one. I received my new Fitbit in October of 2016. I noticed that the band was starting to lift like the previous one and additionally the side door thing that covers the side and extends to the charge opening completely broke off. I contacted customer service because this particular Fitbit was only 6 months old. Apparently there is nothing they can do to help me other than offer a 25% discount because they calculate the warranty on the original one that broke after 7 months and not the replacement one. I must be stupid because I really can't understand that the warranty on the broken Fitbit is the one they used on the replacement Fitbit. Realistically, two Fitbits didn't last a year together. I am very disappointed with this policy and will be looking for a better product as I don't want to waste my money.

[Glassfish]

I am now in the same boat as these other Fitbit users. I started a new Fitbit Charge on 01/11/16, which started to buckle at the band attachments and fall apart within the year. After speaking with Fitbit, I was issued a replacement (an Alta, since the Charge was no longer available) on 09/30/16. Now, about a year later from getting the replacement, one side of the Alta band completely fell off of the display screen and the other side is buckling. Here's what it looked like. After a circular live chat with a Fitbit representative, I was told that a new item does not have a new warranty if it is a replacement for a broken item, even though it does have its own purchase/order number and date. 

So a new item's warranty is not one year, but is one year minus time spent before the original item broke. This is bizarre to me - shouldn't each independent item be covered under a warranty that starts when that item is purchased/starts? 

In the end, my Alta only had a total of two months of warranty coverage because it was ordered when my first Fitbit broke, 10 months after activating my first one. This lack of product support is really disappointing.

[MarcelBK]

Thank you for the suggestion. The extended warranty is already available. An extended warranty called the Fitbit Protection Plan is available for purchase with select Fitbit products purchased in the United States from fitbit.com. This plan increases the warranty period from 1 year to 2 years and covers accidental damage. For the full extended warranty policy, see https://www.fitbit.com/content/docs/store/fitbit_protection_terms.pdf.

[MissedTheTrain]

After going through 3 Fitbits.

After having all of them break right as the warranty runs out.

After wasting hundreds of dollars (even with the laughable "discount codes") on new watches.

I have been told to suggest a "feature" here...so I guess the feature I'd like to suggest is a product that doesn't suddenly decide to not turn on just as the warranty happens to run out. A product that lasts for more than slightly over a year. Or maybe a warranty that's slightly longer? Mostly just a product that can last through very normal wear though.

Think that's possible?

[jennablaze]

Best Buy used to provide the capability to purchase an extended warranty for your fitbit items. However, the got rid of it recently because too many people were bringing them back and exchanging due to issues. So now only the manufacturer warranty is available. 

However, that being said even if fitbit provided the same warranty ($50.00/ 2 years in US currency) can you imagine the amount of bank they could bring in? You could still receive the help from customer service for troubleshooting of course, but if it proved that your fitbit wasn't usable as it should be (unfixable sync problems, dies, etc) and if fitbit customer service can't hell you they'd exchange it.

Once words got around they're business and popularity would more than likely expand as well because they are showing to stand behind their product to the point where people are more comfortable buying it knowing that if something happens, they won't be stuck with an unusable product they paid alot of money for.

I'm sorry to hear your having problems, I hope my response can help get fitbits attention and make a change for the better. 

[Wayne71]

It's good to see that Fitbit has extended its Australian warrant to 2 years. Gave me some piece of mind when it came to deciding what to replace my Ionic with recently. 

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Wayne71, thanks sharing your comment. I've moved it into a similar suggestion which has been updated as "Existing Feature". You can learn more about here. Keep adding your suggestions!