Fitbit Sense not charging

[SJImrie]

Brand new out of the box and I can’t get my Fitbit Sense to charge at all.

I’ve tried connecting it to a USB port on my laptop and to a UBS plug socket, and neither are working. 

I was advised to gently wipe the back of the watch and the pins on the charger, but again no joy. 

Does anyone have any suggestions? 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @SergioFeder. Welcome to the Community.

Thanks for the information provided and every step tried on your own. I understand your point of view about your new Sense not working correctly and I'm sorry that you're having this experience. I've contacted our Support team and apparently they've opened a new case to help you with this matter. I'll forward your post to them so they can look into your case details and get you back on track. Please note that due to recent events affecting our operations there might be a delay in their reply, but they'll get in touch with you soon.

[Dpayne8822]

I am also going through this issue. I contacted & spoke to someone at Fitbit support Friday evening. No resolution offered yet, was told to watch my email. If nothing is received by Monday letting me know how this issue will be resolved I will be notifying my credit card company to withhold payment until this is resolved. I’ve had my Versa for over a year & love it, but I never had to deal with Fitbit’s customer service. Hopefully they can provide additional training and notify their customer service employees of known issues so they have the information they need to resolve problems more efficiently.

UPDATE—— Fitbit is sending a replacement charging cable, which is to arrive tomorrow. I’ll update again whether or not that worked.

UPDATE 2—— New cable did not work either, emailed support & they responded:

“we are still working in your case investigating this issue and will contact you as soon as we have a reply.” So I guess we shall see....

UPDATE 3—Received approval to send watch back, mailed back October 24, still no acknowledgement of watch received or replacement watch being sent out, today is November 1st. Fitbit could learn a few things from other retailers & how to improve this end of their customer service. It’s very weak in comparison!

UPDATE 4– Today is November 23 & I Finally received the replacement watch & it works. Overall this process took 5 weeks, way too long from a customer service standpoint. I hope Fitbit realizes they need to make changes in how they deal with warranty issues & improve on their process.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Dpayne8822. Welcome on board.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention as well for taking the time to contact our team. I understand how you're feeling as this shouldn't be happening with your new watch. Please know that your feedback will be passed along as it'll help us to enhance our products and your experience with them. In regards to your Sense not charging, I've contacted our Support team and forwarded your post so they can look into your case and provide you with further assistance. If you need anything else from me, let me know.

[Tinyboots]

So you can add me to the list - Sense was delivered on Sunday, charged up fine straight out the box, is sitting at 53% just now and wont charge. Occasionally, just as I connect the charger I see the charging rings, but the just disappear again and the watch face returns. 

So I have an update on my charging issue - I managed to get a hold of another Sense and I can confirm it appears to be a charger issue - the lead will not work with the other Sense either, but my sense will charge with the alternative charger.  Not great considering this is only the 2nd time the charger has been used.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Dpayne8822]

Just curious, what’s the status of your Sense? Are you now able to charge, was it the charging cable?

[SJImrie]

Another little update - 

• Waited for my replacement charging cable, with an expected delivery date Oct 14th. It actually didn't arrive until Oct 15th... Netherlands to the UK via Belgium plus the shipment being "put on hold" when it got to Newcastle is quite a trip for a little charging cable!
• In the meantime, I had ordered a third party charging cable from Amazon (with next day delivery arrived Oct 13th) which worked fine, so I didn't mind the wait for the "official" replacement charging cable. 
• Fitbit charging cable arrived Oct 15th and now the device and both charging cables work perfectly fine. 

So, in summary, all issues are resolved now. It was just the case of a faulty charging cable (I think!), it's just a shame I had to wait three weeks for everything to be sorted out. Three weeks of Fitbit Premium and tracking data lost, but hey ho... 😟

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Tinyboots, @Dpayne8822 and @SJImrie. It's nice to see you here again.

@Tinyboots and @SJImrie, thanks for getting back and confirming that your watches are working well after receiving your charging cables. I understand your point of view about going through this experience with your new Sense. Your feedback won't be taken for granted and will help us to improve our products, services and overall environment. If you have any other question, don't hesitate to let me know.

[Dpayne8822]

Just an FYI, it’s now November 6th, officially 10 business days since I sent back the Sense & not one word from Fitbit about my replacement watch. I’m getting more unhappy by the day, so PLEASE reach out to customer service & let them know my patience is running out!!

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Dpayne8822. Welcome back to the forums.

Thanks for keeping me posted about the replacement process of your Sense and I'm sorry for the delayed response from our Support team . I understand your point of view and I've forwarded your post to them so they can work on your case and get in touch with you soon.

[Robster]

I'm having the same issue.  Mine stopped charging, sent in for a replacement.  Today will be three weeks since I mailed it and over a week since they've received it and still no contact about sending a replacement.  I've contacted them twice since and all they say is "well make a note of it" and "they just need more time".  I've been a 10 year Fitbit customer paid for premium and am incredibly disappointed in the device and the company at this point for the lack of support.   

[Dpayne8822]

I feel your pain! Still no watch, no shipping notice, no communication. I finally called customer no-support on Wednesday & was told that they showed that they had received the watch I sent back on November 3, but the “shipping” department wasn’t notified. So I was told to be patient as it would take 48 hours for shipping to process. Gee, imagine my surprise, no word from Fitbit today. I’m sooooo done!!!!

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Robster, welcome to the Community Forums. @Dpayne8822, it's good to see you again.

Thanks to both of you for your continued feedback about the replacement process of the Sense. I understand where you're coming from about the time taken through this process and I'm sorry that you're having this experience. While I don't have access to your cases, I've contacted our Support team on your behalf so they can look into your cases and get in touch with you soon. Your feedback will also not go unnoticed and will help us to evaluate our procedures and enhance our services.

If you need anything else from me, let me know.

[LeonLo]

This product appears to be rushed, I will just return mine, can agree with that ecg was not enabled at launch, can agree with voice features not yet available, but not charging for a 350 eur watch? 

to bad, this is my third fitbit, sad to say that I will have to switch over to something that actually works now

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @LeonLo. Welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback about your Sense. I see where you're coming from about your watch not working correctly and I'm sorry that you've gone through this experience. Every feedback posted by our members never goes unnoticed as it helps us to develop improvements on our products and services. Yours won't be the exception and you're always welcome back to the Fitbit family.

See you around.

[Robster]

Replacement came today, so far so good.  All said around 3wks from contacting support to replacement.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Robster. Welcome back to the forums.

Thanks for the update and I'm glad your replacement is working great! I also appreciate your patience through this process and if you need anything else from me, don't hesitate to let me know. By the way, let me invite you to visit the Health & Wellness board where you can make friends and find great tips to reach your fitness goals.

Have a good day.

[JC_YVR]

Sam issue @LizzyFitbit , My summary

• My new Fitbit sense was purchased via Amazon and delivered to me on October 18. See attached. 
• My Fitbit sense started malfunctioning on November 11, I tried to charge the watch when it had 50% battery life left - it did not charge even when the charger was connected properly. I tried all the power outlets and USB ports around the house. 
• I tried all the methods to get it to work, and realized this is a common problem based on this Fitbit Community thread 
• Eventually, the watch ran out of battery on November 13, I contacted Fitbit support and provided details of the issue. Fitbit support sent me a replacement charger which I received on November 23.
• The new charger also did not work. I kept the watch charging for 2 full days and tried the reset method- the watch remains lifeless
• The issue seems to be with the watch itself and not the charger - reading through the thread, it seems this is a common problem. 
• Sent Fitbit support an update regarding the new charger and failure to charge. Received a generic, irrelevant and an unrelated response to :press down the button for 10 secs to reset the watch"
• I have tried every possible method and trick but the watch will not turn on. Just hoping to get timely help, watch is only 2 months old. 

[HSS79]

@JC_YVR You can contact CEO of Fitbit as well. Any major issue I usually go direct to CEO.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-park-765821/
https://twitter.com/parkjames

[Abbie22]

Mine charges then I put it on and it dies in less than 2 hours.   Just opened the box and its been charged 3 times today. 😞 ugh....im so bummed. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @JC_YVR and @Abbie22, welcome on board. @HSS79, it's good to see you around.

@JC_YVR, thanks for sharing detailed information about your Sense and the steps tried prior to posting. I'm sorry that you've gone through this situation with your watch and while contacting our Support team. This isn't the type of experience that we want you to have and I went ahead and contacted our Support team about this situation. It seems that they continue helping you and got in touch with you via email. Please check your inbox and reply back to their last response to receive more details about their resolution.

@Abbie22, thanks for sharing that your Sense isn't holding charge. Just to confirm, did this happen during the set up or update process? The battery life depends on how frequent certain features are used, such as GPS connection, or if the Always-On Display is turned on. It's also expected to see the battery draining after an update because of the time it takes to be completed along with the WiFi usage. That being said, please try charging your watch one more time and follow the tips described in this help article.

Keep me posted.