Sense is counting too many floors

[Deepvalley]

My new sence dosnt counting the right floors there are too much what can i do. sg Kurt

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MinisOnTheEdge]

Exactly!! I paid a lot of money for ALL of the features promised. The fact that I haven’t had a FULLY working Sense since I’ve had one is crazy. I’d like to return it for a FULL refund. Not a New Sense that will break again. I’m disappointed in them completely. I had a working Charge 2 that I would’ve kept using instead. My husband gifted this to me to encourage me to keep pushing with my fitness because I have a few health issues. He was so happy to get this for me. I hate to complain about this device to him so I don’t but I think it’s the worst Fitbit I’ve ever had. I’ve already gotten a replacement and was told I can send this one back and get another one. 🙁 that will be 3 Sense watches in 6 months for me. 

[JohnGillet]

And they continue to sell their product without any scruples with bugs without notifying future buyers, shame on them!!! Never Fitbit again for me!!

[MichaelNYC]

No scruples and no shame.

[Downisup]

I wonder the ratio of returns versus sales based on this issue. Anyone know?

[SunsetRunner]

So, the excerpt below regarding extra floors, my Sense counted 12 floors today and I live in an apartment on the ground floor. So with all the factors that affect the altimeter stated below, I suppose the term "Floors" on the watch serve only as a guideline. Sort of misleading for the consumer to call it Floors. 

Noticed a lot of the answers to questions on the forum may be found in https://myhelp.fitbit.com/s/home?language=en_US 

[SunsetRunner]

I agree with you that removing something that I had paid for (Floor Count) is not an acceptable solution. I've had this watch since November 2020 and so far has performed relatively well up to until a few months ago. Checked today, and the watch counted 22 floors albeit living in a place with no floors and did not climb any floors at all today. As users, what can we do to fix this problem? We've all read the usual steps of restarting the watch, uninstall/reinstall the app, factory reset, etc...and still the problem persists. 

To save myself from frustrations, removed the Floor stats since we can't do anything about it on the user's end except bring it up to forums and/or contact support. Most of you have read the responses from Fitbit moderators regarding issues brought up and fairly positive most of the users can see the type of response/kind of support that have Fitbit have shown to us. We probably cannot fault the moderators since they too follow guidelines in responding to issues possibly due to proprietary information on Fitbit. 

So, let's see where the Sense ends up in 2021 or when Google WearOS comes out. Where will that leave the Sense in future Fitbit products. Besides, no watch is perfect. Visited forums from other brands and they all have issues. Some similar to Fitbit and some dissimilar to Fitbit (Sense). 

Nothing is permanent anyway. 

[tcoghill74]

"Please know that we’re aware of the excessive floor tracking issue affecting Versa 3 and Sense users, but may not be able to provide a fix in the near future. We'll continue to monitor the situation and keep our team informed of its impact. Thanks for your patience."

If that's not code speak for "we have no intention of fixing this issue," I don't know what is. They have issued a firmware update since the update that caused the issue, and a rep said that the second update was not intended to resolve the issue. So, yeah. That speaks for itself.

[down_and_out]

Would vary significantly by country. 

U.S. returns are easier to make relative to those outside the U.S. 

Unless the issue appeared early in the ownership cycle, where a return can be made with most retail stores, shipping the watch back at your own expense hoping its covered by the warranty is an expensive inconvenience.  By example I simply bought a replacement for the power cable with the apparent manufacturing defect because cost of shipping would be close to replacement cost, no guarantee of a straightforward exchange and cross border shipping would take forever both ways.

A number owners would also hold to the watch expecting an update would eventually fix the issue.  Although I imagine hopes are diming on that option for many..  

There may be an industry news group that might be able to provide the information, otherwise there is not much requirement for Fitbit to report.  Especially since this was the last "Fitbit" watch.  Going forward this is a Google company with Google watches that incorporate Fitbit tech.

[down_and_out]

Most of those excuses - and they are excuses not answers - are not applicable to the complaints from most of those posting.

By example: 

- my windows are always closed in the early morning, so no wind gusts

- weather does not change walking from my bed to the commode

- I don't need to open doors to get there

- there are no stairs

- this is not an occassional issue

- the floor count used to work reasonably well

[down_and_out]

Moderators tend toward protecting the company than supporting actual solutions.

[JohnGillet]

Hello, what's new people? your watches continue to count imaginary floors?

[FatBasdard]

I'm 200 steps up my stairway to heaven as we speak, and it's only midday.

[down_and_out]

Are you certain there will be a next firmware release (any idea when?) and that it shall contain the fix?

[down_and_out]

Deux cents.  Pas mal.  

[primortal]

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@down_and_out wrote:

Are you certain there will be a next firmware release (any idea when?) and that it shall contain the fix?

---

As it stands, Fitbit releases new firmware every 6 months.  If they don’t change their cadence, we won’t see a firmware update till November 2021.

[SunsetRunner]

@Rich_Laue 

How can the barometric sensor of the fitbit be calibrated to a known standard by users to be brought back to its intended design?

Most of the proposed fixes are either restart, uninstall/install the app, factory reset...

[DocHammer]

Just to be clear: None of the proposed fixes seem to fix the problem.

[Rich_Laue]

@SunsetRunner the user does not need to calibrate the unit. The unit is not intended to read the current altitude, but should read changes in altitude. 

@DocHammer the only proposes fox that may help would be a hardware reset that happens during a shutdown. 

@down_and_out I'm sure that there will be a future firmware. If fitbit does get this tested and resolved, it may be possible to get a new firmware on less than 6 months. By know, I'll assume everyone has installed last months firmware release. 

[SunsetRunner]

Just like an altimeter that reads current and changing altitudes via the ambient negative/positive pressure from a known standard, which is usually sea level, sense uses changes in altitude to count floors. At least what is given in their help articles. Floor counts are measured using changes in altitude which is pressure. The example of gust of wind or closing the car door was given to provide instances where these situations might affect the floor count. All are physical manifestations and are measurable. 

If the pressure sensor is compromised, either by restrictions to the ports, loss of integrity of the pressure sensor, then no amount of software will be able to address this excessive floor count by the watch.

The feedback from users of the common situation where floor counts are excessive, might be corrected with a software update to the watch. Unless there exists physical damage to the watch common to users. Which is possible, although numerous users have posted of inaccurate floor count. The same possible physical damage to all the users is unlikely.

In the meantime, users have only the

usual suspects of a possible fix...restart, reinstall app, factory resets...and

it appears these suggestions offer no help, at least from reading the posts here in the forum, myself included.

We're stuck with it until Fitbit addresses the issue, or if they will address the issue. In the meantime, I disabled the floor count metric. At this point, floor count to me is totally useless due to inaccuracy. I mean, what are the tolerances for reading floors? +/- 2 or 3 floors, might be acceptable to some users. Currently, reports are +10 floors or more. 

So we're held hostage...

[Rich_Laue]

Many users have reported that this issue started 6 months ago with a firmware update. This makes it sound like that it may not be a hardware issue. 

As for altametwrs on planes, they have to be er calibrated a few times slurring a single flight. You may think GPS would be better, but GPS can not be used as a primary source for altitude. Pilots main altameter still works with air pressure.