A useless device. Enough is enough

[PJS70]

Battery lasts a day. After pleading for help are told to recharge it and sync every two hours. As if I didn't have anything to do. Tried it. And after half a day it won't sync. This may be the most pathetically unreliable product I have ever owned. It is so awful I don't know how they are allowed to sell them.

[mysterymeat]

If the GPS is always on and or you have always connected turned on these will eat up your battery. I have a Blaze which has all of the same features as the Surge except for GPS, I do not use the always connected feature and barely use 25% of the battery each day.

[MelYow]

Would like to try the Blaze, but having already spent $249 for a surge that failed after 8 months, as well as a replacement that barely gives me 2 days of charge, I'm not sure I want to spend another $199 for something that may not give me better results. They were very quick to replace the Surge that failed ... That's a good thing. When I called about the replacement not holding a charge for more than a day or two, I wasn't treated nearly so well. Was told to "fully charge the battery (like I don't do that anyway) and continuously monitor the battery (what does that mean?), and if the battery runs down in less than 5 days, call them back." I felt like I was just being put off as I wouldn't have been calling in the first place if there wasn't a problem. Very frustrating.

[PJS70]

I feel exactly the same and got the same poor customer service response. his is a very common story of those of us who have been caught by this problem and are not getting help.

[PJS70]

No gps. Just the bare minimum of functions. This unit has a problem!

[MelYow]

Just got off the phone with support.  Long, disjointed chat yesterday with support.  Tried to get the tech today to exchange my Surge for something with less functionality, like Blaze or Charge HR, but he says policy won't allow it.  (He also said that they are there to "make it right." - Really?????)  So, unfortunately, I'm giving up.  They wanted to send me a THIRD Surge to try.  I think that's absurd.  I explained that I've spent way too much time on this problem, but there's nothing they can do but send me another Surge to try.  I asked what would happen if the third Surge failed.  He said that they would have to have all three of the units shipped back to them for testing.  Funny, but the tech who replaced my first FitBit told me to be sure and dispose of it through an electronic's recycler, which I did.  I'm just ready to look at another brand at this point.  Don't want to keep giving money to FitBit.

[PJS70]

I haven't had that much help with my second one to get to my third.  I share the frustration with trying to fix these things though.

Tomtom and Garmin are both looking good.  Any suggestions on a more reliable fitness tracker?

[MelYow]

The functionality that I like, and use, in FitBit is the alarm function.  I have an alarm to wake me at the same time every day.  I'm not aware of another tracker on the market that has the alarm functionality.  If so, I'd try it.  My plan at this point is to continue using my Nike and Pacer apps for fitness tracking and use the FitBit for morning alarms.  I've never paid $250 for an "alarm clock," but I guess I have now.  If anyone knows of a fitness tracker with alarm functionality, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

[SunsetRunner]

@MelYow  hi! No suggestions for other trackers from me but seeing that a replacement was already offered why not take the chance? A lot of users have had no issues with their device and although I understand with the poor experience you have had so hard there's is still a chance it was a bad luck streak. Since its already something proposed to you why not? @PJS70 sorry for the frustration you've had to endure. From what I know the full charge and two hours sync must be for the support team to monitor how the battery is draining to determine the reason it last so little and how to better fix this or if a replacement is required.  

Give the product a chance I'm sure it will get better. Keep in touch!

[Canuq]

I am at the point of returning the two Surge I bought my wife and I today. At a $750 after tax, they are usless after hours of trying to get themeven off of the configuration screen.  They will be going back tomorrow. My patience is busted.

[SunsetRunner]

@Canuq happy to welcome you in the Community. I'm sorry you have been having issues  with your Surges. I would like to ask more details about what is happening to you, perhaps we can help you out here in the Community. Remember also that the support team is here to assist!

Give us a chance to help! I'm sure there is something we can do!

[SunsetRunner]

I have exactly the same problem with my surge in that the battery lasts just about a day on most occassions though sometimes it will last a couple of days.  To be honest i have not contacted support yet.  There has to be something fundamentally wrong with either the product or batches of the watches for a number of people to be having the same problem and we can't all be doing something wrong.  I go down the gym approx 3-4 times a week and do one run on GPS and yet this problem occurs most days.  This is my 2nd Surge, the first one i had for approx 8 months before the strap broke and i have tried to persevere with the replacement which is now past the original 12 months from when i purchased the original.  

Do I have any options left open to me?

[SunsetRunner]

@SunsetRunner hi! I don't know where the problem originated, if it but your battery should definitely last longer than what you describe. While the warranty claims it lasts 365 days after the original purchase I advise you to contact Support either way. They might not be able to go for the replacement but for sure they will present you with the options available and assist you as best they can. 

Let me know what they can offer.