Sync failure with AARP Rewards for Good

[2labz]

[Charge HR; Android]

FitBit has not synced with AARP's "Rewards for Good" program for more than a month. Even when it was syncing, doing so was sporadic, e.g., about one out of every four or five days.

• Yes: I have deleted the 3rd-party integration and re-authorized (multiple times). That didn't work
• Yes: I have performed a full factory reset (twice). That didn't work, either.
• Yes: I did contact "support." That did not work (in my experience, support usually can't help unless they already have a script for the problem, and they apparently don't have one for this).

The website/app/device does sync with Walgreens, by the way.

Anyone else seen a similar problem? Is there a fix out there?

[AndrewFitbit]

@2labz

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2labz wrote:

• Yes: I did contact "support." That did not work (in my experience, support usually can't help unless they already have a script for the problem, and they apparently don't have one for this).

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Which support team did you contact? Because you would need to contact AARP about this.

From looking at their community, looks like they were aware of recent syncing issues:

https://community.aarp.org/t5/Introduce-Yourself/Fitbit/td-p/1620083

[2labz]

Apparently support does have a script: blame it on the other end. But FitBit staff wrote and supplies the API, and if the API doesn't work it isn't the remote client's fault.

[AndrewFitbit]

@2labz Fitbit did not build AARP's integration. They are the ones that built it, and they are responsible for maintaining their integration. That's why you would need to contact them.

If there was an issue with our API, it would be more than just AARP with issues. 

[varupert]

Same problem here with a Flex. Emailed AARP with the problem; got a reference number and call back number 1-888-842-2891. They credited my rewards account for the missing points over the phone. Also referred me to fitbit support and suggested a call back to AARP tech support during business hours on a weekday for a fix. Though  after viewing Andrew's replies, maybe AARP is the culprit?

In my case all of November was missing. There was a similar problem earlier this year that was fixed for a while. During this time, I found my flex would synch better if it was fully charged and all other bluetooth devices were completely off and out of the room.

[2labz]

I give up.

All this is a case study in what's wrong with new technology: in order to give the kiddies in Silly Valley free lunches and Friday happy hours, customer support (including this ridiculous "community" model) is outsourced to 3rd-party vendors who don't give a rat's hiney about the products OR the clients. After all, who wants to give all those cool bennies to some $13.95/hour drone when you can waste buckets of cash making your code monkeys happy while just about guaranteeing that they get almost no real work done. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[varupert]

I'm not customer support, I'm just me.
I get your frustration.

If I call AARP tech support next week and get a working solution from them, do you want me to pass it on to you?\

[2labz]

AARP's customer support (probably 4th-party support for the 3rd-party
company that operates their "rewards" function) emailed me and provided a
means for updating my account, although not until I'd sent them an email
asking them not to refer me to AARP's general toll-free help line again. I
won't know for a while whether they and FitBit have managed to fix their
mutual communication problem.

In an interesting side note. FitBit's (3rd-party) support emailed me a few
hours ago and said [note the broken English, a hallmark of offshored
support],

"In regards to AARP's integration we are unable to say how it system works.
> Just to let you know we checked if this is an APP related with Fitbit but
> unfortunately it isn't."


They then kindly referred me to a thread in their "support commmunity"
discussing a similar problem... this one.