RESOLVED: Steps count increase while charging Fitbit Versa

[AlessFitbit]

Fitbit Update: 9/09

 Hi, Versa Fam! 

Thanks so much for your patience while our team continues to investigate and work on this issue. We're still working on this and I hope to have more information for you all very soon. 

As soon as there is a fix in place, I will make sure to announce that here. Please stay tuned and subscribed to this thread for updates. 

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Fitbit Update: 7/25

Hey, everyone!

I know many of you are wondering what the status on this bug is and I'm here to reassure you this is still being worked on by our team. For anyone still getting ghost steps on their Versa's, we are definitely working towards a fix. I don't have a timeline for when the fix will be released, so I appreciate everyone's patience for the time being. I recommend if possible, placing your Versa on a different flat surface without any vibrations to prevent the extra steps. 

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Fitbit Update: 6/21

Hi, everyone!

Sorry to hear that some of you are accumulating unwanted steps while charging your Versa's. Thank you for taking the time to report this issue here on the forums. Our team is aware of this affecting some of you and is working towards a fix on a future firmware release.

Thanks for your patience for the time being. 

[jrs_pdx]

Yesterday I forgot my watch at home.  Was on the charger for the whole day. 

Turns out it was my best day ever!  17, 226 steps!  ...but it was my charger doing all of the walking  😞

[Pasian]

@AlessFitbit what's the status on this? I initially reported this to your phone support team about a month ago and they sent me a replacement which had the same problem. I called them again and now they're asking me to send in the existing watch so they can "test" it and send me another.

They seemed to have no idea about this long ongoing problem (it's been an issue for me since I got my watch a few months ago). It seems like there could be better communication on this very frustrating problem.

Any ETA on the update? Looks like it has been one month since your original post.

[Phil_Perth]

While I seem to have managed to stop the ghost steps appearing on my Versa by charging it in another place (ie away from the desk where my computer runs 24/7), I'm still getting email updates every time someone posts a reply to this message. So on 11 July I forwarded a link to the message stream to Fitbit support to make sure they were aware of how many people were experiencing the problem. On 12 July they replied "Thanks for getting back to us and we appreciate your effort for visiting our community. Rest assured that everything is taken into consideration in resolving the issue. Furthermore, there's a possibility that your watch tracked your computers vibrations as steps. If you encounter the issue again without putting the watch in a place with vibration, please let us know. Lastly, we do not recommend charging using a USB hub as it may not provide the correct amount of power which can cause battery draining. Let us know if you have any question. Sincerely, Jerome C. and the Fitbit Team". Incidentally, I was charging on a USB hub on my desk, but the place I now charge it is also a USB hub and it seems to charge fully and without a problem. Also, my wife still charges her Charge 2 from the USB hub on my desk and it never registers ghost steps. Anyway, the point of posting their reply is that it doesn't give any indication that a solution is imminent. When so many people are reporting the problem, it does seem like something they should be trying to get on top of.

[geepondy]

Thank you for sharing.  It's puzzling and disturbing that Fitbit keeps innocuously suggesting the erroneous steps come from vibration sources when so many of us have clearly posted that the Fitbit App step graph does not show these steps being accounted for when they clearly would have if caused by an external vibration.

If one uses a USB hub powered by say a PC  USB port and that hub is shared by many devices then there may be the possibility enough power is not provided to properly charge the device but in my case and I suspect many others, I used an externally powered USB hub (from the wall socket) which typically provide more juice, not less, than say a USB port from a PC.  It charges my iphone much more quickly then the Apple provided charger.

From shared responses from Fitbit support, I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling they have a handle on this problem.  Not at all. 

@Phil_Perth wrote:

While I seem to have managed to stop the ghost steps appearing on my Versa by charging it in another place (ie away from the desk where my computer runs 24/7), I'm still getting email updates every time someone posts a reply to this message. So on 11 July I forwarded a link to the message stream to Fitbit support to make sure they were aware of how many people were experiencing the problem. On 12 July they replied "Thanks for getting back to us and we appreciate your effort for visiting our community. Rest assured that everything is taken into consideration in resolving the issue. Furthermore, there's a possibility that your watch tracked your computers vibrations as steps. If you encounter the issue again without putting the watch in a place with vibration, please let us know. Lastly, we do not recommend charging using a USB hub as it may not provide the correct amount of power which can cause battery draining. Let us know if you have any question. Sincerely, Jerome C. and the Fitbit Team". Incidentally, I was charging on a USB hub on my desk, but the place I now charge it is also a USB hub and it seems to charge fully and without a problem. Also, my wife still charges her Charge 2 from the USB hub on my desk and it never registers ghost steps. Anyway, the point of posting their reply is that it doesn't give any indication that a solution is imminent. When so many people are reporting the problem, it does seem like something they should be trying to get on top of.

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[Patientone]

Ok I'll try it tonight.
I've just been keeping it on the bed or on a surface with no movement or
vibration

[Beerdruid]

So I've only had my versa for a week and noticed the extra steps while just walking.  For every ten steps it would record 30.  Driving in this morning to work it stared recording steps.  I really hope a solution is in the works by Fitbit.  By all the feedback Iv'e read through on this thread it actually appears like Fitbit doesn't recognize this issue as a actual problem with the device but something related to the users.  This is my first Fitbit so extremely disappointed in its performance as you can expect.  I guess if the issue is not resolved soon I will just return mine back through Amazon for a refund.  Not interested in getting a replacement when it clearly has solved no ones issues as evidenced on this forum.

[AlessFitbit]

Hi, everyone!

I know many of you are wondering what the status on this bug is and I'm here to reassure you this is still being worked on by our team. For anyone still getting ghost steps on their Versa's, we are definitely working towards a fix. I don't have a timeline for when the fix will be released, so I appreciate everyone's patience for the time being. 

[slellis128]

Thanks for following up with this. I know I am very frustrated with the apparent dismissal of many of us who have reported this issue with multiple replacement Versas. For me, I am positive it is not a vibration issue, nor is it an issue of not getting the proper charge from where it is plugged in. I had my electrician husband check the output on the USB used for charging and it is spot on. I look forward to a resolution and an end to the frustrations.

[SunsetRunner]

My versa is also adding steps while I'm at rest.  Today it gave me 16,000 steps while I was sitting at my desk at work.  I would rest my arm on my desk to see if it was still adding steps and it was.  The screen is also lighting up when I move my wrist even though I have it set to manual.  I noticed this problem at the same time I noticed the steps being added in error.

[Phil_Perth]

Thanks for the update.

[Criable]

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@AlessFitbit wrote:

Hi, everyone!

I know many of you are wondering what the status on this bug is and I'm here to reassure you this is still being worked on by our team. For anyone still getting ghost steps on their Versa's, we are definitely working towards a fix. I don't have a timeline for when the fix will be released, so I appreciate everyone's patience for the time being. 

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Thanks for your update @AlessFitbit - however without a timeline this is a pretty useless piece of information. Your point of reference in term of timeline (i.e. none given) is so broad that it can mean months, years or decades. Please do understand that as customers - we want products that works as advertised. We can be patient to a certain point but not indefinitely. This thing have been going on for more than a month already. 

[slellis128]

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@Criable wrote:

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@AlessFitbit wrote:

Hi, everyone!

I know many of you are wondering what the status on this bug is and I'm here to reassure you this is still being worked on by our team. For anyone still getting ghost steps on their Versa's, we are definitely working towards a fix. I don't have a timeline for when the fix will be released, so I appreciate everyone's patience for the time being. 

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Thanks for your update @AlessFitbit - however without a timeline this is a pretty useless piece of information. Your point of reference in term of timeline (i.e. none given) is so broad that it can mean months, years or decades. Please do understand that as customers - we want products that works as advertised. We can be patient to a certain point but not indefinitely. This thing have been going on for more than a month already. 

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Very well said @Criable!!! I echo those thoughts. I got the run around for so long I am past the return window now. So I have no choice but to wait for the next firmware release and cross my fingers and hope it gets better with it. 

[nitesh2cool]

I am not sure what the real issue is. But I use my phones adapter to plug the USB and since then I have not got any extra steps while charging. If i directly insert the USB into my laptop or desktop I get those mystery steps.

Try using a mobile adapter and see it fixes the issue. Looks like a hardware issue so I am not sure if any follow up from Fitbit will help in this issue.

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello @SunsetRunner, have a warm welcome to the Fitbit Community, it's great to have you on board. It's nice to see you too @Phil_Perth, @Criable, @slellis128 and @nitesh2cool, I hope you're all having a great day. 

We really appreciate our members's input and feedback and I would like to thank you for yours. As @AlessFitbit mentioned, our team is still working towards a prompt and proper resolution for this issue. 

@nitesh2cool, thank you for sharing your experience with us, I'm very glad that using a phone adapter was helpful for you to stop getting ghost steps in your Versa. I'm sure this will be very helpful. 

Thanks again for your patience and understanding, if there's anything else I can do for you, please feel free to reply. 

[geepondy]

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I really would like to know what the root cause is for this mystery step problem.  Having worked in the hardware/firmware business, I'm hoping Fitbit has determined a root cause that can addressed and fixed vs a band-aid patch approach.  The reason the possibility of the latter makes me nervous is the amount of time that has passed without a resolution and the vagueness of the resolution answer from Fitbit support. 

@MarcoGFitbit wrote:

Thanks again for your patience and understanding, if there's anything else I can do for you, please feel free to reply. 

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[LBatch]

Like others I have gained steps while charging versa. Only started after having it for 3 weeks. I use a wall plug adaptor all the time to charge. Hopefully this issue can be fixed soon.

[Jymkym1]

My wife and I both purchased the Versa about two months, since then ours have been running pretty much flawlessly, sometimes not getting notifications from certain things, or double notifications but none of the problems discussed here. Makes me wonder if there was a problem with certain batches of these.

[slellis128]

I get unexplainable steps a few times a week. Last night between 8pm and midnight while sitting still watching a movie I racked up over 9000 steps. I normally notice it mostly in the evenings.

[aaron88]

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@nitesh2cool wrote:

I am not sure what the real issue is. But I use my phones adapter to plug the USB and since then I have not got any extra steps while charging. If i directly insert the USB into my laptop or desktop I get those mystery steps.

Try using a mobile adapter and see it fixes the issue. Looks like a hardware issue so I am not sure if any follow up from Fitbit will help in this issue.

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This is exactly my experience.  If I use a wall charger, I don't get any mystery steps but I always get them if I plug into my computer.

[925lizard]

Same! My versa has been on the charger since last night and this morning I woke to already having 70k steps in