Step count is always 0 for one user when calling Fitbit API

[srtnlabs]

Hi All,

I've been using the Fitbit subscription model to subscribe to updates and make API calls to Fitbit to get the detailed stats for a category. This is all working well and good except for one single user where the step count that is returned is always 0. Not only the step count, all the other data that comes in looks like it is a standard response (no change in it). The user is wearing Fitbit everyday and has sent me screenshots of the data they are seeing on their dashboard. I also verified with the user on the access permissions given to our App and it does have all the required access. Here's a sample request, response -

URL: https://api.fitbit.com/1.2/user/-/activities/steps/date/2019-06-11/2019-07-11.json

Response Body: 

{
	"activities-steps": [{
		"dateTime": "2019-06-11",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-12",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-13",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-14",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-15",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-16",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-17",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-18",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-19",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-20",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-21",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-22",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-23",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-24",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-25",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-26",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-27",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-28",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-29",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-06-30",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-01",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-02",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-03",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-04",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-05",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-06",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-07",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-08",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-09",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-10",
		"value": "0"
	}, {
		"dateTime": "2019-07-11",
		"value": "0"
	}]
}

Did anyone face this issue already? Any pointers on how to figure out what's going on? 

Thanks

[JohnFitbit]

Hi @srtnlabs,

I'm sorry to hear that you are seeing 0's for this user's step counts. So that I can investigate, can you PM me the user ID that you're seeing this discrepancy on?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

[srtnlabs]

Thanks John in helping us fix this. The issue turned out to be due to wrong account being linked to our app.

The user was using a gmail account with email address containing a dot(".") in it and has been interchangeably using the address without dot and with dot - thinking both are same account - as emails ignore dot in the address. The user connected to our app with the account having a dot whereas the account with data is the one without a dot.

Hope this helps someone else later on.  

[JohnFitbit]

Hi @srtnlabs,

No worries! I appreciate you working with me there.

From what I have seen in the past, this is actually a common issue with Gmail accounts.

While the "." may not matter when sending/receiving emails, it can still cause confusion when using these emails to register for apps, as some apps may identify john.smith@gmail.com and johnsmith@gmail.com as two different emails.

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7436150?hl=en