Zip syncing, losing steps, time and battery low isues

[imkegoal]

Hi, I am posting on behalf of my mother as well as my daughter, as both have the same problems with their Fitbit Zip. 

• On random occasions both their fitbits lose their step count for the day or decreases their step count drastically. they may have done 14,000 steps, but suddenly it will change to 0, or around 2000 steps for no apparent reason, and at any time of the day. If they haven't just synced their fitbit, they will permanently lose their step count.
• The time doesn't always sync. For example; My daughter mentioned that it said it was 6.08 at 12noon yesterday. However, later in the day the time was accurate again. On both my mothers and my daughters ZIP, It seems to randomly change to a different time, and then change back again later in the day without interference.
• The battery shows as being low. both my mum and daughter have in the past managed to maintain battery life for around 6 months. Now my mother complained that she had to replace her battery within a month recently, and she had the 'battery low' symbol show up again a few weeks after replacing. My daughter has had her new Fitbit zip since a few months ago and has had to replace the battery twice. The second time (earlier this week) it showed up 'battery low' a number of times first, but then this dissappeared again. Then by wednesday her fitbit stopped working all together. I have put a new battery in yesterday. Watch this space...

My mothers problems started about 4-5 weeks ago, my daughters started about a week or 2 ago.

My mother had her fitbit since November 2014, my daughter had hers replaced a month or 2 ago.

My mother lives in NL, my daughter in the UK

Considering all of the above, it is strange this is happening to both of their fitbits now. is this a problem other ZIP users have? Would the Fitbit team be able to advise whats going on here?

thanks.

[SunsetRunner]

Losing steps, wrong time, and battery low can all could all be explained by a problem that Zips often develop, which is the small tab that touches the positive portion of the battery is easily bent, and afterwards does not make consistent and continuous contact with the battery. The tab gets bent when the user changes the battery. When the Zip loses contact with the battery, it will lose steps. If it is losing contact with the battery many times a day, it will also use much more power than if the battery is connected properly, because it reboots each time it regains contact. Finally, if it loses contact for long enough, it will "forget" what time it is until the battery jiggles back into position, and the Zip syncs again. Someone has written a nice guide, showing you the tab that you can bend very gently inward, with a tiny screwdriver. http://imgur.com/a/l1KwH

[MarreFitbit]

It's nice to see you around the Community @imkegoal, hope you're doing great today! I agree with my friend @SunsetRunner. Sometimes the side spring may be bent as a result of improper battery insertion or pressure being applied to the back housing. Please verify that there is proper contact between the battery and the battery contacts inside your Zip tracker. You can do this by opening the battery door of your Zip, removing your battery, and ensuring that the silver battery tab located in the lower right half of your tracker is flush with the white box outline in the tracker housing. The process can be followed here. 

Also, just ask them if by any chance they don't manually log activities, their Fitbit apps are up-to-date, and if they sync frequently during the day.

Share this with your mother and daughter to see if the issue gets solved!