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Goken222 t1_j7k0v16 wrote

The tldr; Fitbit Ionic 2017-2021, model FB503

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CallMeRawie t1_j7kj87b wrote

You mean my Fitbit Ionic that lasted 1 year and a month and completely stopped working? Fitbit refused to offer any support or allow me to pay to have it repaired. The forums were littered with people experiencing the exact same thing. So I was forced to throw away a $250 year old watch, that Fitbit Ionic?

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AerusFlameweaver t1_j7labs7 wrote

They ended up sending me 5 in 2 years before I switched to Garmin.

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CallMeRawie t1_j7las4e wrote

I was very pissed. I splurged on new tech, really enjoyed it. And they lost a customer for life. I had probably bought 8-10 fitbits over the years for me and my family. Never again, and I’ll shit talk them anytime I get the chance. I’m on year 3 or 4 of my Apple Watch, no issues at all.

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AerusFlameweaver t1_j7lcgvy wrote

Similar situation. Luckily, my wife has not had issues with her versa but when it dies we’re definitely going to an Apple Watch or Garmin.

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rdyoung t1_j7lryo4 wrote

I didn't even deal with it, I moved to garmin when my second ionic stopped working. Bought a venu then a Fenix 7ss when the 7 was released and then a couple of months later decided to upgrade to the 7x. Haven't looked back.

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Chairman-Dao t1_j7lo5s9 wrote

Mine died 3 months outside the warranty period. They offered me a 20% off coupon. No repair option.

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fusiongt021 t1_j7lvd4i wrote

Regardless if the watch works you could have submitted it for recall to get your full money back. Not sure if it's too late but if you have the bad watch you could try.

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DahManWhoCannahType t1_j81cbxo wrote

After 3 Fitbit's dying for no reason whatsoever, I decided to never buy Fitbit junk again.

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rdyoung t1_j7lrqe8 wrote

You'll get your money back. I had 2 that I got refunded for, 1 didn't last through a hot shower and I didn't feel like dealing with support so I bought another with the intention of eventually doing so.

Long story short, there is a portal to claim a refund, I got back everything I spent on them.

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CallMeRawie t1_j7lv75j wrote

Literally threw the watch away after that support session. In order to qualify for this new refund, you have to send your watch back.

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rdyoung t1_j7lw4al wrote

I tend to hoard electronics, so I had both of them around just had to find them.

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CallMeRawie t1_j7lwitr wrote

That is almost always me, but for some reason I pitched it immediately. I would have had to hang onto it for about 4 years.

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DieMensch-Maschine t1_j7oxcyw wrote

I bought mine from Amazon, but because they decided it was from an “unauthorized seller”, I was told I was not covered by warranty. The thing lasted less than 6 months. So, no, I won’t get my money back. Fitbit’s business practices are getting pretty slimy at this point.

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rdyoung t1_j7oyown wrote

Are you sure about that? It's a recall not a warranty claim. Have you tried?

Pretty sure I bought mine from Amazon as well and got my money back from the recall.

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DieMensch-Maschine t1_j7ozf22 wrote

Called them several times, got delay tactics, finally sent them proof of purchase from Amazon upon request. Quoting directly from an email they sent me: “Because your product was purchased through an unauthorized reseller, it’s not covered by our warranty.”

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rdyoung t1_j7p1jzn wrote

You're not following me.

This is a recall it's different from a warranty. The recall isn't done via CS, it's done via a web form, they send you an envelope to send yours back in and they send you a prepaid visa (iirc) for the refund.

They don't have a choice when it comes to recalls it doesn't matter where it was purchased.

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consultinglove t1_j7m5b2s wrote

My mom’s Fitbit stopped working in 10 months and thank god they were willing to replace it

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Alphatron1 t1_j7nus3t wrote

I’ve had 2 charges. One didn’t last a year. This one is going ok for now but the bands make my wrist react.

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DrAbeSacrabin t1_j7mzsc9 wrote

This report was from March 2022, why the hell is it just now being posted?

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TunaOnWytNoCrust t1_j7nx8pr wrote

Aw nuts I was hoping my Fitbit Blaze was part of the recall. It's definitely burned my skin before when I was really sweaty.

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Viffer98 t1_j7o7b7l wrote

Really? I've never even had my Blaze feel warm to the touch. Thing is going on 5 years old now and still trucking.

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fusiongt021 t1_j7k10bl wrote

I've already sent my Fitbit Ionic back to them 8+ months ago and got a full MSRP money back. Was a very smooth recall for me where they sent me the packing materials and label and I put my watch in there and the company taking care of the recall PayPal'd me the funds which was more than I spent on the watch. They definitely didn't want bad PR on this one!

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hairo-wynn t1_j7k9r46 wrote

Same here, we were extremely happy with the process. We assumed it was going to take a while. All said and done (with a new watch) in a matter of a couple weeks.

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enjybanjy t1_j7kdkx6 wrote

Same for me - didn’t even need to return the watch, just disconnect it from my Fitbit account, tell them the serial# and it was done. Money back 2 weeks later.

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heresy123 t1_j7ko860 wrote

Were you able to get a refund without physically returning the device?? Mine failed after 1 year and a month so I had already thrown it away shortly before the recall was announced and think I was told you needed the watch itself 😭

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who_you_are t1_j7kr445 wrote

It took 3 months for me (when it was suppose to be between 2 and 6 weeks).

But I'm also in Canada and like 8 months late after the recall

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fineman1097 t1_j7kk67k wrote

I know someone who bought up as many as he could used right after the recall came out but before it was wide spread knowledge. He ended up with like 12 he spent an average of $65 (total like 700) or so dollars on and he sent them all in. Got full refunds via PayPal for all of them- ended up being darned near $3800.

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fusiongt021 t1_j7lvojc wrote

Wow that's crazy. I'll say I actually got the ionic for free from a friend who was a Fitbit employee (now retired employee) who had an extra laying around his house and he just gave it to me. So was great to get funds for it for my next watch!

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8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8- t1_j7kjw4y wrote

Yeah I bought my ionic heavily discounted with airline points so to get the full price paid directly to my PayPal was nice. I did end up replacing it with a Garmin which I like even though it doesn't track my sleep as accurately.

Fitbit wristbands are a total scam, they are built to fail and you can either register a warranty claim for the band or, as the company is banking on, you shell out $40-90 for a new strap. This is on top of them introducing a paid subscription for a freaking watch!

The ionic I had wasn't even the original one, I had to have it replaced under warranty because the face ripped off.

The recall was good PR, but the product itself is bad PR.

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SilverbackBRC t1_j7kwoah wrote

I had stopped using mine and moved on to a different watch when I got the email about this. So happy I never tossed it

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optiiSLO t1_j7k3n4o wrote

posting old news... why??????

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vssavant2 t1_j7k5tv7 wrote

Clicks and gigglea.

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Trippler2 t1_j7khjmp wrote

> gigglea

Yes, the organelle responsible for the giggling of the cell.

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thatgoodcush t1_j7klhq4 wrote

On the day where their servers take a giant dump. We can’t sync our devices yesterday or today.

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Zenith251 t1_j7nk5em wrote

Probably a campaign by a competitor to sell more of THEIR smart watches. Let's see... Who's massive and has seemingly unlimited cash... Oh yeah, Apple and Samsung.

0

Materva t1_j7kj4r7 wrote

This is literally from 11 months ago.

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Kraichgau t1_j7kh31y wrote

I had already thrown away my Ionic because it got water damage (from swimming, which is part of what it was designed for) right after warranty ran out.

Suddenly getting the full purchase price back was a pleasant surprise and well deserved for that shitty product quality.

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Pyrotha t1_j7kj7fv wrote

My ionic died after washing my hands. Contacted them, found out about the recall lol

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heresy123 t1_j7ko5dk wrote

Were you able to get a refund without physically returning the device?? Mine failed after 1 year and a month so I had already thrown it away shortly before the recall was announced and think I was told you needed the watch itself 😭

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Kraichgau t1_j7kp0vv wrote

Yes, they just instructed me to destroy it. You need access to the Fitbit account that it was connected to.

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heresy123 t1_j7ksm1p wrote

Weird. They sent me a return kit last year and instructed me to return the device to them. I just tried to click through the refund page again and it’s asking for my address for a physical return kit again… I’m in California.

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Kraichgau t1_j7kthg7 wrote

I'm in Germany, maybe they didn't want to deal with overseas shipping.

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who_you_are t1_j7krfko wrote

I'm in Canada, I did the recall like 4 months ago. They only ask me to dispose it.

I just needed to login into the Fitbit app, unpaid the watch and fill a form.

The reason I did the recall is it stop working :p

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heresy123 t1_j7kssj0 wrote

Hmm that’s odd. Did they not ask you for an address to mail a return kit to?

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zentribes t1_j7k85g5 wrote

They had issues with early devices too. I had to return my Fitbit because of skin irritation. Surprised they still have such quality issues now that google owns it.

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charaznable1249 t1_j7l7grq wrote

I guess sweat was contacting something inside the watch and becoming corrosive. And Fitbit did not give one shit when I contacted them about it.

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T0m1- t1_j7lqiz3 wrote

Why are you sharing a 1 year old article lol

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nathanfay t1_j7k4tmq wrote

Yeah my work gave us these one time for a gift. Used it for years then got its face value back as a refund! Beat gift ever

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Healthy-Swim-990 t1_j7kfymp wrote

Would have expected this from the Fitbit Blaze, not the Iconic

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Spire t1_j7kihed wrote

> The watches were sold in slate blue/burnt orange, charcoal/smoke gray, blue gray/silver gray, and a special edition co-branded with Adidas in ink blue/silver gray.

If you bought a watch in burnt orange, charcoal, or smoke gray, you are not entitled to a refund.

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Still_kinda_hungry t1_j7kn0e8 wrote

Yeah, fuck other people's preferences

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Shavethatmonkey t1_j7kx5v9 wrote

I may not be an expert on comedy but I'm like 99.9% sure that was a joke.

And a pretty decent one. I'll explain. The joke hinges on the fact that those colors have names that relate to things burning, like burnt orange, or smoke gray. Or the end result of burning, charcoal.

And that's a joke.

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Still_kinda_hungry t1_j7lkvd2 wrote

Jesus, I am so damn defensive over the dumbest shit. This went so far over my head it may as well have been a Chines spy balloon.

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Spire t1_j7n3754 wrote

In retrospect, I guess I should've just gone with this.

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Wuzzy_Gee t1_j7q1m5v wrote

Fitbit’s quality control has always been questionable. This is not surprising.

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DrPurpleKite t1_j7kpeyd wrote

I don’t think I’ve ever had a Fitbit that didn’t have a problem within a year or two

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dudreddit t1_j7ktu66 wrote

I bought my wife a FB years ago and we found that using it damaged our skin. Once removed, the skin healed itself.

Never again ...

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Greninja5097 t1_j7ku1hy wrote

My Versa 2 gave me a pretty severe burn on my wrist. Fuck Fitbits.

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rocketphone t1_j7m48dt wrote

Rip pebble, you were da bomb

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BoltTusk t1_j7n1e0h wrote

I have a Charge 4 and it was an upgrade from a Charge 3. It will be my last fitbit since it freezes once a week and I need to reboot it in order to use it.

This just confirms that Fitbit’s quality control has not improved

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ghostofmangoh t1_j7nwczt wrote

i thought you were dedicated to fitness!? :)

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SO_422 t1_j7nwhrl wrote

Applied for my refund in May 2022. Haven't got it yet, and Fitbit support has been more than useless

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crosstherubicon t1_j7obruc wrote

Is overheating a metaphor for catching fire?

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mistytalon t1_j7wxvfz wrote

Really gives the term “feel the burn” while working out a completely different meaning

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Krmsyn t1_j7kh3oz wrote

Wouldn’t be the 1st time

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Sonnysdad t1_j7klpy1 wrote

This story is already a year old and out of the three ionics I had to were sent back for the recall and I got back full retail price. I was burned by the first watch and they (fitbit help line) called it a rash.

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gurknowitzki t1_j7kmgpv wrote

My mom wanted a Fitbit - screen broke in 1 year - out of warranty - 30% off offered. Bought a second one - screen broke in 1 year - out of warranty - 30% off offered.

Purchased Apple Watch bc their QC is garbage

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m0992104 t1_j7kmlvv wrote

I’m glad they finally did this, I’ve got freaking scars on my wrists from my Fitbit 10 years ago

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arose1024 t1_j7kmyzf wrote

They refunded me and I bought a Garmin

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jpitelka t1_j7kxvnp wrote

I had one of the first Fitbits that lasted me many years. I finally upgraded about a year ago and bou do I regret it. I hate everything about Fitbit but mostly the support offered. Terrible

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Haneullim t1_j7l2y19 wrote

I had an extended warranty on these. They just keep sending them to me. Could i return each one separately?

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charaznable1249 t1_j7l7a3l wrote

I remember my older Fitbit burning my wrist and I read it was something to do with sweat reacting with something inside the watch and becoming corrosive and every attempt to contact them was laughable at best.

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magnumopus44 t1_j7l97xj wrote

Me and my wife had have multiple fitbit watches. They have all been shit. None survived the year including the warranty replacements.

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HarryHacker42 t1_j7lkt94 wrote

This post is like a timewarp back a year ago. Thanks for the memories.

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Lordofjones t1_j7llxvo wrote

My moms blew up on her arm! Luckily she just had a little burn, they did replace the Fitbit though she didn’t ask for anything else

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Christo372 t1_j7nl03r wrote

Puts Fitbit on and Fitbit says "You're so fat that your wrist is pushing the limits of my buckle.". Sends Fitbit in for refund due to serious burn.

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Kidnovatex t1_j81iiwx wrote

I thought they did this recall a long time ago. They've waited long enough now that most of them are probably in the trash.

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sayonaako t1_j7jrsn4 wrote

mo liek calorie burn am i rite?!

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BooeyHTJ t1_j7jt6vs wrote

Your mom’s a Fitbit. How’s that for burn risk?

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