Fitbit help

Nearlyme

My beloved Fitbit died it randomly started doing an update which got stuck and killed it.
I contacted Fitbit and they said that since it was still under warranty and it hey could see that the problem was caused with the update they would offer me 50% off a new Fitbit or replace with the same model
I chose the latter, my charge HR has served me well
I ordered like for like a black in a small.
They emailed me to say that as the charge HR had been discontinued they only had an extra large left..
Now I have tiny wrists, even a small is on smallest hole. I tried my partners large on and it's far far too big. The extra large is simply useless to me- I won't be able to wear it unless I cut an inch off the strap and add an extra hole- which will obviously invalidate my warranty
They apologised and again said I could have the new charge HR for half price- the new charge is the same price as I paid for my old one, it does exactly the same thing- it just comes in more colour ways and has an extra feature which buzzes to tell you to move, I'm not bothered by this feature at all, I can live without it- in fact I would even take a basic Alta which is less than I paid for my charge HR- I just want a Fitbit I can wear and don't see why I should have to pay twice for it when they have admitted fault?
Is it not like someone replacing a faulty size five shoe with a size 10? It's not like for like if it's too big to wear 😡😡 do I have any standing on this? If they won't replace like for like surly they should offer a full refund?

powerful_Rogue

Nearlyme wrote: »

My beloved Fitbit died it randomly started doing an update which got stuck and killed it.
I contacted Fitbit and they said that since it was still under warranty and it hey could see that the problem was caused with the update they would offer me 50% off a new Fitbit or replace with the same model
I chose the latter, my charge HR has served me well
I ordered like for like a black in a small.
They emailed me to say that as the charge HR had been discontinued they only had an extra large left..
Now I have tiny wrists, even a small is on smallest hole. I tried my partners large on and it's far far too big. The extra large is simply useless to me- I won't be able to wear it unless I cut an inch off the strap and add an extra hole- which will obviously invalidate my warranty
They apologised and again said I could have the new charge HR for half price- the new charge is the same price as I paid for my old one, it does exactly the same thing- it just comes in more colour ways and has an extra feature which buzzes to tell you to move, I'm not bothered by this feature at all, I can live without it- in fact I would even take a basic Alta which is less than I paid for my charge HR- I just want a Fitbit I can wear and don't see why I should have to pay twice for it when they have admitted fault?
Is it not like someone replacing a faulty size five shoe with a size 10? It's not like for like if it's too big to wear ���� do I have any standing on this? If they won't replace like for like surly they should offer a full refund?

Who did you purchase it from?
How long ago did you purchase it?
How much did you pay?
How did you pay?
Do you have it in email from fitbit that the update caused the device to break?

SouthUKMan

Why did you contact Fitbit direct? Are they also the retailer as well as the manufacturer in this case?

Remember that your contract is with the retailer, not with the manufacturer (unless in this case they are one and the same). If the Fitbit is under 6 months old then the retailer should arrange for a repair or a replacement - offering half the cost off a new one is NOT reasonable.

If your Fitbit is over 6 months old but less than a year (I assume it is as you say it is still in warranty), then a manufacturer warranty should cover repair or direct replacement of the item. Replacement is like for like. If they won't repair it and they don't have the suitable replacement in your size in the old model, then I would argue they should just cut their losses to keep you happy and give you the latest model in your size.

Yes, they could argue that you've had X months of use therefore, they are deducting a certain amount...HOWEVER, half is not reasonable. I would expect a Fitbit to last a minimum of 2-3 years. Not months. Therefore any deduction has to be in keeping with this.

Fosterdog

I'd agree with going to the retailer (if you didn't buy direct from Fitbit) they may still have stock of yours, although doubtful as they went really cheap to sell them off when the new ones came out, even if they don't they may offer either the full amount you paid towards a replacement or at least more than 50%. Yours must be pretty close to the twelve months because the new ones were launched for pre-orders last August and actually released early September and most places started to reduce and sell off the old charge HRs from July onwards.

As for the new ones, it's not just buzzing to tell you to move and extra colours that are different. It has a bigger screen giving you a lot more information on the go, made of stainless steel so stronger than the old plastic ones, a battery monitor built in, syncs with your phone so alerts come through, has pre set exercises built in so you can quickly log your regular exercise without needing to use the app, improved heart rate monitoring, a cardio score showing you if you are in fat burn, cardio or peak zones when exercising, a stopwatch, the straps are interchancable so you would never have the sizing issue again.

There are probable other new features too but they are the main ones that had me waiting for the release of the charge 2 instead of buying the HR.

I don't quite agree that these things should last three years though. The technology is still pretty new and both the Fitbit and other brands of fitness trackers are still in their infancy meaning they are likely to be relatively short lived as technology improves and moves forward at a staggering rate rendering the earlier models obsolete quite quickly. I'd say two years would be the average to expected life and any more is a bonus. Although I don't know anyone who has kept the same one for that long as they either don't use it much so just sell it, give it away, throw it out or put it away never to see the light of day again or they use it daily and soon want more features added so upgrade when something more suitable comes out. Given that almost twelve months use could well be seen as being 50% of the life so may be all you'd be entitled to as a refund even from the retailer.

pinkshoes

Do they have the small in any other colours?

How long have you had it?

SouthUKMan

Fosterdog wrote: »

I don't quite agree that these things should last three years though. The technology is still pretty new and both the Fitbit and other brands of fitness trackers are still in their infancy meaning they are likely to be relatively short lived as technology improves and moves forward at a staggering rate rendering the earlier models obsolete quite quickly.

I agree from a 'features' point of view, but from a 'lasting without breaking' point of view I think two to three years is fair. As consumers we have the choice whether or not to upgrade to a newer model based on innovation, however I don't think it's reasonable to only expect the actual hardware to last just a year or two. The strap might become knackered by three years, but surely the actual hardware should reasonably be expected to last

CardinalWolsey

Can you not take the like for like replacement, and swap the wristband off your broken device on to the new device? The physical devices themselves are the same, its just the wristbands that are the different sizes.

Nearlyme

Firstly Fitbit advise you to contact them directly as do the retailer.

They have a 2 year warranty, it's on the website mine is 17 months - although they did replace it last June due te the strap bubbling but I know warranty is from date of purchase

Yes I have an email from them saying it was the update getting stacked their which has made it useless, we went through all the trouble shooting with tech support and that it is within warranty so they are replacing it

You can't remove the Charge HR from the strap, it's integrated- otherwise I would have just taken one offered and swapped straps.

The extra large is totally useless to me, as I said I tried a large on yesterday and it's huge, an extra large will fall off my wrist.

Nearlyme

Also I was originally offered a small in a different colour, which I accepted. But they apologetically mailed me to say that they had sold out and the only ones left were black extra large

powerful_Rogue

If Fitbit don't stock an exact replacement, then im afraid theres not much they can do. By going direct to Fitbit you are claiming under the warranty, and im presuming they have a clause that covers them in this situation.

Your only option is to follow the advice in post 3 and go back to the retailer and claim under your consumer rights.

Lorian

CardinalWolsey wrote: »

Can you not take the like for like replacement, and swap the wristband off your broken device on to the new device? The physical devices themselves are the same, its just the wristbands that are the different sizes.

You can't change the wristband on the original Charge HR.

Personally I'd go for the half price Charge HR 2 - Its slightly larger but I find it syncs far more reliably, and the battery lasts about twice as long as the original.