Faulty Fitbit

LazyDog11

Hi, looking for a bit of advice please.

I bought a fitbit charge 3 from Argos in January 2019, it had a 2 year warranty. In July 2020 the display became faulty so I contacted fitbit directly and they replaced it for me. In August 2021 the same display fault happened so I contacted fitbit again but they told me it is out of warranty and the best they will offer is 35% off another fitbit device.

This 35% discount means I will still be on the hook for over £100 if I buy another fitbit device and I'm not entirely happy about that, I think that a product that was top of the range when I bought it should last a lot longer than 2.5 years, especially after having been replaced already during that time. I told fitbit I would accept either a 65% refund, a 75% discount, or a replacement device but they're not interested and haven't responded to my last communication to them.

I didn't pay by credit card so a section 75 isn't applicable and it's too late for a chargeback. Is there another way to deal with this without going to small claims? I'm not trying to be unreasonable, I'm just really unhappy about paying so much for a fitbit, then having to pay again when it stops working, it seems a bit unfair.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

MattMattMattUK

LazyDog11 said:

Hi, looking for a bit of advice please.

I bought a fitbit charge 3 from Argos in January 2019, it had a 2 year warranty. In July 2020 the display became faulty so I contacted fitbit directly and they replaced it for me. In August 2021 the same display fault happened so I contacted fitbit again but they told me it is out of warranty and the best they will offer is 35% off another fitbit device.

This 35% discount means I will still be on the hook for over £100 if I buy another fitbit device and I'm not entirely happy about that, I think that a product that was top of the range when I bought it should last a lot longer than 2.5 years, especially after having been replaced already during that time. I told fitbit I would accept either a 65% refund, a 75% discount, or a replacement device but they're not interested and haven't responded to my last communication to them.

I didn't pay by credit card so a section 75 isn't applicable and it's too late for a chargeback. Is there another way to deal with this without going to small claims? I'm not trying to be unreasonable, I'm just really unhappy about paying so much for a fitbit, then having to pay again when it stops working, it seems a bit unfair.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Unfortunately I don't think you would actually win in court, but you could try. As you bought from Argos your consumer rights are with them, not Fitbit, but it would be down to you to get an independent report which demonstrated an inherent fault.

If I were you I would either take the discount if you want a new Fitbit, or walk away if you want a different brand of activity tracker or smart watch.