Fitbit not honouring warranty T and Cs

rubyjones13

Hi everyone, I bought a fitbit in the Autumn, so it's still within their 1 year warranty. They won't offer a full refund after 45 days, but will offer a refund - 15%. I've tried contacting them directly, and also going through Resolver - but they are literally asking for tens of different pieces of advice asking me to prove it's faulty. It often doesn't deliver notifications as it should (despite me doing all of their trouble-shooting steps), and also it often says I'm running when I'm not. 

I want to return it, but each time I reply to them with the evidence they are asking for, they reply asking for more. It's becoming incredibly frustrating and stressful and I've never experienced such a complicated return process.

Is there any wording / consumer rights I can state just allowing me to return it? 

Thank you! 
Ruby

born_again

Where did you buy it from?

rubyjones13

born_again said:

Where did you buy it from?

The FitBit website

born_again

If you live in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, these Terms are an agreement between you and Fitbit International Limited, an Irish company with its registered office at 76 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. 

rubyjones13

born_again said:

If you live in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, these Terms are an agreement between you and Fitbit International Limited, an Irish company with its registered office at 76 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. 

Thanks, so what does this mean? I live in the UK.

Manxman_in_exile

What part of their warranty T&Cs are they not honouring?   (Serious question as you haven't told us what the terms are... )

When did it start to malfunction?  You bought it about 10 months ago (you haven't told us exactly when) so perhaps Fitbit are reducing your refund by 15% to reflect the 10 months of trouble free use you've had of it?  Again, without seeing the terms of their warranty we don't know what their obligations are under it or whether they are entitled to reduce any refund.

I think the significance of the company you bought from being resident in the Republic of Ireland is that UK consumer legislation will not apply to the purchase, and although the Republic's consumer protection will likely be very similar to that in the UK, nobody here will know for sure.  (And the significance of that is that if UK consumer rights apply, you might be better pursuing those rather than a warranty claim.  But UK consumer rights won't apply here).

rubyjones13

Manxman_in_exile said:

What part of their warranty T&Cs are they not honouring?   (Serious question as you haven't told us what the terms are... )

When did it start to malfunction?  You bought it about 10 months ago (you haven't told us exactly when) so perhaps Fitbit are reducing your refund by 15% to reflect the 10 months of trouble free use you've had of it?  Again, without seeing the terms of their warranty we don't know what their obligations are under it or whether they are entitled to reduce any refund.

I think the significance of the company you bought from being resident in the Republic of Ireland is that UK consumer legislation will not apply to the purchase, and although the Republic's consumer protection will likely be very similar to that in the UK, nobody here will know for sure.  (And the significance of that is that if UK consumer rights apply, you might be better pursuing those rather than a warranty claim.  But UK consumer rights won't apply here).

Okay so I checked my emails and saw I actually bought it in February 2022!! My memory has failed me! Their warranty says: 

LIMITED PRODUCT WARRANTY FOR NEW PRODUCTS

Fitbit warrants to the original purchaser that your Fitbit-branded device and accessories that are new (the "New Product(s)") shall be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of one (1) year from the date of purchase, except that if you reside in the European Economic Area (EEA) and you purchased your Fitbit product in the EEA, the warranty period is two (2) years from the date of purchase (the "New Product Warranty Period").

However, I have notified them of the defects and sent proof of troubleshooting and proof of issues and all they are doing is responding asking for more proof and more troubleshooting (much of which I've already done). I am just going round in circles and don't mind losing 15% I just want to return the bloody thing!  

Manxman_in_exile

Part of the problem is it looks as if your purchase is subject to Irish consumer law.  I don't know what protection that gives you and I don't suppose you do either.  You could find out (it's probably very similar to UK consumer protection, but it may not be) but that would probably be a waste of effort.

So that leaves you with the warranty to fall back on.  Basically the warranty gives you whatever rights the warranty giver (Fitbit) wants to give you.  So if they want you to jump through various hoops to be eligible to claim on the warranty, that's probably what you need to do...

It's a common problem with purchases from websites located outside the UK

See if anybody else has different advice.

MattMattMattUK

rubyjones13 said:

Hi everyone, I bought a fitbit in the Autumn, so it's still within their 1 year warranty. They won't offer a full refund after 45 days, but will offer a refund - 15%. I've tried contacting them directly, and also going through Resolver - but they are literally asking for tens of different pieces of advice asking me to prove it's faulty. It often doesn't deliver notifications as it should (despite me doing all of their trouble-shooting steps), and also it often says I'm running when I'm not. 

I want to return it, but each time I reply to them with the evidence they are asking for, they reply asking for more. It's becoming incredibly frustrating and stressful and I've never experienced such a complicated return process.

Is there any wording / consumer rights I can state just allowing me to return it? 

Thank you! 
Ruby

Which model? The reason I ask is because often the issues are due to the way the device is set up, settings on the phone it is paired to etc. and most can be easily rectified. I am not surprised they are not willing to give you a refund for something you bought 9+ months ago, but they are normally more than happy to replace faulty items if there is a genuine issue (I have had them replace 2 devices under warranty). 

rubyjones13 said:

It often doesn't deliver notifications as it should (despite me doing all of their trouble-shooting steps), and also it often says I'm running when I'm not. 

The notifications are often caused by the power saving being turned on in the Bluetooth settings on the paired phone, or in the power saving settings for the individual app and sometimes via app permission settings. The auto-run kicks in based on movement patterns, it often kicks in prematurely (eg. if I jogged for 50 meters it would put me on a run) but I found that the best thing was to just turn off the auto-run feature as I am always aware when I go out for a jog, I do not feel the need for the watch to tell me and it still records data regardless. 

rubyjones13

MattMattMattUK said:

rubyjones13 said:

Hi everyone, I bought a fitbit in the Autumn, so it's still within their 1 year warranty. They won't offer a full refund after 45 days, but will offer a refund - 15%. I've tried contacting them directly, and also going through Resolver - but they are literally asking for tens of different pieces of advice asking me to prove it's faulty. It often doesn't deliver notifications as it should (despite me doing all of their trouble-shooting steps), and also it often says I'm running when I'm not. 

I want to return it, but each time I reply to them with the evidence they are asking for, they reply asking for more. It's becoming incredibly frustrating and stressful and I've never experienced such a complicated return process.

Is there any wording / consumer rights I can state just allowing me to return it? 

Thank you! 
Ruby

Which model? The reason I ask is because often the issues are due to the way the device is set up, settings on the phone it is paired to etc. and most can be easily rectified. I am not surprised they are not willing to give you a refund for something you bought 9+ months ago, but they are normally more than happy to replace faulty items if there is a genuine issue (I have had them replace 2 devices under warranty). 

rubyjones13 said:

It often doesn't deliver notifications as it should (despite me doing all of their trouble-shooting steps), and also it often says I'm running when I'm not. 

The notifications are often caused by the power saving being turned on in the Bluetooth settings on the paired phone, or in the power saving settings for the individual app and sometimes via app permission settings. The auto-run kicks in based on movement patterns, it often kicks in prematurely (eg. if I jogged for 50 meters it would put me on a run) but I found that the best thing was to just turn off the auto-run feature as I am always aware when I go out for a jog, I do not feel the need for the watch to tell me and it still records data regardless. 

Thanks for all of the information - i have tried over 30 troubleshooting steps now, it's the Sense model. My mistake though, it was only bought in February, and they aren't offering to replace it either. It did used to deliver notifications and never had an issue with it. Now it's started just dying on me without notification or email that the battery is low, despite bluetooth connection, proximity and all relevant notification settings on, turned off and on again, reset etc. 

Looks like I'll just have to jump through a few more hoops! 

MattMattMattUK

rubyjones13 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

rubyjones13 said:

Hi everyone, I bought a fitbit in the Autumn, so it's still within their 1 year warranty. They won't offer a full refund after 45 days, but will offer a refund - 15%. I've tried contacting them directly, and also going through Resolver - but they are literally asking for tens of different pieces of advice asking me to prove it's faulty. It often doesn't deliver notifications as it should (despite me doing all of their trouble-shooting steps), and also it often says I'm running when I'm not. 

I want to return it, but each time I reply to them with the evidence they are asking for, they reply asking for more. It's becoming incredibly frustrating and stressful and I've never experienced such a complicated return process.

Is there any wording / consumer rights I can state just allowing me to return it? 

Thank you! 
Ruby

Which model? The reason I ask is because often the issues are due to the way the device is set up, settings on the phone it is paired to etc. and most can be easily rectified. I am not surprised they are not willing to give you a refund for something you bought 9+ months ago, but they are normally more than happy to replace faulty items if there is a genuine issue (I have had them replace 2 devices under warranty). 

rubyjones13 said:

It often doesn't deliver notifications as it should (despite me doing all of their trouble-shooting steps), and also it often says I'm running when I'm not. 

The notifications are often caused by the power saving being turned on in the Bluetooth settings on the paired phone, or in the power saving settings for the individual app and sometimes via app permission settings. The auto-run kicks in based on movement patterns, it often kicks in prematurely (eg. if I jogged for 50 meters it would put me on a run) but I found that the best thing was to just turn off the auto-run feature as I am always aware when I go out for a jog, I do not feel the need for the watch to tell me and it still records data regardless. 

Thanks for all of the information - i have tried over 30 troubleshooting steps now, it's the Sense model. My mistake though, it was only bought in February, and they aren't offering to replace it either. It did used to deliver notifications and never had an issue with it. Now it's started just dying on me without notification or email that the battery is low, despite bluetooth connection, proximity and all relevant notification settings on, turned off and on again, reset etc. 

Looks like I'll just have to jump through a few more hoops! 

If the device is faulty and it sounds like yours is then do not ask for a refund (you will not get one), but a fix/replacement under warranty. They will almost certainly send you a replacement model and then just digitally deactivate the old one and tell you to put it in electrical recycling (WEEE) which is what they have done for me on both occasions and I know they have done the same for a friend as well. 

I found with them it is how you phrase things, when phrased in the right way (faulty item, needs repair/replacement) then they do just that, they will ask you to confirm you have done all the relevant troubleshooting and then they will replace the watch (hopefully). Good luck!