Yesterday, I purchased a Fitbit Inspire. I’ve taken an interest in the Fitbit watches over Apple watches because of how small they are. Their not as complex and the odds of me damaging it seems small, but that’s still to be determined. When I got home, I had to loosen the band in order for it to charge. Once it was charged up, and I got ready to put it back on my wrist, the struggle began. I wasn’t able to snap it back into the hole. It took me about 30 minutes to get it snapped on. After the struggle ended, I took it upon myself to reach out to Fitbit to see if they would be kind enough to send me a new band free of charge. Especially since an extra band already comes in the box. Once I got connected with someone and told him my situation he said, “we may only provide a free band if the band is broken and still covered by our warranty, and we at Fitbit uniformly follow our warranty procedures.” I then requested to speak to someone higher up. When I received an email from his supervisor, he said all the bands had the same latching mechanism and that I should purchase the clip accessory.
I replied:
“From what I saw on the website, they don’t all latch the same. You didn’t even take time to ask had I looked to see which band would be easier for me. If you had, I would’ve told you the classic band, is similar to the band on a regular watch. I don’t want the clip because I want to be able to wear it as a watch. That’s why I picked your product.
I don’t know how the testing of products goes for companies like yours. But it seems like the disability community is forgotten about. You make the products without consideration of possible limitations of the potential buyer. Then if you do make an accessible product, it costs an arm and a leg and it’s not right. Being disabled isn’t a choice, but the way Fitbit and other companies like you choose to be “understanding” and “helpful” is.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where competition and making the most money is the goal. When it shouldn’t always be the case, sometimes it should just be satisfying the customer. I don’t doubt you’re a good man Mister and I apologize if I’ve come off rude to you or your employee but hopefully what I’ve said will get back to the right person and bring you and your team back around the round table as the progression of Fitbit devices continues.
Have a great day!
Thank you,
Shameia “Meia”
P.S.
Have you guys thought about magnetic bands 😉”
In a way, I can understand because how does he know that I truly have a disability? He doesn’t, but sometimes you just have to give people the benefit of the doubt. It sucks to even know that people lie about such things because when the time comes that someone is actually in the situation you lied about, they’re shit out of luck. This response may get looked over and end up in their “trash” email, but that’s why I shared it here. No telling what big-name may cross my page one day. So if Fitbit doesn’t take me up on my magnetic band idea, the next one will.
#stillRising
#stillRising 