Lawsuit alleges Fitbit smartwatches have a tendency to overheat, causing burns

In the complaint, the lawyer for the plaintiffs argues that people, “purchase the products to burn calories – not their skin – and to safely pursue a healthy lifestyle with the aid of a smartwatch,” according to the report.

Both of the lawyer’s clients had bought smartwatches that were part of Fitbit’s Versa line-up, and allege the watches are a burn hazard. One client says that the Versa smartwatch burned their daughter’s wrist, while the other says that it left burn marks on theirs.

The complaint also includes photos of burn marks of people using other models of Fitbit smartwatches, including Fitbit Sense, Versa 3, Blaze, Inspire and Inspire 2.

The plaintiffs also detailed Fitbit’s lacklustre customer support.

The court documents include several screenshots of replies to the @FitbitSupport Twitter where customers were frustrated with long waits and unresponsive customer service while trying to get refunds for the recently recalled Ionic.

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Fitbit announced the recalling of all smartwatches in its Ionic line-up after it was found that the batteries on the device overheat and burn users. The company recalled almost 1 million watches in the US, and about 700,000 units globally. Fitbit also set-up a refund registration page for easy returns.

The lawsuit acknowledges the recall but says Google failed to do enough to stem the problem. There are still more Fitbit smartwatches out in the wild, and not from the Ionic line-up, that still pose a serious burn hazard to users.

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