Vote Charlie!

Withings data management a mess

Posted at age 28.

I just completed migrating my weight and heart rate information to a new Withings account because they are incapable of figuring out why my Wi-Fi Body Scale (WBS01) (new version) can no longer be associated to my original account. Their export and import process does not support temperature data, so I need to continue using my Thermo with the Thermo app signed into my original account, while using my blood pressure monitor with the Withings app is signed into my new account. Additionally, the import process ignores comments, so I needed to manually copy and paste all the comments for each measurement. What a pain!

I thought I had low confidence in Fitbit based on my experience over the years, but man, now I don’t know who I would recommend for smart body devices. I really want to support the pioneers instead of the big companies, but if they keep screwing up, I guess there’s no point.

Sad support thread

Sent Mar 13, 06:35 CET:

I’ve been through the pairing wizard a dozen times and the scale is able to connect to my WiFi and I see it connected in the router. I am unable to get the scale to show up on my account, though. I try the install link at https://account.withings.com/install/install_wbs01#2, but upon holding the button for 8 seconds, the scale shows a checkmark, but the website never shows any connection. One time the pairing wizard showed a code 553602, but usually it shows no code at the end.

Attachment(s)
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Received Mar 13, 21:05 CET:

Hello,

I am sorry to hear that you are unable to setup your scale. Could you try removing the batteries from your scale for at least 60 seconds? If needed, you can clean the battery contacts with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. This should reset the scale, so you can try the installation process again. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any other questions or issues, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Kyle | Withings Customer Service

Sent Mar 15, 05:43 CET:

Hello,

I tried leaving the batteries out 5 minutes, but the result was the same. Then I left them out for 6 hours, but still, the scale remembers the Wi-Fi (but I went ahead and re-configured with same password in the pairing wizard) and the result is the same. The pairing wizard gives me a code (503638 most recently) but that does nothing when entering on the site, and the graphic online indicates the code you enter would come from the scale anyway. But when I do the normal process of clicking the “configured already” link and then holding the button on the scale for 8 seconds, the scale continues to show a checkmark and the website shows nothing.

As it is, I cannot use the scale for the one purpose I bought it, to automatically update my data in a central location.

Received Mar 16, 13:57 CET:

Hello,

Thank you for getting back to us with this update. Could you try going through the installation process on a different computer to see if the same issue occurs? If so, there is most likely an issue with the scale itself.

Could you provide us with a copy of your proof of purchase, so we can check on the status of your warranty? I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any other questions or issues, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Kyle | Withings Customer Service

Sent Apr 3, 06:45 CEST:

Hello,

Doing the installation process on another computer made no difference, but I did figure something out that might help.

I created a new Withings account under the email achaia3+1@gmail.com, and I was able to successfully associate the scale on the first try. I then removed it from the account and tried to associate it with my real account, charlie@gorichanaz.com, but continued to fail. So it seems you have a problem/bug on your end related to my account. I need my data all under one account due to how I am using it for external services, the reason I bought the scale in the first place.

Received Apr 3, 17:25 CEST:

Hello,

Thank you for getting back to us with this update. After looking into this further, it appears that there is no account linked to (charlie@gorichanaz.com), which is most likely why you are receiving an error message. After checking the diagnostic data linked to your scale, it has only been linked to (achaia3+1@gmail.com) and (achaia3@gmail.com). It appears that (achaia3@gmail.com) is your main account and was created back in 2012.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any other questions or issues, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Kyle | Withings Customer Service

Sent Apr 5, 00:33 CEST:

Hello, I suspected there might be a bug in your system related to using a non original email, and I had changed it back as a test. Unfortunately, I cannot associate the scale to this account regardless of the email I have set as primary. Can you please try to determine what is different about my main account that prevents me from using the scale? Thank you!

Received Apr 5, 22:55 CEST:

Hello,

Thank you for getting back to us with this update. There isn’t any reason why the scale shouldn’t work with your main account. However, it appears that a lot of users have recently been deleted from this account, so it may be causing some unexpected issues. We would recommend waiting till these users are fully deleted (7 days after deletion) and try installing the scale again. The other option is to use the scale on your other account and then transfer your data to that account by using the export/import guides below.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any other questions or issues, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Kyle | Withings Customer Service

Sent Apr 11, 04:41 CEST:

Hello,

It is disappointing you cannot figure out the bug in your system preventing association of the scale. I highly doubt it is related to the recently deleted users as they were deleted after I had been having this problem for months.

I am attempting to export and then import the data into a new account (charlie+2@gorichanaz.com) despite my feeling this is an inadequate workaround and possible excuse by Withings to avoid repairing the bug that is making my account faulty. It is unclear to me how to export and import the temperature data. I also am apparently unable to import the file of my weight data that is untouched from export from Withings. I am getting the error:

An unexpected error occurred; please contact customer service

Attached is the file I am trying to import.

Attachment(s)
weight.csv

Received Apr 11, 20:55 CEST:

Hello,

Thank you for getting back to us with this update. After checking the diagnostic data linked to your device, it appears that your weight data was imported successfully. If you logon to Health Mate Web and check the measurement table, you should be able to see all of this data. Once you take a few new measurements, the graph on the website will return.

Unfortunately, the temperature data can’t be exported / imported at this time. However, since the Thermo uses its own app, you can continue tracking your temperature data on your original account. Hopefully this is only temporary, and we will determine the issue with your account on the scale soon. In the meantime, if you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Kyle | Withings Customer Service

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