Bitten by Fitnus Bluetooth earbuds

Fitnus’ 50% discount still leaves you paying way more for these earbuds than you would on Amazon.

Trustworthy score: -6

Scoring system details

Suspicious address: TRUE (-1):

Contact information for Fitnus seller Bazaar Innovations:

Address: 162 Rancho Santa Fe Road E70, #495 / Encinitas CA 92024
Email: support@fitnusearbuds.com
Phone: 1-800-516-8318

It’s a rented mailbox at a FedEx store. I was looking for a facility in the US dedicated to Bazaar Innovations. One penalty point.

Ridiculous claims: TRUE (-1):

Ad in SmartNews: “Big brands are furious over these new $49 earbuds.” It’s safe to conclude that big brands aren’t even aware of Fitnus earbuds.

Onerous terms: Undetermined (0):

guarantee days	guarantee starts when?	ok to open the package?	ok to try the product?	ok to use the product?	restocking fee
30	delivery	?	?	?	?

The 18-page Terms document boils down to this.

• You can’t sue them, join a class action or a group arbitration. You can only ask for an individual arbitration.

Ads, spam, robocalls: TRUE (-1):

“do not track” setting	email ads	robo-calls	“do not call” registry	text ads	junk mail	share your data
ignored	yes					yes

You can opt out.

• If they sell their company, your personal data is part of the deal.

Lying and deception: TRUE (-1):

• “Fitnus was developed by a small team of engineers and sound professionals who consider themselves audiophiles.” But here are identical TOZO earbuds for sale on Amazon.

Chicanery: TRUE (-1):

• “Once both warehouses empty, the promotion is over. … <tomorrow’s date> – ALERT: One of two warehouses has sold out.”
• “There is limited availability and this 50% OFF REGULAR PRICE OFFER may be taken down at any moment!”
• On my way to the order form I’m entertained by a little drama as a progress bar creeps past one warehouse after another that’s already sold out. The suspense made my heart miss a beat, but I hung onto my keyboard and rode it out.
• Terms are 18 pages long, 8,349 words of laywerbabble. See “Related” below.

Phony reviews: TRUE (-1):

• Websites labeled “Advertorial” that include reviews automatically fail this test, because they’re admitting they made up the reviews.
• What makes me so sure? Because for the past five years every time I see the combination of advertorial and review and I check the review it’s fake. So, why even bother to check?
• But you still want me to check? <sigh> Here you go. “They had EVERYTHING that I wanted in wireless earbuds,” says verified purchaser T. Farner, who looks just like Art G. in another offer from Fitnus. These Fitnus web designers are such slackers. It looks like, rather than pay for their clip art, they lifted City Editor Kyle Faulkiner’s photo from the British Journal. Fitnus ought to pay him royalties or something.

Crummy Product: Undetermined (0):

• From Amazon: “Turns out there were 4 sizes of plastic ear caps included with the earbuds. On my third try, the second smallest ones, I felt how i imagine Cinderella felt when she tried on the glass slipper. They were perfect and no matter how much I jumped up and down or shook my head, they stayed in place! The quality of sound is impeccable, nice highs and lows, with a decent amount of bass.”
• “Unfortunately, the new pair has the same issues as before, and I would recommend not buying these. The sound quality isn’t bad, but the non stop cutting out of the left earbud is a dealbreaker when it comes to wireless earbuds. … I highly recommend spending more on a better brand.”
• Amazon shows that these earbuds were first available in 2018, so the tech is not all that new.

Overpriced: TRUE (-1):

Seller	item	Rated	price
Fitnus	Fitnus earbuds		$50
Amazon	TOZO earbuds (identical)	****’	$30

Bad service: False (+1):

I found no complaints.

Unauthorized charges: I found no complaints about this.

Advice: These $35 Bmanl earbuds from Amazon have given me good service for the past three months.

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Related:

How hard is it, really, to be a lawyer? There’s nothing mysterious about lawyerbabble; it’s just that there’s so much of it. Just for fun, let’s translate a few sentences into plain English.

Lawyerbabble	Translation
The parties to this Agreement (“Agreement”) are You (“You”, sometimes referred to as a “Subscriber” to the Website) and the owner of fitnusearbuds.com (Bazaar Innovations LLC).	This is an agreement between you and Bazaar Innovations LLC, which owns fitnusearbuds.com.
As used in this Agreement, the terms “we” and “us” are used interchangeably to refer to Bazaar Innovations LLC and its operators of the Website (sometimes referred to as fitnusearbuds.com).	[Skip this sentence.]
By further accessing the Website or materials available at or in association with the Website, and for other good and valuable consideration, the sufficiency of which is acknowledged by You and Bazaar Innovations LLC. You hereby agree to be bound by all the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement.	You’re looking at this website and what’s in it. So, admit you’re getting something out of doing that; we certainly think so. And if you go on looking at it you’ll have to follow our rules.

Scoring: There may be nothing illegal or wrong with the above business practices.  But they suggest to me that the seller is not to be trusted. I’m using my Trustworthy scoring system; -1 means true (bad), +1 means false (good), and 0 means undetermined.  I penalize the seller for statements made by shills.

Hobbled by Fitnus knee compression sleeve

Mediocre and overpriced.

January 17, 2022: There may be nothing illegal or wrong with the following business practices.  But they suggest to me that the seller is not to be trusted. I’m using my Trustworthy scoring system; -1 means true (bad), +1 means false (good), and 0 means undetermined.  I penalize the seller for statements made by shills.

Suspicious address: TRUE (-1):

Contact information for Fitnus Brace a.k.a. Bazaar Innovations LLC:

Address: 162 Rancho Santa Fe Road E70, #495 / Encinitas CA 92024
Email: support@fitnusbrace.com
Phone: 1-800-516-7542

A rented mailbox at a FedEx store. I was looking for a facility in the US dedicated to Fitnus; one penalty point.

Ridiculous claims: False (+1):

None found.

Onerous terms: Undetermined (0):

guarantee days	guarantee starts when?	ok to open the package?	ok to try the product?	ok to use the product?	restocking fee
30	delivery	?	?	?	?

You’d think an 18-page Terms document would be more specific?

• You can’t sue them, join a class action suit or a group arbitration. You can only file an individual arbitration.

Ads, spam, robocalls: TRUE (-1):

“do not track” setting	email ads	robo-calls	“do not call” registry	text ads	junk mail	share your data
ignored	yes					yes

You can opt out.

• If they sell their company, your personal data is part of the deal.

Lying and deception: False (+1):

None found.

Chicanery: TRUE (-1):

• “There is limited availability and this 50% OFF REGULAR PRICE OFFER may be taken down at any moment!”
• “Stock is extremely limited: Sell Out Risk: HIGH”
• On the way to the order form, a progress bar creeps along while the website pretends to search warehouses for braces.
• Terms are a staggering 18 pages long (8,349 words), with passages in hard-to-read upper case. “IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU REVIEW THIS DOCUMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY BEFORE ACCESSING, USING OR BUYING ANY PRODUCT THROUGH THE WEBSITE.”

Phony reviews: TRUE (-1):

“It gives me all of the support needed until I get into PT for the foot!” says verified purchaser Art G., who looks just like City Editor Kyle Faulkiner of the British Journal. He gives the identical review in Brace Warrior, but there he’s a verified purchaser named Steven B.

Crummy Product: Undetermined (0):

• From Amazon: “Had some trouble figuring out how to put it on there were no instructions. Did not fit my wife who it was for and I got it on but did not like the fit. It was returned.”
• “A complete mystery.”

Overpriced: TRUE (-1):

Seller	item	Rated	price
Fitnus Brace	Fitnus knee brace		$40
Amazon	Fitnus knee brace	****	$20

Bad service: False (+1):

I found no complaints.

Total score: -2

Unauthorized charges: I found no complaints about this.

Advice: You can make your knee worse by wrongly using a brace. See a doctor.

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Finagled by Fitnus eWatch

“… does everything you’d want it to do, with an easy-to-use interface, and a sweet price.“

“I didn’t expect all that much and was still extremely disappointed.”

I hate scammers who victimize seniors, particularly when they’re hawking a medical product. Yet see how cool and objective I am. I don’t need anger; facts will do the job just fine.

August 1, 2021: There may be nothing illegal or wrong with the following business practices.  But they suggest to me that the seller is not to be trusted. I’m using my Trustworthy scoring system; -1 means true (bad), +1 means false (good), and 0 means undetermined.  I penalize the seller for statements made by shills.

Suspicious location: TRUE (-1):

Contact information for Fitnus eWatch seller Bazaar Innovations LLC:

Address: Fitnus eWatch | 162 Rancho Santa Fe Road E70, #495 | Encinitas CA 92024
Email: support@fitnus.com
Phone: 1-800-311-1794

It’s just a mailbox. I was looking for a facility dedicated to the vendor and located in the US.

Ridiculous claims:  TRUE (-1):

“Why are [smart watches] so expensive? … Huge tech company expenses and salaries (including the billionaires that own them).”

Onerous terms: TRUE (-1):

• They don’t consider your order “accepted” until they ship your watch.
• You can return the watch within 30 days of receiving it. The huge Terms and Conditions document says nothing of rules about the watch’s condition or how to package it for shipping.
• You can’t sue them, join a class action suit or a group arbitration. You can only file an individual arbitration case.

Ads, spam, robocalls:  TRUE (-1):

• They’ll collect all the personal information you enter, plus everything they can suck out of your browser, ignoring “Do not track” settings.
• They’ll spam you; you can opt out.
• Altho telemarketing isn’t mentioned in the Privacy Policy, the Better Business Bureau has a complaint about telemarketing by Bazaar Innovations.
• They’ll share your personal data with other companies that will do the same.
• If they sell their company, your personal data is part of the deal.

Lying and deception:  Undetermined (0):

“Fitnus was invented by a tech startup with smart engineers …” How frustrated the smart engineers must feel, unpacking crates of Chinese watches when they could be building something. But I couldn’t find this watch in the Alibaba catalog, so I’m cutting Fitnus some slack here.

Chicanery:  TRUE (-1):

• “Low Stock Alert: The company extended 50% off Fitnus until their current stock runs out. The watch has gone viral, and the 50% off will be shut down in a matter of days, if not hours. Get your Fitnus for $49.95 now.”
• “There is limited availability and this 50% OFF REGULAR PRICE OFFER may be taken down at any moment!”
• My trip to the order form involves a dramatic pause while I watch an animated progress bar; “Checking if you qualify for special offers.”
• “Stock is extremely limited: Sell Out Risk: HIGH.’
• The Terms and Conditions are a crushing 18 pages (8,349 words). They’re padded with long, repetitive explanations. Large portions are in hard-to-read upper case. “IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU REVIEW THIS DOCUMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY BEFORE ACCESSING, USING OR BUYING ANY PRODUCT THROUGH THE WEBSITE.”

Phony reviews: TRUE (-1):

• Websites with both an “advertorial” disclaimer and reviews fail this test; they’ve already admitted that they made up the reviews.
• “Overall a good product, together with the app it is useful for fitness tracking. I’m testing the blood O2 meter and it requires the watch to be on tight for reliable measurements,” writes Andre, who is clip art.

Crummy product:. Undetermined (0).

Amazon customers gave Fitnus 2.7 / 5 stars.

• “This fitness tracker is a joke. Tried 2 and neither one worked longer than 6 days. Too cheap. I should have known better.”
• “I received one as a gift. It does not want to connect to the app after the first 15 minutes. There seems to be nowhere to get help with it either.”
• “Mostly unusable without the related app and mine would not connect to the app. You have to connect and disconnect the wristband to recharge the device and the wristband is not very secure to begin with. Seems just a matter of time before it will become too loose and fail. The display is less than ideal and the button that cycles through the various modes requires you to toggle through one mode at a time to get the one you want. It’s also unevenly responsive and sometimes sticks in one mode even with repeated presses of the button. Turning it on and off is also problematic. The “manual’ seems to have been written by someone for whom English was not a first language and does not always match what the device shows or does. I didn’t expect all that much and was still extremely disappointed.”

Overpriced: False (+1):

Fitnus wants $50 for a watch. They’re selling two watches for $90 on Amazon, $45 each, so you could save a little money there. Amazon carries other smart watches priced from $20 to $400.

Bad service: Undetermined (0):

• The Better Business Bureau rates Bazaar Innovations B+. The sole rater there gave them 1 / 5 stars. “I had a dead battery and would not charge. I called they only wanted to give me *** refund when the total amount was ******* The person on the phone had very poor understanding of the English language. I emailed and got no response as well. Looks like the newest in scams to hit seniors. “Send defective merchandise then charge a restocking fee of ******”
• From Amazon: “They said my watch was defective but will not refund the money and I can’t seem to get anywhere asking about them replacing it as they said they would.”

Total score: -5

Unauthorized charges: I found no evidence of this.

Advice: Don’t.

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Bloopers:

• Fitnus says “Smartwatches are a $5 BILLION dollar industry.” But according to Allied Market Research, “The global smartwatch market was valued at $20.64 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $96.31 billion by 2027 …”