The Fitbit Charge displays the time, your number of steps, distance traveled, calories burned, and floors climbed. (Daniel Bean/Yahoo Tech)

Earlier this fall, Fitbit announced its latest line of smartphone-compatible exercise bands, the most basic of which is a fitness tracker named the Charge.

A lot is riding on this little band. It’s the first Fitbit product to come out since the company recalled a similar item for its tendency to give people nasty rashes. As you can imagine, this was not good for a business that recommends that you wear its product 24/7.

So the $130 Charge is not only supposed to be an exercise band that notifies you of phone calls, counts your steps, and tracks your sleep. It is also supposed to not irritate your skin.

The Fitbit Charge did notify me of my phone calls, count my steps, and track my sleep. Unfortunately, it did irritate my skin.

View photos Rash from Fitbit Charge More

Though it was nothing serious, the Fitbit Charge made my skin red and itchy. (Alyssa Bereznak/Yahoo Tech)

The Charge irritated my wrist so much that I scratched at it throughout the entire week and a half that I wore it. As a result, I developed a mild, unsightly rash. Although the whole thing was too minor to see a dermatologist, it most definitely made me not want to wear it. Just to make sure it wasn’t a figment of my imagination, I took it off for a day. The redness went away. I put it back on. The redness returned.

View photos Fitbit Charge More

The Charge’s default setting keeps its OLED screen powered off when not in use. (Daniel Bean/Yahoo Tech)

Asked whether Fitbit knew of this issue, here’s what James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit, told Yahoo Tech:

“Fitbit takes every complaint very seriously, and we have also been in contact with the handful of Charge users (out of the tens of thousands sold) who have reported redness or skin irritation after wearing the product.” A representative later told me the company didn’t have specific details about these complaints.

After publishing this piece, I received a tip from an anonymous Fitbit user who has experienced rash issues with the Force. The message linked to a short Google Doc filled with posts about and pictures of Charge-induced rashes. Here’s a quick sample of the kind of complaints it contained.

View photos

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