waterinthefuel
Commander
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2003
- Messages
- 2,728
After seeing Mark's post, it reminded me to post something about true customer service.
I bought a Stamina exercise bike about this time last year. I ride it 3 times a week, 30 minutes a day.
I noticed when I bought this bike their was a tiny tear in the seat cushion. I called the company and asked what to do, they said a seat would be here in 2 days. They weren't kidding. That was my first positive experience.
After several months I'd noticed that it wasn't smooth anymore, it would ka-thunk......ka-thunk as you would ride it.
I emailed the company 3 weeks before the warranty ended and the lady said that there was a 90 day parts warranty (it had a 1 year frame warranty) and that it sounded like the belt. I took the case apart and sure enough, the belt was shredded!! I emailed her back and told her I knew about the 90 day warranty, but that something was shredding this belt, as belts on cars go 30000 miles with 300 horses behind them. She replied with the part number and said I'd need to order a new belt. Ugh.
I ordered a belt, and right after she emailed me back and said they are looking into the problem, and in the meantime she will send a belt free of charge. Hey, that's not too bad! She credited my card and a new belt was here in a couple of days. I installed it and it was smooth as silk, for about a week. I noticed that it was still smooth, but not as smooth as a week ago. Something was still very wrong.
I cracked open the case again and low and behold, the bottom was once again filled with tiny filings of belt and the belt was showing wear on the edges. I emailed her back, a month later, and told her that this belt was doing the same thing. She replied and said she had emailed their engineer and she would get back with me as soon as possible.
The next day I get an email from her saying that the engineer would like the bike back and that they are offering me an upgrade to the next higher priced magnetic recumbant bike for free!! It just happens to be twice the price I paid for the original bike! I just have to pack up the old bike in the new bike's box when it arrives, and they will arrange for pickup!!! This is AFTER the warranty had completely expired!
She told me that they are having issues with this particular model and they can't pin down why. I told her that I looked and everything looked fine, but maybe the belt was too fat for the application, but I am just guessing. She agreed, it has everybody stumped.
I have to say that this is a good company that accepts that one model has a flaw and is willing to satisfy the customer in order to make sure it doesn't happen again. I had to be the squeaky wheel, but they certainly bent over backwards to help me. I've never had this kind of customer service before. I'm currently awaiting the new bike to arrive, as it was shipped out on Wednesday.
And in defense of even the flawed model, other than the belt issue and the tiny tear in the seat it has worked flawlessly. The electronics haven't missed a beat and the fit and finish of the bike is great and remains great. It's ashame I have to give it up, as its a comfy bike, it just eats belts.
www.staminaproducts.com
I bought a Stamina exercise bike about this time last year. I ride it 3 times a week, 30 minutes a day.
I noticed when I bought this bike their was a tiny tear in the seat cushion. I called the company and asked what to do, they said a seat would be here in 2 days. They weren't kidding. That was my first positive experience.
After several months I'd noticed that it wasn't smooth anymore, it would ka-thunk......ka-thunk as you would ride it.
I emailed the company 3 weeks before the warranty ended and the lady said that there was a 90 day parts warranty (it had a 1 year frame warranty) and that it sounded like the belt. I took the case apart and sure enough, the belt was shredded!! I emailed her back and told her I knew about the 90 day warranty, but that something was shredding this belt, as belts on cars go 30000 miles with 300 horses behind them. She replied with the part number and said I'd need to order a new belt. Ugh.
I ordered a belt, and right after she emailed me back and said they are looking into the problem, and in the meantime she will send a belt free of charge. Hey, that's not too bad! She credited my card and a new belt was here in a couple of days. I installed it and it was smooth as silk, for about a week. I noticed that it was still smooth, but not as smooth as a week ago. Something was still very wrong.
I cracked open the case again and low and behold, the bottom was once again filled with tiny filings of belt and the belt was showing wear on the edges. I emailed her back, a month later, and told her that this belt was doing the same thing. She replied and said she had emailed their engineer and she would get back with me as soon as possible.
The next day I get an email from her saying that the engineer would like the bike back and that they are offering me an upgrade to the next higher priced magnetic recumbant bike for free!! It just happens to be twice the price I paid for the original bike! I just have to pack up the old bike in the new bike's box when it arrives, and they will arrange for pickup!!! This is AFTER the warranty had completely expired!
She told me that they are having issues with this particular model and they can't pin down why. I told her that I looked and everything looked fine, but maybe the belt was too fat for the application, but I am just guessing. She agreed, it has everybody stumped.
I have to say that this is a good company that accepts that one model has a flaw and is willing to satisfy the customer in order to make sure it doesn't happen again. I had to be the squeaky wheel, but they certainly bent over backwards to help me. I've never had this kind of customer service before. I'm currently awaiting the new bike to arrive, as it was shipped out on Wednesday.
And in defense of even the flawed model, other than the belt issue and the tiny tear in the seat it has worked flawlessly. The electronics haven't missed a beat and the fit and finish of the bike is great and remains great. It's ashame I have to give it up, as its a comfy bike, it just eats belts.
www.staminaproducts.com