Sometimes we (me included) are quick to complain when we have an issue with a product. I’m just evening out the Karma here.
My Powertap head unit developed a glitch recently. After about a month of use, the LCD display just went bad in a couple places – nothing fatal, just a line of graphics here and there. I called Saris customer service. They told me to hang onto my head unit until they can get me a new one, which they said would ship in a day or two. They didn’t ask for proof of purchase, where I bought it, a credit card deposit – nothing. They did ask whether I had dropped it, but when I said “no”, they took my word for it. This is a company I’ll do business with again.
Considering how many of these things, and other items as far as that goes, that fly around on ebay second and third hand sales it must make it very difficult for companies with products like this. I had a similar experience with their customer service. I had purchased a sl 2.4 (my second; one for race wheels and one for training wheels) and when it came it had the wrong cap on the hub. Simply called and they fired a new cap immediately out to me. Only asked if I had purchased the unit off of ebay.
I’m very happy with my PT, but I am pretty paranoid about their reliability. My take is that their business model is to have an un-robust product and a stellar returns/repair department.
Even though their service department was great, I wasn’t super psyched that I had to send back my new PT after 2 months to have the hub replaced, at the cost of $30 and 10 days downtime.
There’s been a few complaints on their reliability. Which is very strange. You either get lucky and your unit operates correctly or unlucky and your unit malfunctions. Which I agree doesn’t lead to a great business model. It would get quite annoying to have to send your unit back multiple times for fixes. Understandable frustration.