Jesse: Thanks for participating in this forum. I am curious about how these problems have been handled. Obviously this has been a bumpy new product launch for your company and as you can see from the numerous threads on this site and others, the 2.4 is starting to develop a bad reputation through word of mouth.powertap said:To be clear there is no interference issue, it is an RF power issue on the hub end of things. This is why position of the Computer is important in this particular case as the hub cannot be moved.
Despite this obviously being a unit in need of repair, I'll offer some additional experimentation ideas since you seem to be game.
Again, these aren't things that we would have the typical customer do but in the name of experimentation it could be interesting.
- Put the computer on the stem or the left part of your bar (in the photos you don't have anything there) The antenna in the computer is somewhat positional, this is why putting it in the back packet may not work so well. In addition, the computer doesn't like to be too close to humans.
- Try putting it back int he saddle pack WITHOUT anything else in it (no CO2, tube etc)
- Mount the CPU on your top tube.
Jesse Bartholomew
PowerTap Product Manager
Why didn't you guys just recall the early units? I'm assuming you can trace the RF power issue to a range of serial numbers or other identifying characteristics? Why are you letting these end up in customer hands, where they then get built into wheels and then cause an immediate poor purchase experience when they don't work? Then when we contact customer service, after explaining the problem, why are we instructed to buy new batteries instead of just shipping it back to you? Then when ultimately the new batteries and trying to "refind" the hub don't work, why are we expected to ship the wheel back on our dime, when it's your quality problem? And instead of immediately shipping me a new, working unit, I have to go without any data for 2 weeks or so until you repair the original unit and send it back to me. I dropped $1500, why am I being inconvenienced?
I read all about Saris' supposedly great customer service, and while your people are pleasant enough to deal with, I find your process completely lacking. I know all the things I mention above cost money for Saris to do, but for most of us, the $1500 we spent on this is the largest cycling investment we have other than the bike itself. We chose your product over an Ergomo, and most of us could even afford an SRM if we really wanted to. I can't believe we are being treated as if we bought a malfunctioning $20 light.
Not to dump on you personally, I'm sure these are all management decisions...