Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Warranty / Service worthless I did a lot of research before I purchased my Sole E35, and one of the big issues I factored in was the warranty. My experience so far is that their warrant is worthless. On 1/17 called the tech support/warranty department in the morning and got a recording that the office was closed (okay, Saturday - understandable) but I could not leave a message because the mailbox was full (first sign of trouble). So I went online and completed a work ticket on the Sole web site. 1/20 called again and this time got a person (after a long wait on hold) -I told her I was following up on my electronic work ticket, she checked the computer and said she had no record (so much for their web site). I asked if she at least had received my warranty card (I both mailed it and completed the online form) - the Sole lady on the phone literally laughed in my face, I kid you not. She stated that they receive "thousands" of these cards and do not have time to enter them - I am not embellishing here. So I started at square one and gave her my issue (the left arm was bent and thus the left arm and leg peddle clicked and bumped). She then become professional and polite, took my information and said someone would call me in with 24 hours. 1/22 (50 hours latter) - no call, I called Sole again (forth attempt to get service) - this lady was very nice, apologized for the delay, checked the system (this time I was in there), but said they were very backed up with service calls (perhaps an indication of their quality?)- she could not give me an estimate of when they would get back to me, just promised that they would - someday. I will update this entry if Sole ever follows up, so if you are reading this and I do not have a date of follow up, it means they have not. One other point - Sole states that you can assemble their machine in "about 25-35 minutes" -In all honesty, this is another exaggeration (as other reviewers have pointed out). It is probably the same marketing person who came up with the line on their web site "With SOLE you can expect the best product, the best warranty, the best service and the best support. We will do whatever we can to help you make the most of your fitness equipment." Right now I just be happy if they returned my repeated phone calls. UPDATE: 2/11 - I had to call a couple of more times - though to be fair, they closed their office for a couple of days because of the bad ice storm. But finally got a follow up, SOLE has shipped a replacement part to me (I got it today) and I got a call from a local rep to repair my unit - they will be able to fit me in next week. Like another review, total time to get this resolved will be just around 30 days - as long as you are willing to be persistent. UPDATE: 2/14 Now Amazon.com is adding to the problem. Purchase this using their credit card 1 year interest fee promotion. When I got the first bill I noticed it was charging me interest, so I wrote an email (and thank goodness I kept a copy) on 12/28 on this problem. Customer service responded that same day and reassured me that this purchase was under this 1 year, interest free program. I just got my second bill and again saw that it was charging me interest. This time I called, got a lady who was very professional, and assured me they would fix this problem and credit me the interest charged to my account - I will not hold my breath. Can any of these companies act with any competence? Can any of these organizations deliver on what they promise online? It is getting to the point I am spending more time fixing problems about this purchase than actually using my Elliptical trainer. BTW - my Elliptical still has not been repaired. UPDATE: 2/20 - Sole repair person shows up, he is unable to repair - the flywheel is defective. Suggested I speak with Sole about just replacing my unit since the unit they sent me is defective and will require extensive rebuild. Said he was going to submit his report to Sole that he was not able to fix this band new elliptical machine Sole sent me. UPDATE: 2/23 - Call Sole warranty and advised them of the situation. I request that they send me what I paid for, a working - non defective elliptical machine. Sole advises me to go to their web site and complete a Return Authorization Request form. I do so, and within less than an hour get an email back stating "Unfortunately you will need to speak with Amazon to get a replacement for this machine. Please let us know if you have any further questions." From Cody - Cody@SoleTreadmills.com. I sent an email back asking "Why" - my warrant is with Sole, not Amazon.com - and the reason I requested that they exchange my machine now is that their warranty department has not been able to fix the machine Sole sent me after over a month (no reply as yet). I call Sole back and advised them that 1) I am reporting them to the better business bureau 2) I am updating this tread on how worthless their warranty is - and how defective their products are. 3) I am contacting Amazon.com and advise them I want to stop payment on my credit card for this product, since I have not received what I paid for - a brand new, working Elliptical Machine. 4) instead of working with Sole I am now going to spend my time searching for consumer advisory web sites to post my experience with Sole so that other customers do not get burned by this company. 5) I am going to look into a small claims court case agains Sole for for fraud to recap my $1,300 for a band new machine that does not work. Again - more proof on how worthless this warrant is -I just sent my second payment and I have yet been able to use this machine. UPDATE: 2/23 - Just followed Sole's instructions about going through Amazon.com about returning my defective machine - got this message from Amazon.com: "a restocking fee equal to 15-50% of the original purchase price will be deducted from your refund according" So Amazon.com is charging me for returning a defective product that Sole warranty's department has been unable to fix after over a month of trying to work with them in good faith. This does not take in account that this machine is very heavy and I am going to have to pay someone to help me pack it up and bring it downstairs to be shipped. I had to pay someone to bring it upstairs when it was delivered - but that was my decision. But it seems very unfair I am going to have to incur these costs because of Sole's failure to deliver what they promised in product and service. DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE from SOLE, it is a nightmare of incompetent customer service. PS - did not mention, but the left arm the Sole repair men did replace when he was here Friday, the incline control no longer works on it - so it is worse.