Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been a Braun user for many, many years. My teeth are fine (with the addition of a Water-Pik). I have good checkups. What I didn't like about the Braun is the high cost of brushheads. I've tried 3rd party cheaper ones and they don't last nearly as long. I also don't like the fact that the battery is not replaceable so you must buy an entire new unit when the battery dies. The other problem for me is that I used to travel with it. About 12 years ago I left it in a very nice hotel. It was never recovered so I had to buy a whole new expensive charging stand and handle. After that, when I traveled, I took a $5 drugstore toothbrush. Honestly, I'm not sure the Braun was really better and the cheap one used replaceable batteries. Along came the Quip, advertising all over my internet. I love the sleek design and travel case. I like the softer rubber brushheads. I'm not too mad about their subscription model, but it is cheaper than buying a new Braun head. They send you a new brush every 3 months, which I was buying from Braun at a much higher price, and a AAA battery. They have another plan which includes a tiny travel toothpaste tube. I get those from my dentist every 3 months, so I opted for the brushhead and battery. I chose the periwinkle blue handle, which is very pretty and matches a color in the wallpaper in my bathroom. It sticks on the mirror above the sink with double sided tape. Not sure what will happen when I want to take it on a trip. Maybe I will have to have a separate travel toothbrush. Mid-October was my 3 month anniversary and I received the replacement head and battery. the brush head pulled off with some difficulty. The motor and battery are in a tube-shaped compartment inside the handle. They have a video on their site showing how to remove the innards and replace the battery. I have taken out the motor/battery tube, but have not been able to release the battery. The video shows the model just tapping it on his other hand, and out falls the battery. This doesn't happen for me. Maybe there is something simple I'm missing. I hope another Amazon customer will read this and help me, because Quip doesn't have any decent support. I filled out my name, email and query on their site and after two days I had no response. On day 3 I sent an email to help @ getquip dot com. Within seconds I had an auto-reply, you know the one all the startups on a shoestring are using (Zendesk). with ## - Please type your reply above this line -## and a formula response. They will get back to me within 24-72 hours. I first encountered this wretched automated customer support several years ago with a hotshot bluetooth device company, whose name I can't remember, but they are now in the dustbin of tech history. This type of autosupport is designed to drag out the case until the customer absolutely despises the company and wants to smash the product to bits. Because when you sell a defective product and that defect doesn't show up until after the return time has passed, or you stretch out the interaction with the customer to be sure the return time has passed, well you've lost a customer as well as a free sales person. I'm back to using my old Braun. It still has enough battery life for now, and I have one more brushhead. Braun answers their phone. Quip has no phone number for a customer to call. I ordered and got my Welcome to Quip email on June 25, 2018. I have received 11 emails from them since then. Zendesk is a busy thing. I'm sure there is a theory behind all these emails except the one I want, which will say they are sending me a replacement or a clear explanation of the trick behind changing the battery. I will keep you posted.