Troul and
Koyote , totally appreciate the replies.
1. I never, ever mind being told "no, those are the rules." Multiple times - from initial product reg. to
each of the two tickets I carefully mentioned the gap between purchase and unboxing. I did this not only because I do not want what I shouldn't have, but also because I know there are many iterations of the CORE.
2. It seems people missed where I said I wanted a simple back/forth problem-solve. I didn't tell them to send me a new flywheel - I suggested that I didn't require a whole, brand new trainer to feel OK about things. I was super nice about it.
3. In fact, I was super nice until the moment I got an email asking for a half dozen things to be done 'now.' Purchase record? Sure. But being told to provide a photo of the original receipt? C'mon, man. (Aside: I suggested that if this was important, they should ask for it when one registers one's product.
Since you are basically compelled to do so on your phone (bcos firmware update), you could request customers photo the receipt 'as part of the process.')
Much more to the point the
other stuff in the email indicated failure to read the ticket (I was asked to "photograph all rust" when the ticket mentioned DUST), and were time wasters (please describe history of use). Had it been a 15 minute request I'd have felt better.
Without cutting/pasting, I'll also say the tone of the email was disconcertingly unpleasant.
4. My own attitude was fine. I know myself; I'm super-capable of pointing out when I rhyme with 'sick.' Expressing disappointment can be done without getting personal or accusatory.
5. Interesting point about my sanity vs. their process. I see both sides, and used to be part of a large business unit where we sold software to the public. Inevitably a lot of folks didn't follow directions and caused themselves heartache. My view on that has always been "if we can reasonably help them feel better, why not do it?"
Really, all I wanted was the
exact same "what's going on?" that was provided by their other rep when I was confuzzled about the initial firmware update. It was easy-peasy, all my fault due to misunderstanding the directions, and no biggie.
Which makes #5 (thanks
Koyote ) the real issue here: I agree that my sanity doesn't supercede their process, but c'mon, design a process that involves saying "what's happening?" I was actually weirded out how immediately they just wanted to replace the trainer.
berner Y'all got a weird metaphor but it works, in a way. I've had direct interaction with Shimano (awesome), Garneau (humiliated myself and THAT one was ALL my fault), SRAM (great), Specialized (corporate but fine, lol) and LBS's and co-ops. And REI's bike shop locally, FWIW. I like these people, and really feel like anything I get without a price tag is "extra."
In fact, I'd be willing to pay if not covered under warranty, and said so. It's not about money, it's just about helping me solve an issue - or, in Koyote's phrasing, not 100% forcing me into your business process.