It’s easy to complain about poor service and people take to social media to rant at the first sign of things going wrong, but too often we’re slow to congratulate companies on excellent customer service.
In July I went for a trail run (it’s great cross-training and a good way to get out onto the mountain if you’re pressed for time) in the Newlands Forest and somewhere on the run, my Garmin Footpod slipped its bindings and fell off. Despite noticing near the end of the run and turning back to look for it and then going back after cross-referencing my Strava and Garmin Connect data I couldn’t find it. So I got in touch with Garmin for a replacement.
Now purchasing the footpods separately is a pricey affair, when comparing the cost of the heart-rate monitor, watch, footpod bundle price. So I was hoping Garmin had a replacement price or policy. Michelle Hohls, the Garmin Brand Communication Manager, came to my rescue.
She offered me a free replacement and shipped it off while I was still dithering over the ethics of accepting the offer. Now whether Garmin would do the same for a non-media affiliated customer I don’t know. But the amazing speed at which they resolved the replacement was exemplary. And I’d like to think that they’d do the same for you!
While we’re on the topic of Garmin, I’d like to recommend a few of their products. If you’re looking for a cost effective way of keeping tabs on your training with a heart-rate monitor I’d strongly recommend the Garmin FR70. At R1 699 (from Garmin.co.za) it is the best value for money heart rate package available in South Africa currently. Before I purchased mine I did extensive research. The FR70 package contains the heart-rate monitor, strap, watch, footpod and Ant+ synchronising usb stick. The watch has the memory capacity to hold 20 odd workouts, and you can synchronise your workouts to the Garmin Connect online platform to save your data for posterity, or later analysis. It also features bike, run or general activity modes and when combined with the Garmin Connect analysis platform it provides a wealth of data to scientifically plan your training. The FR70 is also compatible with Garmin’s cycling Speed/Cadence sensor, which you can purchase as an extra for R709.
Another great Garmin product for training on a budget (if you can’t afford one of the Edge series bike specific GPS’s) is the Forerunner 15. It’s an affordable GPS running watch aimed at keeping you motivated by tracking distance, pace, calories, personal records, and heart rate. It’s ideal for those of you who don’t like to take a smart phone along on a ride, so you’ve been missing out on the wonders of GPS based tracking apps. The Garmin Forerunner 15 bundle comes with a heart-rate monitor, strap and GPS watch, which retails for R2 449 from Garmin.co.za.
If you’ve got a story of great customer service form a company in the bike or fitness industry to tell drop me a mail to sussed@fullsus.co.za so we can thank the company involved.
