Sunday, March 28, 2010

How to select treadmill suitable for you?


20070108 by Tony Rix


If you need a treadmill, then you need the Sole F63 Treadmill. When you buy this treadmill, you know you are getting something that will work for life.When people complain about the treadmill being boring, it is probably because they do the same workout over and over.Running MachineIt also has the wireless heart rate control, 3 color LCD display, arm rest and incline controls to assist you during training.Each are twenty minutes long, include a warm up and cool down period, and are equally effective for runners or walkers.So no crazy videos there, where people get flung across the room by their treadmill! It is possible to change the incline on manual treadmills, but you have to get off and crank a knob in order to adjust it, then get on and start walking or running again. home treadmillMost home machines can be folded and stored away with minimal effort. The best home treadmill is not necessarily the treadmill with all the bells and whistles but the one that suits your needs and personal situation the best. Any of the above mentioned treadmills can make a great choice if you are serious about either walking or running your way to fitness. The best treadmills on the market combine an amazing and effective workout, make efficient use of space, and are affordable. Because of this, treadmill exercise equipment has remained very popular and has continued to be a top seller in the fitness equipment industry. There are a lot of choices out there and it can be difficult to filter through all of them and choose one.






After purchasing a large piece of fitness equipment from Amazon, do not move. Ever. This apparently confuses the customer service representatives and sends you on a two-month odyssey of buck-passing, missed connections, confusion, and consumer mayhem. Vu writes that he has learned this lesson the hard way. He would like Amazon to come pick the damn thing up so he can get his refund.



I ordered a treadmill from Amazon on 11.29.09. It was delivered on 12.9.09, and a week after the delivery I moved to a new place. That's when I assembled the treadmill and realized it was not working. The display was OK, the timer was counting down, but the belt was not moving. So here's what I've been doing the last couple of months..

Dec 29, 09:

I call Amazon and talk to but am told that I cannot have it replaced because I've changed my address since the delivery. I should call the manufacturer and try to get it fixed. I call Merit Fitness about 3 times but due to the high number of calls, I am asked to leave a message and am reassured that I will be contacted within 24hrs. I am not.



Late Dec - early Jan:

I keep calling.



Early Jan:

Someone finally answers. One hour on the phone explaining what is working and what's not. The representative says that they will send me some parts and have a technician in my region contact me within a week.



A couple of weeks later:

I get the parts.



Mid Jan:

I call again and get the number of the technician. I call them and we schedule an appointment.



Late Jan:

I file for half a day off work and stay at home, waiting. Nothing. I call again and am told the technician should have already stopped by. I go to the door and see a note that they were there but the bell was not working. The bell *is* working but even if it weren't, why didn't they knock? Or call? I call again and they tell me that the technician will be back later. File for another half day off work. The technician comes about an hour later and after looking at the treadmill informs me that I don't have the necessary parts. He will have Merit Fitness ship the parts and schedule a new appointment within a week.



Two weeks later:

No parts, no call. I call Merit Fitness again. They apologize but the defect is so expensive to fix that I am better off replacing it. They tell me I can just keep or throw away the old unit, and I should call Amazon to get a new one. They don't know why I wasn't informed about that earlier and had to call myself.



Feb 10, 2010:

I call Amazon and talk to I tell her I want my money back and I don't care for a replacement unit anymore. No problem, we will pick the unit up, and you will get refunded as soon as we get it. What's your new address? I give her my new address and she tells me somebody will call me back to schedule a pickup. No one ever calls me back.



Feb 15, 2010:

I call Amazon again and talk to We schedule an appointment for Sunday so I don't miss any more time from work, just ruin a weekend.



Sunday Feb 21, 2010:

I get a call from the shipping company to come out because they are at the address. I get out, but nobody's there. Call them back, turns out they went to the old address. They will give me a call back in 5 minutes. One hour later, no call. I call them and they tell me that's the address they got from Amazon. Nothing they can do about it, I should call Amazon. At this point I am pretty frustrated. I call Amazon and talk to She apologizes, it was their mistake. But still, they can't give me a refund without the item. And I cannot have the treadmill picked up the same day, so we have to reschedule.



So what's it gonna be - do I want to miss another day from work, or stay home one more weekend? I tell them it's been two months and I want my money back, I don't care how they will pick up the treadmill. Not my problem anymore. I get to talk to the manager. Then the manager's manager. Then the manager's manager's manager whose name is I tell him what I told the rest - I will leave the treadmill in front of the house. I live in the Seattle area so it rains pretty often, but it's not like it can get any more broken than it already is. So come pick it up whenever you want, then send me my money back. Doesn't sound like the manager cares too much about the item. He's OK with me just leaving it outside. I will be refunded as soon as they get it, in whatever condition it might be. So there it is now, waiting to be picked up in front of my house. It's been sunny the last couple of days so they might get lucky. I don't really care either way - just want it out of my sight at this point.



Tuesday Feb 23, 2010:

Three different people from [a local shipping company] l call me to confirm the pickup date for Wednesday between 1 and 4 pm. I explain to each of them that I will leave the item at my front door. They tell me it is fine as long as I provide a note with the item number, order number and my signature.





9 am Wednesday:

I leave the treadmill with the note attached to it (see photo) in front of my house and leave for work.



1:19 pm:

I receive a call from Amazon and they tell me that the driver couldn't pick up the item because nobody was home to sign for it. I tell her what happened. She counters back saying that the driver didn't find a note (see photo). She sounds very upset like I am trying to blame her. She asks me if I want to schedule another appointment since they can't come and pick it up the same day. I say no and end the conversation.



1:45 pm:

I take another half day off work to go home and try to handle this. I call Amazon and talk to who is supposed to transfer me to , but I get disconnected. I call again and talk to who basically tells me that it is my problem and I have to call the shipping company myself. I ask her to transfer me to She snaps at me and tells me that we are not going anywhere with this, but agrees to transfer my call.



2:00 pm:

I finally get to talk to who still remembers me from our conversation last Sunday. He tells me that I was supposed to leave the item outside, but in a dry area, where the driver can pick it up. It sounds like he wants me to build a little house for the treadmill or leave the key for my house. I tell him that we've never agreed on that. At that point he tells me to call [the local shipping company] again and schedule another pickup. I call and talk to who tells me that I can't contact them directly. They will have to call me back after Amazon enters the order to schedule the pickup. So now I am waiting to see what happens next. It's so ridiculous that it's almost entertaining.



Just to give you more background information: I have been shopping at Amazon for years and have never had any complaint before. In fact, I have never filed a complaint for anything in my life. But this is ridiculous. What do you suggest I should do?



At this point, I probably would have long ago hired my own shipping company to dump the treadmill in front of Amazon's headquarters. Otherwise, I'm fresh out of ideas. Any suggestions for Vu, Consumerist hive mind?



http://www.biofusiondesign.com/archive/have-you-ever-tried-to-get-a-refund-from-amazoncom [Biofusion Design]







Have you ever thought how cool it would be if your treadmill could take you on a virtual jog through nature so you could watch something more scenic than the gym wall while you run? Well, your day is coming.


Virtual Active, which lets you access a library of running, hiking, and biking workouts filmed live in beautiful outdoor locations, is releasing a free half hour sample of its virtual exercise experience for download on iTunes on March 1.


Virtual Active is also working with cardio equipment manufacturer Johnson Health Tech, the #4 manufacturer of cardio equipment, and The Indoorcycling Group, a leading European indoor cycling company. Johnson’s 7xe line of Matrix Cardio equipment will automatically adjust the treadmill incline to mimic the terrain in the video, adjust the speed of video playback based on the user’s running speed, and provide on-location nature audio (in the case of cardio-enabled downloads, the video would not be able to provide such interactivity). In addition, these manufacturers plan to introduce SyncStep, which will allow users to hear the sounds of their steps over the terrain as they run or walk. For example, when running on a wooded trail, the user might hear crunching leaves underfoot each time their foot hits the tread.


The company has perfected filming while running at 12-14 mph paces for smooth video playback, all shot in HD. Virtual Active will also be introducing its commercial equipment to health clubs on March 10 at the International Racquet and Sports Club Association (IHRSA) fitness trade show in San Diego.


Videos of the location-based workouts, which include Yellowstone, Yosemite, Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, and the Grand Tetons, will be sold on DVD for $19.95, as downloads for $9.95, on Blu-ray disc or as part of specially-equipped cardio equipment packages.


The company will be launching their full online store May 1, where users can downloads instructional videos by fitness professionals as well as upbeat workout tunes from music provider Rumblefish, which can be played on any iPod-compatible fitness equipment or can be burned to DVD and watched at home.


The company’s business model is a mix of software sales and manufacturing partnerships on which it is paid per unit of cardio equipment sold as well as the majority of the revenue from additional content downloads. It also has a Passport Player, a standalone web-connected media player that health clubs can install to conduct classes and would be based on a monthly subscription. In addition, it is exploring brand associations and partnerships, in which a billboard along a running route or the instructor’s fitness gear would be provided by a sponsor. I was able to view some mockups, and these opportunities are not at all intrusive to the user’s fitness experience but offer brands prominent product placement throughout the video.


Johnson Health Tech and The Indoorcycling Group also have a partnership with Livestrong that will include Virtual Active’s content for Livestrong-branded equipment.


Virtual Active was founded by John Ford, who is a runner and has also played competitive soccer, after he left his job in corporate accounting at Clorox, in 2006. The company is based in San Francisco and has 10 full-time employees. The privately held company has received $2.5 million in funding from friends and family to date. Most competitors, such as Trixter and Expresso, focus on cycling, whereas Virtual Active is focusing on the full range of cardio equipment, including mountain biking, running and hiking for treadmills and ellipticals, and steep hiking on step machines, said Ford. “By Fitting entertainment to a person’s favorite exercise and not making them change modalities,” Ford believes the market for Virtual Active is quadrupled.


While all the locations filmed are in the US, The company will be filming locations in Germany and Italy in April and Australia and New Zealand later this year. It hopes to film locations all over the world, said Ford. Ford said his goals for the company include acquiring some powerful brand partnerships, expanding the content library to cover the globe, and increasing Virtual Active’s distribution to every place screens exist in the fitness world.



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Are you determined to stay with your weight loss program, but you need to travel a lot? You will be able to run indoors which is very safe rather you are at a gym or at home. It's not something that many people are taking lightly either because they are moving forward so well on a nice treadmill. This treadmill also allows you to fold up and hide away your treadmill in order to make sure that your room is not too crowded.It also features a wide range of upgrades over the traditional treadmill like a powerful 3.0 HP motor, a good set of large rollers, a cushion flex running surface and presets that will make any workout you choose fun and challenging. walking treadmillThe company is offering life time warranty on everything except labor. It will serve you just as well and cost you thousands less.This allows for a larger user weight, and will come with a lifetime warranty against cracks or breakage.Professional gyms have been a popular choice to visit as there are expert trainers that provide classes for proper workout methods.

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