Ode to a Treadmill

So I got this great idea right before Christmas. Ryleigh was working at Joe's Outdoors and was able to get 30% off with her employee discount, even if something was on sale. We all could use a workout and I thought why not get a treadmill. We found one with a pretty good motor, an Ipod dock and even a built in fan. We thought this is the one and asked Roo to buy it. It was December 23rd. They had one in the stock room, but it was buried in the back so I said we would pick it up after Christmas. We (meaning Ray and Fran) picked it up on Friday. It was quite heavy. At the store they noticed a tear in the box but didn't think anything of it. Upon further inspection we noticed that the treadmill was damaged. We didn't have time to deal with it then because we were taking Ryleigh to Utah. She called the store and they said "no problem." They ordered a new one and we would pick it up when we got back.

We got back on Saturday and picked up the new one on Monday. Ray and Fran have sore backs by now. I spent all morning putting it together only to realize that the bar that turns the belt was broken. I called Joe's and told them. The manager asked me what I wanted to do. I asked if he could order a new one and have it delivered - for free - since Ray and Fran were getting tired of carrying the dumb thing. No problem. He said it would be Saturday before they would get one in and probably Monday before they had a truck to deliver. By this time my patience is being tested.

On Thursday Joe's called and said that they got the treadmill in and asked if they could deliver it. Sure! Ten minutes later they called back and said "sorry this one is damaged by a forklift." My only thought was "your kidding!" That was the third one. Okay, fine. They found another one in a nearby warehouse said they thought they could get it by Saturday. Keep in mind this is now January 8th. On Saturday, January 10th, they called and said they were on their way.
It was cold, but they picked up the old one and brought the new box it. I insisted they stay to open the box to make sure it was okay. You are not going to believe this but THERE WAS NO CONSOLE IN THE BOX! That is like buying a car and not having a dashboard. We laughed and he gave me the console off the old machine.

I proceeded to put it together and when I finally got it finished, I turned it on. It did not work.
The incline worked; the fan worked; the speakers for the Ipod worked; the belt did not work. I sat down and almost cried. I called Joe's and told them. They told me they would take it back and give me a different brand. The other brand did not have the same features and I wanted this one. So, I called the company in Utah. It was Saturday and their hours are Monday through Friday. Then, I went to their web site and explained everything.

On Monday, I called the company and was on hold for several minutes until a recording came on telling me to leave a call back number. I did. That night we were watching the new episode of 24 and the phone rang. It was an 800 number so we did not answer it. It was the treadmill company. UGH!

I called them back the next day and got the recording again. It is now the 14th of January. I called again. I got a real person. I explained all of the above, he had me run a test on the treadmill and he told me the circuit board to the motor was bad. He was sending me a new one and instructions on how to put it in.

I got it today, the 21st of January. It has almost been a month. I let the circuit board warm up to room temperature and then I put it in. Guess what!!!!! IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!!

I don't know. I think I am not supposed to work out. I will call the company again tomorrow and then I am going to throw the dumb thing out the window and shoot it.

I will let you know the name of the company if I don't get some satisfaction tomorrow.