Complaint Review: Specialty Fitness

I purchased a new elliptical from “Specialty Fitness.” It was an “Octane Model 3700 which is a commercial model, designed for continuous use 24 hours per day in a fitness center. I was willing to pay extra for quality & durability. The Octane Ellipticals are NEITHER. This unit also came with a written five-year warranty. After a few weeks of use (20 minutes/day three times/week) the electronics on the arm lever stopped working. The store sent a technician to my house to replace it. He replaced it with a much-thinner arm lever. The store later sent me the right size lever which I installed myself after purchasing a special wrench. The electronics still do not work properly. When the elliptical was four years old, the wheels started to squeak & a representative at “Specialty Fitness” told me the company upgraded the wheels due to numerous similar complaints. At first, I was told the two replacement wheels would cost $200.00 & the two visits from their technician would cost another $250.00 (one visit to “diagnose” the problem & a second visit to replace the wheels - $125.00 for each visit). I contacted the manufacturer (Octane) & reminded them that the warranty on their commercial elliptical was FIVE years, not three years. I also explained that my elliptical has only seen two or three weeks of actual use (the machine keeps track of use time on the on-board display). After more arguing, the wheels were replaced under warranty - a job which took less than five minutes. While replacing the wheels, a large retaining screw broke & the technician ordered replacement screws which took several weeks to arrive. When the machine was five years old and has seen only fifteen hours of use, the display stopped working properly. I contacted “Specialty Fitness” again & I was told that the battery needed replacing & it would cost around $150.00, plus $250.00 for the two visits - one visit to look at it & a second visit to replace the battery. The manual states “The Octane commercial ellipticals are designed for constant, hard use.” Yeah....provided you are willing to pay for constant repairs. The Octane fitness products are obviously made with cheap materials & their fitness equipment is overpriced. My elliptical cost over $4,000.00 and it needs frequent repairs after only 15 hours of use. When repairs are needed, “Specialty Fitness” will be sure to rip you off on the replacement parts as well as their $125.00 cost for each visit. Two visits will always be required....one to “diagnose” & one to repair - that’s $250.00 before any parts are replaced.” The sales representative at “Specialty Fitness” actually told me he thought that was reasonable. I would not recommend doing any business with “Specialty Fitness” and I would not recommend buying any Octane fitness equipment.