I had the exact same experience when i contacted support about my right crank power meter eating batteries
I contacted them about 3 weeks ago about a replacement door for my right sided PM. No reply.
I remove the battery after each ride. If I leave it in, it will have drained by the next morning…
They’re probably snowed under with all the shimano crank recall stuff too
Bit sketchy since we’ve seen similar comments in other threads for months… and I’m still receiving regular emails about sales of their stuff (just got the BF $2k SB20 email days ago).
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I’ve also been seeing similar comments on reddit for months. I’m curious if @gpl or @dcrainmaker know anything about it, if you have any connections there?
I guess one could say that their support is currently in the … denial stage … for providing support? (I couldn’t resist)
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Not my experience. I tried contacting them three times earlier this year, and got nothing. I posted that here and was told to ‘give them time’. How much time?
Now that my crankset is going back to Shimano, I’m really considering going with a different company, or just not using one any longer. If I can;t get them to respond to a technical issue, why the hell would I want to risk being stuck with a replacement on my replaced Shimano crank to be denied support later. I had the Powertap C1 chain ring power meter, and was completely shutout after they were sold. Like the door for support closed the day after the purchase closed. Once bitten? Yeah, the silent treatment has been going on for quite a while.
Anyone live near their HQ? Can someone take a drive-by and see if there are people still there?
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And I’ve been thinking of buying an SB20. Yeah, not as dire as buying a new Peloton, but maybe actually worse? Yikes…
Former employee here. They’re circling the drain. COVID wrecked their world. They have 2 people doing customer support when we used to have a team of 12.
Quote from Stages thread on Reddit…
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If that’s true, it would explain a lot. I’ve had stages products for years, and while I haven’t contacted them in the last 2 years, their support was a huge asset - they were very responsive, knowledgeable, personal, and pragmatic. Part of why I stayed with them over multiple bikes in the last 8 years. So sad.
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How did Covid hurt them? Seemed like most exercise equipment manufacturers thrived during Covid.
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@Pbase,
You don’t have to look too deeply into any part of the cycling/outdoor industry/economy as a whole to see how a short lived “Covid Boom” isn’t all upsides…
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So COVID didn’t ruin them, post-COVID did? I’m genuinely curious what he had to say about what happened to Stages.
I have an SB20 and almost never ride it anymore. I prefer my Kickr 99% of the time. if I had a way to toss the SB20 into my dumpster, I probably would. It’s not simply that I find the power meters to be inaccurate (they are), but frankly I think the pedal-feel is mush and ERG ‘snappy-ness’ is lousy.
p.s. I did get a new right side crank about 6 months after purchase; it didn’t help anything and the customer service delay was abysmal.
Are you all based in the US by any chance? In Europe everything seems to be working fine. I’ve been in contact with them a few times and I’ve only got positive things to say. Quick to respond every time.
My guess is the pay is shit and making people work CS in an office.
I just ordered a crankarm based power meter and it shipped quickly.
I am US.