Bryton buyers beware

[fandacious]

Bryton GPS are crap. In hindsight I should have got another garmin

[Cassie]

Bryton GPS are crap. In hindsight I should have got another garmin

 

What WORRIES me more is WHY there are so many sob stories about defective Brytons??? Why not an similar amount of complaints about Garmins???

 

I know now what my next product will be....definately NOT Bryton...

[Reg Lizard]

That's why we as customers are now covered by the CPA

[Christopher Brunsdon]

What WORRIES me more is WHY there are so many sob stories about defective Brytons??? Why not an similar amount of complaints about Garmins???

 

I know now what my next product will be....definately NOT Bryton...

 

Because at the price of a Garmin, more people can afford a Bryton. Perhaps if Groupon had a Garmin special for R1399 and sold hundreds we would then also get many people complaining.

[nishiki]

Thanks for the warning. Will DEFINITELY never buy into a product that has poor customer service and no integrity when it comes to backing the product. I'd rather spend more and be happy in the long run.

 

I've been looking at a few Bryton products recently and based on this I will not purchase.

[nishiki]

That's why we as customers are now covered by the CPA

It's not worth the paper it's written on. Try to use the CPA in these types of cases and you'll see. Without enforcement and act is a false promise.

 

It allows unethical scums to get away with poor service and screwing the consumer even more, since they often buy feeling they are in some way protected.

 

In this Bryton guy's defence here though, his contact details should not be available to public if he is the agent. If public calls came to me in this regard I'd politely refer the customer back to the shop where said item was purchased.

[Mike Bike]

um there are a lot of us happy with our brytons...

[divernick]

um there are a lot of us happy with our brytons...

 

Said it before and I will say it again. I'm very happy with the service and product from Bryton SA.

[Clinton - theCOW]

WoW, that's suprising that a DOA unit will not be covered under warranty. If it's visibly damaged through the packaging when you receive it (courier), don't open the unit but in-store checking the unit.

 

What would a store owner do if 25% of the stock supplied to him ends up DOA and gets told, sorry bud, it's your problem, that problem isn't covered by warranty?

 

I'm guessing there'd be fewer stores that would stock that product? 1x Brand would sink very quickly.

[Bianchi]

um there are a lot of us happy with our brytons...

Said it before and I will say it again. I'm very happy with the service and product from Bryton SA.

 

Got my notification just now that my Bryton is at the post office.... going to fetch it asafp.

Can't wait to use it.

[Stretch]

Sorry to hear about your bad service. I have had only the best service from Jason at Bryton. Well, i must also mention that i bought my Bryton Directly from them.

 

yep - so did I and have also had good service

[Frosty]

There was a similar thread comparing Garmin and some other (don't recall the name) car GPS... I made a comment that I've been through 3 Nuvi's and every time it was replaced without any questions asked.

 

One reply to my comment, said "if Garmin is so good, why would it have to be repaired/replaced"

 

That's not the point (being good), it's the after sales SERVICE that counts. It is an electronic device and can be affected by a number of factors. The fact that

 

Quality, Price, Service - pick any two

If i can afford it, I'll sacrifice PRICE.

 

For the record, have never owned anything but Garmin, so cannot comment on the rest, although i have tried using a friend's (that other car GPS)

[GLuvsMtb]

Buy your equipment from reputable dealers with good relationships with the reps and distributors. My Garmin packed up last year 2 weeks before Pioneer. I took it to the shop I bought it from (Cape Unioin Mart in Tyger Valley). I explained my predicament and asked that if Garmin is going to take longer than 2 weeks to repair I would rather use the defective unit (I could make peace with not having accurate speeds and distance, as long as my HR readings were accurate). The shop promised me a that I'd have the repaired unit by the Wednesday before the race. They phoned me the Tuesday before the race and told me that they'll give me a new one off the shelf as Garmin was not going to repair my unit in time. I thanked the store manager and he said that they'd sort it out with Garmin and that Cape Union Mart is one of the biggest retailers for Garmin, so they usually get things smoothed over. Compare this to a LBS that sells 4 units a month and the picture becomes clear.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Have to agree with Garmin service, its top notch and for me the standard to judge others by.

 

I had an old unit which needed some updates and it was making a ringing sound for no reason, took it into Garmin and they said come back tomorrow.

 

When I came to collect it the salesmen said "Sorry Sir, when we tried to open the unit it broke" and showed me the broken case. I said so what now? He grinned and pulled out a newer reconditioned Nuvi and said here, no charge.!

 

Its still working daily.

 

Since then I have bought 5 Garmins, there's been small issues, it happens, but Garmin has never wavered on sorting all of them out,.... never questioned, never queried, just good customer service.

[cowboylegs]

While I understand your issue etc. I would just like to know why in south africa, everyone thinks it is the right to contact the company or the rep for the product?? Like the rep said, the store is his customer!! if this was not the case then he would not have a job and the company would have a showroom and sell directly to the public. With that said, yes stores generally have super poor service, but by running to the rep etc justs encourages the store the behave poorly. I normally try and get hold of the MD or board of directors and will constantly email them until my issue is resolved. This in turn filters down to the employers in the store.

 

Many companies have failed with this approach, for a company to succeed end users need to buy and be happy with a product. The LBS will only buy products that end users demand!

 

This is economics 101...

[Ballistic Bike trading]

Hi Dirk,

 

Jason here the owner at Ballistic Bike Trading, I've had a look at this thread and am not sure where Quinton got his info from. He works for me and I take responsibility for his actions however an OBF (out of box failure is covered by warrantee) not sure if you have been sorted out yet but give me call on 071 878 7992 anytime so we can resolve.

 

Apologies for any inconvenience....

 

Firstly, I think the Bryton units are great and I love the brytonsport.com site. In fact brytonsport.com is what finally tripped my choice in favour to a Bryton over Garmin. But I suspect that like so many other things the local service is letting the product down.

 

So, before you buy a Bryton I think you should know these facts that the Bryton rep told me after I bought a defective unit:

1. Bryton SA does not see you the cyclist as their customer.
   

You can already make some conclusions on what level of service to expect if you are not the customer. When I asked for an apology the Bryton rep said: ”Look sir, this is you local bike shop’s problem, I don’t want to talk to you, they should be doing that. You are not my customer they are.”

1. You can buy a defective unit (broken when you open the box) that may not be replaced or repaired under the warrantee.
   

I bought the flagship Rider 50 and it was broken when I opened the box. My LBS wanted to swop it, but didn’t have any more stock so they phoned the rep and it all started. They had to send the unit to Jo’burg to test if the defect is covered, then after the test they will determine if they’ll send a replacement unit back to CT. After my LBS gave me a new unit I asked the rep outright: “Is it possible that my unit that was bought with a physical defect might not be replaced?”. The answer: “Yes, there are defects not covered by the warrantee and not all units are replaced.”

1. For any defect you can expect to be without your unit for a minimum on 1 week.
   

For a clear physical manufacturing defect on their top of the range unit I had to wait 1 week. The rep came and checked the unit, at which point I expected the replacement, but no. Once he checked it then my LBS could send it to Jo’burg. My friend sent his away and he waited 2.5 weeks for the unit to be repaired under warrantee.

 

I thought about just returning the unit and getting a Garmin, but I like the unit and everything else about the Bryton ecosystem, so I think I’ll take the risk, but if bad service makes you irate then you might wanna look around some more.

Firstly, I think the Bryton units are great and I love the brytonsport.com site. In fact brytonsport.com is what finally tripped my choice in favour to a Bryton over Garmin. But I suspect that like so many other things the local service is letting the product down.

 

So, before you buy a Bryton I think you should know these facts that the Bryton rep told me after I bought a defective unit:

1. Bryton SA does not see you the cyclist as their customer.
   

You can already make some conclusions on what level of service to expect if you are not the customer. When I asked for an apology the Bryton rep said: ”Look sir, this is you local bike shop’s problem, I don’t want to talk to you, they should be doing that. You are not my customer they are.”

1. You can buy a defective unit (broken when you open the box) that may not be replaced or repaired under the warrantee.
   

I bought the flagship Rider 50 and it was broken when I opened the box. My LBS wanted to swop it, but didn’t have any more stock so they phoned the rep and it all started. They had to send the unit to Jo’burg to test if the defect is covered, then after the test they will determine if they’ll send a replacement unit back to CT. After my LBS gave me a new unit I asked the rep outright: “Is it possible that my unit that was bought with a physical defect might not be replaced?”. The answer: “Yes, there are defects not covered by the warrantee and not all units are replaced.”

1. For any defect you can expect to be without your unit for a minimum on 1 week.
   

For a clear physical manufacturing defect on their top of the range unit I had to wait 1 week. The rep came and checked the unit, at which point I expected the replacement, but no. Once he checked it then my LBS could send it to Jo’burg. My friend sent his away and he waited 2.5 weeks for the unit to be repaired under warrantee.

 

I thought about just returning the unit and getting a Garmin, but I like the unit and everything else about the Bryton ecosystem, so I think I’ll take the risk, but if bad service makes you irate then you might wanna look around some more.