Andrew Shadow
Site Supporter
My brother-in-law has a 20S communicator that is three years old. It no longer works. It turns on and then immediately turns off even when it is plugged in. It started this without any other symptoms and without any warning. It simply went from working perfectly to not working. We tried all of the reset/reboot procedures, recharging, etc.. It turns on, flashes the red light a couple of times and turns itself off. Even though it is three years old we are in a winter climate and have a shortened riding season here so the time that it could have actually been in use over those three years is only eighteen months. He only uses it when we ride together because I am the only other person he knows who has a communicator. We generally only use it on trips- we don't bother on day rides around here. I know for a fact that it has not been used more than a dozen times. It still looks like new, has never been abused or dropped and he has always kept the battery fully charged even during the winter months.
I submitted a claim to Sena on his behalf knowing that it was past the two year warranty period. I did so because we find it absolutely unacceptable that a unit that is sold at such a premium price should catastrophically fail with such extremely little usage. We wanted to see what Sena would do about it and fully expected that they would do something.
First complaint is that it took Sena over a week to even respond to the first contact.
Second complaint is that they would not even consider the claim- they rejected it out-of-hand simply because the warranty period had expired. I understand that the warranty that was agreed to as part of purchasing the unit had expired but there should be considerations made based on circumstance. A communicator as expensive as this one, that has hardly been used, should not be rendered useless so quickly. Sena should stand behind their product a little better than this if they are going to charge such premium prices.
Third complaint- after they refused the claim I asked where they had a repair facility that it could be sent to to have it repaired. According to them they don't have any repair facilities themselves or any authorized repair facilities anywhere in the world. They only replace units. With the price that they sell these things for why don't they? I am not sure that I believe this. They also sell refurbished units. If they don't have any repair facility where do the refurbished units come from? After learning this we were really angry as this means there is no customer support from them at all.
Fourth complaint is that they don't seem to believe to much in customer loyalty. Again, I understand that the warranty had expired but if you are not going to offer a means to have post warranty products that you sell for top dollar repaired then some circumstances should allow a little discretion to make the situation right. It took many emails back and forth with me having to be persistent before they finally gave in and agreed to offer him a discount code towards a replacement unit. It was not easy though. They are very slow to respond to every email so the process drags on unacceptably long- like pulling teeth.
The problem now is that my brother-in-law is so disgusted with Sena and that fact that a unit he ponied up big dollars for because he wanted quality is now a paperweight after such little use. He is having a real hard time stomaching ponying up for Sena again even with the discount. He is looking at one of the cheap knock off units. If a cheap one dies after a short time at least he will only be out 50 or 60 bucks this time instead of many hundreds. I have a cheap chines BT-S2 (In addition to an expensive Sena) that is several years old and still works fine.
I have contacted Sena on my own behalf a couple of times with issues- mostly related to their computer software that I could not get to work and therefore I could not update my Sena unit. They never helped me with that problem either. As a matter of fact they actually gave me incorrect information meaning that the people who respond don't even know their products.
Not at all impressed with Sena.
What an unpleasant contrast to Garmin.
Anyone aware of a place that repairs Sena 20S communicators where this unit could be sent for a repair estimate?
I submitted a claim to Sena on his behalf knowing that it was past the two year warranty period. I did so because we find it absolutely unacceptable that a unit that is sold at such a premium price should catastrophically fail with such extremely little usage. We wanted to see what Sena would do about it and fully expected that they would do something.
First complaint is that it took Sena over a week to even respond to the first contact.
Second complaint is that they would not even consider the claim- they rejected it out-of-hand simply because the warranty period had expired. I understand that the warranty that was agreed to as part of purchasing the unit had expired but there should be considerations made based on circumstance. A communicator as expensive as this one, that has hardly been used, should not be rendered useless so quickly. Sena should stand behind their product a little better than this if they are going to charge such premium prices.
Third complaint- after they refused the claim I asked where they had a repair facility that it could be sent to to have it repaired. According to them they don't have any repair facilities themselves or any authorized repair facilities anywhere in the world. They only replace units. With the price that they sell these things for why don't they? I am not sure that I believe this. They also sell refurbished units. If they don't have any repair facility where do the refurbished units come from? After learning this we were really angry as this means there is no customer support from them at all.
Fourth complaint is that they don't seem to believe to much in customer loyalty. Again, I understand that the warranty had expired but if you are not going to offer a means to have post warranty products that you sell for top dollar repaired then some circumstances should allow a little discretion to make the situation right. It took many emails back and forth with me having to be persistent before they finally gave in and agreed to offer him a discount code towards a replacement unit. It was not easy though. They are very slow to respond to every email so the process drags on unacceptably long- like pulling teeth.
The problem now is that my brother-in-law is so disgusted with Sena and that fact that a unit he ponied up big dollars for because he wanted quality is now a paperweight after such little use. He is having a real hard time stomaching ponying up for Sena again even with the discount. He is looking at one of the cheap knock off units. If a cheap one dies after a short time at least he will only be out 50 or 60 bucks this time instead of many hundreds. I have a cheap chines BT-S2 (In addition to an expensive Sena) that is several years old and still works fine.
I have contacted Sena on my own behalf a couple of times with issues- mostly related to their computer software that I could not get to work and therefore I could not update my Sena unit. They never helped me with that problem either. As a matter of fact they actually gave me incorrect information meaning that the people who respond don't even know their products.
Not at all impressed with Sena.
What an unpleasant contrast to Garmin.
Anyone aware of a place that repairs Sena 20S communicators where this unit could be sent for a repair estimate?
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