Don't save $5 / get an answer for free

  You wouldn't hire the guy standing on the freeway offramp to fix your treadmill at any price, no matter how much cheaper he was, so don't let $$ be your guide in choosing a treadmill service company.

  When you call us, (a person will answer, none of this push # for department A nonsense) we will take a brief service history and what is happening with your treadmill, and if possible, an estimate of what the cost to repair it might be.

310.489.0200 310-773-3GYM 888-GYM-REPAIR

  Typically, this will just be the cost of the service call. We don't charge extra once we get there to fix it- (some "services" do) an hour of labor is included, as are any repairs with basic parts, including screws, nuts, bolts, wires, lubricant, (please DO NOT try to lubricate it yourself, more often than not this causes problems and can even ruin your treadmill / elliptical / other exercise equipment if you use the wrong kind or spray it in the wrong place) etc.

  We can even walk you through some simple tests to see if your equipment is a good candidate for repair to save you the cost of a service call.

310.489.0200 310-773-3GYM 888-GYM-REPAIR

  You can email us if you have pictures of the machine, malfunction, etc., but a follow-up call is recommended to alert us that the email is there before it gets crowded off the first page due to other incoming emails, especially during the busy season of October through March. 

  If you emailed and are not called back within 24 hours, it's a safe guess that your email either didn't get to us (everything breaks, including the internet) or it was not seen. Please call us and we'd be happy to help you.

  If all of our phone representatives are busy helping people, please leave a message and we will call you back as soon as possible, usually within 1 hour.

310.489.0200 310-773-3GYM 888-GYM-REPAIR

  If you have the Brand, Model Number or Name, and/or Serial Number, that's helpful, but not always absolutely necessary. All treadmills operate on similar basic principles, so if all you know is what noise it is making or what problem you're having with it, we will know what is wrong with it, or what the possibilities of what is wrong with it are.

  We would need the Model / Serial Number to provide an accurate quotation for parts, some Model Names are used for up to 7 years, and may have 2-7 iterations with different parts.

  We are happy to give a ballpark estimate if you don't have the Model / Serial Number, so don't let that stop you from calling if you don't have them right at hand. Sometimes there is only 1 version of a Brand / Model / Serial, so we can quote just from the Model name.

Here is the most important part of "Treadmill Tricorder" for those who missed it while it was in the Google Play Market;

the matrix chart of how often your treadmill should be serviced depending on where it is, (house, garage, etc.) how often and how hard/fast it is used, etc.;

No more "Professionalism University" in our blog...

So it's come to my attention that our competitors have been reading our blog for clues on how to be professional, so we've deleted all those posts that would be helpful to them- we'd love to tell you all the ways we're better than them, but it's much more effective to simply pick up the phone and experience it.

310-489-0200 310.489.0200 or 888-GYM-REPAIR

Best, Eric

A surprisingly important component of exercise equipment maintenance especially for strength units; DONT peel off model/serial # stickers!!!!

Also save your original receipt and owners manual, if only a picture/copy/scan of it.

An excellent way to do this is to email it to yourself using Google's gmail "boomerang" feature, which will present you with a copy yearly and remind you it's time to service your machine!    

Just take a picture and send it to yourself with yearly repetition selected.

Helping people vs. getting credit for helping people or why you can't always reach the person you want instantly

So yesterday I spent 3 hours on the phone with a French treadmill manufacturer to figure out why we got the wrong part for a client who has been to the emergency room 3 times in the last month with heart arrhythmia, which  meant at least one customer couldn't reach me for an extended period.

Fortunately, she's experienced two other lackluster company's performance and do-nothing "repairmen" who told her nothing was wrong with her machine before we got there and did the delicate, difficult job of adjusting it so it would be quiet during use, so she knows we care about her and genuinely want to help her as we do all our customers, and so assumed there was a good reason we weren't calling back immediately.

That kind of patience and understanding puts her at the tippy top of our list of favorite people...

And keeps her off the list of people we decline as clients. People don't usually get more reasonable, so if they start off that way, it's a very real possibility we'll decline them as clients at the first phone call.

So if you call and can't reach the person you spoke with last time, or can't get through to someone immediately, AND don't get a call back within an hour, it's usually because; you didn't leave us your phone # or email or whatever, or it didn't reach us, or you have a bad cell phone or bad connection and the message you left is garbled / unintelligible, (right up there with death and taxes, the other thing were sure of is that EEEEEEVERYTHING breaks down, including our high tech phone system, we know this all too well) or we don't have a useful answer from the manufacturer about when that part will be here, or (very often) we're currently on the phone trying to solve your problem already.

We can't fix the fact that the world is an imperfect place, that backorders happen, that manufacturers are unresponsive or out of business, but we do our best to help you every day, including when we basically ask you not to give us money by honestly assessing how much it will cost to repair your equipment and often recommending buying a new one if you can, and doing our best to fix it affordably if you can't.

The good news is we're honest treadmill repairmen who love helping people. The bad news is the world still isn't perfect.

How to tell if you're talking to a FAKE treadmill repairman

How to tell if you're dealing with a FAKE treadmill repairman;

1. No one in the office (there is no office) ever answers the phone.

2. If they do answer the phone, they don't sound or act professional.

3. You have to email him (several times, in some cases, as much as 20 times) to make an appointment.

4. He promises to come back for FREE if you need a part.
   4a) either the cost of the 2nd service call is built into the cost of the part
   4b) or you will never see him again. Yes, this does happen. Sometimes, they don't show up for the 1st service call

5. They don't show up for the service call.

6. They pretend to be multiple companies to stay ahead of the bad reviews under the name of their last company name.

7. They show up for 2 minutes, claim the treadmill needs a part, take off with $90 and never return your calls again.

8. They care about getting your money only, and may not even ask what is wrong with your treadmill (or other type of equipment).

When you call us the first time, we ask many questions to determine if you should even make an appointment for a service call and spend money repairing your equipment.

We will tell you honestly on your first call to us (before you've spent any money!) whether you should schedule a service call or not.

9. Since they're not busy with returning customers, they will be able to come to your home the same day (or within a day or two) that you call them, sometimes within hours of your call. Real gym services have a busy schedule and travel all over (we service all of Los Angeles, and travel as far and wide as Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, San Diego, etc.) and will need to schedule you on a day they will be in your area.

10. The Yahoo will not know exactly how to fix many problems unless they are very simple, but can't very well admit that and still charge you, so he will try and make something up that sounds reasonable, even though his explanation doesn't really make sense. One guy seems to always diagnose the drive motor. Now, obviously I can't say these never fail, but it is VERY rare, i.e., I MIGHT see a drive motor failure once a year, likely less. I always explain it to people this way; the reason why car companies don't want to build electric cars is that they're TOO RELIABLE, and so they don't make enough money on repairs and maintenance.

11.Yahoos take parts of your machine, documentation, etc., with them when they can't fix them onsite. Good luck getting them back. Real technicians can get documentation and service information directly from the manufacturer and carry a battery of specialized tools in order to be prepared to fix any problem they might encounter without having to take parts away and charge you for a 2nd return call.

12. Yahoos try to compete on service call price, promise a 2nd service call for free if needed (HA!) since they can't compete in skill level, professionalism, or parts prices, so they will offer "price-matching guarantees", dropping their price to whatever point convinces you to make the appointment with them.

We guarantee that our SERVICE, knowledge, professionalism and customer service ethic are second to none, and charge the lowest price possible for our service that ensures we can earn a living and be around next year to continue to keep your equipment working so you can stay healthy.

You can always find someone who will charge you $10 less to come to your house and take your money, but that's only a good deal if the problem gets fixed and fixed right. We've been the second call enough times to know that the yahoos have a really bad record of being unable to fix even the simplest of problems.

13. Yahoos stop pretending to be treadmill repairmen after a while, usually this takes about 6 months to a year, due to many causes that inevitably occur sooner or later- some of these include; failing to charge enough to cover unanticipated expenses like insurance, taxes, licensing, training, fuel, injury, inability to deal with administration of business, frustration with having to return for free multiple times to attempt to fix problems they don't understand and don't know how to remedy, simpler to just go work the fryer at McDonald's and earn an hourly wage, and the list goes on.

14. Yahoo's parts prices will generally be higher (and inferior in quality since they don't know where to buy real exercise equipment parts) than an established company that can buy from manufacturers, wholesale parts suppliers, and direct parts suppliers.

They may even try to substitute inferior parts not intended for gym equipment in order to maximize their profit margins.

In treadmills, this will cause them to fail sooner and have a shorter lifespan.

In cable-operated strength systems replacing those cables with home depot, lowes, osh, etc., steel cables can cause dangerous and potentially FATAL operating conditions.

I've tried to ascertain what the breaking strength of plastic-sheathed steel cables from Home Depot is, and have gotten various answers from various employees, ranging from 750 lbs to 1500 lbs.

Compare this to the correct cables for strength units, which have a breaking strength of 3300 lbs (lighter duty, apartment building gyms, etc.) to 6600 lbs. (heavier duty, Gyms, etc.).

We could keep this knowledge to ourselves and use it as a selling point only when you contact us, but this is a safety issue, and it's more important that we tell even the yahoos how to do this basic stuff correctly, because people can, and do, get hurt or killed using exercise equipment that breaks or is serviced incorrectly.

Problem is, even telling a yahoo this is not enough to make it safe to use them for strength machine repair.

Google "Leon Bostick Golds Gym Flex" to see the story of a man who suffered a crippling accident (he's a quadriplegic now- obviously not worth saving a few bucks if that is the result) as a result of broken cables during weight training.

And in case you were wondering why you would need cables that can lift 6600 lbs when the most you ever lift is 200 lbs, there are a couple of answers to this; one, that over the course of time, those cables will stretch as much as one to two inches as they're used, weakening them, and two, jump a little when you weigh yourself to see an example of G force increase, and you will see that you momentarily exert 300 to 400 pounds of force against the scale even though you weigh only 100 to 200 lbs. The same thing is happening as you push and pull on your strength machine.

The warning sign that your cables need to be replaced is when that plastic that covers the steel cable starts to crack off- that plastic sheath is important to the cables function, it keeps the metal cable from bending at too extreme an angle, which weakens the metal with each bend, just like a paper clip and will eventually break.

I've even seen cables in HORRIBLE, DANGEROUS DISREPAIR in professional gyms serviced by supposedly professional exercise equipment repair services. I saw one cable with MORE THAN A FOOT of the plastic sheath cracked off, (HIGHLY dangerous- usually these cables are replaced when an inch or two has cracked off AT MOST) on a machine that was right in the front of the room, smack dab in the middle of the doorway when you walk in, you couldn't miss it.

Which means that the dude pretending to be a professional gym service didn't know what he didn't know, and wasn't making any effort to learn, because that cable would have had to have been cracking for YEARS for MORE THAN TWELVE INCHES to be in that condition.

Sorry to get off on a rant about this, it's just so dangerous I tend to go on in an effort to emphasize that.

15. Yahoos break stuff as often as they fix it. Don't feel ashamed to call us back if you have had a yahoo mess up your equipment. We're happy to fix mistakes made by your husband, your yahoo, whoever. Because it usually means we make more money since it means fixing two problems; the yahoo "repair", and the original problem.

We are insured, bonded, certified and love to help people. I hope this information helps you. We know that the yahoos eventually fail and will simply disappear naturally, but post this as a public service to help you in not geting ripped off.

Best, Eric

From the http://forum.xda-developers.com I frequent to learn about new developments, here are some helpful posts I made to some people having problems with shocks from wired earbuds as they exercise... the cold air of the season may be causing you to experience the same- here's how to troubleshoot whether the cause is your treadmill, which would indicate a dangerous malfunction that needs to be corrected, or something else...

Read down to learn more;

Originally Posted by AshleyNG2

I've got a problem with my HTC earphones (or myself) and I'm just wondering if anybody else had the same issue or if anybody can guide me on what to do.

Basically, after listening to the earphones I would get what I believe is a mild electric shock in my ear every now and then and obviously I don't keep it in my ear after that as it could potentially be fatal (?) and it isn't a nice feeling ! I rang up my contract peoples and they sent me a new set of the handsfree earphones which I received earlier today but after about 5minutes of listening to them I experienced the same 'shock' feeling !! I also tried the first earphones in my iPod whilst at the gym and I got the 'shock' then too and the iPod wasn't even turned on. Hopefully this has happened to somebody else (not hopefully in a bad way) as reading this back makes me sound a little crazy lol !

Thanks for any advice too,

- Ash

Originally Posted by RalphS

Nothing to do with mobiles, but I get static electricity shocks from my metal cased 'in-ear' phones on the treadmills in the gym.

The treadmill "belt" being a good insulator; Similar in principal to a Van de Graff generator.

Keeps me on my toes....

You'd think so, it being a rubber belt and all (at least partially, actually there's a lot of vinyl in the mix), but in fact, they're a static electricity GENERATOR.

I've been a treadmill repairman for 10 years, and I have seen some weird electrical stuff... I even have a video of some fibers "caught" in the treadmill belt's electrical static charge field, "orbiting" (not touching!) the rear roller like a moon!

Treadmills have a grounding system designed to discharge this static, which can malfunction, or may never have been correctly installed in the first place.

If you're getting mild shocks, there are 3 main potential causes (or combinations, but we'll assume for the sake of simplicity one is a main cause, possible contributing causes we'll attempt to eliminate later)

1. The headphones are at fault- I'd recommend repeating that experiment to verify you didn't confuse the old headphones with the new ones, I assume they're identical?

2. You're especially sensitive to electrical current- indicated by you reporting that you got shocked using two different headphones and two different music players.

Do you get mild shocks when holding the heart rate sensor grips on the treadmill? These work by sending a tiny electrical charge through your skin, and measuring the change in resistance as blood pumps through your skin, creating an average of your heart rate it then displays.

Most people don't feel this charge, some are sensitive to it and do.

3. The treadmill's static charge is too high, either just for you because you're oversensitive, or because the treadmill's ground system is not working, or not working well enough, or was never installed correctly (or at all) by the person assembling the treadmill in he first place.

Try switching treadmills and see if you have the same problem. If not, notify the management that the other treadmill may need maintenance, the grounding system is there for a reason, and if it's not working, that static charge is slowly breaking that very expensive commercial treadmill.

Each resistor, capacitor, etc., every component in the electrical system has a 5-20% variance in what voltage it should be, so you may be better off on another treadmill.

You might also try cutting your salt/sodium intake, salt will make your skin more conductive, and that's good for you anyway.

As I alluded to earlier, it might also be a combination of your sensitivity and the headphones or the treadmill. Maybe switching to a bluetooth headset would be the solution for you if you're overly sensitive.

Another possibility that occurred to me is that you may have a pimple deep inside your ear canal? Do you eat junk food, greasy food?

Whatever the cause, the voltages are not enough to make it a safety concern, just a comfort one. In other words, fatality is not possible.

Hope this helps!

Originally Posted by MD5Hash

I've had the HTC Desire for four months, but only started wearing the 'phones last month on my way to work. It's January in Wisconsin, so very dry air and these things always give me little unpleasant prickles throughout my ears. It's not painful but always make me jolt a little bit because it's unexpected and random.

I owned an iPod Touch for two years and it never occurred with their headphones, or a sony in-ear set that I also used (but recently lost, which is why I'm using the stock HTC Desire ones).

I feel that HTC should provide us with better-designed headphones that don't have any conducting pieces in contact with the skin.

For all our scientific advancement, there's still LOTS we DON'T know about electricity, like how a vacuum can hold a charge, etc.

Sometimes, the only way to see an effect is to build the product, and there will be minor variances in each thing produced, sometimes adding up to completely unexpected behavior; i.e., plastic being problematically conductive where normally it's level of conductivity is not enough to cause discomfort in 99% of users... best thing to do is let the manufacturer know what's happening, test the warranty replacement for same effect, if it still bugs you, it's either you or it, if there are no other pertinent factors...

I've been warning people about the dangers of static electricity to electronics for YEARS, now it seems it can also damage tablets...

From www.geeksugar.com;

Kindles and Tablets at TSA Checkpoints

Why You Shouldn't Take Your Kindle Fire Out of Your Bag at TSA Checkpoints

Next

Kristy Korcz / NOVEMBER 21, 2011 9:45 AM / Read More: Travel, Geek Tip, Kindle Fire

The Kindle Fire (and Nook Tablet, for that matter) are perfect travel companions. They store your books, movies, music, and apps, and run on the plane's WiFi so you could even browse the web at 30,000 feet. But a few users are reporting that their new Kindle Fires are being damaged after going through X-ray machines at airport TSA checkpoints. While the X-ray machine isn't exactly to blame, according to an expert, it can be a factor.

Professor Daping Chu, Chairman of the University of Cambridge centre for Advanced Photonics, says that static electricity is likely the culprit . He says:

"I don’t think the radiation used in an airport scanner would ever be strong enough to damage an electronic ink display. . . . But you can get a buildup of static inside these machines, caused by the rubber belt rubbing. If that charge were to pass through a Kindle, it’s conceivable that it could damage the screen. . . . A static charge from an airport scanner could be 100 volts or more. That could permanently stick the particles to the screen.”

Kindles, tablets, laptops, cameras, and thousands of other devices pass through airport X-ray machines every day, but one way to be totally sure your new Kindle Fire won't be damaged due to static electricity is to leave it in your bag when going through TSA checkpoints. Any electronic items smaller than a 13-inch laptop doesn't need to be removed from your bag when going through the X-ray machine anyway, so this should make your trip move that much smoother.

Source: Getty

More Posts From Kristy Korcz

Since the belts or at least the effects of a rubber belt are roughly the same whether they are on a treadmill or a TSA x-ray machine, I thought it would be helpful to warn tablet or kindle users about the possible danger to our precious electronic gadgets.

And while they seem to be focusing on the deleterious effects such a static charge might have on e-ink screens, which would not as readily affect an LCD screen (they are two completely different things) it is never good to have a random extra electrical charge in any circuitry, and such a random extra electrical charge will cause damage, albeit at a very slow rate.

A very slow rate= anywhere from minutes to years, with no way to say exactly unless we were able to see the weaknesses of each electrical component at a molecular level + the exact static charge + what voltage the circuit was designed to handle.

The bottom line; using your tablet on your treadmill probably won't hurt it, but it could.

On the other hand, since the article refers to tablets in direct contact with that statically charged belt, and unless you dropped yours on the walk belt this is not the same thing, so if you want to use your laptop, kindle, or tablet, whether ipad or android, I'd say it's fairly safe, as long as the ground circuit of your treadmill is in good condition.

Of course, everything breaks, even and including something as simple as a ground circuit, and that is assuming whoever assembled it in the first place remembered to install the ground circuit and did it correctly, so don't forget to have us service your treadmill yearly to keep it in good running order, and safe for your electronics.

If more information about tablets and treadmills indicates a specific danger, we will of course keep you apprised via text message or this blog, so subscribe or check back.

Best, Eric of Expert Gym Service

Children are so nice...

While fixing a guys treadmill today, I was touched by how he doted on his daughter who seemed to be around 5 years old, kept his eye on her, and made sure she didn't wander off and get into some mischief...

And when I finished, as I was leaving, the father said; "I think she wants to give you something," so I turned around, and she shyly handed me this flower, so delicate that when I took it from her as gently as I could it folded just a bit...

But that's not important. The important part is I was pulled into her world a bit, that world where a child sees past the fact that you're big, and liked me, and absolutely made my day by giving me something beautiful, in that simple, powerful child way.

Thanks little girl, I'm afraid I was too focused on what I was doing to even really register your name as your dad called you to not wander off, so I'll just have to remember you as; "beautiful little girl who gave me a flower".

When is an el cheapo drill better than an expensive one?

When is an el cheapo drill better than an expensive one?

When you're working on plastic, like the kind used in exercise equipment.

My more powerful Dewalt, especially when the battery is freshly charged, will break the plastic shrouds (no matter how careful I try to be, and the lowest setting on the clutch is still too strong for plastic) while my el cheapo $25 swap meet drill weighs half as much, and won't break the plastic, even if the battery is freshly charged.

And as a repairman, I know everything breaks, so replacement cost is much less.

At $25 a pop, I can replace a lot of drills before I reach the $80-90 it would cost for the cheapest home depot drill.

99% of the time, I only use it to unscrew small screws to get access to the innards of a machine, so it's fine.

I have used the el cheapo to customize some decks, drilling holes in half inch thick particle board, and it's not the best drill for that, but given my use of it, and the fact that it only sees heavy duty use 1% of the time, it's perfect.

If you're a regular person, homeowner, you're wasting your money on that $100 drill- it's too heavy to easily control, it's too powerful, and the replacement cost is too high. Especially if you lose the charger.

Update on yahoo / fake treadmill technicians changing their name

Update on yahoo / fake treadmill technicians changing their name; so Mike, who has gone by L.A. Treadmill Repair, Los Angeles Treadmill Repair, Protread has changed his name to / or simply added another name of; L.A. Gym Doctor or Los Angeles Gym Doctor.

I don't know about you, but anybody who goes by that many names raises a red flag with me.

Sounds like he's running away from bad reviews.

Or maybe even lawsuits?

We can only hope this is the beginning of the end of him conning people and taking their money while giving nothing in return.

sigh. Yet another customer basing their decision on perceived price-

sigh. Yet another customer basing their decision on perceived price-

I try and explain that we're the least expensive based on several factors, not the least of which is that YOU ACTUALLY GET SOMETHING FOR YOUR MONEY...

It's pretty simple math, is $90 for nothing a better deal than $69?

In the first place, the guy pitching that deal PROMISES to come back for free (after giving you NOTHING, since he's not a trained technician, just a dude with a toolbox who's good at conning people or fixing the most basic of problems) and promises not to build the cost of the 2nd service call into the price of the parts you supposedly need.

Riiight. Sure.

People, let's all just take a deep breath and sip on a cup of common sense here, shall we?

Anytime someone tells you something is free, your hand should automatically move to cover your wallet out of sheer instinct. Anytime someone gives you (or SAYS they will, BIG difference there) something for free, it's sure they're making up that cost to them in some other way.

Unless you think this yahoo is some kind of modern day Buddha, wandering the countryside playing a flute and fixing stuff for free or half the cost of what anyone else can fix it for (well, saying he can anyway, sounds good until he's walking out your front door with your money, at which point the reality of the situation will slowly dawn on you as you never hear from him again)...

And let's break down the economics to show how his business model can't work unless he is scamming people;

Gas is $4+ a gallon, lets assume his car gets 20mpg just to keep the math simple. He will go anywhere for $90, even driving up to an hour or more sometimes, so his cost just to get to you (one way) is $4-12. Then, unless he's sleeping in his car, he has to drive home, so another $4-12. Then, if he's supposedly going to return if you need a part for free, that's another $24 (round trip cost) so just his gas (not even counting maintenance on his vehicle) is costing him $48 out of $90, so his profit is $42. $42 divided by travel time of 4 hours, actual labor of 2 hours (and this is an extremely conservative estimate, some jobs take longer, not everything can be done in an hour, period, absolutely. An absolute like that is just silly. Add a dash of administration in there, time spent ordering parts, etc, and you've got another 1-2 hours. All that adds up to 7-8 hours total time, which means his profit, before taxes (!!) is about $5-6 an hour. And in Los Angeles, you simply can't live on that. Nor would any trained technician accept that wage. Which also proves that he's a one-man operation.

So either this guy is living in his car, and is BOTH brilliant at fixing stuff and yet a COMPLETE IDIOT at math and somehow hasn't completely gone broke yet, or had an expensive enough mechanical failure of his car that has stopped him cold, or he's just a con man.

Those are basically the only possibilities, and it's not hard to see which is the more likely one.

We know he's a con man.

This promise of something free smells like something a kid says to get what he wants (i.e., whatever he thinks you want to hear or a wild promise that sounds too good to be true, and most of the time is) like the; "I promise I'll feed it and clean up after the great dane puppy, you won't even know it's there."

And don't feel shy about calling us if you do call this yahoo, and find out he won't return (which he usually won't, his business model is to maximize profit on the first call and discourage or flat out refuse to return- usually by just ignoring your call- that's why he prefers to deal with people via email, which is a red flag right there, who does that?) or just want to double-check his price, feel free to give us a call, we'll happily confirm that the price he's trying to charge more than pays for a second service call.

We've seen it plenty of times before.

Best, Eric

Outstanding Android applications

Todays rave; Remote Desk Webtop by SmartDog studio, free or donation version, allows you to use your computers keyboard as the input for your android phone, take screenshots, use a picture from your computer as your phone's wallpaper, send and manage messages, contacts, (oh, wait, that's still under construction, as are the notes and mobile settings, clicking those brings up an "under construction" image of a guy digging furiously, the screen capture is new, so this dev is one that actually updates his stuff, that other stuff should be up and running soon ) browse files using a file explorer, amaze your freinds.

If this were an iphone, you'd probably be paying $20-$100 for this app, as it stands, it's free, or you can donate $3.98 for the paid version, which is exactly the same.

This is one of those apps I've donated to just because they're so useful and I appreciate the dev making it.

Why's this review of an android app in a blog about repairing treadmills? Because it helps me help people by making the time I have to spend administrating more efficient and take less time.

And I like helping others make their lives better, so I like to share good stuff like this.

Get treated like a rock star! Or movie star!

As someone who's not very star-struck, (my wife is the one who keeps me up to date on what stars are up to, the latest Brad and Angelina rumors, etc.- my viewing habits tend more towards Mythbusters and science channel fare) I've actually gone to movie and television stars homes to service their equipment and not even recognized them, only finding out later that they're so-and-so from that show or movie.

Which means everyone gets the same-top-of-the-line cadillac service, since we can never be sure who might be a REALLY BIG DEAL in Hollywood or whatever industry- (how would I recognize an executive?) or just someone like my aunt who knows simply everyone and is happy to pass on our contact info to their friends and family.

It all kind of stems back to when I was a teen and at a Star Trek convention listening to Michael Dorn (the guy who played the klingon on Next Generation) speechify while we waited for the auction- smart of them to schedule it that way- and realized that a couple years ago, this guy was maybe waiting tables, analyzed what he was saying and didn't find it terribly compelling or life changing, and wandered out to the vendor area and negotiated a great deal on some trinkets and toys in the nearly empty shopping area.

You see, everyone else (right now listening to blather, sorry Michael, I'm sure you're a great guy) had saved most of their money to try and win something at the auction, and so sales were slow, so they were willing to bargain.

I'd also just like to apologize here for not making a fuss over William Katt when I met him while working on his neighbors treadmill- my normal reaction to seeing someone famous is to let them go about their business, not interrupt them while they're eating, try not to make them uncomfortable by unnecessarily pointing out; "Hey, you're that guy from tv!".

In this case, I think I might have hurt his feelings a little by NOT making a fuss- after all, actors didn't become actors because they DON'T want attention. (duhh...)

He came walking up and said hi and asked what I was doing, and as I told him I was fixing the treadmill, he saw in my face that I recognized him, but didn't say anything about him being the Greatest American Hero guy, which he may have interpreted to mean that I thought; "hey, it's that spaz who used to flail about in long underwear." and wasn't a fan.

In fact, I loved that show, watched it religiously, and even got the box set for my wife's birthday a month or so later. (More proof that she's perfect for me, since she loves the same stuff I do...)

Amazing that the it boy of the time, Michael Pare, had EQUAL billing in the opening credits of that show, even though he would usually appear for like 5-10 minutes an episode, I had forgotten about that...

I should have fawned at least a bit and got a picture with him- that would have been fun, and he wouldn't have had his feelings hurt.

And when I come to your house, you could even tell me you're a movie or tv star, I won't know the difference...

New reason not to use Yahoos - spotlight on Los Angeles Treadmill Repair

New reason not to use Yahoos - spotlight on Los Angeles Treadmill Repair

SCAM ALERT!

Well, actually the reality is this is a spotlight on "Mike" from Los Angeles Treadmill Repair, if that's his real name, he seems to use more than one name in an effort to seem like a company not just a guy pretending to be a treadmill technician.

Which he's not- I've been to more than one call after him and his diagnoses are COMPLETELY wrong- when he doesn't know what the problem is, he will claim it's an expensive part and pretend to be helping you by recommending you don't repair the machine and just buy another one.

The reality is that he's just scamming you out of your money.

His main skills seem to be the ability to build a professional-looking website and the ability to con people into thinking he's a real company even though he NEVER answers his phone.

Repairmen who don't show up- Reposted from Yelp;


sam j.
San Pedro, CA
9/10/2010
TRIED to use this place. Have to say the website looks great - very misleading. I am convinced this is a one man operation.....hard to get a callback. The phone goes to voicemail every time i have called. Eventually after 2 wks of back and forth emails got Mike to agree to a time. Stayed home from work just for Mike to call and say he couldn't make it and would email me later that day when he got back to the office to reschedule...here it is a week later and i haven't heard a thing. Maybe this is a p/t side job or dude is independently wealthy bc he sure doesn't want to help out a paying customer with an elliptical. Currently looking for another service option.

Hey Sam, give us a call- we answer by the second ring, and give world class service every step of the way after that.

We're so communicative we even call the day of the service call to give our ETA so you don't have to wait around all day. Oh, and we actually show up. And then actually fix your machine.

Best, Eric

Your driving is being "reviewed" daily... or why driving politely will save you money

Your driving is being "reviewed" daily... or why driving politely will save you money; (not to mention countless lives)

Ever wonder what that nice policeman is reading when he goes back to his car and decides whether to let you off with a warning or to write you a ticket?

He's reading all the comments commercial drivers have called in about you cutting them off, weaving from lane to lane, generally driving unsafely, etc.,etc.,etc.

There's a little-known program that enables randomly-selected (actually, I'm pretty sure your driving record is one factor they use in selecting you) commercial drivers to call an 800# and report unsafe or impolite driving to the CHP and DMV.

Even if you don't ever get pulled over, it is one of the reasons why you may either get to simply renew by mail or (ugh) have to go spend a lovely day at the DMV to renew your license even if you haven't had any accidents.

So it will catch up to you no matter what.

I know for myself that I've reached a point where I don't bother to call in unless someone is driving pretty badly- I'd pretty much be on the phone all day long trying to sweep back that tide with a handbroom, and we all have weaved a bit when on the phone, changing radio stations, etc. So when the officer sees multiple comments that you tailgate, cut people off by changing lanes inches from their bumpers (yeah, I'm talking about you new BMW owners who think your magic car can't possibly harm anyone since they're so stuffed with magical technology that compensates for your obvious lack of common sense and driving ability) or even even ONE comment like that can ensure you get cited instead of being let off with a warning.

I wish everyone had GPS so they could see that driving this way DOES NOT save you time or get you there sooner.

The only things that do are;

a) Leaving sooner

b) Leaving sooner by running to your car instead of walking (good for cardio too)

c) Using your time machine to go back in time, slap yourself on the back of the head to remind yourself to leave sooner

d) setting your watch back and insisting that that is the correct time. Doing so in a loud, manic voice while bulging your eyes and letting a little foam form at the edges of your lips will likely convince the person you're talking to that it's not worth arguing the point with you, which for all practical purposes is the same as convincing them, since they will accept your statement, and back away slowly while avoiding eye contact.

*If the above statement (d) seems perfectly logical to you, you should immediately seek help from a trained mental health practitioner.

Returning to the BMW issue for the moment, that's not a class thing with me, i.e., as if I resented someone in a nice car, I have had a Mercedes before, so I know all too well that driving aggressively will anger people more than if you had cut them off in a Honda, and that's not the case here- I think these are first-time BMW owners who can just barely afford to buy one, especially now since the maintenance is included.

They probably feel like they want to get their money's worth since it's such a really nice car to drive, and also, it's just plain fun to drive that way.

I'm pretty sure too that it's first-time BMW owners, since they haven't considered that if they hurt or kill someone driving that way that they will be sued to pieces and lose everything. Or maybe they have, and the car is the only thing of worth they have, so if it's totaled in a fiery crash, well, obviously there's nothing else to get.

So as we see from these examples, your driving habits are a pretty good indicator of your financial status, and regard for your fellow mans well being.

Put more simply, whether you're a complete A-hole, or just a thoughtless clod.

They will learn eventually when they overestimate their driving skills one too many times, and inevitably crash, or have enough people road-rage them for acting like jerks- we can only hope it's before they hurt or kill someone.

And for pete's sake BMW, please raise the price of your cars for the sake of us all.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest, and please drive carefully. Driving faster to make up time will save you 10-20 seconds for every 15 minutes driven AT MOST. Obviously not worth it.

Best, Eric

WE PUT OUR PANTS ON THIS MORNING!

Ever notice how well-dressed but unprofessional, disorganized people like to trumpet their alleged professionalism even as they act unprofessionally?

To me, that's like walking into a room and proudly proclaiming "I remembered to put my pants on today!"

The adults will be amused, the more polite ones will stifle their smiles, no one will be impressed.

Similarly, one of our competitors reassures you he will come to your house to fix your treadmill, elliptical, etc., you don't have to somehow hoist it into a truck and bring it to him, as if that were even a good idea.

Which it's not.

If he had more experience, he'd know that is normal, that a lot of our calls come after someone has had movers move their machine, and either drop it or reassemble it incorrectly.

And once there are two unrelated malfunctions, breaks, damage, etc., it becomes exponentially more difficult to diagnose what's going on and going wrong with the machine.

He also makes a big deal about how they check in with the owner or manager when they arrive at the gym, and give you an assessment of how much it will cost to repair or service your equipment.

Wow, captain obvious, really, you don't sneak in, saying hello to no one, like some kind of repair ninja?

And does he really think that people believe there are people so gullible that they would ok a repair without having the vaguest idea of how much it will cost?

Yeesh.

Don't be taken in by imposters / yahoos pretending to be technicians.

The fact that this guy focuses on this obvious nonsense reveals he doesn't know what else to say or what else is important to gym owners, apartment managers or regular people betrays his lack of experience.

I'd like to meet this guy someday, he must be one charismatic guy to be able to blow this much smoke and actually have people believe it.

We are the least expensive certified technicians in the Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Barbara, San Diego and other counties.

We've been a success story for 10 years now.

Call us now to experience what true customer service feels like.

Best, Eric

GOOD NEWS / BAD NEWS; Palm is dead

I have been a Palm loyalist for years, but after trying the Nexus one, Nokia n900, HTC HD2, Samsung Vibrant, and finally the HTC EVO, I have to say, the Palm, which, let us credit the progenitors of the smartphone movement, has been surpassed.

The EVO is the best phone I have ever owned.

I will post more recommendations later, but the very best apps for android I have found thus far are;

Easy tether; use your phone as a modem for your computer, FAST connection, $10 vs $25 for PdaNet, and can apparently function even as modem for xbox, wii, ps3, etc. although this is untested at the time of this post, whereas pdanet does not.

Wiregoggles; should have been named "Instant Blueprint".

Googlemaps; toss your gps, which until this point had been the best $200 I ever spent, along with your phone/mp3 player/pda/etc you get spoken street name directions, poi search, etc and more.

voice input of text; even better than bluetooth keyboard input, my contacts have never been so organized.

4G is gonna rock the monkey; I turned to my wife as we were driving through and said; "We have to move to Orange County." She looked at me questioningly so I elaborated; "I just tested the download speed; 31 MEGABYTES PER SECOND(!).

losangelestreadmillrepair.com ; why NOT to hire him (it's only one guy pretending to be a professional company)

losangelestreadmillrepair.com ; why NOT to hire them (him really, it's only one guy pretending to be a professional company- that's why no one answers the phone and you have to leave a message only to have him call back 1-2 days later)

We've been the second call from people who've used the guy more than once and repaired the treadmills he's called unrepairable- when he doesn't know what the problem is, he punts and diagnoses a very expensive part (we don't want to tip him off as to which one) that almost never breaks.

In reality, we might see failures of this part MAYBE once a year out of the hundreds of service calls, so the fact that he has pretended this is the correct diagnosis more than once , and that we have been to more than a few people (who knows how many times we HAVEN'T been called out to double-check his work) who have told us he's done that means that HE JUST DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING.

Don't save $10 only to let him "experiment" on your expensive equipment.

He's only been in business about 6 months, and more importantly, can't fix stuff. He's not certified, has probably no training, and you can do a lot better.

We're certified mechanics with 20 years of experience who love to help people.

Best, Eric

So is Sprint really the best cell provider I can go back to?

So I'm with T-mobile right now, and it's looking like I have to fire them- I bought the HTC HD2 3 months ago, the day it came out, paid my early-adopter penalty ($700 and change, I think $706 with tax) and now I'm thanking my lucky stars or common sense or whatever that I'm not stuck with T-mobile for 2 years.

I mean, I really like the people of T-mobile, they're always super nice and helpful, but seriously, no tech support for a $700 phone? I gotta go search the internet to try and figure out how to do what I want to do?

Ok, so on the HD2, tethering was pretty simple, tap "internet sharing" icon, then tap "connect".

But after exchanging the HD2 for various reasons, hardware failures, non-responsive touch screens, slow or freezing, disconnects constantly from the internet when using the phone as a modem, reandomly every 10 seconds to 10 minutes, won't save settings, requiring me to constantly tell it to automatically connect to bluetooth devices, it became apparent that the odds of getting one that actually worked was slim at best, so I reluctantly paid ANOTHER $50 for some more bleeding edge technology; the samsung vibrant.

But after downloading 145mb of kies program intended to allow me to use the phone as a modem, I still can't do it.

Called T-mobile, got reminded that "tech support isn't really their thing" (my paraphrasing),but I was encouraged to go eff myself- no wait, that isn't right, the girl was really nice, but in effect that is the upshot; I had to go to www.tmobile.com/forums to get help tethering the Vibrant, only to find a herd of blind leading the blind; I have only had the phone 2 days and knew more about it from google searching than these yahoos.

So I'm done with T-mobile; this is like buying a brand new car, not being able to open the trunk, and asking the dealership I bought it from for help, and being told to go search the web for answers, they have no idea what's wrong, and will take no responsibility for it, nor refund my $, though admittedly it was only $50 (loyalty program discount, don't be too impressed, they had a 1-day sale of the
Vibrant for $99) for a $400 phone, which I will now sell on ebay along with my HD2 to get at least some of my $ back, and just go to a phone that simply works.