Smooth Fitness 5.65i Treadmill

pretty good reviews (4.2 stars out of 5.0) over at amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Smooth-Fitness-5-65-Folding-Treadmill/dp/B0035HEPXS

Must have been a rough weekend. Nobody is commenting.

However, if you read through some negative reviews, you will quickly find out the customer service doesn’t exist

Here, have a Product Manual

Oh look another treadmill. Beware the terrible shipping service for these large item. Ordered a treadmill on December 7th, have yet to receive it.

I have the Smooth Fitness 7.35 treadmill, which I bought 3 years ago, and haven’t had any problems with it. Very quiet. Last month I bought a Smooth Fitness 8.0 Elliptical and received it in 10 days in good condition.

If you haven’t received your unit yet please contact me asap so we can see whats going on and get your unit to you. oedwards@smoothfitness.com

Unfortunately through our transition to new ownership we did have a few hiccups with customer service, everything has since been taken care of.

Welcome and thanks for joining us. Appreciate your honesty too.

Could you introduce yourself, please?

I bought this when woot! offered it last year.

The good: We use it every day for long workouts. Extremely quiet, nice cushioning.

The not-so-good (but hardly dis-qualifiers): One of the speed control buttons located on the handrail failed. We have to use the console buttons exclusively. And there is no “pause” button, so if you want to stop mid-jog, you’ll have to start over. This is a minor concern though.

I had (and am having) a very bad experience with Smooth Fitness. Ordered an elliptical machine in October; credit card charged immediately. Heard nothing for weeks; when I called they said it was out of stock and tried to get me to buy a “better” one that would be ready in another 6 weeks. Working with Discover card now; they’re still fighting the refund. Unbelievably bad folks here…

If you are having issues with your unit please contact me directly so we can take care of that for you.

If you haven’t received your unit or a refund, please email me directly so I can take care of your issue. oedwards@smoothfitness.com

To all past or present customers, please email me directly with any issues you may be having. We are always dedicated to providing excellent exercise units along with excellent customer service.

Rich Hebert
President
Smooth Fitness
rich.hebert@smoothfitness.com

Mr. Hebert:

These are my opinions and should be taken as such. I am a current / past owner. I had an EVO 2 treadmill from your company and when it came time to get warranty parts, all of a sudden they were on backorder from China and I was told it would take months to get the parts (with no guaranty you’d ever get them). I credit the customer service rep I was working with for telling me the “truth” about whether or not I’d be able to get the replacement parts needed.

I wound up buying a Smooth Fitness 9.65 at a “slightly” discounted price from you as a replacement instead.

I put VERY high mileage on your machine and find it to be holding up “decently”. I do 20 miles a day and seriously, I’m hoping your machine lasts a year.

I am “partially” happy, but as someone who recommends treadmills to others, here are my comments:

  1. Get the larger motor
  2. Lubricate the treadmill deck more often than they recommend IF you’re going to do high mileage as I do
  3. Get a larger machine, such as a 9.65 as opposed to this model
  4. In my opinion, your machines are NOT worth anywhere near the list price you put on them
  5. I had billing problems with your Smooth Fitness trainer plugin module. One person in your company told me no problem. Another told me I was stuck with the problem. I did a credit card chargeback and everything was resolved, BUT I shouldn’t have had to do that.
  6. While I got MANY years of use from my old EVO2, when it came time to use the Lifetime Warranty it was worthless to me as the parts weren’t available because the model was an older one.
  7. I think the average user of your machines would probably be happy and I think your customer service is better than many other companies, but could stand some improvement.
  8. I can’t stand the way you’ve redesigned the arms of the treadmill. They are much too “fat” and they slope downward. VERY annoying.
  9. Anyone buying one of your treadmills should USE it and NOT TURN IT INTO A CLOTHES HANGING RACK
  10. In short, I’m “satisfied”, but not “overjoyed”.

May I respectfully ask when the change of ownership occurred? How recent was it?

I bought one of these from Woot way back in December 2011. I use the thing on a regular basis and love it. I do walking, interval running and distance running at least a few times a week on it and it has shown no signs of wear. I wouldn’t be surprised if some better treadmill value exists out there but I have certainly gotten my money’s worth with this one.

Keep in mind that this is not a commercial quality treadmill and fairly minimalist. If you are used to running on a treadmill at a gym, this one might feel a little flimsy by comparison. On the other hand, that also means it doesn’t take up as much space as a larger, sturdier treadmill and is easier to move around (once built).

There are treadmills out there with fancier features but this one is fine for the basic features. I find the fancy features listed for this one – speakers, programs, etc. – to be useless. The speakers are low quality and barely loud enough to hear over the sound of the treadmill.

Don’t forget to the lubricate the thing regularly!

WARNING ABOUT DELIVERY!

It comes in one very big 200 lb box and the standard delivery is “threshold” meaning they drop it at your front door. Inside the box, it is in two big pieces so you can’t even easily part it out to carry it in. It has wheels so it rolls around nicely once built but getting it up and down stairs is not fun. I believe you can make arrangements with the delivery company to pay them extra to carry it inside for you if you don’t have a couple of large guys hanging out with you when it gets delivered. Otherwise, you could have some cash on hand to tip the delivery guys to bring it in for you. It took three delivery guys to get it in my basement.

Excellent advice . . .

I’ve got a Smooth 5.0 with almost 6,000 miles on it. I’d totally recommend one of these treadmills. I use it 4-5 times a week for an hour a day. Only problem I’ve had is the belt (floor) wears out and I had one switch on the left arm go out @ 4,500 miles. Paid $1,000 for it in 2005.