Insights of Product Warranty
Some sellers of fitness equipment offer 10-Year warranty on frame or structural parts, or warranty terms come with clauses not covering labor and shipping. These warranties do not provide meaningful protection to customers' interests.
Meaningless Frame Warranty
Frame warranties are largely meaningless
Frames almost never fail
Steel frames are over-engineered. If a frame fails, it usually happens:
- during shipping (DOA), or
- very early due to a welding defect
A serious designed fitness equipment should have a frame that almost never fails in 5–10 years.
So a 10-year frame warranty protects against something that realistically won’t happen.
Frame warranty ≠ usable machine
Frame warranty may not cover parts and components that are more prone to damage or wearing down:
- Motors & Electronics
- Bearing, Coupler, Belts, Springs, Bushings
If any of those fail, the machine is still dead, frame or not. In most cases, it is not practical for customers to service their own machine, even with parts supplied.
Labor & Shipping Cost
Manufacturer's warranty term may not cover labor and shipping which can be very costly.
In most cases, the machine as to be shipped back to the seller for service, but shipping a 200-300 lb machine can cost hundreds of dollars in the US.
Warranty as a Marketing Badge
For many sellers, 10-year warranty is used as marketing badge, not a service promise.
A “10-year frame warranty” is easy because it costs the manufacturer almost nothing, but sounds impressive in a spec table. The complicated warrant clauses such as costly labor and shipping avoid the real service obligations.
What Warranties Matter
Many fitness equipment are considered as heavy duty machinery. Structural strength is important, but relatively easy to achieve. Moving parts and electronic components are more subject to wear and failure.
Shipping and labor costs can be too high to justify the repair.
A 2-year product warranty with simple straightforward clauses may provide more protection to consumers than a 10-year warranty with many conditions.
Importance of Return Policy
A strong 90-day return policy often protects customers more than a 10-year conditional warranty, because:
- Manufacturing defects show up early
- User incompatibility shows up early
- Shipping damage shows up early
Other Important Matters
- Opportunity Sellers on Amazon and off-brand products may come and go, leaving consumers without the promised warranty protection.
- Replacement parts availability.
- Local service and turnaround time.
Navymov 10 Year Warranty
At Navymov, we consider a straightforward 10 warranty is necessary to provide customers with needed protection and assurance. We keep our warranty terms simple and straightforward.
For situations and conditions not covered by our simple and straightforward warranty clause, we are reasonable and considerate to reach customer satisfaction.