Larsen & Brusgaard made me a happy camper!

[Beachbum 0]

I learned the hard way to NOT tighten one screw on the battery cover for my ProTrack all the way in, THEN tighten the other ... split my battery cover. I emailed explaining what I'd done, and to inquire about cost/availability for replacing it, and they sent me a new one for no charge (they even covered the shipping)!!! On top of that, included new screws, springs, and a set of batteries for me ... :) ... Now THAT is what I call great service!!!

In the future, I'll only tighten each screw a little at a time, and not try to get the cover on so snugly!

As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

[alge 0]

Excuse my while I play the devil's advocate for a second.

There's tons of stories of people who break their L&B gear (or just lose it in freefall or whatever) and get a new one shipped to them. Could it possibly be because the materials are prone to break and manufacturing is really cheap?

If I as a gadget vendor could choose between:
1) Use well-tested materials and sturdy construction which ensures high quality but gives me a smaller profit margin, and
2) Use inferior materials/production and mass-produce the gadgets so I have enough to send out to everyone who breaks/loses their product, AND gain a reputation for the best customer service in the industry by doing so
..
then I guess I would pick 2. (:

(I have nothing agsinst L&B and use several of their products each time I jump.)

[Milo 0]

How many times have your L&B items broke? If it fell off in freefall would you really expect anything to not need repair?

Quote

Excuse my while I play the devil's advocate for a second.

There's tons of stories of people who break their L&B gear (or just lose it in freefall or whatever) and get a new one shipped to them. Could it possibly be because the materials are prone to break and manufacturing is really cheap?

If I as a gadget vendor could choose between:
1) Use well-tested materials and sturdy construction which ensures high quality but gives me a smaller profit margin, and
2) Use inferior materials/production and mass-produce the gadgets so I have enough to send out to everyone who breaks/loses their product, AND gain a reputation for the best customer service in the industry by doing so
..
then I guess I would pick 2. (:

(I have nothing agsinst L&B and use several of their products each time I jump.)

[JohnDeere 0]

Quote

Excuse my while I play the devil's advocate for a second.

There's tons of stories of people who break their L&B gear (or just lose it in freefall or whatever) and get a new one shipped to them. Could it possibly be because the materials are prone to break and manufacturing is really cheap?

If I as a gadget vendor could choose between:
1) Use well-tested materials and sturdy construction which ensures high quality but gives me a smaller profit margin, and
2) Use inferior materials/production and mass-produce the gadgets so I have enough to send out to everyone who breaks/loses their product, AND gain a reputation for the best customer service in the industry by doing so
..
then I guess I would pick 2. (:

(I have nothing agsinst L&B and use several of their products each time I jump.)

+1 Its the same problems over and over so why dont they fix the problem so people dont always have to replace parts? Great customer service is good but i would rather not have to find out about there customer service so much

Nothing opens like a Deere!

You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers!

[Will_Evo 0]

I agree but I have heard stories of parts breaking on there alti for different reasons aka, hit the door on the way out, and L&B fixed it at no cost. So I mean maybe for once great customer service is real? We can all dream right?

Zoo Crew

[JohnDeere 0]

Quote

I agree but I have heard stories of parts breaking on there alti for different reasons aka, hit the door on the way out, and L&B fixed it at no cost. So I mean maybe for once great customer service is real? We can all dream right?

That is not even a question here! They have great customer service! I think they replace shit that they should not, they go above and beyond what they should for replacing things. I am just wondering why they dont inprove the product so the same shit doesnt break over and over. Like there housing's and battery cover's as an example.

Nothing opens like a Deere!

You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers!

[Milo 0]

I'll ask you the same thing I asked Alge: How many times have your L&B items broke? If it fell off in freefall would you really expect anything to not need repair?

Quote

Quote

I agree but I have heard stories of parts breaking on there alti for different reasons aka, hit the door on the way out, and L&B fixed it at no cost. So I mean maybe for once great customer service is real? We can all dream right?

That is not even a question here! They have great customer service! I think they replace shit that they should not, they go above and beyond what they should for replacing things. I am just wondering why they dont inprove the product so the same shit doesnt break over and over. Like there housing's and battery cover's as an example.

[JohnDeere 0]

Quote

I'll ask you the same thing I asked Alge: How many times have your L&B items broke? If it fell off in freefall would you really expect anything to not need repair?

I dont own any L&B products, but I have heard many people at the DZ and here talk about the same stuff breaking all the time. Im not talking about stuff breaking after falling 1000's of feet. Im talking about regular wear and tear stuff. One guy at my DZ said he got sick of his housing breaking (3 times within a couple of years) and just let it stay broken so he didnt have to mess with it. I personally own 4 Alti products and have only had one mess up due to me leaving one of my neptunes in my truck for a week in the hot Texas heat and it fried it. I called them and told them what happened and they gave me a new one.

Nothing opens like a Deere!

You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers!

[mrbiceps 0]

my protrack has worked perfectly for 180 jumps in 1 year. big thumbs up from me.

[Beachbum 0]

I haven't talked to a lot of folks about them, so can't comment from that viewpoint. I do have to agree with the green tractor man ... it's not a matter of things falling off during freefall and breaking on impact with the ground. In my case it was totally self induced. I just tightened the screws too much in a manner that caused the break. Making the housing a little bit thicker (and thus the battery cover) would of course help with that a little bit, but I also understand the desire to keep things lightweight. I may experiment with the now broken cover and some JB Weld ... a little layer of that over the outside would make it a lot more substantial.

As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

[Nick 0]

Have had my Protrack for about 6 years and 900 jumps, never had a problem with anything (and sure many people have had theirs for longer without any problems), maybe I'm just not as ham fisted as some people

Have heard a story of somebody taking the piss by saying they lost a Protrack that never existed and L&B sending them one for free.

Nick
Gravity- It's not just a good idea, it's the LAW!

[Ironmanjay 0]

L&B is awesome. Their customer service cant be beat!!

[millertime24 8]

I'm actually curious as to why they dont make the housings on these things (Viso, Neptune, Protrack etc) out of aluminium. Its light and strong, but meh.. what really do I know about how these things are manufactured?

Muff #5048

[BikerBabe 0]

I might have a record here...

I bought my ProTrack in 1996, when i bought my first full set of gear. I had about 100 jumps then. I now have over 3000, most of them 4 way and 8 way, in the tail slot.

I had my ProTrack mounted to the outside of my Oxygen A3 for most of that time, with NO rubber band. Anyone who has flown tail will tell you, there's a lot of incidental contact with bars, doors, and people in that slot.

About 1 month ago, the display on my ProTrack FINALLY cracked (don't even remember why), after almost 13 years of continuous use. It is currently in the mail to Denmark. Not even sure the ProTrack of today is the same as the one i sent back, so they might just replace it, who knows. I will swear by L&B's products and service for the rest of my skydiving career, and i doubt i'll ever have the occasion to buy anything else.

L&B rocks, IMHO

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!