ProForm Treadmill Customer Feedback

by Mary
(Baltimore, MD)

UPDATE: Note that some of the ProForm treadmill consumer feedback below is about older models that are no longer being sold.

To read our expert reviews of the latest ProForm treadmills just follow that link.

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I recently purchased the Proform Crosswalk 480 treadmill.

I had never used a treadmill before so I really did not know what to look for in a machine. I did speak to someone at the Proform company but ended up going to Sears.

I went alone, which was a mistake. I had planned on buying the Proform Crosswalk 580, but the salesman said I didn't need it if I wasn't going to run. I should have stuck with my first choice.

My husband, age 60, and myself, age 54, wanted a treadmill for aerobic exercise since we both have arthritis. I am 5'2" and 165 lbs. so I am alright on the 480. However, my husband is 6'4" and 225 lbs. which makes a difference on the deck.

My son brought it home for me in his truck. When it was put together, both rear feet were cracked-maybe the boxes were stacked too high. I walked on it alright, but when my husband walked on it, there was a squeak around the middle of the deck.

It also does not seem wide enough for his feet nor long enough for his stride.

The Proform Crosswalk 480 only has 7 years on the motor, compared to the 580, which has 25 years.

One more thing - after using it twice (Sears salesman said it was alright to use the treadmill until the new rear feet arrive and I can change them), the belt is curling up slightly on the left.

I feel that stores selling these machines should have salespeople who are informed about the equipment. I hope to resolve this problem and get many good years of workouts on this ProForm treadmill.

I wish I had seen this website before buying the treadmill. As a novice on exercise equipment (I usually walk for exercise) I was really in the dark.

Any advice on how to get the ProForm Crosswalk 480 Treadmill fixed for good?

Proform 730 Treadmill Problems

by Phil Parker
(Vancouver, BC, Canada)

Recent e-mail traffic between myself and Janick from ICON Canada Customer Service, with regards to the ProForm 730 treadmill. Read and be warned.

Janick:

Please see attached e-mail from - as it turns out - you. In response to this, I had Coast Fitness come out to do a service call on Aug 1, 2008. They recommended having the front roller, drive belt and idler pulley of the Proform 730 treadmill replaced. They did that work in September '08. I had them replace the isolators at that time as well, as I noticed they were split.

The isolators failed again and I had Coast Fitness back to replace them again on December 29, 2008. Their work order notes no charge for the Isolators with the notation "(warranty)".

The rear roller brackets on the ProForm 730 also failed catastrophically releasing the rear roller violently and nearly throwing me off the back of the machine. Icon Canada shipped me new brackets (I had to pay for them) which I installed myself. Since then the isolators have failed again and I had your department ship me 4 new ones.

Last week I installed the new isolators and during my first run on the machine the bed cracked. The isolators seemed spongy and I assumed they were just splitting again.

So in summary: Isolators replaced 3 times, rear roller brackets replaced, front roller/drive belt/idler pulley all replaced, 1 general service call (3 service calls total) and now the treadmill deck is broken.

The current isolators will also likely have to be replaced as they have insufficient stiffness (spongy) and caused the deck of the ProForm 730 to flex and break.

Please give this matter your direct attention. I appreciate your efforts, but I assume you can understand my frustration.

ICON Fitness Response: (Notice the horrible English!)

Good day Philip Parker,

You asked me to help you on a unit that has been purchased second hand.

If you look the warranty information that follows:

This is the inforamtion you will have in your book at the last page. Second paragraphe start with : this warranty exttends only to the original purchaser.

So I'm sorry but I could not halp you at all.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me. It will be my pleasure to assist you.

Yours sincerely,

Janick

Icon Canada Inc.
Service à la clientèle/
Customerservice
Tel: 1(888)936-4266
Fax: 1(888) 936-8188
900 de l'industrie
Saint-Jérôme, QC
J7Y 4B8


I got this machine as a return at Costco. I received all the product registration info, manuals and warranty information at the time.

My latest attempt at getting this resolved:

Janick:

I understood from the outset that this was not a warranty claim but rather a product suitability concern. I have for some time now at my own expense replaced parts on the Proform 730 treadmill as they have failed, something they do with startling frquency. That being said the number of failures is staggering given the age of the machine - less than 1 year. The nature of the failures is unacceptable - some causing dangerous conditions.

The most pronounced issue is with respect to the isolators which routinely and repeatedly fail. The isolators in general are unsound, splitting along the bond line between the two halfs after only a few uses.

This is not a wear and tear issue but rather a defective product. This last bach of isolators recently shipped to me was unfit for use and lacked sufficient stiffness. The bed of the unit deflected excessively due to these isolators and led to the bed cracking.

While the Proform 730 treadmill itself is not under warranty the isolators shipped to me just over a week ago should have been the correct type and fit for their intended purpose. They clearly were not. This defective product led to damage to my machine and I do not intend to bear the brunt of this myself.

As the Limited Warranty you quote below notes "parts and labour are warranted for 90 days after the date of purchase." I am the original purchaser of these isloators, they were purchased less than 90 days ago and I want them replaced. I also want the damage done to my Proform 730 treadmill by these defective isolators repaired.

I think I've been quite good about all this paying for parts and service routinely over the last year. New rear roller brackets, new isolators, new front roller ... the list goes on plus shipping and taxes not to mention my time away from work to either sit on hold on the phone or rush home to let Coast Fitness in. This time I think ICON and ProForm need to be more equitable partners in this problem.

If you supply a new bed and new isolators for the Proform 730 treadmill I will supply the labour to install them. Please refer this matter to the correct persons within your organization and I await your response.

Yours truly,

Philip Parker, P. Eng. MRICS

ProForm 680 LT Treadmill User Review

by Alan
(Colorado Springs, CO)

DONT BUY THIS TREADMILL!!!

We bought the ProForm 680 LT treadmill to supplement our workouts during the winter season in Colorado Springs, especially when there is ice on the roads/trails.

Within a month of purchase the belt started to slide to the right and the motor started to drag. I followed directions to realign the belt, but the motor still skips. Sort of dangerous when you are running a 7-8 minute mile pace.

We have called ProForm's helpline (be prepared to be on hold for 30-60 min) and they told us what the problem might be and they would have a tech call us in 3-5 days.

At exactly 5 days we receive a call from a technician who says he can come out the next day to our home, but cannot tell us at what time.

I don't know too many people who can block out an entire day without having to be at work or other appointments, so we decided maybe next week would work better. Now he tells us he is not sure what day or time he can come out next week, but will give us a call. Great. What kind of customer service is this?

Now our ProForm 680 LT treadmill is nothing but a speaker system for our iPod and the sound isn't so great to start with. I sincerely hope ProForm's other treadmills are better and that other people experience better service.

ProForm iFit Treadmill

by OB
(CA)

I purchased a ProForm iFit treadmill from the HSN and I will never do so again. I paid 600 dollars plus another 150 dollars for assembly. The equipment lasted less than a month. It began expelling some black powdery substance. I could not return it to HSN because between shipment and the time it took someone from ProForm to come out to my home to assemble the product, the thirty day grace period with HSN had elapsed. This treadmill is a serious joke. Since then, I won't shop HSN either.

Proform 1450 Treadmill - Buyer Beware

by Steven
(Bloomsbury, NJ)

Here’s some truth in advertising, BUYER BEWARE. This treadmill is packed with such superior technology, incredible power and overall convenience features that they sometimes actually work. I’ve owned this machine since April 2011.

It was in early May that I noticed something was wrong with the machine. About 20 minutes into a workout it would slow down or even completely stop. The display would think that it’s still running, but the belt just wouldn't move. In late July, the machine just stopped working altogether. By late October, two consoles later and a replacement controller that was on backorder for two months from China, this machine was back into half swing.

CUSTOMER SERVICE representatives are very nice (at least most of them), when you can get through to them... in my experience if you sit on hold to get answered, you will wait over an hour to get help. Have the machine call you back, it usually took about 45 minutes to get a call back...but you better sit and wait and hope and pray you don’t miss their call...or you’re just going to have to start waiting all over again.

Anyway, back to customer service, they just order replacement parts that take as long as 10 days to get to you and once you receive the equipment, you have to schedule a tech to come out to you, usually it takes a week for them to come out.
So in the last few months, here’s how I learned to live with this high performance machine:

1. Google Map workouts – don’t use them, the map refresh freezes and comes to a complete stop about 20 to 30 minutes into the workout and the momentum is lost.

2. Watch sports, read email, etc - don’t use this feature. I tried watching video to occupy myself, it freezes the machine and the only way to get it back to working order is to reboot.

3. The machine does not keep the constant pace. Here’s what I mean: if I set the machine to a speed of 3 for warm up or cool down, about 60% of the time I will get a 3. Sometime I get a 3.5 or even a 4. How do I know? It’s easy; if I’m walking one minute and the next minute I have to run as the belt is accelerating for no reason. Same thing as when I’m jogging; if I set the machine to a speed of 5, I have to run at full force just to keep up and then after about a mile it actually slows down to a 5, again without touching any of the settings. A coworker who purchased the same exact machine tells me he would get the same results, sometimes his machine would just come to a complete stop during a workout and he had to get his motor replaced after 6 months of back and forth.

Bottom line, this machine is unreliable technology which constantly has to be rebooted, recalibrated and reset. The controller and the Android operating system is very flaky, about as reliable as a cellphone.

ProForm Power 995 Treadmill User Review

by Kelly Andersen
(Malvern, Iowa, US)

I bought my ProForm Power 995 treadmill on Black Friday of 2010. It arrived on time, the shipping company was top notch, and the machine assembled easily.

The walking belt always made a 'chirp' as the splice went under the plastic guard on the bottom corner. Then, 2 weeks ago, the belt started 'climbing' on top of the guard and running there.

I called the Customer Service # and waited on hold for 3 HOURS!! Never did talk to a rep. Went to the website and emailed them. Haven't heard back from them in 2 weeks.

This machine has less than 100 miles on it. There's absolutely no excuse for it to need maintenance already!! It's completely un-useable in this condition.

When this machine was working, I was very happy with it, but right now it's just collecting dust.

ProForm's 'customer service' is non-existent. I seem to have made a very expensive mistake.

Proform Trailrunner 4.0 Treadmill Consumer Review

by Carlos
(FL)

I purchased the ProForm Trailrunner 4.0 treadmill in January and it was delivered in February.

I began to use it with much frequency in the later part of March beginning of April along with other members of my family. It has over 250 miles on it as of 09/11.

From the beginning there were issues. There is a lot of vibration on the deck, when initiating a manual workout; it would not always start. It was necessary to restart to actually get the belt to start moving.

The incline would not always go to the selected height or it tended to drift down. Finally, it began to hesitate while running and it smelled like there was an electrical short.

Needless to say, those are the problems I can remember. For the cost and considering the reviews I read on the Trailrunner 4.0, I was very disappointed.