Transponder upgrade program??

[mbuskuhl]

In Oct. 2009 my rechargeable died and AMB sold me a hard wired one for 50% off.

Here's an upgrade email they sent out in June 2010 http://em.mylaps.com/ema/display.php...ea2e&L=17&N=15

[Matt93SE]

I had very little luck with AMB's customer service as well. bought a used transponder and it took 3 months to get the thing registered in my name.

[TomL]

I had a transponder die - the light was on and a handheld reader said it was working, but it wouldn't hit the track sensors at two different tracks. AMB said this wasn't supposed to happen. I sent it to AMB for evaluation and after numerous calls on the status, all I could get was "It's being looked at by the folks in the Netherlands." Almost three years later and I'm still waiting.

I bought a new unit last year. Shortly after, I found out about the 50% off program for old transponders. So I called them up and asked if I could get the discount for my purchase, since I had already "turned in" a defective unit. They said they would be happy to sell me a another new unit at half off. When I pointed out that I had already sent them a trade-in, they said they weren't supposed to give the discount after the fact, but they'd look into it and get back to me. Needless to say, I'm still waiting for a response.

This is the sort of service you'd expect when the people you are dealing with have an effective monopoly on the product they are selling.

[anthony1k]

To add insult to injury they have almost doubled their prices over the past few years. They act like a monopoly because we let them. There are plenty of alternatives nowadays.

[JIgou]

But are there alternative transponders that work with the AMB timing loops and decoder boxes that are already installed in most (all) our tracks around the nation?

[T Broring]

I also have one of the very early hard-wired transponders die on me. I found the discount exchange program still listed on the AMB site but I was a couple months out of the time window. They still did give me the 50% off, but I think I had to ship mine back before they shipped the new one. Due to the problem and fact I did have a trasnponder I was provided a loaner by the region for the one race while this was taken care of. I was happy with their service. I still can access all
the history for both units on their website and there was no hassle like trying to transfer ownership of a used one.

I am suprised no one has marketed a generic replacement yet (that I have seen).