from Hacker News

Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

by adsche on 6/22/21, 11:22 AM with 155 comments

by jerf on 6/22/21, 2:06 PM
'The company has cited "safety and well-being" as a reason for introducing the membership fee.'
I've noticed the "fake because" lately seems to be getting more and more brazen from corporations.
This is about the third or fourth "for your safety and convenience we're helping ourselves to more of your money" I've seen in the last couple months, and unfortunately all the other ones I've seen are for products or services I actually have.
But I for one am just grateful that we have so many companies and governments willing to take more of our money, spend less of theirs, extend wait times, reduce services, and just generally do less for more money for our safety and convenience. Imagine how unsafe we'd be if they weren't taking so much money and actually provided service. What a bloodbath it would be.
by mimixco on 6/22/21, 1:19 PM
Since Peloton has sold subscriptions from day 1, this probably shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
The worst part of this story is that the device killed a child and they're using that as the reason to collect monthly ransom. It sounds like a Sopranos episode: Make your monthly payments or we might hurt your kid.
by altacc on 6/22/21, 2:20 PM
> "In our ongoing work to ensure our products are even safer ... we released Tread Lock, a four-digit passcode to secure Tread+ against unauthorized access. Unfortunately, Tread Lock is not yet available without a Peloton Membership..."
This is ludicrous. I'm intrigued why it is so difficult to add a 4 digit passcode to a device that regularly receives software updates. It seems that bricking the device was an easier fix than a bit of coding.
One of the benefits of IOT is the ability to provide regular updates & "improvements", however the first benefit of IOT is to earn as much money as possible for the suppliers and that typically steers product decisions.
by rkalla on 6/22/21, 2:04 PM
This seems like a "pout" move... get blasted with a class-action, so blast everyone in the face with this 'safety and goodness' fee.
No other solution to keeping toddlers off of a treadmill with a giant touch screen?
Maybe a simple math question or 'confirm your birthday'?
No no... gotta cash-grab to pay for the lawsuit.
Classy.
by Barrin92 on 6/22/21, 1:38 PM
I mean the entire business model of the company seems to be to depart rich people from their money in obscene ways, so that move does not seem unexpected.
I generally do not understand the thought process of buying a tablet glued to a treadmill for three thousand dollars. That's like what, a decade of gym membership
by wrycoder on 6/22/21, 1:53 PM
Corporations love the steady revenue of the subscription model. Look at Blackrock buying up all the housing and renting it out.
The idea being that people won’t own anything except (maybe) their clothes.
Well, certainly a lot less trouble for the kids when you kick off.
by everdrive on 6/22/21, 2:17 PM
Every service, or product that relies on a service can either be taken from you, or have its terms changed. You'll have no recourse, or else your recourse will be a lengthy class action lawsuit, which may still result in an unsatisfactory resolution for the consumer.
by iscekic on 6/22/21, 1:28 PM
Even if this was made possible by their T&C, it must suck as a customer. "Hey you know that feature you bought and have been using? 40$/mo or it doesn't work anymore =)"
I wonder if customer protection laws in the US can force them to revert their update.
by wly_cdgr on 6/22/21, 2:31 PM
Wow, an IoT company doing ransomware? That's crazy. No one could possibly have predicted that this would quickly become commonplace
by matco11 on 6/22/21, 2:47 PM
I am confused. I almost bought the Peloton treadmill months ago and it was pretty clear that the $40 subscription was needed and was on top. To me, the $40 subscription for treadmill is not new news
by sys_64738 on 6/22/21, 2:11 PM
How can a lump of hardware require a subscription to work? I've been in a coma for 20 years.
by kbos87 on 6/22/21, 4:17 PM
What isn’t clear to me is whether Peloton intends for this to be a permanent end state - that you need to buy a subscription to use “Just Run” - or if it’s a temporary state (we introduced the locking feature, made a dumb decision to require an account, and accounts are tied to paid subscriptions, and thus until we unwind that, here’s a few free months.)
The former would be absolutely reprehensible. It’s ransomware, in the name of a death caused by your product.
If it’s the latter, they absolutely blew it while communicating this.
The likely scenario to me is somewhere inbetween. They are seeing how people react to this and were intentionally ambiguous to give themselves an escape hatch if there’s backlash.
by s1artibartfast on 6/22/21, 2:22 PM
Before people go on a reddit like hate trail, it should be noted is in parallel with a full recall and reimbursement of all the treadmills
by rkagerer on 6/22/21, 6:57 PM
Could someone explain why people are still buying these instead of competing treadmills? Do they have some kind of killer feature?
by SavantIdiot on 6/24/21, 6:12 PM
Anyone who is remotely tech-savvy has been on the continuum from skeptical of "free" cloud-based services, to downright paranoid. Two decades ago the joke was your fridge would stop working unless you paid for a microsoft upgrade. Obviously satire, it did carry an obvious warning that cloud-enable devices are owned by the cloud and not the purchaser. And here we are now with Peloton bricking a treadmill.
To reference a cliche, I think Peloton turned up the heat a little two quickly and the frog jumped out of the pot of water. But they will learn to go more slowly in the future, the same way that we see people lazily subscribing to multiple $5.99 streaming TV channels, ultimately costing more than cable.
by lokar on 6/22/21, 2:22 PM
A possible explanation is that they need/want to address th safety issue quickly, and the way to do that is a software change to something that is subscription only. They may well break out the PIN/safety feature later to not require a subscription.
by rchaud on 6/22/21, 4:03 PM
Peloton introduced a 4-digit passcode to improve product safety. But the passcode only works on their $39.99/mo. subscription tier. Give SaaS business models an inch and they'll take a mile.
Can we go back to 1995 when $9.99 VHS exercise tapes were still an option?
by chaircher on 6/22/21, 1:32 PM
Such a stupid move even from a pure business point of view. People who can fork out $3k for a treadmill (as well as have the space and time to use it) are people who are in a good position to defend themselves from this sort of bullshit
by lykahb on 6/22/21, 4:25 PM
Until the regulators intervene, the trend of turning product ownership into subscription would continue. Makers of the locked down smart products are also opposing the right to repair.
I wish it were a common knowledge that proprietary IoT devices are related to planned obsolescence, and therefore are bad for environment. The climate and environment activists have a stronger voice than consumer rights or privacy activists. It would be nice to join forces and lobby laws against this kind of predatory behavior.
by randshift on 6/22/21, 1:55 PM
The title of this article is somewhat silly to me. The subscription fee has never been a surprise to anyone who's owned one.
The point of a Peloton is to do the classes, either for running or spinning, which require a subscription. It would be silly to buy a premium device who's point is to use the subscription based features and specifically intend to use it without the subscription. Just buy a similar treadmill from another company.
by qq4 on 6/22/21, 4:02 PM
What's next, a kettlebell bolted to the floor until I agree to a monthly subscription?
I can't imagine paying this much money to _just_ run. Okay, run and have someone encourage me. I get that they're successful, and lots of people seem to want a treadmill or bike that doesn't move, but I don't personally understand it. I'm starting to feel old fashioned with my workout technology, shoes and shorts.
by slowhand09 on 6/22/21, 2:08 PM
Pelaton - I foresee a class action suit in your future. If this stands, next you'll have an automobile that is bricked after an "update".
by sunshineforever on 6/22/21, 2:43 PM
I think this is horrible and I feel bad for the customers, but maybe this will make people think twice about buying a 3000 treadmill in the future.
by tw04 on 6/22/21, 3:06 PM
I want to clarify because a lot of people seem to be confused about what's happening here.
"Just run" is tracking your metrics. You can STILL use the treadmill without it, you just won't be getting information on the run like your pace, calories burned, power output, etc. The treadmill isn't bricked, it's just not providing metrics. If you have a garmin watch or insert fitness tracker you can still get info from that.
I can understand why people would be annoyed by this change, and I would hope they add the functionality back in the future. But everyone saying it's "bricked" needs to take a deep breath.
by dannyw on 6/22/21, 3:56 PM
This is completely unacceptable. This is like your fully-purchased electric vehicle refusing to start anymore unless you pay $300/month.
by bink on 6/22/21, 2:11 PM
The article uses the term "Just Run" several times but never bothers to explain what "Just Run" is. If it's the ability to use the treadmill without a subscription, well, that sucks but I can't imagine anyone spending $3k on one of these without even using the tablet.
No one should have to do it to use the device but Peletons are actually relatively simple to jail break.
by tomp on 6/22/21, 2:24 PM
> As a reminder, under the terms of our voluntary recall, Tread+ owners can return their Tread+ for a full refund by contacting Member support
I really don’t see the problem. You don’t have to like it, you can just return it (presumably getting the purchase money back). Vote with your wallet!
by tibbydudeza on 6/22/21, 6:26 PM
Smart move from Peloton - TAAS (Treadmill As A Service).
by napolux on 6/22/21, 2:04 PM
"surprise"
by aliasEli on 6/22/21, 11:40 AM
Hardware changes slower than software. Some very influential software companies (e.g. Microsoft, Adobe) switched to a subscription model some time ago.
From a marketing perspective it seems to make sense. If your customers pay a lot of money to buy your product and don't hesitate to connect it to the internet, they are probably wealthy but not very intelligent. Ideal marks for a subscription service.
by cblconfederate on 6/22/21, 1:59 PM
$39.99 is way too small for their target audience. It looks like a crowd who are more in love with the idea of exercising rather than exercise itself. Charge those vain addicted people to death, more like $399/mo for starters , the basic package