PHASE 4 Heart Monitor. I'm currently on my second PHASE Heart Monitor (the first having failed during the warranty period). The monitor itself is a brilliant piece of kit for the price, and does everything well, and in a simple to use manner. Unfortunately, it's been the local service back-up that is very poor. I'm currently in the process of sending the second unit back to Germany for repair(at my own expense, as it's out of warranty), but it has been a difficult process so far. When it was working, I had absolutely no complaints about the monitor itself. The chest-strap elastic was of poor quality, but easily replaced, and battery replacement was undertaken by the local watch repairers easily. I suppose I should mention that I used the unit for running and cycling. I'd heartily recommend the unit, BUT see customer service comments.....

Customer Service

The local sports-shop where I bought the unit are awful, and will never get my custom again. When the first unit failed under warranty, it took about six months of constant badgering to obtain a replacement. Now, they're not interested at all, having apparently given up selling PHASE HRMs. They can't locate the importer, but luckily for me, I've contacted the factory in Germany, and they have waived their normal rules about dealing with units from outside Germany, and for the normal service fee of 25 Euros, they say that they'll repair my unit. The schoolboy German in the email must have impressed them. I'll post an update when I get the (hopefully) repaired unit back from Germany.

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Cheap unit bought as a replacement in the meantime, but with no joy. It's nothing like the PHASE for ease of use, and overall it probably wasn't worth the bother.