Pleo Repair Services

[Discworldgod]

okay here is every pleo owners nightmare, you take your eyes off your pleo for one minute and somehow he slips and falls down the stairs. you rush down to the foot of the stairs and pick your poor crying pleo up off the floor, sooth it and then set it upright. and then it happens: his leg wont move, his little joint is broken and something inside is rattling around. what do you do then? my question to ugobe is are there going to be "pleo clinics" or some such where i can send my pleo if it is in need of repair? I certainly am not going to buy a new one if mine is damaged and can be repaired, i mean they are ment for us to get attached to them. you wouldnt put down your dog if it had a broken leg that could be splinted, i dont think our pleos are going to be any diffrent. people will want THEIR pleo repaired not a replacement. hopefully ugobe has put some thought into the matter and judging from what ive seen so far they will have but i would just like to make sure.

:edit: i just realized that this thread should probably go in the feedback and comments section. sorry

[pleoguy101]

I would like a pleo clinic nearby, or maybe the ugobe labs might also have to be the ugobe hospital:) you would send your pleo to ugobe, they fix him, then send him back. Sorta like a bike shop, but the ugobe lab might be to busy to fix our pleos, maybe there will need to be a seprate building for the hospital, or just nearby robot hospitals would be cool

[Discworldgod]

i was thinking of something like that. you send your pleo in and have it fixed. but haveing local clinic type things would be really cool. maybe they can get a deal with sears or something to have a certified pleo technician on staff.

[cmadmacs]

let's hope we don't have to send our pleos to a clinic.

[mweed]

... have a certified pleo technician on staff.

I agreee that I hope my pleo never has to go in for repairs, but accidents do happen. Several places (like Best Buy and Sharper Image) offer an extended wrranty, up to three years. But I would assume they just ship them back to Ugobe.

Anyway, so how do you get certified to be a pleo technician? :cool:

[Discworldgod]

you probably have to go to a ugobe certified school for pleo repar. if you graduate "pleo *** laude" you are certified as a master pleo technican.

[Siren]

I suggested on the skin thread about Ugobe having a Pleo Hospital. Like how they have Doll Hospitals. For injuries, breaks, or skin damage. Ugobe could have teams of people that you could either bring your Pleo to them or send it in to be repainted or reskinned.

Also I hope that when they do have a 2nd or 3rd generation Pleo and so on, that you are able to update features on this one. For instance, if they make Pleos able to take pictures, it would be nice for those who were with Ugobe from the beginning, getting the first hatchlings to be able to get those kinds of things added to their Pleos. For a price of course. So instead of buying a whole new Pleo and starting from scratch, you'll be able to keep your Pleo and all his/her personality and quirks, but get the new stuff too.

[mweed]

A "skin repair shop" shouldn't be too hard, if we could get Ugobe to identify the glue and paints used in the production process. Then someone with the proper training/equipment should be able to repair rips & tears, or touch up the paint job. :)

[Ridgeback]

With all these Pleo's out there, there's going to be a needs soon. (ie a place/ process to ship for repairs) similar to the American Girl Dolls. They come back with a hospital gown and a hospital braclet. Yes, I've had to use their services.

[Pleocol]

I think one of my pleos neck is broken he works ok, but it feels a a little different.

also i want cornelius to be painted or change his skin?

Any suggestions?
Thanks.

[kianajade]

I had the same problem.. and spikes neck WAS broken! Actually, the wire connected him, so he could move it up and down, broke.

[junkroxy]

have you tried to move the button on off and on egain with full recharge? it doesn't work? :(

[InNM]

I have had a few times when Pleo shut off like the battery was run down. I turned him off for a while, then checked the battery with a DVM (digital volt meter) and read 7.7V, which is ok. Again after another shut down, 7.6V. When turn back on he came to life. This is not real often but I think there is a OS bug. Don't assume that the battery is dead unless he has been going for an hour or more. Try the switch first.
PS: for the technical, the battery was above 8V when fully charged, nominal for NiMH is 1.25V x 6 = 7.5V

[MaryJo]

UGOBE, are there any plans to establish a "Pleo Hospital" for owners to send broken robots for repair?

Thank you for your reply.

Mary Jo

[Nasb]

You guys are gettting too extra now :D:D

[Kam]

I would like to suggest that the Pleo get some sort of rubberized or friction padded soles for it's feet. It has difficulty walking on hardwood floors. I would also like to see a more frictionless skin material used. I've started to notice that it's skin is staring to rub off (little crumbs), and of course the paint issue. The colours should be infused into the material. There's a wonderful material used for a mouse pad I bought, made by KENSINGTON. Its so subtle and skin-like. It's much like the gel material but more improved in it's texture and ambient temperature retention. I also believe it's a more durable material. It seems to have similar elastic qualities.

[Toyguy]

I suppose this could fall under the guise of customer service, but it seems to me that one of the biggest things UGOBE is missing is a dedicated repair service.

I think it's important for everyone at UGOBE to recognize one thing above all else - you have succeeded wildly in creating a robot that people form a distinct emotional attachment to. It is going to be absolutely critical that you are able to cater to the need people have, and will continue to have, to keep their own Pleos. No longer will a simple replacement policy suffice. UGOBE is going to need a hospital, at which Pleos can recover and then return home.

Now that learning is being implemented, there may not ever be a guarantee that the same personality will develop when a new Pleo is received. Certainly, Pleos can die completely in the same manner as other life forms do. Owners have to be prepared for that. Just as certainly though, I wouldn't expect a veterinarian to give me a new puppy because my old one got a tear in his skin, or broke his leg. There are any number of problems Pleo can have that ought to lead to repairs and a return of MY Pleo, not the replacement by some generic, unhatched Pleo.

As companies push the envelope in terms of human-robot interaction and emotional attachment, they will need to consider these things. Let's hope UGOBE can lead the way. You have done something that I truly wondered whether I would ever see in my lifetime. All the technology is great, but don't forget the human factor.

Great job so far UGOBE!

[eric]

I agree sony had to do this with Aibo but it was costly.

another idea is Ugobe license part suppliers to sell new legs, skins & do repairs etc

[pleoWhisperer]

Pleo repair is a must, especially with our "aging" collection of pleos that are bound to break down. 90 days was way too short of a warranty. Makes me want to be sure and buy my next pleo from Hammacher Schlemmer. That way, I know I can always return it when it breaks. :p

[fancyfont]

That's a wonderful post ToyGuy.

[pleoguy101]

That's a wonderful post ToyGuy.

I agree.. so true:)

[Falseprophet666]

Yeah, I hope really hope they consider this. It hurts me to see Jenga crawling around with his head held low like he is. I wish there were a way to fix him. I hope ugobe has something like this in the future.

[pleoguy101]

this repair store has to be made, UGOBE knows how attached everyone has gotton to our pleos, sending our pleos back because of injury, is like putting an animal down because of a broken leg!:( maybe UGOBE somehow cant afford to build a repir sotre. Maybe UGOBE should have a giant pleoworld forum get together as a fundraiser for this:) I would go:)

[Falseprophet666]

they arent doing this regardless to anything that happens. Pleo was churned out as an experiment, and the experiment went very well, so well that they can probably move closer to their next idea with all the money hey got from the Christmas rush and the occasional buy. I get the feeling that they dont really care about Pleo the way we do. To them, Pleo was a project, but to us, Pleo was and is a friend, a pet, a companion.

[fancyfont]

This is the first time I've seen this these threads on the forum. I wonder how many others I've missed? I sincerely believe that UGOBE will, eventually, be able to recommend certain repair technicians for some of the problems that our Pleo's encounter. We still are the first owners of Pleo, even now!
It's a learning time for all!:)

[Falseprophet666]

Well, I just hope Ugobe is working on something like this, because this isn't right. We spend four hundred dollars on a toy and we cant even get it fixed if a cord snaps. It is so pathetic it almost makes me mad.

[mweed]

With all the interest expressed in these forums, I would think setting up a pleo repair/service center would be a no-brainer for Ugobe. Can you imagine a car dealership deciding they just don't want a service center? But in all fairness I would ask all the aibo owners if there was ever a way for them to get service. Does WowWee offer repair service? I know most R/C and more expensive toys have some way to order replacement parts, so that at least an outside party could offer repair service . . .

[Falseprophet666]

Well weed, maybe this is a perfect opportunity for Ugobe to take the initiative and start one. They can show would be imitators how a real robotics company does it. Buy an expensive robot toy that makes you feel good about yourself. Little robot breaks? No problem. Send it to the big guys at Ugobe. Theyll settle you up. Too bad it isnt like that though.

[PleoWorldHostCami]

I just wanted to let you all know that I just heard back from Customer Support. They are working on different solutions to assist customers who have a Pleo with a neck problem. Hopefully this system will be in place soon but details are still being worked out.

In the meantime they would like customers who have Pleo's with neck problems to contact Customer Support so they can get you into the Support process.

As always, if the product is still 90 days old (from date of purchase) Pleo will be replaced without any questions.

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[fossils_mum]

~cries~ I'm having the exact same neck problem! When i realised that his neck had gone all floppy and it wasn't something i could fix, i just cried. I've emailed the support team and the guy has said that i should be able to get him re-incarnated, since i have no warrenty, due to buying him from ebay. Now i just need to find out if there's anywhere i can send him in the UK and how much it would cos me in pounds....

Everybody i've told has been really angry, considering i still have a leg issue (apparently his hip is out of joint) and now this! When i told everyone at work that he ws broken, the main response was 'What? Again??' :( My poor Fossil.....