A Reason For Effective Training!

[opti6600]

Those of you who have said "well...we don't -really- need training...", I have something to tell you!

Today I was out on a tour with some folks, and this local lady pulls up and asks about the HTs as usual, says that she actually owns a Segway, has it at home. I ask her a bit more about it, and it turns out that she isn't comfortable enough with it to actually use it at all! I won't mention the dealer who sold it to her originally, but I can definitely say that there wasn't enough training given to her in order to put her in the right comfort zone.

Folks, this is why everybody that gets a Segway really needs training. While we have these D1 sessions for direct and Amazon customers, some people have raised concerns over their effectiveness for "eager" seggers. When you see somebody who just bought a $5000 device, takes it home, sticks it in her closet because she has no clue how to use it safely...well...that's a red herring.

So the moral of the story - "training is an absolute must".

Any experiences like this out there? I was shocked!

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Let's just take the safety labels off of everything and let America's problem sort itself out.

[opti6600]

One addition that should be made...

This woman has had her Segway unused for almost 2 months now!

Just needed to illustrate that point as well.

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Let's just take the safety labels off of everything and let America's problem sort itself out.

[Lohja]

quote:Originally posted by opti6600

One addition that should be made...

This woman has had her Segway unused for almost 2 months now!

Just needed to illustrate that point as well.

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Let's just take the safety labels off of everything and let America's problem sort itself out.


Well, did you offer to train her?

[Sid Viscous]

Who the hell pays $5000 for something then throws it in the closet?

[toybuilder]

quote:Originally posted by Sid Viscous

Who the hell pays $5000 for something then throws it in the closet?


My poor mom. She bought a piano for us kids. We tooks lessons in earnest, but a year later, we moved to a new city and got off the lessons. In the new city, we decided to pursue other activities. The piano followed my folks for the next fifteen years, essentially "in the closet".

Opti, I hope you had a chance to train her. I know you'd do a fantastic job!


http://www.pasadenasegway.org/

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Register now at www.segwayfest.com

[opti6600]

Yup, her training will be handled by Relay in Key Biscayne. Whether that's me or somebody else over there will depend entirely on who's where when. I would have provided it otherwise, like if I had met her on the street randomly on my commute or something like that - there's no reason to let an owner go without using their HT.

Sid, frankly I'm glad she stuck it in the closet. The -last- thing we need is to have untrained seggers out there, learning on the streets/sidewalks/etc as they go along. I'm just appalled that her distributor didn't train her well enough to instill the necessary confidence and knowledge. The "eagerness" associated with some of the Amazon buyers that many of us are concerned about is one thing - they'll go off and do whatever without their training. This woman knew her own personal boundaries (major points for her! responsibility!) and didn't try to push the limits of safety or responsibility by just jumping on and saying "hmm, guess I'll learn along the way".

I wonder if there are any other Miami users out there like her...I'm sure I'll be seeing more as time goes on, but...wow. Never thought I'd actually see or hear of this sort of situation before!

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Let's just take the safety labels off of everything and let America's problem sort itself out.

[ElectraGlide]

If a person gets training and doesnt feel competent enough to use the machine they should go back to the dealer and ask for some more training. I dont understand how someone buys a $5000.00 machine then leaves it in the closet.Sitting around complaining , or laying the blame on training sounds like nothing but an excuse. Isnt it similar to taking ski-ing lessons, then turning chicken once you actually go to the top of the mountain??The instructor can only show you how to do it.....you have to do the rest !! Maybe this person thought the Segway would be something completely different....anyway....you cant blame the trainers, some people just cant pick up on some skills,,,,even an easy one like riding a Segway.Some just never"get it".

Steve

[dexter]

If she didn't have any training at all, getting on and off the machine is probably the hardest part. If she tried to mount on her own without any training, felt "wobbly" (which of course starts to go away as soon as your second mount, but you wouldn't know that without training) and then you give a very non-graceful unmount in "panic", I can easily see how someone would feel very uncomfortable on the machine, and very hesitant to give it a second try on their own.

This machine is soooo easy to master, but it only starts to become intuitive after you are shown the very basics. Without any training at all, the idea of letting it balance you is very non-intuitive, and you have no reason to think it would get any better with "practice" after your first wobbly try. I'd probably return it or sell it under those circumstances, but if "closet" is an acceptable way of "never riding it anymore" to someone, I can easily see that happening.

Dave C.
me: www.idexter.com
work: www.idealjacobs.com
play: www.nyline.org

[stevew]

Having given hundreds of demos i've had a handful of riders that are just plain trepedatious no matter how much careful handholding (cs holding) I give. When you're frozen with fear the HT is basically uncontrollable - you have to trust the technology to get better. On the other extreme, some folks just want me out of the way so they can max it out now! -- i.e. no fear. Most carefully find their center, get more comfortable by the minute and gradually expand their safe operating envelope. So there may be a very few that may never become comfortable with the machine.

[NLKotter]

Today I had an opportunity to talk with a woman who was in my rider training last fall (it was a full day course) - in class she was timid and really pretty inept. The trainers spent extra time with her when the rest of us went outside to ride on trails, and she was definitely improved but still nervous that day. Today, nearly a year later, she's a pro! She said that all it took was a little extra handholding that day, and then some time on her own machine on her own timetable and in her own environment.

That just goes to show that some riders get it on their own, some get it with 30 minutes of formal training, and some need even a little bit more than that. There will always be that kind of range of abilities no matter what the training topic is.

Nancy

[mzokc]

The 90+ year old gentleman in OKC who bought one never did get on the streets with it, so he sold it. Advanced training or practice is key to using it. I made a simple commitment to myself when the HT arrived: "I will use it every day." If not for that simple commitment, you would not see all the photos and I would not have all the great experiences that have been reported on the daily web log here at SegwayChat.

Why spend $4950 if the most practical and spectacular personal transportation system is going to stay in the closet or garage?

Mark

[mcs37]

My question is does she want to sell it for cheap? :D

[buffalo]

Tell her to put it up here to sell, not ebay!