Instapark Betta review

[November Cadet]

I have had my Betta 2 for over a month now. It does a great job of cleaning and run time is great, but I have already had two problems.

First, after about 2 weeks the screw on one of the propellers backed out and the prop came off. I wasn't able to find the screw but I was instructed to enter a warranty claim and they sent me screws promptly.

I now have another problem. A few days ago I noticed that it was making some unusual noise. Today it stopped moving with the lights flashing green and red. I checked and one of the motors is binding. I can't see anything fouling it.

Can these motors be taken apart and cleaned or is it best to just enter another warranty claim?

Agreeing with what the others have said. Their warranty is pretty good and if you let them know, they will more than likely send a full replacement. When mine got messed up in shipping, I contacted them and they were going to send a whole new unit to me.

 

[rjb1211]

Contact instapark. Yours is the first beta 2 that we are aware of that has failed.

I contacted them and they are sending me a replacement.

I cleaned mine up and put it in the pool house to dry. After a day I decided to flip it over to make sure no water was trapped and it started running even though the power switch was in the off position. Now it won't turn off at all.

Even though it is in a dark place I don't know how long it will take the battery to drain since it is now in Strand Mode. I am waiting to hear from Instapark to see if there is something I can do to kill the power. If I try to ship it back to them with it running I am sure red flags will go off at Fedex.

 

[Bam Bam]

After 9 months of flawless operation I now have the Betta bot blues. Betta bit the dust yesterday. Not unexpected nevertheless I’m bereft. I got so spoiled and looked forward to dumping the collected crud instead of aggravating my skimmer’s shoulder. Oh well, I am now a member of the club I didn’t want to join!

Tuesday I’ll call Betta. Hopefully by then I will have made my mind up what to do. I am not convinced I should give it another whirl or even go for Betta 2 based on early reports here. Of course today’s weather is going to drop leaves, pine cones and everything else on Betta’s diet.

Maybe Betta got fed up with the historical earthquake swarm that’s hit my area since January and wants to return to CA where it’s calmer!

 

[Orion7319]

After 9 months of flawless operation I now have the Betta bot blues. Betta bit the dust yesterday. Not unexpected nevertheless I’m bereft. I got so spoiled and looked forward to dumping the collected crud instead of aggravating my skimmer’s shoulder. Oh well, I am now a member of the club I didn’t want to join!

Tuesday I’ll call Betta. Hopefully by then I will have made my mind up what to do. I am not convinced I should give it another whirl or even go for Betta 2 based on early reports here. Of course today’s weather is going to drop leaves, pine cones and everything else on Betta’s diet.

Maybe Betta got fed up with the historical earthquake swarm that’s hit my area since January and wants to return to CA where it’s calmer!

So far only one beta2 has been reported as having bit the dust. What is it with all these earthquakes? They had one on Friday in Elgin.

 

[Bam Bam]

So far only one beta2 has been reported as having bit the dust. What is it with all these earthquakes? They had one on Friday in Elgin.

We’ve had 40 earthquakes since January. I live 10 miles from Elgin. Yesterday we had a 2.1 at noon (heard it) but Th (I think) a 3.5 in the afternoon - I was in West Columbia and heard it. Then at 7 PM we had a 3.6 - felt that one and it was the longest rumble. Lest I forget the 130 AM last Sunday that shook me awake - 3.4!

I get no sympathy from my California friend though.

The geologists are not attributing to man made activities. Apparently parts of SC are higher risk for earthquakes as well as tornadoes. Who knew!

 

[tcat]

No wonder people from CA are flocking here to TX!

 

[DanF]

Stay safe @Bam Bam ! I would seriously give the Betta 2 a shot, depending on what Instapark tells you. Like Orion said, not many bad reports here. Good luck!

 

[Orion7319]

We’ve had 40 earthquakes since January. I live 10 miles from Elgin. Yesterday we had a 2.1 at noon (heard it) but Th (I think) a 3.5 in the afternoon - I was in West Columbia and heard it. Then at 7 PM we had a 3.6 - felt that one and it was the longest rumble. Lest I forget the 130 AM last Sunday that shook me awake - 3.4!

I get no sympathy from my California friend though.

The geologists are not attributing to man made activities. Apparently parts of SC are higher risk for earthquakes as well as tornadoes. Who knew!View attachment 431626

I was born here, lived here all my life. We didn’t used to get so many earthquakes. I think I remember 1 in the early 2000’s before all of these in the last few years.

 

[Bam Bam]

I was born here, lived here all my life. We didn’t used to get so many earthquakes. I think I remember 1 in the early 2000’s before all of these in the last few years.

Interestingly, I have experienced an earthquake in every state I have lived in NY and MD but not a swarm like SC!

So it seems that Instapark has become more formal with their approach. I was expecting Vivian to discuss what to do and offer to send me a new one like others have described. Instead she sent me this email:

“We are sorry to hear that your Betta is not working.

Option 1: If you are still under 1-year warranty. We can repair the Betta at our warehouse, and then send it back to you (Free of charge). Please provide us with your order #, shipping address, full name and phone number. (So we can email you a prepaid return label). Due to privacy protection, we do not have your personal info.


Option 2: We can upgrade (trade in) your existing Betta to our newest Betta 2.0 version with a $200.00 discount, and you will be emailed an invoice for $289.90 from [email protected].
Once you pay for that invoice, reply back to this email with the order number, it should look like this K000000, and we will ship your new BETTA2 right the way with a prepaid shipping label to return that old unit.

The 1 year manufacturer's warranty will reset, and you will have additional coverage for 1 year.”

T things jump out:

1. Repairing my dead Betta - given that it worked non-stop for 9 months is it possible that there is a reliable repair? I didn’t have any of the issues reported - wrong direction of propellers, etc. Maybe it is just a module but of course I won’t know unless I send it back.

2. The last line about the 1 year reset of warranty - not sure if that applies to repaired unit but will inquire.

3. I don’t think I’m ready to pay more money yet. Given that it’s kind of the slow season for debris and droppings maybe it’s a good time to send it back for repair and see what happens. I don’t want to be without one in the fall if I decide to remain a Betta bot user.

I also noted that they are answering the phone as “Betta bot” and not instapark. And instapark is not showing up on google search - it’s also no bettabot.com.

 

[Orion7319]

Myself and another person (can’t remember who at the moment) got the upgrade for 200.00. I ordered it over the phone and that’s just what she told me I owed to get the upgrade. Not sure why they went up $90.00 on that. I was always told the warranty reset with each new robot I was sent. Each time I got a new robot except the last time. The last time they shipped me a refurbished robot for some reason after I already received the beta 2. Some kind of mix up there, but I took it as a bad sign they shipped me out a beat up unit that was missing it’s basket. I would ask them specifically if the one year warranty resets if you stick with the original beta and if the $200.00 off for the new one would still be applicable and for how long. I would hold on to the email they send in reply. I think you got lucky that your original one lasted as long as it did. I had three go out in less then a year and the last one was in storage for six months over the winter. That’s not a good track record. I do believe the original ones have a design flaw with their motors, I only stuck it out with them because they were easy to work with. If they are changing some things up, I guess it’s due to the economy.

 

[Bam Bam]

Vivian confirmed that warranty resets with repair. So I’ve decided to send it back for repair. Prior to Orion7319’s comment about getting another unit back I had thought about tattooing the bot in several places. I’m convinced now that Betta will get “botty” art! Suggestions...

 

[wireform]

Use an ultra violet pen and mark the various parts including the motor casing...

 

[DanF]

How about a Gamecock?!

 

[Orion7319]

How about a Gamecock?!

That works! My oldest is currently at UofSC

 

[Bam Bam]

And the survey says - gamecock - but it will have to be a stick figure. No artistic talent here. Love the invisible ink idea too. I’ll have to try and find one.

 

[Bam Bam]

I couldn’t find a box for Betta so I brought it to UPS. For just $10 it’s their problem now. I think Orion said he had a box saved and I would have driven up, after asking of course, but gas will cost more than the UPS fee. I hate saving boxes but being that Betta is such a pain in the bot I may have to change my ways. It got some botty art, well not art. My skimmer is working overtime again. Crazy afternoon thunderstorms almost everyday while a few miles away it’s dry. More when I hear from Betta....and thanks for y’alls support!

 

[Orion7319]

I couldn’t find a box for Betta so I brought it to UPS. For just $10 it’s their problem now. I think Orion said he had a box saved and I would have driven up, after asking of course, but gas will cost more than the UPS fee. I hate saving boxes but being that Betta is such a pain in the bot I may have to change my ways. It got some botty art, well not art. My skimmer is working overtime again. Crazy afternoon thunderstorms almost everyday while a few miles away it’s dry. More when I hear from Betta....and thanks for y’alls support!

If you select the option to have them send you a refurb or new beta, they ship out the replacement beta and they include the pre paid shipping label. You just return the broken one in the box from tbr replacement. I don’t save boxes either lol! Yea we’ve been getting heavy storms every night this week. Its like Florida weather or something.

 

[Bam Bam]

If you select the option to have them send you a refurb or new beta, they ship out the replacement beta and they include the pre paid shipping label. You just return the broken one in the box from tbr replacement. I don’t save boxes either lol! Yea we’ve been getting heavy storms every night this week. Its like Florida weather or something.

I chose the repair option. With the warranty reset and how well mine worked I’m not ready to plunge into another model and more money.

 

[Orion7319]

I chose the repair option. With the warranty reset and how well mine worked I’m not ready to plunge into another model and more money.

They used to let me ship my broken one back for a brand new one. The last time I shipped mine back, I paid $200.00 for the upgrade to the beta 2. The repair option didn’t make any sense to me when they were giving me the option to get a brand new one. That’s why I was so impressed with their customer service! Lol! I don’t think they do that now as when I upgraded to the Beta 2, I had originally requested that they send me a new one, because I didn’t know the beta2 existed. They had the order in to ship me another one, I called to cancel that and upgrade. I somehow wound up with the beta2 and a week later I received a very dirty refurbished unit that was missing the basket and the remote. I simply returned that one straight back to them. That makes me think they aren’t sending brand new ones out anymore, and personally I would want mine repaired now.

 

[Orion7319]

Beta 2 still going strong, and it stands up to snake attacks! These guys love my pool for some reason. Got hundreds of these in my yard.

Species Profile: Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi) | SREL Herpetology