Instapark Betta review

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Just got my repaired unit back yesterday. I got super excited when I saw it show up in a box labeled SE. I thought they may have just given a new unit. Alas, it was my old 2, oh well. They replaced the broken LED and looks like they swapped both of the motors out. It's weird not having a Betta that I can hear inside anymore. Yay for quick, free repairs. Vegas says the over/under on the number of months this lasts before breaking again is 4.5.
 
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My Betta 2 is still going great after getting it back from warranty claim in early April. Motors are still whisper quiet, compared to when I shipped it off.

MiguelACA said:
lol yes...but i stand by it! That little thing collects SOOO many june bugs, flying ants, spiders, and leaves AND pollen. I rarely have to use a net to get anything out
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I'm in the same boat. I've already got my moneys worth and more over the past two seasons, no way I could deal with manual skimming after getting used to this thing.
 
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Well, Chip wasn't doing anything no matter what we tried while spinning in circles. He's been sent back after waiting for an appropirate sized Amazon box to show up, was received today, and I'm anxiously waiting for him to come back and clean my pool! I used to think skimming was calming. Maybe it is, but he sure works a heck of a lot harder than I do! We got an e-mail saying he was going to arrive today, that they'd start on repairs immediately, that we should have him back in 7 to 15 business days, and included a tracking nubmer to check in 15 days time.
 
Well got my Betta2 back. The fixed the broken LED, and I guess replaced the motors. They are super quiet again. Also two new propellers.

However, where they replaced the broken LED they forgot to replace the 3-wheel assembly. I need to email them to send me on.

Still much better than the new Ariel I had sitting in a box for when this happened. The two real paddles stopped working in about a week. That thing is a piece of junk. Filed an AMEX claim on it.
 
I decided to let betta die a natural death. It went from noisy left propeller (longest duration), to start and stop running on its own, to propellers not turning but paddle wheel rotating only which was effective at collecting debris as it hovered around the skimmer, to nothing working but lights still blinking green. Heading back west tomorrow.

I bought another one when Amazon lowered the price for a day. I just can’t survive without a betta bopping around the pool. Inaugurated today.
 

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Update on my beta 2 that I got last summer. It’s been running fine all summer except one of the green LED’s has quit working. The only thing I do is that whenever I spay it down to clean it, I spray out the motors from the front really well in order to flush any tiny bits of debris out of them, that’s it, this one has lasted longer then any other ones I have had and is my second beta 2. This leads me to recommend this as required basic maintenance to prolong the time to keep it out of the shop.
 
I’m in the midst of an email conversation with Betta. It seems that it is very important to have the original order number for a warranty claim. HELLO who keeps that info. I would have thought that the S/N number would be all that’s needed. Since I didn’t have the original order # I wrote 000000 just to get the form submitted. Within minutes Ged wrote saying he needed the number. I searched through paypal which doesn’t let me access info more than a few months then went to credit card annual reports and found the date of purchase at least. I also kind of made that up.

I explained to Ged that after the 3 or 4th repair return of Betta 1 they sent me a Betta 2 or SE - I don’t know which one without me having to pay anything. I also assumed that the warranty would restart as they sent me a new unit.

I guess that was not well understood so I was offered a $120 discount on an SE if I return Betta 1. I don’t have Betta 1! One would think the s/n would also reflect that.

I’m a bit frustrated but I have to say their customer service is top notch. I feel bad for Ged! I’m sure he is inundated.
 
Bam Bam said:
I decided to let betta die a natural death. It went from noisy left propeller (longest duration), to start and stop running on its own, to propellers not turning but paddle wheel rotating only which was effective at collecting debris as it hovered around the skimmer, to nothing working but lights still blinking green. Heading back west tomorrow.

I bought another one when Amazon lowered the price for a day. I just can’t survive without a betta bopping around the pool. Inaugurated today.
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Out of warranty?
 
rjb1211 said:
Out of warranty?
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Betta determined that my “old” one that I received as a free surprise replacement last year will still be fixed under the date of replacement warranty not the date of purchase of the Betta 1. I thought the replacement Betta was an SE but Ged said it’s a Betta 2. Betta offered a $120 discount on an SE or free repair of Betta 2. Since I have an SE that I purchased when Amazon lowered the price for a few hours I don’t want to purchase another one. So I decided to send Betta 2 back for repair.
 
Just an update that I sent mine back for repair and had it back to me within about 2 weeks. Working like a charm now. It really looks different to me, more worn looking than I remembered, but the serial number is the same, so I guess it's really the same one. I gotta say I love that thing! We really missed it while we didn't have it. Of course the period we didn't have it was when our dying oak tree was dropping most of its leaves - we finally bit the bullet and had the tree removed. I miss the tree but I do not miss all of those leaves falling prematurely! It was like mid-October/November around here and I was constantly cleaning the pool deck, the pool bottom, and skimming the top with a net. What a pain! Anyway. Betta 2 is great and I'm hoping it'll last next season too!
 
My betta 2 is acting up again. Motors have gotten real loud and one seems to have a hard time spinning up. Betta 2 will also stop working and gets flashing red and green lights...power cycling gets it going again. I was offered a repair or $120 towards SE. Just going to send it in for repair. Glad i kept the box this time!
 
It’s actually not bad with pollen. Think about a very fine mesh screen. In my case it even picks up oily residue of sunscreen and stuff like that.

There are a couple of members that threw some Polyfill into the basket to make it catch even more.
 
Thanks Katodude. I like what I read about the SE and may give it a try along with an extended warranty.
Any comments on which warranty to choose, Asurion or buy direct from Instapark with their extended warranty?
 
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