Bye Bye Tritronics

[Bluemoon]

Since 1980 I have been a die hard fan of theirs, I had been a member of their Influential Club since 2005 always promoting their products. I currently own over 10 of their collars updating them over the years.  A year ago I wanted to update some collars this was during the change over to Garmin and the Influential people did not even know how to write up an order for me so I piece milled old collars together to get through the last hunting season.
Last week I called them up to buy a new collar and was told I was no longer in their system because they had "lost" contact information on over 600 hundred Influential club members.  I was then told that they were in the process of reevaluating their members but it would take at least three months to do so and in the mean time if I wanted a new collar go to Cabelas and get one at full retail price.  Not being a Cabelas fan that was not going to happen.
   
I have been using Dogtra release systems for about 8 years so I decided I would look into their Pro Staff Team and after having a great conversation with them they were actually excited about my 5 National Championships, 27 Field Championships and 47 Master Hunter Titles on 14 different breeds.  But they did not think that Pro Staff would not suit my needs so they made me a Distributor!!! 
So Bye Bye Tritronic's I hope the door hits you right square in the "you fill in the rest..
 

[Special T]

This story reminds me of the sales addage that is so often ignored.

"Its EASY to keep a GOOD customer, but its really hard to get a new one!"


Im convinced more competitors are created in much the same way that you became one. Good luck in your new venture!

[AspenBud]

TT was dead the day Garmin bought them. Lots of trainers started switching largely because the product stopped being made/assembled in the USA. That was the first wave.

Others switched because the new Garmin collars had more features and weren't as simple.

Now comes stuff like this and they shall sow what they reap.

The problem I see is while the Dogtra collars are good, they do break down more often than the TT stuff. TriTronics had a lock on the market for a reason, service and quality. They have a window of opportunity now so we'll see if they can improve.

I've owned two different Dogtra setups, one was the 3502 Super X. I went over to Garmin's new collars because I kept having issues with my Dogtra's and the problems were never really getting fixed when I sent them in for service. For example on one occasion I had to send the transmitter back the next day because they did not fix it. I was down e-collars for close to 30 days when it was done. I know others who had the Upland Collar from Dogtra and they also wound up leaving because of quality issues, those guys went with TT or Lovett's.

Point being, I just hunt with my dogs, I'm not a pro trainer. If I can wear out a Dogtra setup...

I'll be curious what your review is 5 years down the road Bluemoon.

[Shannon]

I've used Dogtra products for 8 years. Still have the very first collar I bought and it still works just fine. I've only changed the batteries in it and thats it. I use it almost daily. There traps are the best in my opinion. Lightest weight and easy to use.
I'd like to hear everyone else's experiences.

[Happy Gilmore]

Call me Richard. I can get you set up with the new Edge RT. Their service is awesome. I'm not a dealer but have a connection for less $$ than any "reps". Get a few orders together helps when ordering.

[Blackjaw]

I always had good luck with dogtra customer service/collar repair.

[RadSav]

Hunting only for us, but our dogs hunted very hard and very wet before recently getting retired.  The first five years TT was unbelievable!  Some issues with dirt in the charger link, but not bad.  After five years we did the upgrade rather than buy new batteries.  I was a little disappointed as the bar had been set rather high with those early collars.  So we went to Dogtra.  Looked and sounded great.  Plus the size and initial performance was great.  But the unit lasted less than two months.  Customer service was fantastic and we were back in business for a few weeks until the replacement went down.  Again customer service was fabulous, but the replacement to the replacement also lasted less than a month.  So back to the newer TT we went.  Not the happy TT customers we once were, but heck, it beat the constant issues with the alternative.

I really hope Dogtra is the answer for you Bluemoon!  As stated the current dogs have been retired so I have not bought a Dogtra in a few years.  Hopefully they seize the opportunity of poor TT customer no-service and improve their own product line to exceed the new TT performance.  Would certainly be a smart business move if they did - or have.

[jetjockey]

TT/Garmin has simplified their product line, making it better IMO.  Garmins's CS will obviously be a step back from TT, but in their defense, TT had the best CS there was. 

I agree with the other comments about Dogtra.  Until their product improves, I'm staying with Garmin/TT.  They are copying some of TT's designs though, so that might happen.

[Happy Gilmore]

I had a Dogtra given to me as my first collar. A very old kc series used by a very, very old trainer. Passed it on and it was handed down for almost 10 years before going to collar clinic for a battery. Casual trainers usually don't use the collars enough to give batteries their memory. Old TT stuff rocked. That's why all Pros used them for 30 some odd years. In short order, many Pros are jumping ship due to Garmin. A couple west coast trainers helped develop TT to what it became. They are walking away from Garmin folks. My first experience with Dogtra has been nothing less than what one can expect when a company what's and is serious about building loyalty . Garmin isn't doing it period

[AspenBud]

I had a Dogtra given to me as my first collar. A very old kc series used by a very, very old trainer. Passed it on and it was handed down for almost 10 years before going to collar clinic for a battery. Casual trainers usually don't use the collars enough to give batteries their memory. Old TT stuff rocked. That's why all Pros used them for 30 some odd years. In short order, many Pros are jumping ship due to Garmin. A couple west coast trainers helped develop TT to what it became. They are walking away from Garmin folks. My first experience with Dogtra has been nothing less than what one can expect when a company what's and is serious about building loyalty . Garmin isn't doing it period

I bought my 3502 Super X in 2009. I had to change the batteries in 2011 and the transmitter died due to a fault in 2012, and Dogtra claimed to have fixed the problem, sent it back, did not, and forced me to send it right back. One year later the same problem came back.

I ran to Garmin and so far have been quite happy with the product.

[Happy Gilmore]

One issue has been said that people charge the units too long. 2 hours puts a max charge on Dogtra. Folks leave them all night and smoke the batteries

[RadSav]

One issue has been said that people charge the units too long. 2 hours puts a max charge on Dogtra. Folks leave them all night and smoke the batteries

That's a design flaw in my mind.  You know guys are going to plug 'em in and sleep on it.  Should be an easy fix.  Maybe it costs the consumer an extra five bucks...worth it!

[constructeur]

I've dealt directly with TT/Garmin twice since the buy out and have gotten on nicely both times. Within the next year I'll be buying an Alpha 100 and have no reservations about buying from Garmin.

...just like I won't be selling my Toyota because some of the hybrid models had braking issues; in the end both outfits make great products and I'm getting what I need out of them.

[AspenBud]

One issue has been said that people charge the units too long. 2 hours puts a max charge on Dogtra. Folks leave them all night and smoke the batteries

That's a design flaw in my mind.  You know guys are going to plug 'em in and sleep on it.  Should be an easy fix.  Maybe it costs the consumer an extra five bucks...worth it!

 

That's actually what I did. However, the transmitter started jumping all over the place power setting wise or just wanted to lock up. As I said, it took them two tries to make the problem go away but it came back a year later.

I had a Garmin Astro handheld die on me. Garmin sent me a new one instead of "fixing" the old one. Total turn around was about 5 days via snail mail.