LeapFrog Community

[#1]

I have to agreen on the down hill progress of this company regarding technical support.

We called yesterday to try to work out issues with the crammer not associating correctly to the childs account.  And after 45 minutes the person hung up on us.  Saying "I'm sending an email to you with some instructions to try".  Nothing arrived.

We called again first thing today and there is NO record of the call.  And because we don't have a reference number (never given) there is no way to follow up.  So we started the process all over again today.

After asking the first person to escalate the second person was no closer to helping and we told them we would hold online while they get an answer.  They said it would take hours and they would send an email.  We told them we would wait on the phone for the answer, they said they could not do that.  We asked for the call to be escalated and Paige told us she was the highest person we could talk to, she alone is in charge of All of Tech Support for LeapFrog.

I do not have high hopes so now am waiting for the California offices to open to find a customer relations individual to register a complaint.

[#2]

gjrice,

All very good ideas that I'm passing along to the content producers. Our product course is already paved, but your thought about quizzes and flash cards could help inform development down the road.

[#3]

Wilderness111,

As a retailer or reseller of LeapFrog products, you understand the product life cycle of most toys, and the economic reality of supply and demand. What you may be surprised to know is that our customers encouraged us to build a better LeapPad after several successful years in the market. We did not abandon or award-winning product -- we simply listened to our customers and made the learn-to-read experience better by launching the Tag Reading System. The Tag Reader was our answer to customer requests that we ditch the easy-to-lose, small cartridges that housed the audio for LeapPad books. It was our solution to customer suggestions that we move away from spiral-bound books towards books that look "real." Given how quickly technology changes, and how much smaller and more portable technology is becoming, we also took the opportunity to redesign our learn-to-read system as a sleek, handheld device that can connect to our new Learning Path. By listening to our customers, and loyalists like yourself, we were able to leverage the success of LeapPad's winning learning methodology and marry it with the latest advancements in technology to bring to market a rock star product that we're very proud of!

That said, we are always looking for ways to improve and, as you noted, LeapFrog Connect is one of those opportunities. We are currently working hard to make the experience easier and friendlier, so send along your ideas and I'll pass them on to the development team.

[#4]

I have to say I at least partly agree with you. I have a daughter who will be turning 7 next month and she has been using leapfrog most of her life. We also have a 15 month old child who is using some of her older sister's old toys.  I was surprised that I couldn't find the my first leappad books anywhere.

I just bought the older child a crammer as an early birthday gift and she loves it, but she is going to get very quickly bored with it since I am limited by what is available to put on it.  I bought it planning on writing piano flash cards for her to keep on it, but turns out it will only accept typing and one font size. I would love to see more information on how tech savvy parents can hack the crammer and add their own materials since leapfrog doesn't have nearly enough.  If they would create more I would be willing to pay a small fee for each new program (math, spelling, art, history, etc.) Or perhaps they could sell us a supplemental program that would allow us to create quizzes and more complex flash cards (simple drawings).

[#5]

I used to b a big admirer of the company.  I used to sell Leapfrog products.  I feel I can no longer recommend these products because it seems as if the company is too obsessive about pumping its newest idea and fails to support existing products adequately.  Within a year of buying a Leaptop (several years ago), all expansion via mindstation was discontinued.  Within a very short period after purchasing a Leap Pad, the books were no longer being sold (I had to hunt for them on ebay and elsewhere).  Ditto for "my first LeapPad". Then problems with fly.  Now issues with the Crammer.

Leap has a lot of potential, but it has to remember its customers and fulfill its promise of growth/expandability to meet the needs of the child.

They also need to streamline their interface "Leapfrog Connect" so that it uploads/downloads more quickly.  Even with a very fast connection it is like trying to eat a bowl of soup with a toothpick.