Treadmill locked behind a passcode requires a subscription to use: Peloton Tread+ owners forced into monthly fee to use ‘Just Run’ feature

Peloton Tread Lock Just Run
Buy a treadmill, then buy a subscription to use the same? Pic credit: Tony Webster/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

Peloton is now effectively forcing a monthly subscription costing $39.99 on the owners of high-end treadmill products. Simply put, merely to use the simplest ‘Just Run’ feature on the Tread+ treadmill, customers who have bought the equipment, must pay a monthly fee.

Peloton Tread+, a premium treadmill that costs $3,000, and requires an outright purchase, now also requires a $39.99-per-month subscription just to use its most basic feature.

Peloton locks ‘Just Run’ and demands buyers pay monthly membership fees:

The “Just Run” service for Tread+ customers isn’t available for free. The only way customers can use the most basic function of this treadmill is to pay for a monthly Peloton Membership.

The Peloton Membership costs $39.99 per month. In an email sent to a user, the company justified the membership by stating:

“We care deeply about the safety and well-being of our members and we created Tread Lock to secure your Tread+ against unauthorized access.”

“Unfortunately, at this time, ‘Just Run’ is no longer accessible without a Peloton Membership.”

The decision follows a few major accidents and one tragic death. Incidentally, Peloton has recalled over 125,000 of its treadmills from both American and British markets last month.

Following a backlash, Peloton promised to introduce new features to “improve the safety” of their product. One of the features is “Tread Lock”.

The feature essentially locks the treadmill and demands a passcode for activation. Tread Lock activates whenever Tread+ is idle.

Peloton claims the feature is meant to prevent unauthorized. Moreover, the Tread Lock feature is not optional, and every Tread+ owner needs the same to use the most basic of functions of the treadmill.

Now, Peloton has placed the feature behind a subscription. It seems all Peloton Tread+ owners now have to mandatorily pay the $39.999 monthly subscription fees just to use their fully-purchased treadmill.

Peloton Tread+ owners claim company forcing subscription on a fully-purchase product:

Several owners of Peloton Tread+ have expressed their shock and disbelief over the monthly subscription fee that is mandatory to use one of the simplest and rudimentary functions of a treadmill.

A few customers feel this is legal ransomware that Peloton has forced on its customers. However, the company claims Tread+ buyers are free to return the product for a full refund.

Additionally, Peloton has waived three months of All-Access Membership for all Tread+ owners. Simply put, the company will not demand a fee to unlock the treadmill for a quarter.

It is not immediately clear if Peloton will offer the Tread Lock and Just Run features to non-subscribers. However, a few experts argue that Peloton might be exposing itself to an expensive lawsuit if it locks a few of the most basic functions of a treadmill, and then demand a monthly premium to unlock and use the same.

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