LoJack Buyer Beware - Battery Dies You Lose $800 Internet

Stowed my bike for winter. I didn't bother to put it on a trickle charger. I figured I would just charge it up the following Spring when I was ready to ride again.

In fairness to LoJack, I'm sure they have it clearly documented somewhere, that if you allow your $800 LoJack to go completely dead, you've completely lost it forever, but I never saw that section of any manual.

I mistakenly thought that it would just come back to life when I recharged my bike's battery. A call to LoJack customer service delivered the crushing news.

"No, sir. If the LoJack's internal backup battery goes dead, it's pretty much just dead. Older LoJacks had a replaceable battery, but even that would cost a few hundred dollars to replace. The newer LoJacks cannot even be opened."

Stunned, I asked, "You mean, my $800 LoJack is like one of those greeting cards that plays music, that you just throw away when its battery runs out?"

"Well, if you keep it charged, it will last a pretty long time."

Stunned silence. You mean, I just lost almost $1000 because I let my bike's battery run down over the winter months.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry that the sale person did not explain that adequately to you."  

The scandal is not that they grossly misrepresented anything.  It's that they could even design something that would expose you to the risk of so easily losing your entire investment, with no recourse, with no means of recovery.  It did not even enter my mind that a company as reputable as LoJack would put me in harms way like that.   I spent money on their products to protect me from crooks, but I did not know I needed my guard up to protect myself from LoJack becoming a source of significant, unexpected financial loss.

That's my story, friends. Do not let this happen to you.