Now & Zen

I’m a professional bodyworker and healer. The clock seemed like a perfect accessory in my studio. The striker stopped working after I purchased the clock. When I inquired about having it repaired, the customer service kept telling me it was a battery problem. I would give it no stars but that’s not possible using Unilocal

Have had the triangular zen clock for over 15 years. Luv luv luv it. So nice to wake up slowly and gives me comfort knowing that it doesn’t need electricty. Beautiful clock.

I have had one of Now & Zen’s triangular alarm clocks for about 10 years, and it has served me very well, and I love it aesthetically.
When it finally ceased working recently, they told me I could replace it with another product for half price (they «aren’t making the triangular clock right now»). I made the decision to do so, and now no one there returns my phone calls, several in several weeks — I even wondered if they had ceased to exist?

My wife had one of these alarm clocks many years ago when I met her. It quit working shortly after that which was a couple year lifespan. 3 years ago, I bought another for her as a gift. The mechanism that rings the chime was so poorly constructed that it would bang on the inside when doing so, causing us to wake up startled from the noise. Kind of defeats the purpose of the clock. I opened it up to glue that mechanism in place to get it to work properly and was not impressed with the construction overall. I’m guessing made in a Chinese sweat shop.
Fast forward to now and it stopped altogether so I’m done.

You know how you read Unilocal reviews and they’re really split — some people had great experiences; some didn’t; and you’re even more confused because people are so divided?
No so with Now & Zen. This is pretty much a slam-​dunk folks. Never before have I ever been lured into buying such a slickly-​marketed product, and been so incredibly disappointed — by the quality of of these piece-​of-​crap clocks, and by Now & Zen’s response to their shoddy merchandise.
The original one I ordered stopped working after about three months. They replaced it. The new one worked for about two years — then, the chime just arbitrarily stopped working (reading previous reviews has emphasized in my mind that this is *normal* for these clocks). Now & Zen’s response? «We’ll give you a great screaming deal on purchasing a *new* pile of crap clock!»
A Swiss-​trained clock repair guy I took it to wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. he explained that it’s the cheapest possible mechanism situated in a very appealing design. That’s all.
I’ve send a message to Yoga Journal to not accept their advertising dollars anymore. It erodes their credibility, and makes them party to a scam of unprecedented proportions.
If you have anything important to be awakened for — be that school, an important job, or a flight — resist the call of the cheap chime which likely won’t ring anyhow, Save your money and invest in something more utilitarian. And purchase from a company with ethics.

I loved my clock so much when I got it, I bought 3 others as gifts. It wasn’t until after I bought all of them, that the trouble started. I bought a total of 4 clocks, and now, all 4 are broken. That is 100% defective in my book.
I Bought all of the clocks about 3 years ago. Two directly from NOW and ZEN, the other two from another vender. When the last clock broke, I called NOW and ZEN and was told they don’t repair, but would replace the clocks for half price. They want me to send them $ 300.00 for the replacements. When they told me they do not repair the clocks, and I would have to pay for a replacement, I said that was not acceptable… they said that is all they are willing to do, and then they hung up on me… are you kidding me?
The first clock I bought was the ZEN TIMEPIECE for 200.00. Within 1 Year it started running fast. I contacted them and they said change the battery. I did. Nothing happened except the elements in the display started to burn out. Now, they are almost all burned out and the clock is barely readable. It still runs about 30 min fast a month. I also bought 3 of the ALARM CLOCKs as gifts around the same time for $ 125.00 each. One additional clock from NOW AND ZEN, and two others from another vender. Every one of them have since broken. Clock 1, the time of 1:43 burned into display, and clock will not run. Clock 2, alarm will not work, and it runs fast. Clock 3, Runs fast and alarm goes off even when not set.
I was able to find more current reviews on other review sites, and they all had the same problems that I had with the clocks.

How about no stars? For the price of $ 119.95 you get an unreliable quartz movement in a bamboo box. Most companies are really solid about standing behind their online products. Now and Zen is not one of them. This business is definitely not Zen.
I ordered the Now-​Zen alarm clock December 2012. It stopped working less than six months later. Answering their customer service number, Jennifer was the most rude customer service rep I have ever encountered. Rather than allow me to explain my situation she told me the clock needed to be «rebooted.» I followed her instructions to the letter and the clock does not work. I have applied for a return authorization as the clock is still in the warranty period. I was told return would not be necessary and a replacement would be shipped to me. Several weeks later I am waiting for my replacement but I’m not holding my breath.

I loved my zen alarm clock until it stopped working a year and a half after I bought it. Seriously, for that price it should work for a decade or more. Still, I thought maybe it was an anomaly so I bought another one… and the same thing happened. Buyer beware!

I bought my Zen Digital Alarm Clock in 2010 and it stopped working within 2 years. I was hopeful they would repair it for under $ 100, but after reading reviews from other Unilocalers… I am not optimistic. I will update my review after my attempt. So far I have called their 800-​number and cannot get a live person on the phone.
When it did work, however, like Karon G, I had to learn to use a «backup» because sometimes the alarm would not work. I believe this is due to a design flaw: the «backlight» button is the same as the «alarm on/​off» button! What a poor design choice. When you’re fumbling to check the time at night, you inadvertently disable your morning alarm. For a $ 200 alarm clock you’d expect better design choices.

In accordance with the large majority of the other reviews for this company it is unfortunate that this company is perhaps best avoided. I bought the Zen timer/​alarm clock thinking that spending $ 202.90 that I had probably bought an item that would last many many years. Not the case. The clock is cheap and I feel ripped off. The gong stopped working pretty quickly and there is apparently no interest on the part of this very un-​Buddhist company to do anything other than take my money and run.

I have had this clock for a few years and now I’m glad Unilocal has a spot for these bozos. Let me start with a positive though. I loved the chime when it worked. That lasted about a year and now it’s a much better Zen experience because I can keep sleeping! I contacted them and was rudely informed me that would they not repair it. I pressed them for details on the solenoid and was rebuffed. This mirrors my experience in the store– it was very much like Liz R’s post– not helpful, aloof and not at all friendly. I grew up in Boulder and know a lot of these new age types but none of them seem to be as angry as these folks. I’ve shipped my clock back to them (keeping the bowl for my cat) and I’m hoping they’ll enjoy as much as I have over the past few years (after the chime died).

I LOVE my zen alarm clock, and I called to purchase another clock. I asked Jennifer (I believe her name was Jennifer), if there were any on-​line discounts. She replied with a very snooty tone, and said, «NO, we don’t have anything like that, and we don’t ever intend to. okay?.» While I love the clock, I won’t be purchasing anything else from this company because of this salesperson.
[Added] In addition, half of the 4 clocks that we received didn’t work, and those that did require specific «Duracell» batteries due to the curvature of the battery case. Seems like a design flaw.

This alarm clock seriously changed my life. I got their travel alarm clock last year and love it because of the huge difference in my quality of sleep! No more being ripped out of bed by loud, irritating buzzing or some mindless radio show. Now I’m gently awoken over the course of ten minutes. There’s truly not a better way to wake up. The thing looks good too which is nice.
Oh, and their customer service was stellar. I had to send in a clock after it got dropped a few times & then got fried overseas due to the ridiculously high voltage in Australia (220 volts! Whoops…) The store took care of everything quickly and had a working clock rushed to me. When it arrived, it been already set to my time zone (nice touch)
These things aren’t cheap on the front end, but worth it for the quality, the functions of the clock, and superior customer service. I’ll be back!

Buyer Beware! There are no refunds only a «half off replacement program». The batteries that came had to be immediately replaced. I found the directions and multi-​purpose buttons confusing and just plain arduous… easier and simplier to just use your i-​phone for a timer or that matter a meditation clock. I purchased the rather pricy Tibetan bowl Zen piece, bamboo… it simply is not worth it. I agree with «Aloha» review– the striker gets stuck… don’t EVER count on this alarm clock to wake you– maybe yes, maybe no– too many operation variables. Totally bummed had admired this in a Yoga magazine for years

We’ve had the Tibetan bowl Zen timepiece for a little over 3 years. The company will admit the 2 C batteries that come with it only «get it up and running.» I had to replace ours within 3 months!
It has to be on a sturdy, not moved object or else the bowl gets out of allignment. We put it on a dresser and the dresser got a lot of open/​close and you wouldn’t know it until you overslept or woke to that poor little plunger trying to hit the bowl that was just out of reach.
The strike mechanism is no longer striking now and the company will only give 50% off on a replacement as they do not repair them…(Now and Zen like?).
They’re very expensive for what they do so we think we’ll go find something else as even at 50% there’s a lot of others on the market. It was a nice way to wake up, for sure, but the company doesn’t know how to bring customers back, or get others interested by word of mouth from satisfied owners.
I’m a believer in good and bad reviews and I regularly make both in Unilocal*
Aloha

I absolutely love love love my new zen digital alarm clock. I’ve always hated the way traditional alarm clocks wake you up with a jolt and only wished I had heard about these years ago! Thank you Now & Zen.

My wife and I bought our alarm clock here over 2 years ago on a friends recommendation. I have always despised standard alarm clocks, but always thought «what am I gonna do? Sleep in?» Oh, how I wish I could just do that.
Our Zen alarm clock is a battery operated, analog clock with a chime instead of a buzzer. Set the clock, set the alarm hand, and when it’s time to get up, the chime is struck once. If you want to keep sleeping, go right ahead… no need to hit snooze because in 6 or 7 minutes, the chime will strike again. Then it will strike in 3 minutes. Then in 1 and a half minutes, then in 45 seconds, and then every second until you turn it off. Personally, I usually wake up at the first chime. Sometimes the second or third when I’ve been out closing the bars down the night before (read: never).
I have 2 complaints about the clock and they are very minor: 1. I can’t read the time in the dark, and 2. The chime is very loud. I’m pretty sure I would still wake up if the chime was half as loud.
I guess some might complain that it is a pretty costly clock at over $ 100, but in my book it is well worth the price to not be awoken every morning by an incessant, blaring, electronical *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

If you have $ 109.95 to spend on a nice gift for someone who considers themselves «zen-​like,» or someone who could stand to chill out a bit, this is a great gift spot. They sell an assortment of alarm clocks, door bells, phone bells, timers and other things that in normal life are shrill, blood curdling, and generally irritating. The Now and Zen version of everything is a mellow bell, a Tibetan chime. For some of the items you can even choose which note you want the chime in… I’m tone-​deaf so this means nothing to me… but It might if I had $ 109.95 and a stressed out friend named Emily or Gillian or Bob (E, G, B… get it?).