Have you needed any warranty work?

[pagheca]

I thought it would be interesting to know how many of us have needed warranty work on our brand new ebikes. I would also kindly ask THOSE WHO HAVE NOT NEEDED IT (to get an idea of how often this happens!) to answer, and to indicate in the comments:

1. Brand
2. Model
3. Year
4. Price paid
5. Supplier who was to provide the warranty
6. Local shop or internet?
7. Level of satisfaction with the warranty

DO NOT FORGET TO VOTE IN THE POLL ABOVE!!!

 

[pagheca]

I start:

1. Trek
2. Powerfly 7 Full Suspension
3. 2022
4. 4,880 €
5. Vadebicis (local shop)
6. No warranty work required

 

[neutron]

KBO
Breeze
2023
$1100
KBO Internet
100% Replaced defective controller

 

[addertooth]

1. Brand: Zeegr
2. Model: S1
3. Year 2023
4. Price paid: 1500
5. Supplier who was to provide the warranty: NONE Required.
6. Local shop or internet? Internet Zeegr Ebay
7. Level of satisfaction: With the bike? High. No warranty work has been required.
8. No warranty work needed. My most common repair has been tires punctured by Goat Head thorns. Adding Flat-Out stopped this problem.

 

[pagheca]

thanks guys!

I just clarified that the level of satisfaction was intended with the warranty, not with the bike.

 

[ntemp]

1. Juiced Bikes
2. Rip Current S
3. 05/2022
4. $2,200.00
5. Bought the bike directly from JB.
6. Satisfaction with the bike on a 1 to 10 scale, I give it an 8. I'm 190 lb. and I found the dual piston brakes were lacking. I replaced the Tektro dual piston calipers with Tektro 4 piston calipers. This helped but I still think the brakes are weak. I average about two flat tires a month. I've tried several different tires. The original tires were very loud and had a tendency to follow the terrain. Replaced seat post with a compressible post. I found the lights were also lacking and I've changed those.
7. The warranty? Well, I think my original post says it all. The warranty is adequate. The problem is Juiced Bikes attitude and I wonder if they actually have a service department. In all my communication with them, I have no way of knowing who I actually talked to. I live in the Seattle area and JB is in San Diego, so getting the bike to them for service is not practical. I asked them several times about testing the torque sensor and my questions were ignored. They literally did not reply. No answer and no response of any kind to the question while the bike was under warranty. Toward the end of my last email conversation with them I finally got an answer, and it was "there is no way to test the torque sensor". The good news was, if I bought a torque sensor and it did not fix the issue, they would take the sensor back and refund my money. I think that was fair. However, as far as doing the right thing, they let me down by not responding to a simple question. Despite the fact that email records show that I was having issues while the bike was under warranty, they refused to cover the price of the sensor. I'll bet that JB pays around $50 for the part, maybe less. Because they did not want to give away a relatively inexpensive item, they lost a potential future sale of another bike to me and possibly anyone who reads and understands my situation. In my opinion they put doing business ahead of doing the right thing. It's just that simple. I would imagine JB occasionally must deal with folks who have no mechanical background and maybe that is a little frustrating for them. Treating everyone like they are idiots is not the answer. If they had just been willing to take me seriously and work with me this whole thing could have been avoided, but they chose to ignore a valid question. Why? That is the question to ask yourself before you purchase a bike from JB. A warranty is worthless if the guarantor does not honor it.

 

[Smaug]

1. Brand: Juiced
2. Model: HyperScrambler 2
3. Year: 2023
4. Price paid: $2500
5. Supplier who was to provide the warranty: Juiced
6. Local shop or internet?: Internet
7. Level of satisfaction with the warranty: 8/10

Issue 1: The horn stopped working mysteriously. I reached out to Juiced Customer Service. A guy got back to me a couple days later asking me to check something. I checked that and something else, and when I re-connected the horn, it worked. Probably just a bad contact. -0 points for this experience; well-done.

Issue 2: The headlight has a very narrow high beam and it is not aimed straight, but probably 10° off to the right. Juiced instructed me to disassemble the headlight and check that the positioning clips were in proper place. They were. The bracket that hold the headlight are not the right lengths for the headlight to be straight. When I figured this out, I got back to them. They didn't respond for a week, but offered to send me an accessory headlight. Since it took them so long to respond, I bought an accessory one on my own. -2 points for this experience. No other problems since then.

Edit: For Issue 2, they also didn't tell me that the side nuts were assembled with red Loctite. (needs heat to get loose) It was VERY tight and I'm lucky I didn't break the plastic housing trying to get it loose.

 

[pagheca]

1. Juiced Bikes
2. Rip Current S
3. 05/2022
4. $2,200.00
5. Bought the bike directly from JB.
6. Satisfaction with the bike on a 1 to 10 scale, I give it an 8. I'm 190 lb. and I found the dual piston brakes were lacking. I replaced the Tektro dual piston calipers with Tektro 4 piston calipers. This helped but I still think the brakes are weak. I average about two flat tires a month. I've tried several different tires. The original tires were very loud and had a tendency to follow the terrain. Replaced seat post with a compressible post. I found the lights were also lacking and I've changed those.
7. The warranty? Well, I think my original post says it all. The warranty is adequate. The problem is Juiced Bikes attitude and I wonder if they actually have a service department. In all my communication with them, I have no way of knowing who I actually talked to. I live in the Seattle area and JB is in San Diego, so getting the bike to them for service is not practical. I asked them several times about testing the torque sensor and my questions were ignored. They literally did not reply. No answer and no response of any kind to the question while the bike was under warranty. Toward the end of my last email conversation with them I finally got an answer, and it was "there is no way to test the torque sensor". The good news was, if I bought a torque sensor and it did not fix the issue, they would take the sensor back and refund my money. I think that was fair. However, as far as doing the right thing, they let me down by not responding to a simple question. Despite the fact that email records show that I was having issues while the bike was under warranty, they refused to cover the price of the sensor. I'll bet that JB pays around $50 for the part, maybe less. Because they did not want to give away a relatively inexpensive item, they lost a potential future sale of another bike to me and possibly anyone who reads and understands my situation. In my opinion they put doing business ahead of doing the right thing. It's just that simple. I would imagine JB occasionally must deal with folks who have no mechanical background and maybe that is a little frustrating for them. Treating everyone like they are idiots is not the answer. If they had just been willing to take me seriously and work with me this whole thing could have been avoided, but they chose to ignore a valid question. Why? That is the question to ask yourself before you purchase a bike from JB. A warranty is worthless if the guarantor does not honor it.

Thanks @ntemp! Can you please vote on the poll on the top also? Your vote doesn't seem to be there. I guess option 3, right??

 

[pagheca]

1. Brand: Juiced
2. Model: HyperScrambler 2
3. Year: 2023
4. Price paid: $2500
5. Supplier who was to provide the warranty: Juiced
6. Local shop or internet?: Internet
7. Level of satisfaction with the warranty: 8/10

Issue 1: The horn stopped working mysteriously. I reached out to Juiced Customer Service. A guy got back to me a couple days later asking me to check something. I checked that and something else, and when I re-connected the horn, it worked. Probably just a bad contact. -0 points for this experience; well-done.

Issue 2: The headlight has a very narrow high beam and it is not aimed straight, but probably 10° off to the right. Juiced instructed me to disassemble the headlight and check that the positioning clips were in proper place. They were. The bracket that hold the headlight are not the right lengths for the headlight to be straight. When I figured this out, I got back to them. They didn't respond for a week, but offered to send me an accessory headlight. Since it took them so long to respond, I bought an accessory one on my own. -2 points for this experience. No other problems since then.

Edit: For Issue 2, they also didn't tell me that the side nuts were assembled with red Loctite. (needs heat to get loose) It was VERY tight and I'm lucky I didn't break the plastic housing trying to get it loose.

It looks to me, @Smaug, that your vote should be for option 2 rather than for option 1, correct?

 

[pagheca]

1. Brand: Zeegr
2. Model: S1
3. Year 2023
4. Price paid: 1500
5. Supplier who was to provide the warranty: NONE Required.
6. Local shop or internet? Internet Zeegr Ebay
7. Level of satisfaction: With the bike? High. No warranty work has been required.
8. No warranty work needed. My most common repair has been tires punctured by Goat Head thorns. Adding Flat-Out stopped this problem.

Same for you, @addertooth: can you please cast a vote in the poll on the top?

 

[ntemp]

In the poll at the top, I checked 'no'. Although I fixed the problem with the bike, the problem with Juiced Bikes standing up and doing the right thing still remains.

 

[pagheca]

In the poll at the top, I checked 'no'. Although I fixed the problem with the bike, the problem with Juiced Bikes standing up and doing the right thing still remains.

Why? According to what you wrote you should have voted "Yes, but the problem has not been solved"! That's exactly the scope of this poll, born from your warranty complaints: understand how many people are unhappy with the warranty and which brand exactly have more problems with that.

Maybe my English is not clear enough? If this is the case please let me know how to amend the text of the options.

 

[ntemp]

I stand corrected. You're right.

 

[Mangizmo]

Brand Specialized
Model Creo
Problem Would not power up, the control panel (Turbo contro unit) powered up momentarily then turned off
Resolution The Control unit was replaced by the dealer, all ok now
Satisfaction happy with response

 

[JDMD2FL]

1. Brand - Lectric
2. Model - XP 3.0
3. Year - 2024
4. Price paid - $999
5. Supplier who was to provide the warranty - Lectric
6. Local shop or internet? - Internet
7. Level of satisfaction with the warranty - 100% satisfied

Bike arrived with a flat rear tire. Tube would not hold air. Called customer service. The customer service representative was apologetic for the condition and sent two replacement tubes which were received a few days later (email confirmation of the tube order/shipment was received within minutes of my call). The rep offered insight about checking for rough edges/burrs inside the rim, possibly poking through the rim tape (none found). Additionally, a bike service expense voucher was prepared in the event I needed/decided to take the bike to a bicycle shop to replace the tube (I made the repair myself with the help of the brand’s instructional video and years of experience with traditional bicycles). I remain completely satisfied with the response I received. The actions were swift and the professionalism was exemplary.

 

[KB's_ebikes]

1. Schwinn
2. Boundary
3. 2023
4. $440
5. Pacific Cycles
6. Walmart
7. 100% excellent, US-based knowledgeable support, quick responses, new fork and all required new hardware shipped within 5 days, voucher for repair shop
8. parts availability: proprietary parts/alternative part sources: 2 year warranty on parts available from Pacific Cycles; motor, controller, and battery can also be sourced directly from OEM manufacturers.

Schwinn entry level eMTBs are better than their reputation. Lifetime warranty on frames, 2 year warranty on electrical components. If something is wrong you can return it at any Walmart within 30 days (if ordered there), or take out additional 4 year warranty. Definitely not high end, but decent Chinesium quality that fits average users needs to get around town or on gravel and light trails.

 

[fabbrisd]

1. Brand: Juiced Bikes
2. Model: RipCurrent
3. Year: 2023
4. Price paid: $800 Closeout Special
5. Supplier who was to provide the warranty: Juiced eBikes
6. Local shop or internet: Internet
7. Level of satisfaction with the warranty: 100% - replaced damaged deraillieur hangar

 

[hsdrggr]

1. Juiced Bikes
2. Rip Current S
3. 05/2022
4. $2,200.00
5. Bought the bike directly from JB.
6. Satisfaction with the bike on a 1 to 10 scale, I give it an 8. I'm 190 lb. and I found the dual piston brakes were lacking. I replaced the Tektro dual piston calipers with Tektro 4 piston calipers. This helped but I still think the brakes are weak. I average about two flat tires a month. I've tried several different tires. The original tires were very loud and had a tendency to follow the terrain. Replaced seat post with a compressible post. I found the lights were also lacking and I've changed those.
7. The warranty? Well, I think my original post says it all. The warranty is adequate. The problem is Juiced Bikes attitude and I wonder if they actually have a service department. In all my communication with them, I have no way of knowing who I actually talked to. I live in the Seattle area and JB is in San Diego, so getting the bike to them for service is not practical. I asked them several times about testing the torque sensor and my questions were ignored. They literally did not reply. No answer and no response of any kind to the question while the bike was under warranty. Toward the end of my last email conversation with them I finally got an answer, and it was "there is no way to test the torque sensor". The good news was, if I bought a torque sensor and it did not fix the issue, they would take the sensor back and refund my money. I think that was fair. However, as far as doing the right thing, they let me down by not responding to a simple question. Despite the fact that email records show that I was having issues while the bike was under warranty, they refused to cover the price of the sensor. I'll bet that JB pays around $50 for the part, maybe less. Because they did not want to give away a relatively inexpensive item, they lost a potential future sale of another bike to me and possibly anyone who reads and understands my situation. In my opinion they put doing business ahead of doing the right thing. It's just that simple. I would imagine JB occasionally must deal with folks who have no mechanical background and maybe that is a little frustrating for them. Treating everyone like they are idiots is not the answer. If they had just been willing to take me seriously and work with me this whole thing could have been avoided, but they chose to ignore a valid question. Why? That is the question to ask yourself before you purchase a bike from JB. A warranty is worthless if the guarantor does not honor it.

Inadequate brakes are an issue with most e-bikes. Just like a car, a bike does most of its braking with the front wheel. Most mfgrs use 160mm front and rear rotors. On almost every e-bike I own I have upgraded to 203mm front rotors, and 180mm rear rotors and used ceramic resin brake pads. Then all is great.

 

[mickand]

Jetson
Haze
2022
$600
Jetson
Costco
100%
Motor conked out after 7 months and around 1000 miles. Jetson sent me a Disposal Agreement which I had to Docusign and return. On receipt, they sent me a brand new bike.
In the interim I bought a 're-manufactured' Haze directly from Jetson for $400. It arrived looking like brand new and I'm been riding it since with no issues. The new replacement hasn't been used yet.
You can buy the 're-man' now for $300 and on arrival, mine looked like a brand new bike and packaged just like the original. I cannot see anything that suggests it is anything other than 'new'. Maybe it's a ploy to get volume, I don't know.
Jetson offers a 2 year warranty for about $60 (from memory). It covers everything including wear and tear and my dealings with them suggests they will honor it.

 

[Orcasprout]

I’ve started my own eBike repair business, (working out of my garage) and have been doing it for two years now.

I’ll attest that Lectric got back to me and seems to have good customer service (2 instances). The others, meh, not so much.

In my experience, the business model for the “Internet eBike” is:
-Sell with a flashy webpage
-Respond to stuff if the customer can still claw back payment
-Use non-standard, cheaply sourced components
-CRAM an off brand controller into a VERY tight compartment that damages wires and plugs
-Generally ignore everything else.

Customer service only works if you have a brand to protect for repeat sales. The mass produced nature of these products “funnels” design and service considerations out of the equation.

You get what you pay for (mostly).

I could write a book called, “The high cost of the cheap internet bike”