Battery Issue

[Stinson4sv]

We recently purchased a Velotric e-bike. The bike required assembly - the instructions were easy to follow and the bike assembly when smoothly. We charge the provided battery as instructed.... and nothing. The battery would not hold a charge - this of course after we had ridden it down the street a ways. We charged again. Same problem existed. We called tech support at Velotric, and they asked to run a bunch of diagnostics, while riding, which was ridiculous. We explained that we had just purchased the e-bike, and it was a battery issue. They would not believe us. So we went online and purchased another battery ($500.00), directly from Velotric, received, charged it, and it fixed the problem! We contacted the CEO of Velotric - explained the situation, even sent the original battery back to him - it was never used.... and have heard no response and out $500.00. Lithium batteries do go bad, even before using them. They simply should have have replaced the battery. RRRRRRR

The e-bike works great... but battery issues do happen - even on a new bike

 

[zbikeman]

Was the battery under warranty, and did you pay with a credit card?

If yes to both, I would have made it clear to Velotric that I was going to put the charge into dispute until I got a working battery.

After all, if you're paying big bucks for a new bike, it should function out of the box.

If it doesn't, it's on them, not on you.

You can still put the original charge in dispute and see what happens.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Sorry but you shouldn't have taken it upon yourself to purchase a replacement battery as it should have been a warranty exchange. You can still dispute the charges but you complicated the matter somewhat.
Whenever a vendor doesn't deliver as purchased.. you first try to work it out and do so in email so you have a paper trail. Keep copies of call logs and online chats as well.
Then you can threaten dispute as now you have evidence that you are trying to be reasonable.
Lastly you can open a dispute if they're purposely walking you in circles.

Good luck and hopefully they make things right in the end.

 

[Stinson4sv]

Sorry but you shouldn't have taken it upon yourself to purchase a replacement battery as it should have been a warranty exchange. You can still dispute the charges but you complicated the matter somewhat.
Whenever a vendor doesn't deliver as purchased.. you first try to work it out and do so in email so you have a paper trail. Keep copies of call logs and online chats as well.
Then you can threaten dispute as now you have evidence that you are trying to be reasonable.
Lastly you can open a dispute if they're purposely walking you in circles.

Good luck and hopefully they make things right in the end.

We tried to work with the vendor, we always stated it was the battery and to prove the point we bought a replacement....... from them! My hope was to prove that the battery was bad.... which it was and have them refund my battery purchase. I'm not one to go buy something and then cancel the transaction via my credit card. Heck I sent the battery directly to the CEO of Velotric, with explanations and order numbers etc and NO response. We just wanted our ebike to work and Velortic to stand by their product, we felt they didn't.

 

[Gionnirocket]

We tried to work with the vendor, we always stated it was the battery and to prove the point we bought a replacement....... from them! My hope was to prove that the battery was bad.... which it was and have them refund my battery purchase. I'm not one to go buy something and then cancel the transaction via my credit card. Heck I sent the battery directly to the CEO of Velotric, with explanations and order numbers etc and NO response. We just wanted our ebike to work and Velortic to stand by their product, we felt they didn't.

I totally understand what you were trying to do.
I'm just trying to explain what's been my experience and what works. As you're seeing now, sometimes business requires a little strategic hardball to get vendors to do the right thing. I'm sure they deal with a fair amount of scammers as well and I doubt the CEO is opening customer mail or packages.
ymmv

 

[zbikeman]

@Stinson4sv, I disagree with you on one point.

You're not canceling the transaction when you put the charge into dispute.

All you're doing is saying, the vendor is uncooperative, I bought a bike at a distance, I have an issue and need a neutral third party to intervene.

This is your only leverage, but it's very strong, because the vendor obviously wants to get paid.

With whatever documentation you have, you send a strong message to the vendor to play nice, because they did not.

I don't like putting charges into dispute either, but you need to be made whole, and right now you are not.

 

[Hewholaughslast]

We recently purchased a Velotric e-bike. The bike required assembly - the instructions were easy to follow and the bike assembly when smoothly. We charge the provided battery as instructed.... and nothing. The battery would not hold a charge - this of course after we had ridden it down the street a ways. We charged again. Same problem existed. We called tech support at Velotric, and they asked to run a bunch of diagnostics, while riding, which was ridiculous. We explained that we had just purchased the e-bike, and it was a battery issue. They would not believe us. So we went online and purchased another battery ($500.00), directly from Velotric, received, charged it, and it fixed the problem! We contacted the CEO of Velotric - explained the situation, even sent the original battery back to him - it was never used.... and have heard no response and out $500.00. Lithium batteries do go bad, even before using them. They simply should have have replaced the battery. RRRRRRR

The e-bike works great... but battery issues do happen - even on a new bike

That's a sad story but as you said, "They didn't believe us". I don't know where you purchased your bicycle but I got mine on Amazon and bought the extra insurance coverage. Sometimes that makes all of the difference on this planet. No insurance? No help! Insurance? They roll out the red carpet. The profit on lithium-ion batteries is pretty big but shipping costs are often more expensive than a new battery depending on how far the battery is from your address (like from China) and how many the purchaser buys at one time, then they get a break on shipping costs. Fortunately, in my case, I could replace my Ebike for less than $500 and a new battery, same amp hours, is about $150-$200. I can tell you that from a manufacturing standpoint, having sold thousands of 12V car batteries when I was a service writer at a large chain auto repair shop, that about 10% of the batteries that we sold would die in the first year and or others would not make it through their two year (24 month) three year (36 month) warranty and they would get a free replacement. I don't know why this occurs and why some batteries will go seven to ten years. Unfortunately, you may have been the unlucky recipient of a bad battery. BUT, there is hope. You might be able to take it to a shop that handles a lot of lithium-ion batteries (cell phones, laptops, bike shop, etc.) and they could open it up and inspect it and maybe they just have to solder a broken connection somewhere or replace one bad cell. I hope that you will soon have two GOOD batteries for your Ebike so that you can participate in the Tour De France on it. Best of luck!

 

[Stinson4sv]

That's a sad story but as you said, "They didn't believe us". I don't know where you purchased your bicycle but I got mine on Amazon and bought the extra insurance coverage. Sometimes that makes all of the difference on this planet. No insurance? No help! Insurance? They roll out the red carpet. The profit on lithium-ion batteries is pretty big but shipping costs are often more expensive than a new battery depending on how far the battery is from your address (like from China) and how many the purchaser buys at one time, then they get a break on shipping costs. Fortunately, in my case, I could replace my Ebike for less than $500 and a new battery, same amp hours, is about $150-$200. I can tell you that from a manufacturing standpoint, having sold thousands of 12V car batteries when I was a service writer at a large chain auto repair shop, that about 10% of the batteries that we sold would die in the first year and or others would not make it through their two year (24 month) three year (36 month) warranty and they would get a free replacement. I don't know why this occurs and why some batteries will go seven to ten years. Unfortunately, you may have been the unlucky recipient of a bad battery. BUT, there is hope. You might be able to take it to a shop that handles a lot of lithium-ion batteries (cell phones, laptops, bike shop, etc.) and they could open it up and inspect it and maybe they just have to solder a broken connection somewhere or replace one bad cell. I hope that you will soon have two GOOD batteries for your Ebike so that you can participate in the Tour De France on it. Best of luck!

Thank you for your reply and interest. This is super simple for the CEO of Velotric bikes to refund me the $500 it cost for a new battery. He has the order number for the battery, he has the battery, he has the staff to complete this task, and he has the order number for the bike.... its still under warranty. Just honor your product and its warranty!

 

[CanNik]

I can't believe you even said this " We explained that we had just purchased the e-bike, and it was a battery issue. They would not believe us"

Seriously you bought a new battery, no questions/complaints I assume therefore you bought pre owned

 

[CanNik]

We tried to work with the vendor, we always stated it was the battery and to prove the point we bought a replacement....... from them! My hope was to prove that the battery was bad.... which it was and have them refund my battery purchase. I'm not one to go buy something and then cancel the transaction via my credit card. Heck I sent the battery directly to the CEO of Velotric, with explanations and order numbers etc and NO response. We just wanted our ebike to work and Velortic to stand by their product, we felt they didn't.

What a really ODD way to undertake transactions, seriously, buying another in the hope of a return !

 

[CanNik]

"We recently purchased a Velotric e-bike"

Explain recently !

 

[Stinson4sv]

I can't believe you even said this " We explained that we had just purchased the e-bike, and it was a battery issue. They would not believe us"

Seriously you bought a new battery, no questions/complaints I assume therefore you bought pre owned

Nope brand new ebike! Pretty easy to diagnose the problem. Step 1 plug battery in to charge. Step 2 place battery in ebike (if not already) step 3 ride the ebike. Repeat if battery did not charge. Re peat again if no charge. Tell Customer Service the problem..... they validated the warranty, Then they wanted a video of you riding the ebike and of the battery display. What??? To streamline we buy new battery from them. Then go back to step 1 and step 2 and step 3 and what do you know ebike works great! Problem - bad battery from the start....note it was a new ebike! How do I know that for it was still in the sealed plastic and we had to assemble!

 

[Gionnirocket]

That's it, keep insisting that a business run itself as you say. You have to follow their warranty procedure no matter how tedious.... then you have a leg to stand on. But keep trying to rewrite their procedure and thinking you're above opening a credit card dispute and all you'll end up with is a $500 premium on your purchase.
What's right is what works not what you think