A Touch of Class
New Member
- Region
- Canada
TL;DR - Lectric eBikes effectively abandons international customers by suddenly ending international shipments.
I was hoping that my first forum post here might be about how much I enjoy using my Lectric XP Step-Thru 3.0 Long-Range eBike on the backroads and trails of rural Ontario, Canada. But imagine my shock and dismay when I received the following email from Lectric on September 24 titled "International Shipping Update":
Hello, John!
We hope this message finds you well.
We wanted to share an important update regarding our shipping policies. After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to no longer offer international shipping. While we understand this may be disappointing, we remain fully committed to supporting our international customers.
Rest assured, we will continue to honor all warranty services and address any customer service needs as they arise. We're grateful for your continued support, and our team is here to assist you in any way possible.
If you have any questions, please call our team at (602) 715-0907, or email us at [email protected] and we will be happy to help you!
Kindly,
Team Lectric
So what is one to make of all this rather pleasant sounding boilerplate word salad? It's certainly bad news for Lectric's customers, and not at all a good look for a company that relies (at least to some extent) on positive public perception for their direct-to-consumer business model. Although they supposedly aspire to "support our international customers;" by ending international shipping they have effectively abandoned those international customers. Yes, if you have an approved warranty claim you may expect to get some support; but if your claim is denied, you're out of luck. If your bike is out of warranty, you're out of luck. If you want to purchase general maintenance items like tires, tubes, brake pads, etc., you're out of luck. If you want to purchase any replacement, upgrade or accessory parts (including batteries), you're out of luck. And if you want to purchase another Lectric eBike... boy, are you ever out of luck!
And let's be clear, this decision to end international shipping doesn't just affect international customers. Current and potential future customers in the U.S. might well wonder if this sudden announcement is indicative of other problems within the company, whether of a structural or financial nature. If they can suddenly and arbitrarily end international shipping and related sales -- a rather curious move given the prospect of growing international markets in a time of potential domestic market saturation -- what's to say that they won't suddenly suspend domestic operations in a similar fashion? One would certainly hope that that would not happen; but if it did, it certainly wouldn't be the first company to continue taking online orders up to the moment of laying off staff and closing up shop.
Whatever was behind their "difficult decision" to no longer offer international shipping (and maybe it was a "difficult decision" because they ultimately ended up making the wrong choice?), wouldn't it have been better for them to give advance notice of their intentions, along with a specific timeline? Perhaps they could have said something like "We recognize that this decision may raise particular concerns and challenges for some of our international customers, so we will continue to offer international shipping until Dec 31, 2024, in order to allow our existing customers sufficient time to order maintenance items, replacement parts and/or accessories." And hey, maybe they could have sweetened the deal by offering a special discount code to international customers, to ease the overall impact somewhat and regain at least some public goodwill? Who knows, such a move might have pushed their Q4 earnings through the roof! But as it stands now, Lectric's international customers are left with owning what amounts to little more than battery powered white elephants -- and batteries, as we e-bikers know, don't last forever.
It's sad, really. I actually thought that Lectric was a good company, with good people that would stand behind both their products and their customers. But in light of their announcement, maybe that's not the case.
Maybe I should have bought a Rad Power RadRunner instead.
I was hoping that my first forum post here might be about how much I enjoy using my Lectric XP Step-Thru 3.0 Long-Range eBike on the backroads and trails of rural Ontario, Canada. But imagine my shock and dismay when I received the following email from Lectric on September 24 titled "International Shipping Update":
Hello, John!
We hope this message finds you well.
We wanted to share an important update regarding our shipping policies. After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to no longer offer international shipping. While we understand this may be disappointing, we remain fully committed to supporting our international customers.
Rest assured, we will continue to honor all warranty services and address any customer service needs as they arise. We're grateful for your continued support, and our team is here to assist you in any way possible.
If you have any questions, please call our team at (602) 715-0907, or email us at [email protected] and we will be happy to help you!
Kindly,
Team Lectric
So what is one to make of all this rather pleasant sounding boilerplate word salad? It's certainly bad news for Lectric's customers, and not at all a good look for a company that relies (at least to some extent) on positive public perception for their direct-to-consumer business model. Although they supposedly aspire to "support our international customers;" by ending international shipping they have effectively abandoned those international customers. Yes, if you have an approved warranty claim you may expect to get some support; but if your claim is denied, you're out of luck. If your bike is out of warranty, you're out of luck. If you want to purchase general maintenance items like tires, tubes, brake pads, etc., you're out of luck. If you want to purchase any replacement, upgrade or accessory parts (including batteries), you're out of luck. And if you want to purchase another Lectric eBike... boy, are you ever out of luck!
And let's be clear, this decision to end international shipping doesn't just affect international customers. Current and potential future customers in the U.S. might well wonder if this sudden announcement is indicative of other problems within the company, whether of a structural or financial nature. If they can suddenly and arbitrarily end international shipping and related sales -- a rather curious move given the prospect of growing international markets in a time of potential domestic market saturation -- what's to say that they won't suddenly suspend domestic operations in a similar fashion? One would certainly hope that that would not happen; but if it did, it certainly wouldn't be the first company to continue taking online orders up to the moment of laying off staff and closing up shop.
Whatever was behind their "difficult decision" to no longer offer international shipping (and maybe it was a "difficult decision" because they ultimately ended up making the wrong choice?), wouldn't it have been better for them to give advance notice of their intentions, along with a specific timeline? Perhaps they could have said something like "We recognize that this decision may raise particular concerns and challenges for some of our international customers, so we will continue to offer international shipping until Dec 31, 2024, in order to allow our existing customers sufficient time to order maintenance items, replacement parts and/or accessories." And hey, maybe they could have sweetened the deal by offering a special discount code to international customers, to ease the overall impact somewhat and regain at least some public goodwill? Who knows, such a move might have pushed their Q4 earnings through the roof! But as it stands now, Lectric's international customers are left with owning what amounts to little more than battery powered white elephants -- and batteries, as we e-bikers know, don't last forever.
It's sad, really. I actually thought that Lectric was a good company, with good people that would stand behind both their products and their customers. But in light of their announcement, maybe that's not the case.
Maybe I should have bought a Rad Power RadRunner instead.
