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.