Bosch Warranty Service Lacking

[CareyR]

I purchased a Gazelle Arroyo 2 months ago and the Bosch unit died 2 weeks later. Since there was no Gazelle dealer in my town I bought it from a shop 200 miles away. That dealer suggested I take it to a local shop that is Bosch certified. I did so and the tech has 7 years experience with them. He diagnosed the motor and it's dead. He contacted Bosch and they sent him another tool for diagnosis (I have not asked details). It's still dead and the Bosch rep he's dealing with has refused to honor the warranty and told him she would have to "meet with her team".

Any ideas about how to communicate with these people? I emailed from the Bosch USA page but there has been no reply. Gazelle told me it was a Bosch issue. Right now my opinion of the Dutch and the Germans is very low.

 

[Alaskan]

I purchased a Gazelle Arroyo 2 months ago and the Bosch unit died 2 weeks later. Since there was no Gazelle dealer in my town I bought it from a shop 200 miles away. That dealer suggested I take it to a local shop that is Bosch certified. I did so and the tech has 7 years experience with them. He diagnosed the motor and it's dead. He contacted Bosch and they sent him another tool for diagnosis (I have not asked details). It's still dead and the Bosch rep he's dealing with has refused to honor the warranty and told him she would have to "meet with her team".

Any ideas about how to communicate with these people? I emailed from the Bosch USA page but there has been no reply. Gazelle told me it was a Bosch issue. Right now my opinion of the Dutch and the Germans is very low.

If the tech that is working on the bike has 7 years experience with Bosch, then he should be able to sort this out for you. He should not be dumping this mess back in your lap but rather sorting it out for you and doing what is needed with Bosch to honor the warranty. Unless you tried to tamper with the motor either electronically or mechanically, this should work out just fine for you with a new motor.

I presume the Gazelle dealer you bought the bike from made his suggestion to take it to a local Bosch shop did so via an email, which would be helpful if more snafus are encountered.

Just give it a bit more time to get sorted out between the pros.

The Bosch North America team are active in this sub-forum so not a bad idea to get their attention by posting here.

 

[fooferdoggie]

It sounds like the Bosch rep is the issue.they replaced my motor 3 moths past the warranty. I bet ti happens but it may take some work when it should not.

 

[retiredNH]

Alaskan, William of Bosch Team hasn't posted since the beginning of March. Has anyone else from Bosch posted since then?

 

[Alaskan]

Alaskan, William of Bosch Team hasn't posted since the beginning of March. Has anyone else from Bosch posted since then?

You must have missed this post by William back in February

Hello, and goodbye!

I joined the forum a while back to provide the occasional technical insight on the Bosch eBike System. I've really enjoyed the time spent here, but there are now a few other projects that are requiring more of my attention. In my place will be @Laura - Bosch Team working together with @Stephen -...

electricbikereview.com

 

[AlanDB]

I really appreciated the participation by the Bosch team on this forum. I hope they haven't all abandoned us.

 

[retiredNH]

You must have missed this post by William back in February

Hello, and goodbye!

I joined the forum a while back to provide the occasional technical insight on the Bosch eBike System. I've really enjoyed the time spent here, but there are now a few other projects that are requiring more of my attention. In my place will be @Laura - Bosch Team working together with @Stephen -...

electricbikereview.com

Bosch Team? No postings at all so far by Laura. Stephen? Last post was mid-March. Looks like AWOL to me, sadly.

 

[rich c]

You have a dealer problem, not a Bosch problem. Bosch expects the dealer system to handle all customer issues. They will not personally reply to a customer because they pay regional people to do that. Just saying the motor died does not give us much to go on. Going through the dealer where you bought the eBike would be the logical approach. Him passing you off was not right. I'd get the bike and ask for a return at the original dealer. Have you contacted Gazelle? It's not your job to chase this thing all around. The original dealer made the money on the sale, it's their job to fix it. I had several issues with a Ruffian I bought, along with a motor sound on steep grades. I got an entirely new bike.

 

[AlanDB]

I wonder if Bosch has prohibited them from participating. I know some other companies have policies that prohibit employees from participating in forums or acknowledging that they are company employees if they do.

 

[rich c]

I wonder if Bosch has prohibited them from participating. I know some other companies have policies that prohibit employees from participating in forums or acknowledging that they are company employees if they do.

It doesn't take much of a search to learn the truth, instead of speculating that evil Bosch restricts their employees. This was posted by William on Feb 25, 2022. https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/hello-and-goodbye.47515/

I joined the forum a while back to provide the occasional technical insight on the Bosch eBike System. I've really enjoyed the time spent here, but there are now a few other projects that are requiring more of my attention. In my place will be @Laura - Bosch Team working together with @Stephen - Bosch Team, who you already know. I'm sure Laura will introduce herself as well, but I'll quickly say that she is a top-notch mechanic, and one of the strongest riders I know. I'm confident she'll be an excellent Bosch resource here on the forums.

I'll work on wrapping up a few open topics that I am involved with, but otherwise will be on here very rarely going forward.

Thank you everyone!

 

[Alaskan]

@CareyR It sounds to me like the shop you are dealing with, is not fully doing its job, part of which is to advocate for the bike owner. It may well be that they are less than enthusiastic as they are working on a bike that you did not purchase from them.

It was your call to buy from a shop 200 miles away. Now an unpleasant consequence of that decision has emerged...you may have to take the bike back to the shop that reaped the profit for your purchase to get the kind of warranty service you paid for.

Also I must say the way you titled this thread was a bit premature at best and quite hyperbolic. You were not privy to both sides of the conversation between Bosch and the shop you took it in to for service. All you know is what one side of the conversation told you. This thing needs to more fully play out before it would be legit to draw the conclusion you did in you thread title.

 

[retiredNH]

It doesn't take much of a search to learn the truth, instead of speculating that evil Bosch restricts their employees. This was posted by William on Feb 25, 2022. https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/hello-and-goodbye.47515/

It doesn't take much effort either to read earlier posts. See my post #7. Care to comment on that?

 

[Stephen - Bosch Team]

I purchased a Gazelle Arroyo 2 months ago and the Bosch unit died 2 weeks later. Since there was no Gazelle dealer in my town I bought it from a shop 200 miles away. That dealer suggested I take it to a local shop that is Bosch certified. I did so and the tech has 7 years experience with them. He diagnosed the motor and it's dead. He contacted Bosch and they sent him another tool for diagnosis (I have not asked details). It's still dead and the Bosch rep he's dealing with has refused to honor the warranty and told him she would have to "meet with her team".

Any ideas about how to communicate with these people? I emailed from the Bosch USA page but there has been no reply. Gazelle told me it was a Bosch issue. Right now my opinion of the Dutch and the Germans is very low.

Hi Carey,

I am sorry to hear your current experience and would love to lend a hand to expedite this. Please direct message me with the details of where you live and your dealer and we will get you sorted.

 

[Stephen - Bosch Team]

I wonder if Bosch has prohibited them from participating. I know some other companies have policies that prohibit employees from participating in forums or acknowledging that they are company employees if they do.

Nope, not the case at all. Laura and I juggle very busy schedules, traveling for events, traveling within our regions to support and educate our dealers as well as traveling to receive more education ourselves. We do not have the bandwidth to be on the forum daily and sometimes not weekly. We aim to bounce in and check out how everyone is doing and if there is anything we can assist with.

The most immediate of questions and service needs should be conducted through your local Bosch dealer.

Cheers y'all!

 

[Stephen - Bosch Team]

Bosch Team? No postings at all so far by Laura. Stephen? Last post was mid-March. Looks like AWOL to me, sadly.

Not sure what AWOL means, but we're here! It's a very busy season for us at the moment so EBR has not been our priority due to our current bandwidth. Thanks for your understanding!

 

[AlanDB]

Thanks Stephen for replying and letting us know the status. AWOL = absent without leave, a term usually used when a member of the military abandons his/her post or fails to return from a leave. I look forward to seeing future posts from the Bosch Team as time permits.

 

[Alaskan]

So now it looks like it may be a speed sensor problem, which on the Allant 9.9 is a proprietary part from Trek and the magnet is built into the brake rotor made by Shimano. If that turns out to be the case, chastising Bosch for lacking warranty service in the title of this thread, on a part that is not even theirs, is way off base. This is why the bike needs to go to the Trek shop where it was purchased. They need to sort all this out as they made the profit on the sale of the bike to you and have the obligation to make things right.

It is important to know that some Trek stores are locally owned and are not affiliated with one another. Others are Trek corporate owned stores and thus the obligations for service is the same store to store. Our local Trek store will work on any bike but it is a corporate owned store, bought out from a local owner a few years ago. They will work on any bike made by Trek or anyone else. This is the policy of all Trek corporate stores.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

If that turns out to be the case, chastising Bosch for lacking warranty service in the title of this thread, on a part that is not even theirs, is way off base.

The real issue here Richard is Bosch E-Bike is never guilty. Only the OEM is to be blamed.
That's why I do not intend to buy a Bosch E-Bike because I like to hold a single party responsible.
The brand I am with never calls their motors Brose or Mahle... It is their motor.

I apologize for this small rant.

 

[fooferdoggie]

So now it looks like it may be a speed sensor problem, which on the Allant 9.9 is a proprietary part from Trek and the magnet is built into the brake rotor made by Shimano. If that turns out to be the case, chastising Bosch for lacking warranty service in the title of this thread, on a part that is not even theirs, is way off base. This is why the bike needs to go to the Trek shop where it was purchased. They need to sort all this out as they made the profit on the sale of the bike to you and have the obligation to make things right.

It is important to know that some Trek stores are locally owned and are not affiliated with one another. Others are Trek corporate owned stores and thus the obligations for service is the same store to store. Our local Trek store will work on any bike but it is a corporate owned store, bought out from a local owner a few years ago. They will work on any bike made by Trek or anyone else. This is the policy of all Trek corporate stores.

I dont think the magnet is built it on my 8 its just a small bracket that is held on the rotor with the disc bolts. thats better then needing a special rotor.

 

[Stephen - Bosch Team]

The real issue here Richard is Bosch E-Bike is never guilty. Only the OEM is to be blamed.
That's why I do not intend to buy a Bosch E-Bike because I like to hold a single party responsible.
The brand I am with never calls their motors Brose or Mahle... It is their motor.

I apologize for this small rant.

Hey @Stefan Mikes --understandable. In any of these cases, I don't believe it should be seen as "blame," more so path of resolution. Because Bosch makes the system, we cannot control the bike. Because ______ makes the eBike, they cannot control the system. What we can do really well at Bosch is study and know how our OEM partners are incorporating our systems to their eBikes. When we learn of an OEM using let's say lights made by a third party company (since Bosch does not make lights), we try and have that info so if something comes up we can help steer the dealer in the right direction, or the consumer in this case on a forum.

Trek's speed sensor is one instance of an OEM making their own part within the Bosch system. The info here is to steer the rider in the right direction of dealers. For even more transparency, I carry a couple of these sensors around in my van if I ever come across a dealer who may not have a Trek account but is servicing a customer's bike with this part. That's how we interpret service!

Hope that helps.

Cheers!