Juiced Support - No more chat?

S

SlowRider

Member
Looks like it is no longer possible to contact Juiced support on chat. I really hope this isn't a bad sign for things to come....

I am very disappointed (or maybe disgusted is a better word...) with the customer support that I have received so far. I don't meant to air any dirty laundry here publicly and go into glorious details, but I have had a very hard time getting honest answers out of support right from the very beginning when I inquired about the original shipment of my bike. I was told different stories about the supposed eminent shipment of my bike when it became pretty clear that they didn't have the battery that I ordered. Same issues when I wanted to get my battery swap processed (I had paid for a large battery, but accepted the bike with the 12Ah battery because battery shipment was delayed). Supposedly I was "all set for shipment in the next week" and when nothing arrived it turned out that the battery swap had never been processed in the system. When I finally received the larger battery (after numerous follow-ups with support) , it turned out to be defective. Support was very quick to confirm that that battery would be replaced but since then (3 weeks ago...) - absolute silence!! No shipment of a replacement, no answers to my emails. When I followed up on chat referencing the open support ticket, the support person literally hung up on me (...left the chat) when I asked for an estimated delivery date of the replacement battery and the invoice number. She said the "technicians" would be getting back to me. From experience I know that nothing gets shipped unless there is a invoice generated in their system (even if it is for 0$ for an exchange). Now the chat option is gone and when you call support it goes straight to voice mail. Will be interesting to see if I will get a call back.

I know people tend to give Juiced as small and growing company the benefit of the doubt and I was in the same camp. But there is "growing pain" and then there is just plain old horrible support am I am starting to think I am dealing with the latter. I have no issues with shipments that get delayed, but I would expect honesty in communication with a customer.

/rant over....


FYI - I love the bike and ride it daily. I am glad I still have the original 12 Ah battery...
 
It's pretty clear that Juiced needs to improve customer support. I don't think they are oblivious to this.

However, in any project (I've been a project manager in mental health, which is not manufacturing but most of the same principles apply) you have to set priorities.

For instance, in starting a foster care program for special needs children in back in the 80s, I had to make certain decisions. I had to prioritize recruitment, then training, then placement. It drove my boss nuts, because placements generate income while recruitment and training cost money. (Even non-profits have to be concerned with cash flow; I'm not discounting his concern over income.) But special needs children need special foster parents, so recruitment is key, followed by good training.

If I had taken whoever, done sloppy training, and worked my butt off on making placements, the upshot would have been a lot of initial income followed by loss of trust from the DC dept. of social services and the collapse of the whole program. This isn't to say I did no placement at all. We had a contract with DC DSS to provide homes for up to 30 children. I didn't wait until we had 30 homes to start placements. As more homes came on line, I gradually emphasized placement more.

All of which is to say that any project manager will make decisions about priorities. The bad ones will not think it out but just charge ahead, and end up prioritizing the crisis du jour. This frequently leads to a vicious cycle, although you might get lucky and pull through it.

The good ones will think it out and stick to the plan, while exercising some flexibility (as I did early on, when I made placements when we had a match between a child's needs and a home with the proper strengths to provide for him/her.)

I think Tora is a really smart guy. Not just a good engineer, but a good project manager also. It looks to me like his priorities are design, manufacturing/supply chain processes, distribution, and customer service, in that order. From what I've observed, I think he has thought it out and is following his plan. His design is pretty much solid at this point. We will see new products, but they will benefit from the design improvements already made in the existing products. His manufacturing and supply chain issues have been largely resolved, as we can see from how the number of CCS bikes sold in the 3rd run hugely exceeded the numbers in the 2nd run. Distribution is clearly the largest problem at this point, as seen in the delays Juiced still has in shipping bikes to consumers. Customer service needs work, but if he doesn't have design, manufacture, and distribution, there are no customers to serve.

There is no way on God's green earth to have all of these in place before taking Order #1. Or Order #1000. All of us who are excited by what Juiced Bikes has to offer are still early adopters, with all the issues that entails.

Am I saying no one should complain? Far from it. It gives Tora important information. Some of those complaints will be addressed ASAP, such as the spoke breakage problem, solved between run 1 and run 2 of the CCS (thank you, Tora!) Some will be flagged for resolution in the near future. Some will have to wait. Some will never be addressed; either it's a problem Tora feels they can live with, or it takes too much time/energy/resources to solve, or it's so rare that no matter how mad it makes one customer, it's just not worth dealing with.

So complain away. Let's just maintain a sense of perspective and context.
 
I probably should have not opened this thread in the first place. Part of me was hoping to elicit a response from Juiced and the other was to vent my frustration. I agree with a lot things you are saying Bruce, but the customer service issues I experienced have very little to do with conflicting priorities IMHO. It is my battle to fight and I leave it at that. Time will tell if I ever get a working battery I paid for in December. I suggest we consider this thread closed.
 
Thanks for asking.
We are experiencing very high demand for our new products and are directing all resources toward fulfilling orders, resolving customer support tickets, and scaling up the operation/web services to cope with the significant increase in volume. We are getting bikes out the door and out to you. Thank you for your patience.
 
Adams said:
Thanks for your comments, if for no other reason but to let us know we may not be totally ignored.

It's good that you have a high demand for your product, but far more important--essential even that you properly service the customers you can fulfill and puts the new orders on "will let you know when it can be filled if you are till interested by then". Otherwise, you continue to exacerbate the problem. Better to have many customers you can't serve and a few you have served well, that may mistreated customers.
Click to expand...
@Adams I sure understand why you would think that way, and I'm not saying it's wrong. Juiced Bikes definitely needs to step up their customer service.

At some point.

This might be the time, and it might not. Since I don't have an overview of Juiced Bikes' current operations, there may be bigger problems that have to be solved. I do know from a lifetime of experience in my own field that you can't make everything a top priority. One of the most stressful times in my profession was having to decide between two problems, either of which deserved to be top priority. One was going to get immediate attention and one would have to wait. Whatever I chose, something would continue to go wrong with the other one until I had fixed the first and could switch priorities. Those who thought their problem should have been first would scream bloody murder and I couldn't disagree with them.

Distribution seems to be as big a problem for Juiced as customer service. It's very likely that fixing the distribution problems will reduce the need for customer service by some huge percent, based on the complaints we see on this forum. If so, it would make sense to fix that one first, and get to customer service next.

I've got to say that I'd put new product development on the back-burner (even though that's the fun part!) until distribution and customer service were both solved. But again, I don't have the overview. They may see new products as the best way to serve the customer base, by providing a product that isn't yet available, and that seems legit to me.

Putting our concerns on this forum is a good thing. They are read by someone at Juiced, even if every single one isn't responded to. Emails and phone calls are worthwhile also.
 
Bruce Arnold said:
@Adams I sure understand why you would think that way, and I'm not saying it's wrong. Juiced Bikes definitely needs to step up their customer service.

At some point.

This might be the time, and it might not. Since I don't have an overview of Juiced Bikes' current operations, there may be bigger problems that have to be solved. I do know from a lifetime of experience in my own field that you can't make everything a top priority. One of the most stressful times in my profession was having to decide between two problems, either of which deserved to be top priority. One was going to get immediate attention and one would have to wait. Whatever I chose, something would continue to go wrong with the other one until I had fixed the first and could switch priorities. Those who thought their problem should have been first would scream bloody murder and I couldn't disagree with them.

Distribution seems to be as big a problem for Juiced as customer service. It's very likely that fixing the distribution problems will reduce the need for customer service by some huge percent, based on the complaints we see on this forum. If so, it would make sense to fix that one first, and get to customer service next.

I've got to say that I'd put new product development on the back-burner (even though that's the fun part!) until distribution and customer service were both solved. But again, I don't have the overview. They may see new products as the best way to serve the customer base, by providing a product that isn't yet available, and that seems legit to me.

Putting our concerns on this forum is a good thing. They are read by someone at Juiced, even if every single one isn't responded to. Emails and phone calls are worthwhile also.
Click to expand...

I'm just curious.... The folks that have placed a Juiced Bike order, how long have you been waiting, was your credit card billed the full purchase price of your order ( or just a deposit ), when you placed your order did you receive any info there was or would be extended delay ? Thanks.

John from CT
 
John from Connecticut said:
I'm just curious.... The folks that have placed a Juiced Bike order, how long have you been waiting, was your credit card billed the full purchase price of your order ( or just a deposit ), when you placed your order did you receive any info there was or would be extended delay ? Thanks.

John from CT
Click to expand...

I ordered an RCS a little over a week ago with the 48v 19ah upgraded batt + GPS, it was for a June pre-order. I was told via chat that the orders are on schedule and that I would prob get the bike mid to late June - we shall see.

I setup payments through PayPal at 0% for the first 6 months and I got the first bill today, so they did charge me. I thought I had read somewhere that they weren't going to charge until the bike was shipped - I may be mistaken.
 
Last edited:
Bruce Arnold said:
@Adams I sure understand why you would think that way, and I'm not saying it's wrong. Juiced Bikes definitely needs to step up their customer service.

At some point.

This might be the time, and it might not. Since I don't have an overview of Juiced Bikes' current operations, there may be bigger problems that have to be solved. I do know from a lifetime of experience in my own field that you can't make everything a top priority. One of the most stressful times in my profession was having to decide between two problems, either of which deserved to be top priority. One was going to get immediate attention and one would have to wait. Whatever I chose, something would continue to go wrong with the other one until I had fixed the first and could switch priorities. Those who thought their problem should have been first would scream bloody murder and I couldn't disagree with them.

Distribution seems to be as big a problem for Juiced as customer service. It's very likely that fixing the distribution problems will reduce the need for customer service by some huge percent, based on the complaints we see on this forum. If so, it would make sense to fix that one first, and get to customer service next.

I've got to say that I'd put new product development on the back-burner (even though that's the fun part!) until distribution and customer service were both solved. But again, I don't have the overview. They may see new products as the best way to serve the customer base, by providing a product that isn't yet available, and that seems legit to me.

Putting our concerns on this forum is a good thing. They are read by someone at Juiced, even if every single one isn't responded to. Emails and phone calls are worthwhile also.
Click to expand...
Honesty is not a matter of priorities
 
Just my 2 cents...First, I know nothing of Juiced Biked and have no axe to grind with them. What I've read on this post troubles me. Adam wrote...

"Ordered and paid for in full March 15.

"Before the order was placed, the info was 4 - 6 weeks " (My translation 8-10 weeks )
"Immediately after the order was place, it became 6 - 8 weeks." ( My Translation 8-10 weeks ) and these are my minimums.

Two lines down Adam wrote...." Last week I got an e-mail saying my bike would be shipped the end of this month (May)."
That's 11 weeks from the initial March 15th order date...Based on the prior broken delivery dates the odds are strong
this date will fall as well.

Adam wrote..."Immediately after the order was placed, it became 6 - 8 weeks." What's up with that ? An additional two
week delay after the original order was placed...Hmmm ?

As for immediate posting of the full cost of the bike on the customers charge card with delivery at 90 ish days later ( at least ) .
That really troubles me. Why should a customer 'loan' a company interest free money while the customer most likely
is paying credit cards interest on the 'loaned' money ? I can understand a non-refundable deposit of $100-200
to hold a place in the 'Pre-Order' line, but the entire purchase price ??

Since the alleged delivery is 90 ish days past the credit card posting, which was when the order was placed, it is quite possible
the 90 days exceeds the Credit Cards time frame to contest the sale. I'd check on that.

An finally, Electricbikereview.com is certainly the premier e-bike website/forum on the Internet approaching 11,000 members.
For an any e-bike company the forum is gold, you cannot do better then this to make an impression on the exact people an e-bike
company would like to reach.

When this whole delay and problems with Juice Bikes Customer Service hit the forum, someone at the top of JB should have gotten
out in front of these issues with a straight up post plus buy ad space on the website to support the position.

Not to gloss over the part of the Adam's post dealing with customer service, but in a nut shell that never should have happened.
The whole battery swap in my opinion was nonsense. I don't get it. We're talking about a $2000 purchase.

A quick story which I have told several times..When my Trek Powerfly7 eMTB arrived at my LBS the controller was damaged in shipment.
I suggested buying another from a stocking dealer, install it and call it a day. Trek said no, they wanted me to have a complete new bike, not
swapping parts, but the controllers were backordered and Trek had 0...What to do ? They had 30 Powerfly7 eMTBs in Waterloo Wisconsin so Trek shipped a new bike to my LBS in CT and in 4 days I was on the trail.

I'm not saying JB is a Trek and I respect that. I'm not putting them down, from what little I've read they make fine e-bikes, but any company can go the extra mile within their available means to show they value their customers. Trek did for me.

John from CT
 
John, couldn't agree with you more. There's no telling what's really going on, but normally in the US bad customer service is a sign of under capitalization. It doesn't matter how many products you're selling if the margin on the product is low and you don't have any cash reserves; all it takes is one bad event to create a real problem. If you have a hold-up at customs, if your suppliers start charging more - pretty much anything can be lead to a downward spiral. You have to assume that people are not dumb so there's no way you can see these types of postings without posting a response that explains the situation - unless you're so short of funds that you really can't afford to do anything that slows cash flow. Hopefully it's just a company that is run by engineers who aren't aware of the importance of customer satisfaction - but there are danger signs all over the place here.
 
I'm confused. I just was on Juice bikes web site and on-line chat is up. Am I missing something here?
1526492979911.png
 
I agree that charging customers when they won't receive the bike for 3+ months is a bad idea, because then you cant dispute credit card charges in case anything happens.

I see they are now not taking orders beyond those delivered in mid-June. 6 weeks from payment to delivery is about the maximum reasonable delay IMO. Just stop taking orders if the delay is more.
 
Asher said:
I see they are now not taking orders beyond those delivered in mid-June. 6 weeks from payment to delivery is about the maximum reasonable delay IMO. Just stop taking orders if the delay is more.
Click to expand...

Its the simple things. I think they could present a better face if they use the term "out of stock," and offer the shopper an opportunity to order before the next batch arrives. They can take a cc number but not charge the card until a reasonable lead time arrives, e.g., a week before shipping. Their current MO makes it look like they need the money before ordering from China
 
Darrin NC said:
Ordered a CCS 19 battery second week in April. What's a realistic date for delivery? I may cancel my order.
Click to expand...
Assuming there was no "out of stock", "backordered" etc listed on the website prior to you placing your order the maximum
delivery time I would expect would 7-10 days. I'm assuming the batteries are Lithium-Ion, they may have to be shipped
special ? In any case the battery should have arrived several weeks ago.

If the battery was shipped UPS /Fedex a tracking number should have been provided. If JB notifies you that the battery is out of stock,
backordered etc and has charged your charge card and the battery is not in transit to you that is troubling to me.

John from CT
 
Glenn-rod said:
I'm confused. I just was on Juice bikes web site and on-line chat is up. Am I missing something here?
View attachment 22010
Click to expand...

I was on the Juiced Bike website prior to this post and according to the info listed on the site, the four bikes above, RipCurrent, CrossCurrent, CrossCurrent Air and OceanCurrent are all backordered with three of the four listed as " Expected to ship starting mid-June" or "New Shipment arrives in June" ...

That implies the above bikes will arrive from China at Juiced Bikes Chula Vista CA in June, then will have to be shipped to said customers, thus adding 7-10 days depending on the final location. Since the four bikes listed are backordered and the Utility bikes are sold out, it seems like JB has no in stock inventory to sell/deliver at this time. 5/16/18

John from CT

 
dean1 said:
Its the simple things. I think they could present a better face if they use the term "out of stock," and offer the shopper an opportunity to order before the next batch arrives. They can take a cc number but not charge the card until a reasonable lead time arrives, e.g., a week before shipping. Their current MO makes it look like they need the money before ordering from China
Click to expand...

Juiced took my $2000 and no shipping status update yet, probably July. A deposit would be a better solution and if Juiced is going to take the full amount of the purchase price than the delivery should be within a 4 week period. My opinion. Juiced is using out money to support their business to build the bikes ? Where are the banks to back Juiced Bikes ? Instead of the customers being the bank.
 
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