My Atom Arrived - Not Quite As Expected/Ordered

[coldriderwi]

I plan on calling my card issuer on Friday if I don't receive formal confirmation.

Any luck?

 

[Shel-done]

Any luck?

Received a short email from Gregg today stating he'd request accounting expedite ASAP. Not sure how patient I should be. Still tempted to start a dispute.

 

[tomjasz]

Received a short email from Gregg today stating he'd request accounting expedite ASAP. Not sure how patient I should be. Still tempted to start a dispute.

Sadly I bit on a similar situation and the seller was very polite. I fell for it. Time frame for refund expired. There not you pals. Protect yourself, dispute.

 

[WaxedWookie]

Received a short email from Gregg today stating he'd request accounting expedite ASAP. Not sure how patient I should be. Still tempted to start a dispute.

Given their track record, this is meaningless without a concrete timeline.

Your call refund is important to us - please continue to hold.

 

[Shel-done]

@Shel-done did Wattwagons give you a return receipt or email confirmation that you returned the POS ebike? A simple means to me, you do. Because if you don't and if Wattwagons were to contest your dispute, all they have to prove is that they delivered the bike to you and not mention the part that it was returned.
You needs to cover every angle.
Keep us posted. Wattwagons can not continue to rip off people.

I've got enough evidence to win the dispute. Tracking, receipts and emails.

 

[TomD]

Unless you are running out of time I'd reply back they have 1 day to provide confirmation that refund has been initiated or you will file the dispute.

 

[Zachdds]

Unless you are running out of time I'd reply back they have 1 day to provide confirmation that refund has been initiated or you will file the dispute.m

Short of check is in the mail, I would initiate the charge back. Watts wagon should not be trusted to set up any timeframe.

 

[Shel-done]

I've submitted the dispute with my bank and am awaiting next steps. Collating supporting documentation as well.

If the refund comes through, great. If not, I'll provide everything the bank needs for me to win the dispute process.

Sad that it ended this way. Really hope others purchase with caution.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Dont know if the BBB is a possibility but I would check it out.

 

[Zachdds]

Bbb is a scam in my opinion. I used to think it was some kind of a consumer advocate until they called my office and asked if I would like to be a preferred member. Only need to send a check for a couple hundred a month.

 

[Shel-done]

Bbb is a scam in my opinion. I used to think it was some kind of a consumer advocate until they called my office and asked if I would like to be a preferred member. Only need to send a check for a couple hundred a month.

Agreed. It's a for profit company that gains money from the companies consumers complain about. If the company pays, they will side with the company a majority of the time. People fall for it because of the name including "Bureau* when it's really just a Yelp-esque company.

 

[Shel-done]

Just a quick status update. Awaiting my card provider's next steps on the dispute process. Seems to me they are delayed by a dispute backlog.

Wattwagons started ghosting my continued requests for a refund, since that is still their responsibility as the merchant. I've debated leveraging my group legal benefit to turn this into a legal matter, given the time elapsed and vast evidence stacked against WW.

Also plan on taking things more public to warn future potential customers (will leave negative reviews on all sites). This is not a business I'd trust unless buying locally as if they were a LBS that you could physically see/test ride the bike in person and return to should the need arise. Not sure they even have that operating model and I could understand why since they are scamming so many customers.

 

[Rider777]

Just a quick status update. Awaiting my card provider's next steps on the dispute process. Seems to me they are delayed by a dispute backlog.

Wattwagons started ghosting my continued requests for a refund, since that is still their responsibility as the merchant. I've debated leveraging my group legal benefit to turn this into a legal matter, given the time elapsed and vast evidence stacked against WW.

Also plan on taking things more public to warn future potential customers (will leave negative reviews on all sites). This is not a business I'd trust unless buying locally as if they were a LBS that you could physically see/test ride the bike in person and return to should the need arise. Not sure they even have that operating model and I could understand why since they are scamming so many customers.

What is “ghosting refund requests”?
And what do you mean by “leveraging my group legal benefit”?
Thanks.

 

[Shel-done]

What is “ghosting refund requests”?
And what do you mean by “leveraging my group legal benefit”?
Thanks.

No replies to my multiple emails chasing a refund status. It's been nearly two months since they received the return.

Group legal is a benefit many companies offer that give access to legal services. Some of those services include consumer protection. Basically it's adjacent to hiring an attorney, with far less cost to me.

 

[Rider777]

No replies to my multiple emails chasing a refund status. It's been nearly two months since they received the return.

Group legal is a benefit many companies offer that give access to legal services. Some of those services include consumer protection. Basically it's adjacent to hiring an attorney, with far less cost to me.

Thanks !
Much clearer now.

 

[WaxedWookie]

Received a short email from Gregg today stating he'd request accounting expedite ASAP. Not sure how patient I should be. Still tempted to start a dispute.

I'll just point out that this (let alone the initiation of the process) was a month ago... and still nothing - bang up job, Wattwagons.

Bbb is a scam in my opinion.

Agreed. It's a for profit company that gains money from the companies consumers complain about.

They're a definite scam, but the way I see it, WW can either cop the accurate, negative review or pay to have it removed. I can't speak for @Shel-done, but I'd find that a little cathartic. I'd suggest similar google reviews, facebook comments, etc. to help people avoid making the same mistake we have.

 

[loamoaf]

Go figure WW went dark after being in regular contact with them once again after I sought assurance that I was 'first on the list' for when this next batch of controllers ships.

I too have the legal group benefit through my employer but for whatever reason I've been hesitant to utilize it for a situation like this... I want the product more than anything, and I cannot get it anywhere else in the US. Shitty thing is WW doesn't even produce the product I want, they just are middle men thanks to whatever deal WW made with Innotrace. I would be interested in pursuing legal action regardless of whether I got refunded or not on the base that they're operating in a fraudulent manner - bet a dollar their bookkeeping wouldn't stand up to legal scrutiny. Even after (if) I do get the product I paid for and was lied to about, I still paid for a 2 year warranty and the programming cable... WW obviously services the warranty & from what I gather manages the online sign in stuff for the programming aspect of the X1 - I'm honestly concerned anyone who received a bike that would leave a negative review risks having their controller bricked next time they connect it or refusal to honor warranty. That's the impression I get from the company now.

Complete 180 on them, I feel like a real sucker. The embarrassing thing is there are some people here who are acting as apologists for WW like they'd feel honored to be fucked over by such a company.

I'm just taken aback I've literally never done business with a company that's behaved like this before.

@WaxedWookie anyone with half a brain should be flagging the fake WW reviews with Google either as 'affiliated with business/owner' or 'spam/fraudulent review'. I think Greg's is the only genuine 5-star review.

 

[Shel-done]

I'm curious if we should start a new post to aggregate all customers impacted by their behavior with simplified description of how? I'd be curious to roughly know how much money they have yet to return (or delivery a product for) to customers.

I too am hesitant to take things legal because that is never my preference. You can look through the history of my updates and realize I'm quite patient and understanding. I prefer to make little noise and be an easy going consumer. However, at this point they are just keeping $4k of my money AND the bike since it was returned 2 months ago.

 

[bexamous]

I'm just taken aback I've literally never done business with a company that's behaved like this before.

I mean this is what happens with every failing buisness to some degree. If they can't refund money for a returned bike until they resell it, if cash flow is that low clearly they've got issues. Their intentions have always seemed good to me, but at some point reality kicks in and the numbers dictate what happens. I wouldn't feel guiltly about doing whatever to get back money sooner.. waiting is just rolling dice, IMO. Maybe just rough patch and everything gets turned around.. but also maybe not.

 

[WaxedWookie]

anyone with half a brain should be flagging the fake WW reviews with Google either as 'affiliated with business/owner' or 'spam/fraudulent review'. I think Greg's is the only genuine 5-star review.

You mean the dozen reviews without comment from India for an American company run by people of apparent Indian heritage might not be legit?

Their intentions have always seemed good to me, but at some point reality kicks in and the numbers dictate what happens.

I agree they probably have good intentions, but based on my interactions with them, they have no regard for truth, transparency, or communication - which would make a huge difference to the customer experience, minimising many of these concerns. As an example, my bike arrived with downgraded parts - Amit told me he deliberately downgraded parts on my bike to avoid further delays (without telling or refunding me) - I think he was lying in this instance, and it was incompetence, but taking him at his word only leads me to worse conclusions - they tried to sneak the downgrades past me.

There's also serious concerns about trading while insolvent - if they're doing this, they take on a legal responsibility to protect their creditors, which they appear to be ignoring.