Poor After Sales Service - Rad Power

[Ben.S.]

Hi everyone, just took possession of a RadRover (Black), initial impression of the bike is quite solid, impressed with the speed and stability of it. Must say, quite liking the whole fat bike thing.

Question for those that have had the bike for a while, how have you found the after sales service from Rad Power? I must say I am very underwhelmed. I emailed them last Sunday with some issues on the bike (minor ones), things like:

• the suspension fork lockout level falling off the bike as it hadn't even been screwed on,
• the suspension forks having no tension adjustment (turn the knob does nothing to the feel of the forks),
• the wrong tyres shipping with the bike, mine are plain Kenda Juggernaut (30tpi), the website claims Kenda Juggernaut Sport (60tpi)

I emailed them again on Wednesday seeking if they were going to respond to me, it is now Friday night and nothing. Their website claims they usually get back within the hour during business hours, well they are falling well short of this claim. Pretty disappointing as I like the bike, just want some answers to my questions. Customer service shouldn't be that hard.

Sorry for the negative post first up, just want to get a feel from the community if this is normal, or out of character for the company.

Regards,

Ben

 

[sanglee007]

Hi Ben,

It really depends...from what I've seen they're a pretty small company and balancing shipping, production & customer service can be a challenge.

I did find that it took some time, but not too much, for them to reply to my emails.

• 1st email was when I ordered the black RadRover instead of the white, the reply was that day
• 2nd email was to inquire about the RadMini rack design change and they got back to me within 2 days (the front light is mounted a little further back so it doesn't poke out the front so far)
• 3rd email was replied to in a few more days than usual due to the July 4th holiday.
• 4th email was replied to the next day.
• etc...

That's been my experience. They've been pretty helpful.


Sang

 

[vincent]

i would say my communication has been a little hit and miss
think i wrote them tues and wed about some issues and no replies so far

planning to call monday if i have not heard back

my thinking is they are small and probably very busy
but i would like to get started resolving a couple of issues since parts may need to be shipped etc

 

[Barkme Wolf]

Call the store. Talk to s tep not a tech.

 

[lalax]

They're slow via email, but pretty quick via phone.

 

[vincent]

Will try to call them in the morning, I am 70% deaf and have to use the relay service which is slow as crap for everybody
so I always try to use email when possible

 

[Ben.S.]

Thanks for the responses, I'll give them a call tomorrow. Pretty disappointing that it's been over a week and no response, makes me wonder about how they will honour any warranty issues.

 

[Berniejockjr]

I asked for information regarding the front fork for the on Monday and received a reply the same day.

Hello Bernie,

The 2016 RadRover uses a Top Gun front suspension fork. There is a lockout lever on the right side, which locks out the suspension, making it a rigid fork. The knob on the left is used for adjusting the compression rate. Clockwise makes the fork stiffer, and counter clockwise makes it absorb more. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards,

Cory Tsai
Technical Support
Rad Power Bikes

 

[Ben.S.]

So I have now received quite a few responses to my questions from the folks at RadPower. They are also sending me a new lockout lever, which is good that they responded to this issue quickly. I'm now satisfied with their responses to my questions and their actions in replacing the said part, just wished they had been quicker off the mark. I suspect, as someone here pointed out, my initial questions were "lost in the system." Maybe that's something you have to live with when they are selling a bike for the very competitive price they are, I imagine margins are tight and staff are short.

Anyway, still very happy with my purchase of a RadRover, I hope they continue to improve on what is a good product and continue to grow as a business.

Regards,

Ben

 

[Mike Radenbaugh]

Hi Ben,

I am happy to hear that the tech team over here got everything sorted. We recently doubled the size of our team and moved into a larger space which should result in better and better response times and minimum down time if anything else comes up in the future. Thanks for the kind words and patience!

 

[dm nelson]

I ordered 2 Radrovers and both got wounded being shipped to me here in N. Calif. Was able to get one running by replacing the broken derailleur and hanger from the other bike. My partner has been greatly enjoying commuting her bike to work. I'm waiting to get replacement derailleur, doa battery and hub motor cable so we can ride together. I recognize there may be delays in getting replacement parts from vendors. I'd recommend to pick up bike if possible. For shipping, I'd suggest there be reinforcement protecting the rear hub drive train & motor cable. For the past week I've received supportive messages from Tony in tech support. I look forward to posting words & images from some rad adventures.

 

[walawn]

@dm nelson Dude, don't waste your time with a replacement. The stock derailer is CRAP! Mine broke less than 10 ft. from my door on the first ride (which wasn't a ride at all after that happened). Adjusting the stock one was a lost cause. I replaced mine with a stronger hanger and better derailer (Shimano Claris) and ditched the OEM Shimano Acera to the garbage. No issues as of yet with the aftermarket derailer.

 

[dm nelson]

@dm nelson Dude, don't waste your time with a replacement. The stock derailer is CRAP! Mine broke less than 10 ft. from my door on the first ride (which wasn't a ride at all after that happened). Adjusting the stock one was a lost cause. I replaced mine with a stronger hanger and better derailer (Shimano Claris) and ditched the OEM Shimano Acera to the garbage. No issues as of yet with the aftermarket derailer.

Thanks walawn, according to the Shimano site that derailleur is classified for road bikes rather than mtn. Glad to know that the Claris is working well on the radrover for you. I have Shimano xtr components on my real mtn bike and can appreciate how well they perform under pressure. But I have no plan on taking this heavy radrover on serious trails. Does seem to shift well & happily zip along on roads & light trails. For now the stock acera is working fine, but will take your advice and upgrade when it underperforms or breaks.
ps. I'm impressed with the battery work and motor upgrades you've successfully made, congratulations!

 

[mrgold35]

I ordered a white and black RadRover to NM. My black RR also had a bent derailleur and the chain was rubbing the tire in 1st and 2nd gear. The wife's front disk brake rotor was out of true and rubbed against one brake pad at one spot. My front brakes were extremely noisy compared to the wife's brakes.

I was able to bend my derailleur by hand back into place. I've tried to true up the wife's front rotor (by hand and adjustable wrench) and it sounds a little better; but, still rubs a touch. I also switched up the front tires between the two bikes and my noisy brakes are gone (wife's bike brakes are still in normal noise range). Now I have the out of true rotor and I'm going to give the rotor/brakes a few hundred more miles to see if it corrects itself on its own before replacing the rotor.

I emailed Rad Power Bikes about the above issues and they got back to by the next day with suggestions and YouTube video links on how to fix (Cory Tsai).

I'm fine with the above issues as long as the "e" part of e-bike is 100%.

 

[JMoto]

Have you guys found shops willing to work on Rad bikes? I've had two different local shops tell me they refuse to work on Rad's. Not sure if they mean because they're hub motors or they just don't sell Rad's (obviously no shops do). I was thinking of getting one for my kid but not if most shops refuse to work on them. (note: i've only had super expensive bikes for myself that required nothing but basic work so I'm a bit scared by the above shipping damages).

 

[mrgold35]

It has be +4 years and +7000 miles between my two 16 Radrovers. They are still going strong on their 3rd set of tires and 2nd set of brakes (upgraded to TRP Spyke brakes). Any ebike component I had to fix has been plug-n-play like the controller, LCD screen, or wiring harness. Everything else I fixed or upgraded were normal fat tire MTB parts. I found a local guy by word of mouth at first. It was kinda of a pain loading up the rovers and being without them for a few days and sometimes for a week (his hobby was repairing bikes). I just slowly learned and purchased any tools needed to do the routine maintenance or mods myself:
- Bodyfloat suspension seat+cloud 9 seat
-Topeak rear rack
- Sunlite adjustable handlebar stem
- TRP Spyke brakes with Jagwire cables
- extra wide MTB pedals
- Luna Cycle triangle bag to protect the battery
- Vee8 120 tpi 26X4 tires with Mr. Tuffy liners and Stans tire sealant

You just need to find another shop that works on bikes because there isn't anything unique about rad power bikes other than the plug-n-play ebike components.

 

[JMoto]

It has be +4 years and +7000 miles between my two 16 Radrovers. They are still going strong on their 3rd set of tires and 2nd set of brakes (upgraded to TRP Spyke brakes). Any ebike component I had to fix has been plug-n-play like the controller, LCD screen, or wiring harness. Everything else I fixed or upgraded were normal fat tire MTB parts. I found a local guy by word of mouth at first. It was kinda of a pain loading up the rovers and being without them for a few days and sometimes for a week (his hobby was repairing bikes). I just slowly learned and purchased any tools needed to do the routine maintenance or mods myself:
- Bodyfloat suspension seat+cloud 9 seat
-Topeak rear rack
- Sunlite adjustable handlebar stem
- TRP Spyke brakes with Jagwire cables
- extra wide MTB pedals
- Luna Cycle triangle bag to protect the battery
- Vee8 120 tpi 26X4 tires with Mr. Tuffy liners and Stans tire sealant

You just need to find another shop that works on bikes because there isn't anything unique about rad power bikes other than the plug-n-play ebike components.

Awesome! That's what I was hoping to hear! I just need to reach out to a smaller shop, no problem! Excellent upgrades!

 

[BKing]

There are several reasons they don’t want to work on ebikes.
1. Might get blamed for an expensive malfunction.
2. Parts not in their shop and no idea when they would get any.
3. Bike is too heavy to put on the work stand.
4. Might screw up something while learning.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Plus working on cheap bikes sometimes is more hassle then its worth for the shop. they may never work well no matter how
well they are worked on.

 

[Deleted member 4210]

There should be an expiration date on old threads. Seriously, why are you people digging up a 2016 thread from the dead and adding more to it ? Just start a new thread. SMH.