Rad Customer Support Slipping?

[DrJay]

I have owned a Rad Runner 1 and loved it. During the time I owned the bike circa 2020-2021, I never had a issue with support: emails were answered promptly and issues resolved. Yes, accessories are often out of stock and can take a long time to become available. Currently I own a Rad City Plus; love the bike but customer support for some issues that I have has not been good: emails not answered promptly, replacement part unavailable for 5 months. It seems to me that since they have expanded to retail locations the support has degraded. Maybe it's just me and my specific issue. But it's disappointing because I have been a big Rad fan. I have stayed with Rad because of my perception that they had superior customer service. But there are a lot of new ebikes that are available with better features and lower prices albeit questionable or unknown support. If a buyer can't get the support from Rad it certainly levels the playing field.

 

[tomjasz]

lower prices

bigger gamble!
What parts are you needing?

 

[AHicks]

What parts are you needing?

I'll take that question to the next step. Have you tried sourcing the part you need elsewhere? Amazon for instance?

Many parts for that bike are available anywhere bike parts are sold, and further, regarding support, that's just a plain vanilla bike. There are hundreds of Youtube videos that go into great detail working on just about any part on your bike.

Point being, don't be shy about going outside of RAD for support, especially if you are short on time.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

After my initial purchase and the horrible time it was getting my complete order shipped to me I decided I was going to stock up on replacement parts. I ordered tubes, tires, rotors and pads just so that I would have them on hand. It took a little over 2 weeks to get everything in.

Then I had the PAS go out. I contacted them, and they shipped me a replacement sensor. Knowing what a wait it was, I also ordered what appeared to be a compatible one from Amazon. The one came in from Amazon in 2 days, while the warranty replacement took 13 days, and it was the wrong part.

My biggest complaint is that they ship everything FedEx ground, may as well ship it by dogsled to get it to the right coast. Regular orders, I can kind of understand shipping FEG, but warranty parts. Those should be priority because now you have a customer that's waiting for a part, and is probably upset that their 5week old bike can't be ridden.

The part from Amazon was a direct drop in replacement, and it works perfectly.

 

[Gordon71]

My only recent experience was to ask a question regarding battery balancing. I received a very detailed reply in less than 24 hours.

 

[PedalUma]

I can only imagine how hard it could be to hire the right people now for technical customer service for electric bikes. Once you trained one they would be gone to a competitor for more money. You could hire 20 one-week with three of those remaining in six-weeks. I wouldn't want to be in a call center with variants lurking and it would be expensive to set someone up to work from home. The parentage of potential workers would be very small. How many people on EBR would be eligible candidates? Five? Of those how many would want that job with its pay?

 

[DrJay]

bigger gamble!
What parts are you needing?

 

[DrJay]

Thanks to everyone for their input. The part in question is the wire piece that attaches the fork-mounted headlight to the headlight. The bike was 4 months old when that part fractured allowing the light to fall off and almost was entwined in the spokes as I was riding. I photographed the parts and submitted a request for replacement to Rad. They reviewed and immediately created an order for the headlight extension wiring kit used to attach lights to the underside of the rack or basket. However, that parts kit was out of stock in April and is still out of stock. The last time I spoke with a Rad support agent I was told that Rad has no idea when that kit would be available. I was not rude but I did express my disappointment. It was an amicable support call. I checked my account last week and the order is still listed as unfulfilled. But after reading the responses to this thread, I checked Amazon and Ebay and both had a replacement headlight with the two pin plug and play connector that I need. I ordered both and will see which works best. Thanks again to all of you who took the time to respond and share experiences.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

I can only imagine how hard it could be to hire the right people now for technical customer service for electric bikes. Once you trained one they would be gone to a competitor for more money. You could hire 20 one-week with three of those remaining in six-weeks. I wouldn't want to be in a call center with variants lurking and it would be expensive to set someone up to work from home. The parentage of potential workers would be very small. How many people on EBR would be eligible candidates? Five? Of those how many would want that job with its pay?

A company in Seattle that's not paying a fair livable wage?

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I don't know how much this is a Rad Power problem and how much it is a global supply chains are wrecked problem.