Sondors Fact Finding. Due Diligence. Scrutiny.

[PowerMe]

"Soon" is subjective. One person thinks it means within a day or 3 days. In my company when they say "soon," it can mean within 6 weeks. You can ask 10 different people how long "soon" is and get 10 different answers.

 

[FTC Complaint]

As far as the press is concerned, the Money raised via crowd-funding has become the metric used to measure the success of this endeavor. Beyond this forum there has been no follow through by the press either in regards to the efficacy of the product, the post sales support "effort", and also the outstanding lawsuit.

The disinterest is palatable; I guess there is no more money to be made.

 

[pxpaulx]

That video needs some cheese to go with the whine. They have nothing comparative to say about the bike they rolled out next to the sondors, aside for their ridiculous price tag. No discussion of mileage even! I'll bet the bike they put out goes just about as far. They ought to take a page out of lennys playbook on the retail front. Don't worry about your competitor, kill them with aggressive pricing.

 

[JoePah]

Guess all you want... but why couldn't the Sondors team let their non-US customers know what's going on?? And why make them wait 2 months longer to ship??

As I said, there probably aren't enough Euro orders to fill a container for just one color. So he probably had to wait until all the colors were produced, and the USA orders shipped, before he handled Europe.

 

[FTC Complaint]

That video needs some cheese to go with the whine. They have nothing comparative to say about the bike they rolled out next to the sondors, aside for their ridiculous price tag. No discussion of mileage even! I'll bet the bike they put out goes just about as far. They ought to take a page out of lennys playbook on the retail front. Don't worry about your competitor, kill them with aggressive pricing.

Storm looks much nicer cosmetically than the Blix; he also talks about the A2B being an affordable option.

"Add another $600 to the Storm bike and then you have a respectable and safe bike... all these intangibles have a cost/price"..

 

[Credible Hulk]

3) International: All international is underway.

Please like us on Facebook to get all the latest news.

From yesterday's update. I looked at their Facebook page to see what kind of "news" it contains. The page contains nothing but posts by Americans celebrating the arrival of their new ebikes. That's fine and I'm happy for them, but it doesn't help the international buyers at all. Upset international buyers are posting on that page complaining that they aren't receiving their bikes or the extra batteries they purchased. Sondors response is to delete their posts. So much for "the latest news". Not the action of a legitimate company which intends to fulfill their orders.

It's not looking good for those who haven't received what they paid for. The promises to international buyers are getting more vague each day. "Underway" is not an acceptable ETA. I hope I'm wrong, but this whole thing stinks and I'm concerned that SondorCo will disappear at 11:59 tonight, leaving international customers with no money and no ebikes. We'll see.

 

[scmike]

As I said, there probably aren't enough Euro orders to fill a container for just one color. So he probably had to wait until all the colors were produced, and the USA orders shipped, before he handled Europe.

They must be sending some awfully big containers to Europe, with over 1000 bikes going international... Still doesn't explain the lack of communication... Also, shipping perks, over 25% of this campaigns total, shouldn't be included as a measure of success... unless you are IGG...

 

[wa5]

speaking of shipping perks, what ever happened to the discounts for those who referred other suckers to this campaign? and when will we see the charitable donations that were trumpeted at the beginning of the campaign?

 

[George S.]

https://plus.google.com/+BrandonSergent/posts/biSuUh2MLeb

Actually, all the campaigns seem to do this, to one degree or another. The nasty part is that IGG has the money and isn't going to give it back, plus you have to 'go along'. I was asked to leave a KS campaign, but at least I knew I'd get my money back immediately.

The next time I want to join a CF campaign I am going to Charcoal grill my left hand for 5 minutes on each side instead. I'll get a more even burn.

 

[jazz]

"Soon" is subjective. One person thinks it means within a day or 3 days. In my company when they say "soon," it can mean within 6 weeks. You can ask 10 different people how long "soon" is and get 10 different answers.

Yes but I think they will mostly agree that "soon" is sooner than later.

 

[JoePah]

Sondors has been doing very well, compared to every other CF ebike campaign I have followed, and I have followed 5 of them.. He's shipping, and there will always be people who want their bike faster sooner better.. Those International supporters have to have know they will fall last because of the quantities involved domestically.

People forget Sondors is a CF project, and he is not a wholesaler, retailer or manufacturer. People should be ecstatic that he is shipping on a very reasonable schedule, instead of making excuses about this or that and delay delay delay.

As far as I know the Euro bound bikes are due in a UK port by late August.. Let's see what happens in the next 3 weeks.

 

[Hurley]

Sondors has been doing very well, compared to every other CF ebike campaign I have followed, and I have followed 5 of them.. He's shipping, and there will always be people who want their bike faster sooner better.. Those International supporters have to have know they will fall last because of the quantities involved domestically.

People forget Sondors is a CF project, and he is not a wholesaler, retailer or manufacturer. People should be ecstatic that he is shipping on a very reasonable schedule, instead of making excuses about this or that and delay delay delay.

As far as I know the Euro bound bikes are due in a UK port by late August.. Let's see what happens in the next 3 weeks.

Let this be a lesson to all would be CF project participants. You are lucky to even get a bike and forget about promises about delivered at a certain time.
A lot of the updates is about getting more money and don't expect too many updates (especially Euro folks) in terms of when you will get your bike.

For those of you who actually got your bike it appears to be a good value, congrats.

 

[PowerMe]

The CF campaign I'm funding (the Noke U-Lock) has had a total of 8 updates to the campaign in just over 6 months. That's less than Sonders by a factor of 2 or 3x. And yes, there have been design changes along the way as well. Delivery estimates are always <drum roll> estimates, not guarantees. The T&Cs on IGG, for instance, state very clearly that timelines and delivery may not meet the estimates given by any campaign owner. And then it turns out that most of them don't. <shocking>. Unacceptable? Simple. Do.Not.Ever.Participate.In.CF.Unless.You.Can.Take.The.Risk.

 

[JoePah]

yep Crowdfunding is not for everyone.. It takes a certain level of maturity and understanding. At least with the Sondors thousands of people have already received their box, assembled it on their own, and are having a ball with their new $500 toy.. Lots of bling lots of attention and enjoyment all around.

Those in Europe have a lot to look forward to!

 

[JoePah]

Want a dose of what real CF problems look like?

And for those of you who haven't followed this CF project, the Flykly delivered was about half the performance that was promised in the campaign.. And they still can't deliver.

Here are comments from FlyKly backers.. They are waiting 2 years:

Purin Phanichphant 1 day ago
I backed the Flykly project 2 years ago. Their delivery dates kept slipping from 6 months, to 1 year, to almost 2 years now. When they finally were ready to ship, they asked for my preferences and shipping address. One April 9th of this year, they even sent a shipping tracking number (from Slovania!?!) to me.

Stephen Wilder 7 days ago
Flykly, what's the deal here? I funded 2 Smart Wheels almost 2 years ago, and have received absolutely no indication of when (or even if!) they will ship to me. I'm in Colorado, and based on what I've read, the US shipments of wheels are well underway. How long do I have to wait to collect on my $1200 investment?

Also there are widespread problems with the bluetooth connectivity.. You can't control the Flykly without it.

Yet if you look on EBR, Flykly got a 9/10 rating.

 

[Hurley]

yep Crowdfunding is not for everyone.. It takes a certain level of maturity and understanding. At least with the Sondors thousands of people have already received their box, assembled it on their own, and are having a ball with their new $500 toy.. Lots of bling lots of attention and enjoyment all around.

Those in Europe have a lot to look forward to!

I see, if you are mature and have understanding, CF could be for you.
First of all, it is NOT $500. Minimally speaking it is $700 and for a whole lot of folks $850. Add in proper LBS to built it then looking at $850-$1000. Still relatively a good deal though.

There is no proof of thousands of bikes delivered. It would behoove Sondors to print some numbers if he has delivered on his promises. Something like bikes associated with initials and locations.
By keeping everyone in the dark, you literally can make up numbers.
According to you, Sondors is the Second Coming...

 

[pxpaulx]

I see, if you are mature and have understanding, CF could be for you.
First of all, it is NOT $500. Minimally speaking it is $700 and for a whole lot of folks $850. Add in proper LBS to built it then looking at $850-$1000. Still relatively a good deal though.

There is no proof of thousands of bikes delivered. It would behoove Sondors to print some numbers if he has delivered on his promises. Something like bikes associated with initials and locations.
By keeping everyone in the dark, you literally can make up numbers.
According to you, Sondors is the Second Coming...

I agree, it is a 700 to 850 bike, if you have zero knowledge with using a few wrenches then add the shop setup to the cost.

I have to disagree with you on asking for the true number of deliveries. If there weren't many bikes out there at this point, there would be droves of people coming here and complaining about it.

The fact there are not droves complaining about non delivery is indirect anecdotal evidence that people are receiving their bikes, or at least accepting the actual delivery time frames without issue. If European deliveries begin within 3 to 4 weeks you simply aren't going to be able continue complaining about this aspect, imho. On delivery times, if the vast majority of actual contributors are ok with how it has gone, it is simply a non issue.

 

[Ralph]

I finally got my bright yellow Sonders. I had it delivered to my local LBS who assembled it, cut the seat post down for me and installed a stem riser so I could sit more upright. All in he charged me $75. That's a total cost of $768.00.

The bike looks fantastic. It is underpowered for my weight in soft sand, but there are tons of light weight carbon non e fat bikes on the Island and soft sand is mostly undoable for everyone. I rode the bike to the beach. Walked it across the soft sand to the hard pack near the ocean and rode five miles up and five miles back on the beach today. Battery light stayed on green. I am guessing I rode a total of 11 miles. Thumbs up everywhere. People stopped me to see what it was. The Sonders did the job perfectly and most didn't realize it was an electric bike. The saddle is a bit hard, and the pedal assist, I guess it has pedal assist, was kind of weak, but only one gear so hard to tell.

This is the fifth CF project I have invested in and the first product I have actually gotten in my hot sweaty hands. It is exactly what I expected it to be: Kick ass styling, plenty of power for asphalt and more than enough power for occasional rides up and down the beach or on the mostly paved bike paths. I ride a Dash on the road for long rides and didn't want to spend $3,000 to $6,000 for the occasional beach ride. To do so would have been stupid money for what I wanted to do with it. For under a grand, the Sonders is a great bike.

For what its worth, raising the handle bars four inches made a big difference. Chopping a couple of inches off the seat post allowed for a better fit since I am only 5'7" tall.

 

[tinasdude]

Sondors has been doing very well, compared to every other CF ebike campaign I have followed, and I have followed 5 of them.. He's shipping, and there will always be people who want their bike faster sooner better.. Those International supporters have to have know they will fall last because of the quantities involved domestically.

People forget Sondors is a CF project, and he is not a wholesaler, retailer or manufacturer. People should be ecstatic that he is shipping on a very reasonable schedule, instead of making excuses about this or that and delay delay delay.

As far as I know the Euro bound bikes are due in a UK port by late August.. Let's see what happens in the next 3 weeks.

Biktrix juggernaut was a CF effort. Most goals were achieved in a timely manner. Frequent updates. Excellent communication. And a most excellent bike!

 

[JoePah]

Biktrix juggernaut was a CF effort. Most goals were achieved in a timely manner. Frequent updates. Excellent communication. And a most excellent bike!

Well that's good.. They sold a total of 42 bikes with KS, and a number of those bikes were delivered with damaged forks. And there are QA issues, which are hidden. Can you imagine what these people would be saying if 10% of the Sondors bikes were delivered damaged?

And they had an estimated May delivery and it was end of July before all 42 bikes were shipped.