Thought I'd share a letter I sent to Lectric on behalf of all of us waiting for our bikes.

gthax

Member
Region
USA
Hey Lectric Rider,
Your bike has crossed a ton of bridges to find your doorstep, making its delivery significantly closer to your home. However, now that you are in the final stage of shipping, we are working closely with FedEx to follow through on the delivery of your bike. This process is taking a bit longer than expected due to a shortage of Fedex trailers. As a result, we anticipate the wait for your delivery to increase by about two weeks.
The great news is that the bikes are here in the U.S. We know you are excited to receive your bike, but the exponential demand for Lectric eBikes is so great that it has created a challenge for even the most well-known name in delivery services. FedEx has informed us that there are not enough trucks to deliver our bikes from some of our warehouses in the Los Angeles area.
We are currently working to resolve the bottleneck by deploying our resources to smooth these temporary road bumps. In doing so, we have directed half of our customer support team to assist with warehouse duties – so we can help FedEx during these unprecedented times.
For example, the customer service representative you spoke to on the phone is most likely dripping with sweat right now because they are working tirelessly to load bikes into a FedEx trailer that was rerouted to a hot, stuffy warehouse in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to the high demand for our bikes, FedEx is also dealing with other shipping issues caused by the pandemic, contributing to the delays.
According to FedEx.com, "The COVID-19 pandemic has created record-breaking shipment volumes. As more people shop online to avoid crowds in stores, those numbers have grown even more. This has created shipping volumes that are taxing logistics networks nationwide, which may cause delays."
We understand this may be frustrating, and we are equally discontented, but we're a small company caught in the crossfire of a global interruption. We promise we are doing everything in our power to lubricate our logistics strategy, and we are working around the clock to accommodate your delay. We are even implementing an all-hands-on-deck approach, but we can not pause pandemic-related disruptions.
We sincerely appreciate your patience and look forward to getting you on the road. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, we promise to stand by you every step of the way. Thank you again for choosing Lectric!

My response:
Or perhaps it's because you are shipping bikes of orders who are paying 150.00 to get there bikes sooner. Obviously only so many bikes can go on a truck, so people who pay more get on the truck first, pushing others down the list. This sucks. That's not fair to us who have been waiting for weeks on end. If you want to offer faster shipping for 150, start that offer AFTER all the orders made before that offer was available ships. You said the 150 is to pay to fly the bikes on planes from China to get them here sooner, bullshit! I guess you didn't read your own statement on your last excuse letter. You said the delay WAS NOT a supply issue. You said you have the inventory. You said the bottleneck was a DOMESTIC SHIPPING issue. (Not enough Fed Ex trucks available to pick up the orders). Now on your website you say orders placed now ship within 4 weeks, bullshit! How is that possible when you just added at least 2 weeks more to everyone's order and I've been waiting about 8 weeks? I guess the answer is that "within 4 weeks" statement is, bullshit! You would be better off not sending these letters of excuses when we know money talks and people who pay more can jump the line and us who can't afford to pay more are second class customers. You also stated that the ones who pay the 150 will not effect the time the non paying orders ship, bullshit! If my order would normally ship this week before you offered line jumping for 150 and there are 500 orders who paid the 150, obviously my order will wait to ship after those 500 who paid. You guys should really READ what you tell customers before you try to b/s them. If you did you would see some of the things you say don't make sense. All customers want is honesty. This is very disappointing that your company operates in this manner. A little advice. Don't send these letters of excuses. All it does is remind people they still don't have their bike and it's going to take even longer. (out of sight out of mind goes a long way ). Hope I get my bikes before Christmas! No hard feelings. Thank You.
 
Its fascinating how the "most watched Lectric eBike" YouTube channels have NO problem in receiving FREE eBikes from Lectric for review...yet Lectric makes you the actual buyer, put 100% down on a bike (you've never ridden) and then wait a couple of months. The fan boys will say "hey, that's the way everybody does it and you can't do anything about it". I say, there are many alternatives out there that are IN STOCK if a folding bike is not a deal breaker for you... and they all are around the $1000-$1100 price. Do you homework and be amazed.
 
i can assure you that paying the extra $150 has not resulted in me jumping ahead in any lines since i’m still waiting 2 weeks now with a shipping label printed and no fedex pickup yet.
 
what i want from them are hard facts. how many bikes per day is fedex picking up (weeks ago they told me 600-800 per day), how far ahead are they generating labels, and how many labeled bikes are they carrying in the warehouse at a time. and how many bikes total are stateside.

ex. are they labeling 10.000 bikes at a time but only releasing them 600-800 at a time? even if that were the case it should only take 10 working days to rotate through 10,000 bikes in inventory.

i wonder what the highest order number is today, to get a sense of what their order backlog is, how many bikes to go.

80,000 orders on one bike each is $80million. that’s not a small number. should be sufficient to truly deliver the best customer service possible and even when supply chain logistics are uncontrollable it makes sense to be transparent and over communicate with customers not just on the challenges being faced but what exactly is being done about it and being transparent about shipping estimates snd the impact on them expected.

My understanding was not that $150 jumped the line but rather expanded the throughput. accelerating the number of bikes they could get into warehouses expands their capacity to ship them out.

but it seems that plan may have failed because it now seems from above that fedex cannot also expand their capacity of picking up ready bikes.

so they presumably have far more inventory in US warehouses now (as a result of flying some of that inventory at a cost of $150 per bike to the customer) but don’t have a plan on how those customers will get their bikes any quicker for that $150.

So the $150 solved a port of LA problem for lectric. but hasn’t resolved the ground delivery issue.

As someone who did pay the extra $150 i have an expectation of value delivered for that additional investment. I’m still waiting to see what the value ends up being but i’m now beyond my original promised delivery date AND beyond the date expected by doing the $150 upgrade. so i feel a bit foolish now.
 
i’d also challenge that they are “a small company” anymore with $80million+ in sales.
 
Fedex also is not off the hook, regardless of pandemic, they also are a massive company with massive capital they can access to make problems go away…. if there’s a shortage of drivers, increase wages to be among the best in the industry and boom, problem solved. the have the $ and resources to increase manufacturing of trailers trucks, airplanes even if they deem it necessary. Fedex revenue in 2020 was near $70Billion. So i’m not really buying the “we are doing all we can” excuses. haha.

i mean, of course we are hostages at the hands of all these companies, and if it weren’t for my tendency to waste money in my latter years on meaningless and entirely unnecessary toys i wouldn’t be having these issues, it’s still super frustrating to be played along by big business and feel taken advantage of.
 
IDK about Lectric specifically but requiring 100 percent down and then delay shipping (for months) seems to be a part of the business plan for many importers the last few years. Not just DTC ebikes.
 
IDK about Lectric specifically but requiring 100 percent down and then delay shipping (for months) seems to be a part of the business plan for many importers the last few years. Not just DTC ebikes.
yeah agreed. i’m not actually challenging their taking money in the promise of product. that’s true it’s fairly the norm now.

i’m merely challenging their offer of expedited shipping for $150 and what exactly is being expedited. i don’t yet see a difference between the standard deal and the $150 deal and that feels like a money grab at this point, playing off our anticipation and frustration, with no real value delivered for that additional expedited fee.
 
Hey Lectric Rider,
Your bike has crossed a ton of bridges to find your doorstep, making its delivery significantly closer to your home. However, now that you are in the final stage of shipping, we are working closely with FedEx to follow through on the delivery of your bike. This process is taking a bit longer than expected due to a shortage of Fedex trailers. As a result, we anticipate the wait for your delivery to increase by about two weeks.
The great news is that the bikes are here in the U.S. We know you are excited to receive your bike, but the exponential demand for Lectric eBikes is so great that it has created a challenge for even the most well-known name in delivery services. FedEx has informed us that there are not enough trucks to deliver our bikes from some of our warehouses in the Los Angeles area.
We are currently working to resolve the bottleneck by deploying our resources to smooth these temporary road bumps. In doing so, we have directed half of our customer support team to assist with warehouse duties – so we can help FedEx during these unprecedented times.
For example, the customer service representative you spoke to on the phone is most likely dripping with sweat right now because they are working tirelessly to load bikes into a FedEx trailer that was rerouted to a hot, stuffy warehouse in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to the high demand for our bikes, FedEx is also dealing with other shipping issues caused by the pandemic, contributing to the delays.
According to FedEx.com, "The COVID-19 pandemic has created record-breaking shipment volumes. As more people shop online to avoid crowds in stores, those numbers have grown even more. This has created shipping volumes that are taxing logistics networks nationwide, which may cause delays."
We understand this may be frustrating, and we are equally discontented, but we're a small company caught in the crossfire of a global interruption. We promise we are doing everything in our power to lubricate our logistics strategy, and we are working around the clock to accommodate your delay. We are even implementing an all-hands-on-deck approach, but we can not pause pandemic-related disruptions.
We sincerely appreciate your patience and look forward to getting you on the road. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, we promise to stand by you every step of the way. Thank you again for choosing Lectric!

My response:
Or perhaps it's because you are shipping bikes of orders who are paying 150.00 to get there bikes sooner. Obviously only so many bikes can go on a truck, so people who pay more get on the truck first, pushing others down the list. This sucks. That's not fair to us who have been waiting for weeks on end. If you want to offer faster shipping for 150, start that offer AFTER all the orders made before that offer was available ships. You said the 150 is to pay to fly the bikes on planes from China to get them here sooner, bullshit! I guess you didn't read your own statement on your last excuse letter. You said the delay WAS NOT a supply issue. You said you have the inventory. You said the bottleneck was a DOMESTIC SHIPPING issue. (Not enough Fed Ex trucks available to pick up the orders). Now on your website you say orders placed now ship within 4 weeks, bullshit! How is that possible when you just added at least 2 weeks more to everyone's order and I've been waiting about 8 weeks? I guess the answer is that "within 4 weeks" statement is, bullshit! You would be better off not sending these letters of excuses when we know money talks and people who pay more can jump the line and us who can't afford to pay more are second class customers. You also stated that the ones who pay the 150 will not effect the time the non paying orders ship, bullshit! If my order would normally ship this week before you offered line jumping for 150 and there are 500 orders who paid the 150, obviously my order will wait to ship after those 500 who paid. You guys should really READ what you tell customers before you try to b/s them. If you did you would see some of the things you say don't make sense. All customers want is honesty. This is very disappointing that your company operates in this manner. A little advice. Don't send these letters of excuses. All it does is remind people they still don't have their bike and it's going to take even longer. (out of sight out of mind goes a long way ). Hope I get my bikes before Christmas! No hard feelings. Thank You.
Lectric? haha!
 
Its not only bikes that go into order count. People order batteries , tubes for tires and other stuff and all that goes into order count. Problem is , Lectric takes orders and charge money even if they dont have bikes in stock. To me it looks like they order 1000 bikes a time from China. When that 1000 arrives they order another 1000 bikes. Thats why all is slow. Boats are not planes. My bike was order xxx3 and it was the same back then , i waited over 2 months for mine.
 
My order was 742xx and still has not shipped. Its been 11 weeks and nothing. Am considering having my brother pick it up in Phoenix. From my e-commerce days, I seem to recall that we couldn't charge customers until the order was actually staged for shipping. I think it was a credit card law but ICNRK.
 
My order was 742xx and still has not shipped. Its been 11 weeks and nothing. Am considering having my brother pick it up in Phoenix. From my e-commerce days, I seem to recall that we couldn't charge customers until the order was actually staged for shipping. I think it was a credit card law but ICNRK.
Keep in mind the battery cannot fly. so if your brother was able to pick it up he’d have to transport it ver ground not by air, at least the battery part.
A pre order can be charged, but if you’re growing increasingly frustrated you can always cancel the order and buy something else. not a great solution but there it is.
I am still waiting on mine as well, 78xxx.
 
I'm still waiting on a bike that was ordered 4/29 and they can't seem to explain why. I know several other orders long after my order have received their bikes. SO far I am not impressed with this company. This has nothing to do with the current problems with shipping it's an error and after multiple emails I get the same reply, "Oh sorry I'll talk to my manager".
 
shortage of fedex trailers is just b/s, there's more shipping companys than just fedex. ups, abf and jb hunt just to name a few.. what i think is you have a couple of college kids without any type of business experience decided to start a e-bike business, they happen to start it at the perfect time and they just got overwhelmed with the response they have, my tracking #76xxxx, i'm not a big fan of people down right lieing to us, first it was suppose to ship in 6 weeks, come 5 weeks after order got e-mail says 2-3 more weeks, after 9 weeks then another e-mail saying another 2 weeks, i also ordered mirrors and locks at the same time, last tuesday got a e-mail with fedex tracking number, come fri still not shipped, then on saturday got another e-mail with tracking number for same order with a tracking number for usps. these people have no clue what they are doing. they just need to be honest and tell us exactly when the bikes are actually going to ship and quit leading us on
 
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Its not only bikes that go into order count. People order batteries , tubes for tires and other stuff and all that goes into order count. Problem is , Lectric takes orders and charge money even if they dont have bikes in stock. To me it looks like they order 1000 bikes a time from China. When that 1000 arrives they order another 1000 bikes. Thats why all is slow. Boats are not planes. My bike was order xxx3 and it was the same back then , i waited over 2 months for mine.
I am almost certain that's how it works. They order in advance a qty of bikes, parts and such and when it arrives they fulfill orders from that inventory. There's no case of your lone bike order resulting in an order appearing at a factory in china for a bike, it's disconnected I am certain. Nothing wrong with that business model it's how most bike suppliers work unless they are making their own bikes. Many suppliers are struggling with demand but seems they are really dropping the ball somewhere to have customers this upset.

But I've personally dealt with someone who ordered a bike no-battery in order to get something sooner than later and then ordered a battery elsewhere. It's desparate times out there for ebikes.
 
Had I known 4/29 I would still be waiting 8/2 without a bike I would have. I was fine with waiting extra time until several posters were talking about their bikes arriving and their order numbers were far higher than mine(65***). I was good with 2+ months with everything going on in the world but I'm not fanboy enough to not get a little angry when they are not fulfilling orders as they are taken. I ordered two bikes at the same time and I have had one for almost 2 weeks.

This a clearly a business issue not a shipping issue. I'll receive my bike and I'll enjoy it but I'm sure I won't be as likely to recommend it to a friend. If they were honest with me and said sorry we messed up and corrected it I would have been fine but two weeks later and I don't have any explanation.
 
Had I known 4/29 I would still be waiting 8/2 without a bike I would have. I was fine with waiting extra time until several posters were talking about their bikes arriving and their order numbers were far higher than mine(65***). I was good with 2+ months with everything going on in the world but I'm not fanboy enough to not get a little angry when they are not fulfilling orders as they are taken. I ordered two bikes at the same time and I have had one for almost 2 weeks.

This a clearly a business issue not a shipping issue. I'll receive my bike and I'll enjoy it but I'm sure I won't be as likely to recommend it to a friend. If they were honest with me and said sorry we messed up and corrected it I would have been fine but two weeks later and I don't have any explanation.
cancel both bike purchases.

then tell them you'll send the first one back when this shipping crunch gets sorted...
 
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