This is appalling. Very sorry to hear of all these troubles you’ve had with the bike and the LBS.
Hopefully, Specialized themselves will make this right. The easiest way for them to do that, it seems to me, would be to send you a brand-new replacement bike. That’s what my dealer did when I was having a variety problems with my new bike; none of them individually were as major as any of the ones you’re experiencing, but all together added up to a real headache in terms of running back and forth to my LBS to get them diagnosed and fixed. And they offered to send a replacement without me having to ask: they just in essence said “you’re having so many small problems that we’d like to just send you a new replacement bike rather than piddling around.” Their reasoning, I assume, was that it was better on balance to send a customer an entire new replacement bike and then fix the issues with the returned bike on their own time (or break it down for parts) than to put that customer through weeks of aggravation and risk them creating a public thread about it on a forum like this (or Tweet, or Facebook? etc.) Plus the human resource cost of having their service reps deal repeatedly with a customer is also part of the cost to them.
The “brand equity” Specialized stands to lose via issues like this being publicized far exceeds the value of them just sending you a new bike, given the multiple serious mechanical issues and poor performance of your LBS. To be clear, I don’t think it’s realistic to expect a manufacturer to send a brand new multi-thousand dollar replacement bike every time there’s a minor issue; but the issues you’re describing are major, long-standing, and apparently incapable of resolution by your LBS.
I too, suffered many, many issues as an early adopter of the IGH model. I even had several months of unavailable replacement parts for my wife's Como. I do understand that there was a pandemic, I do understand that for the most part, the appropriate local bike shop 'should' do everything in their power to assist their customers.
Getting back to the IGH nightmare. The ONLY way I was able to obtain a resolve with Specialized (I returned 2-IGH models before the 30 days 'window' for returns) was to dispute the charge with my credit card company. Only then was there remedy. However, the unfortunate part was that for all intents and purposes, I was basically "banned" from contacting or obtaining any type of communication or support from Specialized and offered a buyout to go away. When they made the offer I informed 'Nathan' (a rude Specialized rep in Morgan Hill, Ca. headquarters), that I owned 3 Specialized e-bikes, his tune changed and I was told that they would "allow" me to remain a customer but I was never to call them ever again. Hence me building a relationship with the local bike shop who takes care of things, regardless of the "mother ship" dictation.
Look, I personally think that the Specialized brand is a tremendous one and fully have confidence that they will strive to remain one of the leaders. However, as previously referenced in my multiple postings on these forums, they may have released the IGH before it was solidly tested. That does not however give them any excuse to treat consumers the way I was treated and additionally the similar heartaches and problems that are discussed here in these forums by others who have had bad experiences.
The purpose of community forums such as these here on ElectricBikeReview is to share experiences, collaborate with others and share good as well as bad. If the "brand" (whichever one it may be), doesn't like their customers expressing negativity or displeasures, then they should consider modifying their business plan.
I normally replace my e-bikes every 5,000 or so miles (yearly) only to try to stay current with the latest technology and to enjoy my life before I die. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), the Specialized brand will be having some competition in the months and years to come, so I may sit it out this year and wait one more year before swapping out my 2022 Vado 5.0.
One thing however.....possibly Specialized should offer Stefan and I to be Beta Testers, as we seem to be extremely qualified
(not that anyone else participating in these forms are not, but the ones who participate the most, who share their experiences the most and are keen to the brand should also be considered)
End of rant. If you can get Specialized to swap out the bum IGH lemon, get a Vado 5.0 or a Tero X 6.0, forgo the IGH for a year or two. You'll be happy in the end.
