Unreliable e-bike supplier

[Gianfranco94]

The choice of the ebike model to purchase is fundamental, but so is the choice of the supplier!! I hope my (terrible) experience is helpful to new buyers: in June 2023 I ordered (and paid, $1250) a Dailyride ebike (27", 2.4" wheels) from Guangzhou Yanze Cloud Technology Co., Ltd.; after a few days I received a completely different model from their warehouse in Poland (a fat e-bike with 20" wheels...) which I immediately contested. The supplier offered to accept the incorrect model and a refund of 200 euros, A week later a courier collected the bike, since then I have never received the ordered product, despite a long series of messages with their assistant (Brenda Huang, totally unreliable and incompetent person). I think I have been scammed, considering that the my refund request was not followed up. My advice: buy only from reliable, verified and reputable sellers... Happy riding everyone!

 

[m@Robertson]

As a corollary, don't buy direct from foreign vendors who cannot be held accountable and whose reputation you cannot verify. There are vendors who you can learn about from their customers, and they have earned a reputation over time. But without taking the time and effort to vet the vendor, you're rolling the dice.

 

[Taylor57]

As a corollary, don't buy direct from foreign vendors who cannot be held accountable and whose reputation you cannot verify. There are vendors who you can learn about from their customers, and they have earned a reputation over time. But without taking the time and effort to vet the vendor, you're rolling the dice.

I would stick with the companies that have a dedicated brand forum on EBR at the least. Even then, it's up to the buyer to sort it all out.

 

[m@Robertson]

I would stick with the companies that have a dedicated brand forum on EBR at the least. Even then, it's up to the buyer to sort it all out.

Yeah but all that means is someone got noticed enough to get a forum moderator to create a sub-forum. No direct relation to actual customer experiences. You want to keep your ear to the ground in a whole bunch of venues and just keep at it. Which means the research phase for a buy would take months unless you want to hit one of the big names (Specialized et al) and pay the price of admission that goes with buying that brand.

Still, despite the time investment it pays to cast a broad net.

My solution was to leverage a skill set I already had and build my own. But even then, I did a great deal of poking around before I found a battery vendor I'd trust, and much more time/experience passed before I told anyone who it was. So again... you gotta keep those eyes wide open.

 

[L4rkb0x]

The choice of the ebike model to purchase is fundamental, but so is the choice of the supplier!! I hope my (terrible) experience is helpful to new buyers: in June 2023 I ordered (and paid, $1250) a Dailyride ebike (27", 2.4" wheels) from Guangzhou Yanze Cloud Technology Co., Ltd.; after a few days I received a completely different model from their warehouse in Poland (a fat e-bike with 20" wheels...) which I immediately contested. The supplier offered to accept the incorrect model and a refund of 200 euros, A week later a courier collected the bike, since then I have never received the ordered product, despite a long series of messages with their assistant (Brenda Huang, totally unreliable and incompetent person). I think I have been scammed, considering that the my refund request was not followed up. My advice: buy only from reliable, verified and reputable sellers... Happy riding everyone!

commiserations, hope you get the bike you want eventually..

 

[Slaphappygamer]

I looked at https://www.bbb.org/ before I made a purchase.

Ride1up has been good, even though I only contacted support once. I was curious about motor model and how many magnets in the hub. I know it’s a Shengyi and rated at 1000w. I never got a straight answer, but wasn’t really expecting one. At least I got a response.

 

[None]

I've made over a dozen ebike purchases on AliExpress & Alibaba since 2017.
Issues with bikes have occurred but mostly resolved with supplier sending replacement parts, troubleshooting & installing replacement parts on my own.

Having bicycle & motorcycle mechanical background helps a ton when it comes to general repairs on ebikes.

Yes, direct to consumer sellers can be challenging to communicate & troubleshoot ebike problems since there could be a language barrier & technical terms for problems or parts are not common knowledge for consumers.
I use Google Translate to communicate in Simplified Chinese along with my English email content, usually that can avoid much of the miscommunication.

Alibaba or AliExpress have been able to send refund or credit when issues are unresolved over certain period of time, usually 2-4 months.
Since I make large amount of business purchases in additional to ebike purchases, I have learned to maneuver my way around for them to take care of me when need to.
Generally, I think the following video provide a good guide for direct-to-consumer online purchases from China.