What is going on with Bosch customer support?

B

benzy

New Member
I am having a horrible time getting a service ticket acted on and am curious if this is par for the course.

I have a cannondale contro-e speed under warranty, with a bosch motor that is cutting power as well as having an inordinate amount of resistance when back pedaling as if a bearing or gear is bad. You can barely move the crank arms back with the motor on or off. Likely related to the power cut off.

Bosch is insisting the shop (recommended by Bosch) perform a firmware update to fix the bike. Yet, Bosch is dragging their feet getting this very popular high volume multiple location shop set up with the credentials to so firmware updates. Both mechanics at the shop are insistant that the motor is toast and a firmware update is not going to solve the problem.

Bike was dropped off on 11/15. Is this what is usually expected from Bosch, because this is getting pretty ridiculous.

If a Bosch rep monitors this forum please PM me to tell me what is going on here.
 
Unfortunately this appears to be normal. I had a battery issue earlier this year and Bosch took almost two months to decide on the warranty before they sent me a new battery. This was run entirely through a local shop and they were unable to get even updates from the rep.
Currently I have another claim going through the shop to Bosch, also having motor issues and by all accounts the motor is bad. I filed about a month ago and still no updates. I decided to take a gamble and still ride my bike until the motor fails or Bosch finally sends a new one.

Good luck with your claim!
 
batmick1 said:
Unfortunately this appears to be normal. I had a battery issue earlier this year and Bosch took almost two months to decide on the warranty before they sent me a new battery. This was run entirely through a local shop and they were unable to get even updates from the rep.
Currently I have another claim going through the shop to Bosch, also having motor issues and by all accounts the motor is bad. I filed about a month ago and still no updates. I decided to take a gamble and still ride my bike until the motor fails or Bosch finally sends a new one.

Good luck with your claim!
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Man, sorry to hear that. I paid extra for a Bosch equipped ebike because I wrongly assumed that their popularity would translate to reasonable service and turnaround. Pretty apparent their strategy is to deny claims and wear customers out. Holding out that we are aberrations, but it's not looking good.
 
Is your Bosch dealer a Bosch certified Expert Dealer , or just Bosch service dealer?
 
Their website allows you to click a box that shows expert certification. It may not matter, but I know Bosch emphasizes training and certification heavily, and if they are not Expert, they may be limited in what Bosch will allow them to accomplish. I was coached a bit on this by one of my ebike suppliers who has Bosch on their ebikes. Bosch wants me to get certified but I'm only dipping my toes in them slowly, as I am Yamaha for my mid drives and have preferred them thus far. It's a time investment on my part, and I want to see how their product sells first. There is only one other dealer anywhere close to my shop who is Bosch Expert certified. They are 157 miles away. Very odd considering the metro area is 10 million + people. Their Bosch training rep was trying to reach me heavily a few weeks ago when he was in town. He sounded desperate to get someone trained in this region.
 
Deleted Member 4210 said:
Their website allows you to click a box that shows expert certification. It may not matter, but I know Bosch emphasizes training and certification heavily, and if they are not Expert, they may be limited in what Bosch will allow them to accomplish. I was coached a bit on this by one of my ebike suppliers who has Bosch on their ebikes. Bosch wants me to get certified but I'm only dipping my toes in them slowly, as I am Yamaha for my mid drives and have preferred them thus far. It's a time investment on my part, and I want to see how their product sells first. There is only one other dealer anywhere close to my shop who is Bosch Expert certified. They are 157 miles away. Very odd considering the metro area is 10 million + people. Their Bosch training rep was trying to reach me heavily a few weeks ago when he was in town. He sounded desperate to get someone trained in this region.
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Pardon my curiosity , but are they at least offering to generously pay for having you take their training/ certification ?
 
They do tour cities and you pay a fee to attend a basic 4 hour certification. You have to do that to get their diagnostic tools. Has to be renewed every 15 months. Beyond that, for anything more comprehensive, it involves travel, hotel, etc at your own cost.
 
Deleted Member 4210 said:
Their website allows you to click a box that shows expert certification. It may not matter, but I know Bosch emphasizes training and certification heavily, and if they are not Expert, they may be limited in what Bosch will allow them to accomplish. I was coached a bit on this by one of my ebike suppliers who has Bosch on their ebikes. Bosch wants me to get certified but I'm only dipping my toes in them slowly, as I am Yamaha for my mid drives and have preferred them thus far. It's a time investment on my part, and I want to see how their product sells first. There is only one other dealer anywhere close to my shop who is Bosch Expert certified. They are 157 miles away. Very odd considering the metro area is 10 million + people. Their Bosch training rep was trying to reach me heavily a few weeks ago when he was in town. He sounded desperate to get someone trained in this region.
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thanks for the tip. Unfortunately there’s two experts in the Bay Area - SF and Santa Cruz. I suppose I can drive a cumulative 4 hours for the two trips it will take to drop off and pick up. But man, I really don’t think that’s fair with so many dealers around. it may come to that tho.
 
I agree with the shop based on what you explain. A firmware update won't do anything good. Normally bosch handles subjects very well.
 
Repost from another thread because it is relevant here too:

I am getting a new drive on warranty. Yay!

After a long silence I decided to email Bosch customer service myself to inquire and to my surprise they replied the next day. After a couple of emails back and forth and phone calls to my local bike store, we had all information Bosch wanted lined up, pictures taken and now I am waiting for the new drive to arrive.

Perfect timing too because our campus is closed over the holidays and I do not need the bike for commuting.

So my advice is to stay on top of things and don't hesitate to get in touch with Bosch yourself. Squeaky wheel and such...
 
I have a resolution - the first store was getting nowhere getting credentialed by Bosch to do the firmware update that didnt matter. Brought it to another shop and they did the firmware update for free on the spot and held the bike while they contacted bosch, as the bike shop too agreed the motor was toast. Bosch fought every step but the lead mechanic, after providing video, holding the phone up to the motor, sending pictures, sending the receipt, re-sending the receipt, resizing the video, etc he got them to warrant the motor.

In the meantime I left messages with Bosch asking for a call back to discuss. Nothing.

Bosch, if you're listening this pretty much ends any allegiance I had to a Bosch ebikes. The primary reason I spent more on a Bosch was because I assumed there'd be speedy service and warranty. This was as bad as I'd guess fighting with a fly by night Chinese supplier would have been.
 
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Bosch has a dealer network to handle ALL customer issues, in fact they probably have layers of management to handle this without dealing with the person on the bicycle. That's the way it works at Caterpillar where I worked for 30 years. If you buy from an internet only bicycle company, I guess you can talk to corporate because there will only be about 5 people between you and the owner. I don't understand the beef. You got it taken care of, you have a new motor coming, you will now "end your allegiance" because you still want to chew on someone's ear after they fixed the problem and they won't call you? How smoothly do you think it would be sending a video and making a phone call to China?
 
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rich c said:
Bosch has a dealer network to handle ALL customer issues, in fact they probably have layers of management to handle this without dealing with the person on the bicycle. That's the way it works at Caterpillar where I worked for 30 years. If you buy from an internet only bicycle company, I guess you can talk to corporate because there will only be about 5 people between you and the owner. I don't understand the beef. You got it taken care of, you have a new motor coming, you will now "end your allegiance" because you still want to chew on someone's ear after they fixed the problem and they won't call you? How smoothly do you think it would be sending a video and making a phone call to China?
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Sorry man but this isn’t debatable. Between the firmare update hassle, denying the receipts sent in, and the fact that it took nearly 4 weeks to just agree to warrant the motor, they dropped the ball. The only bright spot is the bikeshop.

Any non ebike issue, from a defective part to a broken frame would have been taken care of promptly. Bosch better get it together if they want to keep the makers of the bikes they power happy.
 
benzy said:
Sorry man but this isn’t debatable. Between the firmare update hassle, denying the receipts sent in, and the fact that it took nearly 4 weeks to just agree to warrant the motor, they dropped the ball. The only bright spot is the bikeshop.

Any non ebike issue, from a defective part to a broken frame would have been taken care of promptly. Bosch better get it together if they want to keep the makers of the bikes they power happy.
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Thanks for posting this experience, looks like it's not an isolated incident. How a company handles it's customers says it all. I would totally agree that your experience is unacceptable. I will continue to monitor how issues are handled before buying any eBike using Bosch drivetrains.
 
rich c said:
Bosch has a dealer network to handle ALL customer issues, in fact they probably have layers of management to handle this without dealing with the person on the bicycle. That's the way it works at Caterpillar where I worked for 30 years. If you buy from an internet only bicycle company, I guess you can talk to corporate because there will only be about 5 people between you and the owner. I don't understand the beef. You got it taken care of, you have a new motor coming, you will now "end your allegiance" because you still want to chew on someone's ear after they fixed the problem and they won't call you? How smoothly do you think it would be sending a video and making a phone call to China?
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And has a motor known to have the best track record for repair issues. 7,000-10,000 isn’t something most other brands will see.

I had been a Bosch basher for several years, until recently and I saw the mileage riders were getting and saw the quality of battery and BMS they are providing. I avoided them due to having a miserable time getting repairs and parts for their appliances. It ducks when someone feels they are getting the short stick, but IME, it’s more on the shoulders of the sellers shop. They need to be aggressive and establish relationships with Bosch. It’s a monster company Rich C nailed it. I keep backing out of a Bosch system only because I ca have the bike I want, but I’m confident that buying anything Bosch from Trek will be a winner. Sounds like cannon dale is dropping the ball too
 
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Facts are that Australia and the US are way behind Europe & Asia when it comes to ebikes, there are a few cowboys out there still and dealers that won't even touch an ebike.
To expect the same kind of service that trusted non ebike dealers have been providing for a hundred years or a network of motorcycle dealers/manufacturers have been providing for 50 years is a bit unrealistic.
I assume it's like this with many brands of ebike motors atm.
Whilst the pioneering days of ebikes are over in the US & Australia, it's still not completely mainstream so just as what goes for pioneers you should expect a small amount of pain & cost when things go wrong! :)
 
webcurl said:
Facts are that Australia and the US are way behind Europe & Asia when it comes to ebikes, there are a few cowboys out there still and dealers that won't even touch an ebike.
To expect the same kind of service that trusted non ebike dealers have been providing for a hundred years or a network of motorcycle dealers/manufacturers have been providing for 50 years is a bit unrealistic.
I assume it's like this with many brands of ebike motors atm.
Whilst the pioneering days of ebikes are over in the US & Australia, it's still not completely mainstream so just as what goes for pioneers you should expect a small amount of pain & cost when things go wrong! :)
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I can vouch for this. I went to two dealers to get my wife's rear tire fixed...it was flat. Both stated they won't work on eBikes. The one was a Trek dealer so he would only work on Trek eBikes. The liability excuses were lame. I finally got the Trek guy to install tube sealent and air up the tire. It works for now. I have since purchased spare tubes but dread the day I need them. I am on a medication and old enough that I bruise or cut so easily my wife freaks out. Changing a tire ( as I experienced on my car) will leave me looking like I ran my hands through a grinder lol
 
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