Where is your Watt Wagons Bike & other things for that matter?!

Csubi

Csubi

Active Member
Region
Canada
Short answer: Container Shipping is F#*ked! I mean proper F#*ked!
*Sources: Me, I work in the industry.

Quick Overview:

Ship comes in. 70% of cargo is deemed rail cargo. This means that cans will be placed on railcars and sent to rail hubs like Edmonton, Calgary, Chicago, Toronto, Detroit Etc.
Rail cargo is where your bike parts fit under. Seems simple right?
But...... There is trouble getting railcars. Then, container cars need to fight for tracks against wheat cars, oil cars, coal cars, box cars and many other types of cargo that ride the rails. Ohhhh, of course there's also that little issue of the Wildfires that destroyed train bridges and tracks. (not to mention the environmental devastation, lost wildlife, houses, property and human lives)

There are even more reasons for the delays, but the above are just some bullet points to give you an idea.

A quick Google search brings up a lot of information into this if you'd like to know more about it

financialpost.com

Container crunch could add to price pressures, Port of Vancouver warns

The grim outlook comes at a time when, worldwide, ocean ports are experiencing severe backlogs
financialpost.com financialpost.com

www.businessinsider.com

Nearly half a million shipping containers are stuck off the coast of Southern California as the ports operate below capacity

The ports currently have 19 mega-container ships and approximately 12 million tons of goods waiting to dock and unload for as long as a month.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com


The other 30% gets trucked out. That too faces may challenges.

So, there is only so much that WW can do. If frames and motors are waiting in ports or train tracks then that is just what it is right now.

The Ultimate lesson here is as follows:

BUY / ORDER YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFTS YESTERDAY!!!!!!!
 
IIRC the status update page on the Wattwagons site says they've got most of the Hydra build parts, it sounded like they're catching up from paint shop issues/delays.
 
kwseattle said:
IIRC the status update page on the Wattwagons site says they've got most of the Hydra build parts, it sounded like they're catching up from paint shop issues/delays.
Click to expand...
It’s due to issues with the painter and also chip shortages for the controller.
 
I bought/ordered my Christmas gift LAST YEAR. Pushkar not only has not delivered, he has ignored multiple attempts to contact him. I have no idea what is going on because he will never reply. At this point he is sitting on close to nine thousand dollars of my money and refusing contact.
 
RandomCrap said:
I bought/ordered my Christmas gift LAST YEAR. Pushkar not only has not delivered, he has ignored multiple attempts to contact him. I have no idea what is going on because he will never reply. At this point he is sitting on close to nine thousand dollars of my money and refusing contact.
Click to expand...
Whats your order number?

If you were / are a founder, then we have posted about refunds / replacements for orders placed before that.
If you are not a founder, we have probably reached out to you .... or you reached out to us and we have discussed status of your order (delivered or estimated delivery date) . to either deliver the bike or tell you what the status is.

edit: added clarification
 
Last edited:
PREFACE: I have been waiting for the build and delivery of my Hydra for some time now, so I understand the frustration and anger involved, the following is not a criticism rather some thoughts that helped me understand the overall situation.

I have been involved in the wholesale retail business for many years (45) and do not remember anytime that mimics the issues we now see in the worldwide supply chains, it is unprecedented. I am retired but I can tell you I am sure that many companies will not weather this supply storm problem. That situation is an easy subject to write about but much more difficult to live with, especially when you have been waiting for a car,truck,bike or any expensive and/or luxury item for months. It is especially anxious when it comes to an item that instills excitement like an electric bike. I am posting this because I see and feel how tortuous it is for both the Wattwagon team and the customer. I need to say that I don't think that you will find a more sincere and hard working management (Pushkar/Amit) and team than Wattwagons, with a better product at a reasonable price.

I am stating facts as I see them and through my experience. Its ok to disagree with me, but it's a fact that negative forum press does nothing for the customer and can make a good company close its doors. I believe there was an issue that has haunted the company in the last several months, that is communication, it's very difficult to pass on bad news, we all know that, and it is even harder to get no news. In the last couple weeks, it seems a change in that communication process has changed, they are doing what they can to contact everyone, now, on a much more timely basis with good and bad news. Nobody wants to see a small company lose business due to circumstances way, way, way beyond their control. Good Luck and Patience to all.....(especially me!)
 
Oh yes. One of the second round founder orders.

I am checking to see if you were on the communication sent out earlier. In any case, I will request @ebike_enthusiast to ping you on working out a swap to hydra / UC pro or request a refund.

We are recalibrating where we are going with Helios.
 
onlineaddy said:
Please explain. There is still a handful of founders who are still in the dark regarding the bike.
Click to expand...
I believe I have shared the updated style / dates for the Helios on the founders forum.

There are specs and pictures we are not ready to share yet... needs more testing.
 
pushkar said:
I believe I have shared the updated style / dates for the Helios on the founders forum.

There are specs and pictures we are not ready to share yet... needs more testing.
Click to expand...
No, there has been a lack of updates and communication in the private forum. @ebike_enthusiast did not provide the last weekly update as promised.
 
DublinGulch said:
PREFACE: I have been waiting for the build and delivery of my Hydra for some time now, so I understand the frustration and anger involved, the following is not a criticism rather some thoughts that helped me understand the overall situation.

I have been involved in the wholesale retail business for many years (45) and do not remember anytime that mimics the issues we now see in the worldwide supply chains, it is unprecedented. I am retired but I can tell you I am sure that many companies will not weather this supply storm problem. That situation is an easy subject to write about but much more difficult to live with, especially when you have been waiting for a car,truck,bike or any expensive and/or luxury item for months. It is especially anxious when it comes to an item that instills excitement like an electric bike. I am posting this because I see and feel how tortuous it is for both the Wattwagon team and the customer. I need to say that I don't think that you will find a more sincere and hard working management (Pushkar/Amit) and team than Wattwagons, with a better product at a reasonable price.

I am stating facts as I see them and through my experience. Its ok to disagree with me, but it's a fact that negative forum press does nothing for the customer and can make a good company close its doors. I believe there was an issue that has haunted the company in the last several months, that is communication, it's very difficult to pass on bad news, we all know that, and it is even harder to get no news. In the last couple weeks, it seems a change in that communication process has changed, they are doing what they can to contact everyone, now, on a much more timely basis with good and bad news. Nobody wants to see a small company lose business due to circumstances way, way, way beyond their control. Good Luck and Patience to all.....(especially me!)
Click to expand...
Exactl! Want some fun, try and buy an iPhone 13 right now. Several month delay due to the chip shortage.
 
DublinGulch said:
PREFACE: I have been waiting for the build and delivery of my Hydra for some time now, so I understand the frustration and anger involved, the following is not a criticism rather some thoughts that helped me understand the overall situation.

I have been involved in the wholesale retail business for many years (45) and do not remember anytime that mimics the issues we now see in the worldwide supply chains, it is unprecedented. I am retired but I can tell you I am sure that many companies will not weather this supply storm problem. That situation is an easy subject to write about but much more difficult to live with, especially when you have been waiting for a car,truck,bike or any expensive and/or luxury item for months. It is especially anxious when it comes to an item that instills excitement like an electric bike. I am posting this because I see and feel how tortuous it is for both the Wattwagon team and the customer. I need to say that I don't think that you will find a more sincere and hard working management (Pushkar/Amit) and team than Wattwagons, with a better product at a reasonable price.

I am stating facts as I see them and through my experience. Its ok to disagree with me, but it's a fact that negative forum press does nothing for the customer and can make a good company close its doors. I believe there was an issue that has haunted the company in the last several months, that is communication, it's very difficult to pass on bad news, we all know that, and it is even harder to get no news. In the last couple weeks, it seems a change in that communication process has changed, they are doing what they can to contact everyone, now, on a much more timely basis with good and bad news. Nobody wants to see a small company lose business due to circumstances way, way, way beyond their control. Good Luck and Patience to all.....(especially me!)
Click to expand...
Oh, I completely agree - the global trade game is completely fuxxored and won't be getting better for a LONG time. My problem is the lack of communication. It seems if you're not in the first founders group nothing was communicated. Perhaps I'll finally find out what is happening.
 
RandomCrap said:
Oh, I completely agree - the global trade game is completely fuxxored and won't be getting better for a LONG time. My problem is the lack of communication. It seems if you're not in the first founders group nothing was communicated. Perhaps I'll finally find out what is happening.
Click to expand...
Trust me, we aren't getting much either. :(
 
I've been involved with WW for 20 months and its biggest failing is their continual lack of communication with their customers.
At times getting in touch with Pushkar as been an effort in futility. Communicating with WW has improved lately and I hope it continues, because it is VERY IMPORTANT.
 
Deacon Blues said:
I've been involved with WW for 20 months and its biggest failing is their continual lack of communication with their customers.
At times getting in touch with Pushkar as been an effort in futility. Communicating with WW has improved lately and I hope it continues, because it is VERY IMPORTANT.
Click to expand...
I think you are in a very interesting window with WW. They are small enough to be innovating quickly, and producing slick bikes with pretty small overhead. That's a plus and means good value for the products offered, but it also means small companies with few staff cannot handle the administrative burden that comes with rapid growth and responsive customer service. Add a bunch of staff (or a contract service) to provide that, and overhead jumps fast, administration also increases dramatically, and those costs have to be passed on. It also slows development as those hands-on founders are tied up more and more with staffing demands and HR functions, than product development. They'll no doubt make that jump as the business model will demand it, but It a tough window to live in while you crest that first big hill business wise...
 
There is no excuse for not keeping in touch with your customers in a timely manner. It makes good business sense to keep your customers informed and happy.
 
It isn't hard to pop in to a private group of founders and provide a weekly update, good news, bad news, no news. I suspect it's because of the latter 2, but that's no excuse. I'm surprised to hear there are founders that haven't been contacted until today. How can this be? They are waiting for frames so it's not as if they are building bikes or handling CS requests from dusk until dawn. There is adequate time to communicate.
 
Imagine having 4 and 2 year old kids. Now imagine loosing your stove last November. Finally Warrantied at the end of December. Now imagine it is the present day. You still have no working stove. Almost 1 year of no Christmas dinner, no B-day cakes, no Easter dinner and hundreds of nights without the stove.

This is our family's current situation.

Let me tell all of you..... There is wayyyyyy more communication here than I have received from my appliance store.

Yes it's shitty we don't have our bikes. It's worse not having a stove!

Just some perspective for everyone.
 
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