News:

Welcome Rad Power Bike owners!

Buying a Rad Power Bike? Support the forum and use my affiliate link: https://radpowerbikes.pxf.io/Wq1EzZ

Be sure to sign up for a free account to see posted images.

Note: To help support to ongoing costs of running
the site we use Amazon affiliate links.

Main Menu

I want my money back.

Started by cssshb, June 18, 2023, 07:33:46 PM

Previous topic - Next topic Support the rad owners forum

cssshb

On June 9 I purchased two RadCity 5+ bikes. One for me. One for my wife.

One was DOA, useless out of the box. One seemed fine.

9 days later, both bikes are now dead.

Since the executives at Rad have made the decision to abandon their customers, I am left opening a dispute with them via my credit card company.

I want my money back. Rad can arrange to get their useless bikes.

handlebar

I wonder if quality control and customer service went down the toilet because vital employees got fed up and left.

cssshb

#2
Quote from: handlebar on June 18, 2023, 07:59:59 PM
I wonder if quality control and customer service went down the toilet because vital employees got fed up and left.

If you read about Rad, you will learn that they recently went through a few rounds of layoffs, and their customer service department recently let go of something like 80 employees.

I think this is a combination of growing way too big, way too fast and shipping a massive amount of bikes plagued with faulty parts.

handlebar

Before posting, I googled and didn't find anything recent. However, numerous BBB and Yelp reports indicate that they have been disgusting customers for years.

It may have been in 2020 that one of the cofounders left. Shortly after buying my Radrunner in 2020, I became disgusted with the one who remained. Mine didn't perform anything like the ones in the video he made with ebike reviews. I was getting only 500 watts output. That may have corresponded with 750 watts' electrical input, but the bikes demonstrated were vastly more powerful.

The reviewer stated his weight. He said he wasn't pedaling as he passed two staff members who were pedaling on a long hill. I could tell their speed by their cadence. I could tell the grade by the roof line of a house along the road. His motor was putting out more than 2,000 watts, 4 times more than mine. That probably took 3,000 watts' input, or 65 amps or so.

The cofounder then carried him on the back, without pedaling, on similarly steep hills. His controller was probably giving the motor more than 65 amps, while the OEM controller is probably 15 or so. Heat buildup depends on the square of amps. To make the video, they may have had to keep swapping out Radrunners with toasted motors.

The back wheel was vastly overloaded, and the CEO said he had reduced the pressure to 18 psi for a smooth ride. The manual warned riders that it was unsafe to ride with less than the pressure on the sidewall, but they avoided saying what that pressure was. It's 30 psi. He was recommending what his company said was unacceptably dangerous.

oldtexasdog

Keep us posted on your journey returning the bikes. Do you have both the delivery box's. What did you tell your CC folks ? Poor product with no response? Please excuse my curiosity but I fear I will be in the same boat here in a couple of days.

cssshb

Quote from: oldtexasdog on June 19, 2023, 12:34:52 PM
Keep us posted on your journey returning the bikes. Do you have both the delivery box's. What did you tell your CC folks ? Poor product with no response? Please excuse my curiosity but I fear I will be in the same boat here in a couple of days.

I had a Velofix tech tell me "keep both boxes for returns... it happens". I think he knew it was inevitable. So both boxes are here with me.

My CC company has put a chargeback on the one bike that was DOA. Because I told them I was able to ride one for 7 days before it died, they said they cannot do a chargeback on that one, they said that it is up to me to wait for Rad to respond regarding the second bike. That is something I am contemplating disputing with the CC company as I may well be stuck with a useless dead bike and zero communication from Rad. The CC company wanted to know everything. The person I dealt with is now well-versed in Rad Power Bikes customer service woes.

Rad has a few days to respond to the chargeback.

Altema

Quote from: handlebar on June 19, 2023, 12:17:50 PM
Before posting, I googled and didn't find anything recent. However, numerous BBB and Yelp reports indicate that they have been disgusting customers for years.

It may have been in 2020 that one of the cofounders left. Shortly after buying my Radrunner in 2020, I became disgusted with the one who remained. Mine didn't perform anything like the ones in the video he made with ebike reviews. I was getting only 500 watts output. That may have corresponded with 750 watts' electrical input, but the bikes demonstrated were vastly more powerful.

The reviewer stated his weight. He said he wasn't pedaling as he passed two staff members who were pedaling on a long hill. I could tell their speed by their cadence. I could tell the grade by the roof line of a house along the road. His motor was putting out more than 2,000 watts, 4 times more than mine. That probably took 3,000 watts' input, or 65 amps or so.

The cofounder then carried him on the back, without pedaling, on similarly steep hills. His controller was probably giving the motor more than 65 amps, while the OEM controller is probably 15 or so. Heat buildup depends on the square of amps. To make the video, they may have had to keep swapping out Radrunners with toasted motors.

The back wheel was vastly overloaded, and the CEO said he had reduced the pressure to 18 psi for a smooth ride. The manual warned riders that it was unsafe to ride with less than the pressure on the sidewall, but they avoided saying what that pressure was. It's 30 psi. He was recommending what his company said was unacceptably dangerous.

Do you have a link to that specific video?

Support the rad owners forum