"X-Treme Scooters - REALLY Bad Company"
"X-Treme Scooters - REALLY Bad Company"
Bess
unregistered user
Aug-31-06, 11:49 PM (EDT)
"X-Treme Scooters - REALLY Bad Company"
Alpha Products International
X-Treme Scooters
x-tremescooters.com
August 31, 2006
In June 2006 my husband purchased 2 X-Treme X-500 scooters from x-tremescooters.com. Upon receipt of the shipment both scooters were damaged and non-functioning. Scooter #1 had some broken wires and a bent face plate and a plastic control box was smashed. Scooter #2 was DOA, and the batteries would not take a charge. As others have reported, there is absolutely no Quality Control at this place and they are not accountable for the garbage they ship.
There is almost no way to get help from these people. They first suggested that we go purchase new batteries at Radio Shack to repair Scooter #2, which is a ridiculous suggestion. Finally they agreed to send replacement parts for both scooters. Weeks later the replacement parts arrived, but no batteries. We finally got Scooter #1 up and running. After many more hours on the phone, they agreed to send batteries for Scooter #2, but only after we returned the defective batteries (at our shipping cost!!!). Almost 2 months after the initial shipment, we finally get Scooter #2 running, but it still did not hold a charge well and is not running correctly. My husband spent many hours trying to get it working correctly and improved things, but never got it completely operational.
One day our 13 yo daughter is riding Scooter #1 and it malfunctions. The engine cuts out momentarily and then kicks back in and the back wheel spun out and threw her from the scooter. We think that the throttle might have gotten stuck. She was thrown onto the sidewalk and suffered many nasty scrapes and bruises. She also suffered a concussion. Luckily she had on a full-face motorcycle helmet instead of a bike helmet. The emergency room said that she might have suffered a significant head injury if not for the motorcycle helmet.
Meanwhile Scooter #2 starts acting up again. It was cutting in and out and the chain that drives the back wheel was “catchingâ€. Even with the replacement batteries it was still not holding a charge as long as Scooter #1. We decided that both scooters were unsafe and were of poor quality and started pursuing a return.
Luckily we had purchased the scooters through American Express. Amex gave us a temporary credit, which finally caused API to issue us an RMA number to allow us to return the scooters. These scooters weigh about 80 pounds each, so they cost a fortune to send back. We shipped them back to API via UPS Ground at a cost of $75 each ($150 total). In order to insure that our shipping costs were reimbursed, we shipped the packages back C.O.D. API refused the shipment twice and now these pieces of garbage are on their way back to me. I’ve told API and Amex that they will be thrown in the garbage if they come back to me, as I don’t want them due to poor quality and safety concerns. Amex is aware that the return shipment has been refused, so hopefully this will be resolved soon. Meanwhile I’m out $150 to ship these piles of broken parts and pieces back to API.
As you can see on:
complaints.com (http://search.complaints.com/search?q=x-treme+scooters&spell=1&access=p&output=xml_no_dtd&site=complaints&ie=UTF-8&client=compla...),
http://struggleville.blogs.com/home/2006/02/xtreme_scooters.html,
http://www.scooterbbs.com/board/DCForumID13/156.html,
amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CQP53E/002-8031330-9284068?v=glance&n=3375251),
ripoffreport.com (http://www.ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&q5=alpha+products&submit2=Search%21&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0,
http://www.ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&q5=alpha+products&submit2=Search%21&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0),
Many others have experienced defective scooters, non-existent customer service, and also had their children injured by these piles of garbage that they sell as scooters. These people also have a problem with lying and demonstrate a serious lack of business ethics. They need to be shut down.
Jim
unregistered user
Sep-03-06, 01:25 AM (EDT)
1. "RE: X-Treme Scooters - REALLY Bad Company"
In response to message #0
I can vouch for this X-treme Scooters .com company. We are a dealer with them and they are not as you say. You have to remember they sell affordable chinese import scooters, if you want something high end then spend the money and get a brand name scooter.
I have been to their facility in Iowa, and have ridden every model they carry. They are great affordable scooters and perform just as they should. It sounds like your scooter went through rough shipping, this is the fault of the shipper and doesn't reflect on the company that shipped it. X-treme's warranty goes beyond just defective parts like most companies, they also cover shipping damage and will ship you free replacement parts to get the bike in perfect working condition, if your not capable of replacing parts then purchase locally. The reason these companies have no return policies is because these products cost a fortune to ship, they are working on a very low profit and can only offer prices this low by having a parts replacement warranty. The best thing to do is read a companies ordering policy, if you don't agree with it, then don't buy from them.
We have thousands of happy customers with X-treme products, we have been selling them since X-treme only had one model, the x-360. I do agree that some of their items could be built a bit better, but then they would be the price of the high quality brand name products and nobody would buy them, every body shops by price and that's how it will always be.
Bess,
Thanks for sharing that with us, hope you finally got some of your money back.
Did you contact the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Products Safety Commission?
`
I did some checking, and there have been several EMS calls where X-Treme Scooters were involved, so if CPSC is
usatracy
Not the right agency to contact.
who is?
G III
"Justifiably Proud"
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Office of Defects Investigation
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The sad thing is that many people buy these scooters in a sincere effort to take the initiative a demonstrate low carbon footprint living in their communities. But, what did they get? Screwed by crooks and scumbags.
As an e-max owner, I know the feeling. I was able to modify my e-max's to a satisfactory level of reliability and performance. But those with less time or technical inclination were left with $3000 pieces of junk.
But back to the topic - since these are supposed to be street legal DOT certified motor vehiclesm it seems the DOT-NHTSA would be the ones to contact.
Yes I can tell you some hair raising stories about Alpha Products (x-treme Scooters). The latest involves my XM-2000 quitting while I was riding it home at crusing speed. It quit with the red light on the instrument cluster blinking 12 times. Both of the kick stands are up all the way and I have tried resetting everything plus disconnecting the batteries to reset everything but still have 12 blinks of the red light and no go.
Well this is the forth episode where dealing with Alpha Products has been like throwing yourself into a brick wall at 40MPH. The response I got back from Alpha Products support was simply "Your ticket concerning 'XM2000 quit, red light blinks 12 times' has been responded to." "If you got that scooter wet the controller probably went bad. We no longer carry that model so we do not and can not get the controller for that scooter. I am sorry that I had to be the one to tell you this."
As I stated above this is the forth esisode like this and can not say loudly enough don't buy from this company you will end up pulling your hair out.
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Well, it appears that Bess is still bitter a whole year later.
I for one have not had the problems she had. The customer service I was given regarding a few replacement parts for my XM-2000 was prompt and courteous. The parts arrived within a few days. Perhaps their customer service department has undergone an improvement in the last year, I don't know. They seem like a perfectly fine company from my perspective.
kringle777
Red XM-2000
Moss Green "Charger" ebike
Sacramento, CA
kringle777
Red XM-2000
Moss Green "Charger" ebike
Sacramento, CA