Negative - Customer service from eLation

Dealing with eLation with the problems discussed on this blog, I found him reluctant acknowledge any possible issue.

Early dealings with him were ok and I thank him for sending replacement parts in good faith. He would normally send parts back quite quickly. The main problem in my case was that he appeared to rarely check his PO Box and my 2 of my items were sitting there for up to 2 weeks waiting to be collected.

In seeking assistance from my local bike shop owner/mechanic, he was very reluctant to have anything to do with the kit. He told me he had some other customers/friends come to him with problems, especially with failures with the free wheel front chain ring hub, but he told them to deal direct with eLation. He said eLation was quite difficult to deal with in these situation. eLation made no mention of existing problems to me. He said i was the only one that has reported these kind of problems.

I read on another blog that "I have waited, and waited...[for his eBike kit] and (along with a blameless but increasingly defensive retailer).... waited". His full review is here.

My experience with eLation, particularly with the most recent problem, to be consistent with these other reported experiences. Being in different cities did not help matters.

His attitude and emails to me in recent discussions was terrible. I have not been treated so rudely and with such contempt by any other business person or service provider. In my life. Alan (Mr eLation) would only converse with me to keep things recorded. When I needed to actually discuss things with him by phone, he refused and hung up on me point blank, then refused to pick up the phone when I called back a minute later. Repeatedly when I asked him if we could keep the discussions polite, I would get flippant, smart arse replies and complete denial that anything might be wrong with his system.

I had no confidence he could fix the main problem (and cause of the conflict with him) or that he was an expert with bikes. He didn't pick up the problem (or maybe not admit to the problem) with the free wheel hub when sent it back or with the replacement. When I took the bike to another professional, it took him 30 seconds to see the problem. I even sent eLation video footage (also posted on this blog) but he refused to believe it. Of course he could be keeping his cards close to your chest and not admitting anything and appear not to be liable. His response to the advice I received was "I look forward to ... make our own assessment, not those of 'armchair' engineers."

He did not acknowledge the rust in the previous hub which was unacceptable for a new piece of equipment. There was an incorrect alignment of the motor on installation, which caused the chain to come of repeatedly. He did not set up the front derailleur in the first place. It was put too high and not adjusted. He could have picked up the hub problem in the first place and saved me (and himself) a lot of bother & time.

I ended up declining to send the whole bike back for him to look at under warranty. It was going to cost me $150-$200 to courier for the hub problem I found out could not be fixed. When I did this, he threatened to renege on any future warranty claims. I questioned this, saying "warranty cannot be void. what happens if something else breaks in the 12 month period? i expect that is not true." He replied in his next email " warranty cannot be void? Try me."

I would recommend being vary wary of dealing with him if something goes wrong. Customer service was not a good experience for me.