no support

[STEVE RAD]

I have a rad city 5 and can not get power to the motor. does anyone no how to get support from RAD I have tried phoning us and canada numbers and left messages many times and have not got any response. Also have email they sent me back a response your case is closed.

[Water Doc]

Reply to them that no, your case is not closed and that you need some assistance - I have had the the same response but kept after them until I got the help I needed.  They like to sell bikes but are getting lazy when it comes to helping owners, especially new owners. 

[Carcosa view]

Whoever I need support of have a question I call the Rad dealer in Berkeley Ca. Phone number is listed on Rad website. They answer the phone with a human and have always been very helpful with solutions. Same as you not much luck with Rad central.

[oldtexasdog]

When I called Rad support to help with my new City 5 + I get a recording 'This support line is no longer taking calls" !!!
E-Mail no response at all.
It should be illegal to sell expensive  equipment like this with no support!

[BeachWagon]

Wow, that's wild. Does anyone know what's going on at Rad?

A year ago, I had a screen fail which then shut down my bicycle. I had to go back and forth with Rad support even though a cheap multimeter allowed me to eliminate the battery/battery connector and cables as not being the issue. I would have been very angry if email support had just ignored me.   

[Adams]

Rad has had a number of rounds of layoffs.  Last one was around 80 people, and word was a bunch were in customer service.  They have gone to email only for submitting help requests.

On Reddit, some former Rad employees suggested reaching out through social media to try and get help.  They also suggested reaching out to the CEO or others you can find on LinkedIn.  Apparantly there are folks tasked with clearing issues like that off of the C-suite's plate.

I did that recently for a problem with a new RR6+ (my family's 2nd one).  It was damaged in shipping and needed a new part.  Submitted an email ticket on Wednesday and got the automated response.  Reached out politely on social media on Thursday and got a response within an hour.  Part I needed was ordered on Friday and shipped on Monday.  It wasn't the regular customer service channel, but it was a pretty quick and solid response from Rad.

Keep trying. . .

[pworkman]

I noticed last week that even the Vancouver showroom was not answering phone calls during business hours. I had tried all sorts of avenues to reaching out to find out the status of my late order. Now the bike has arrived with an issue. Not sure where to turn.

[JimInPT]

Has anybody in need of service support tried calling the main sales line to see if anybody answers and/or has any idea what's going on at Rad?  If they answer, it should be easy to put them on the spot about the apparently shoddy management of after-sale support.

Anybody getting hosed would be within their rights to demand a credit-card refund (credit-card companies can do this unilaterally by contacting them if you can't get Rad to respond) and if Rad objects, tell them to come pick it up since they won't even answer the phone!

I'm not an attorney, but I believe that if you have a service problem or an unresolved refund, and Rad enters bankruptcy, that everything just stops and you get put onto a list of unsecured creditors with little to no chance of getting anything done as the secured creditors will have first access to any remaining funds or assets.  Again, not an attorney, but if I was in that position as a customer I'd start looking into this right away so you can at least know what your options are.

If service is just temporarily messed up due to layoffs, that still doesn't explain recordings that say "we're not taking calls" rather than "service calls will take longer than usual to be handled." 

Seems janky to me and a BK declaration wouldn't be too much of a surprise at this point.

[Radio Runner]

This all sounds so bizarre to me. E-bikes are booming and have been for years. They are the only model of bike to make a good return at bike shops in the last few years.

How can Rad be going out of biz? Doesn?t make sense. Did they over invest in worthless design changes nobody asked for? Did that trike totally flop?

This is all weird for such a market leader.

[cssshb]

This all sounds so bizarre to me. E-bikes are booming and have been for years. They are the only model of bike to make a good return at bike shops in the last few years.

How can Rad be going out of biz? Doesn?t make sense. Did they over invest in wireless design changes nobody asked for? Did that trike totally flop?

This is all weird for such a market leader.

Perhaps it is a combination of the recall on the wagon model costing them more than they could ever admit, and components on brand new models being so poorly made that the failure rate is off the charts, crippling the customer service that apparently has recently experienced major lay-offs.

I am starting to think that the only people who will enjoy their Rad bikes are the ones who can modify them with after-market components.

[GaryFestarini]

I am having the same issue with what I call a long wait for support.  The telephone support number is down I have been waiting for 3 days for a response to my message request

[Missycat]

I have been trying to get support for several days. I have sent 2 emails. I finally got a standard reply the last email sent asking to describe my problem which I had described in the first email.  Might I add that I had called for days before the email.  This is so not like the support which I had received in the past.  I have bought 4 bikes from Rad and numerous accessories.  I will not purchase in the future nor recommend Rad until it changes.  Meanwhile, what am I to do about this issue? I live in an area that the bike shops have very little experience with e-bikes much less Rads UGH!  I will probably have to drive over 100 miles to the one shop that I found that says they work on Rads.   This is a RadCity 5 plus that has the issue now.

[oldtexasdog]

I have been trying to get support for several days. I have sent 2 emails. I finally got a standard reply the last email sent asking to describe my problem which I had described in the first email.  Might I add that I had called for days before the email.  This is so not like the support which I had received in the past.  I have bought 4 bikes from Rad and numerous accessories.  I will not purchase in the future nor recommend Rad until it changes.  Meanwhile, what am I to do about this issue? I live in an area that the bike shops have very little experience with e-bikes much less Rads UGH!  I will probably have to drive over 100 miles to the one shop that I found that says they work on Rads.   This is a RadCity 5 plus that has the issue now.

I have the same issue. I bit the bullit and took it 80 miles to a Rad certified shop but I think they are having a problem getting hold of anybody at Rad?

[cssshb]

I am now on day 12 of waiting for a response from Rad regarding a bike that arrived DOA.

I bought two. The second one is not working after 5 days of casual use.

Both are the RadCity 5+ Step-Thru model.

I was able to get a chargeback on the one that wasn't working out of the box. It's up to Rad to now contact me.

My CC company says they cannot do a chargeback on the one that was functioning for 5 days. 1 out of 2 ain't that bad, I guess. I'll take what I can get at this point.

Ultimately I want to return both bikes and I want all my money back.

Whatever the case is, Rad is in crisis and if you have a brand new bike form them, I advise getting in touch with your CC company to see if you have any recourse.

[JimInPT]

My CC company says they cannot do a chargeback on the one that was functioning for 5 days. 1 out of 2 ain't that bad, I guess. I'll take what I can get at this point.

That may end up being the case, but it doesn't sit right with me, since if the manufacturer won't communicate about a quickly-failed product, the CC company is the only real leverage you have left and they can unilaterally take your money back from Rad's CC accounts I think.  When I signed my company up to take the various cards, the contract always had words like that in it.  But others have suggested making a stink on Rad's Facebook and other social forums to get attention; apparently that seems to have worked for others.

I would also call the CC company back and ask again.  If you get the same answer, try using the magic CSR phrase "Please escalate me to your customer-service management."  Everybody answering the phone at larger companies is somewhat limited, but always under the watchful eye of supervisors with more authority.  It could be that front-line people don't have the authority to override a policy like that and they're trying to avoid such situations. 

One other card you might consider playing is the safety-card - that might wake up the CC company's liability lawyers - or Rad's lawyers if you ever get through to a human there.  Something like "Look, the bike is dead and I don't know why but it looks like an electrical problem and I'm getting concerned it might trigger a lithium-battery fire depending on the problem that Rad won't talk to me about."  You certainly don't want to be exposed to an immediately-defective product that might start a fire, especially after you've made every effort to get it fixed up by the OEM.  If the CC company then is able to get your money back from Rad, you'd have some resources to have the bike and/or battery safely disposed of.

Just cogitating here about what I might do in your situation and hoping you can get it worked out to your satisfaction.