Are RadRover 6 Plus, semi integrated batteries a problem for everyone?

[Jetty Island Jim]

My wife's RR6+ was purchased 11 1/2 months ago. I have only two weeks left on my warranty. The battery is non responsive. The bike won't turn on. I push the button on the battery and hold it for 10 seconds, but the lights never light up.  I plug in the RAD charger but it shows a green light instead of a red one, meaning the charger believes the battery is 100% charged and it won't engage to charge it. The battery was at 100% when I put it away for the winter. It should still be at 100% now, and certainly should not be at absolute 0%.

So it won't charge. It won't start. It's not in ship mode.

I'm so far unsuccessful at getting customer support to answer an email, and they no longer answer their phone at all. So I'm asking the forum if there's something I can do to fix this battery. If there is a trick to making this battery start working again, I would love to hear it. The RAD help files say nothing at all about this exact problem. So I'm flying blind here. If there's nothing I can do to fix this battery, then I need this battery replaced while my warranty is still in play.

I have two RR6+ bikes, purchased only months apart. The semi-integrated batteries are identical. They are newer than 2018 so they do not have replaceable fuses. They do not have a key start. The only thing the key does is unlock the battery from the frame. When I switch batteries between the two bikes, the battery behaves the same way on either bike. The good battery works fine on both bikes and accepts a charge. The bad battery is dead on both bikes and won't accept a charge on either. Both bikes were put away for the winter on the same day. The other bike, and it's battery, are still at 99% charged. Why is only this one completely dead? And why won't it accept a charge? It seems obvious to me that this is a battery issue and not a user issue.

I sincerely hope Customer Support eventually contacts me back. I specifically chose RAD because they had the highest customer support ratings in the industry at the time. I know things break, no matter who makes them. That's why Customer support means more to me than any other aspect when I choose a brand and a product.



A question for the forum:
Are the batteries on these bikes consistently unreliable? Am I throwing good money after bad if I start buying $600 replacement batteries? Are they all like this? Because I paid the full $1,999 price for each of these bikes, both of which now sell new for $1,399. I bought another $1,000 in accessories for the two. I've already paid too much for these bikes, so I need to know when to cut my losses. If the $600 batteries on these bikes need to be replaced every few months, then I need to sell these bikes while they have any value at all and start walking for exercise again.

[Adams]

That is a bummer.

We have 3 Rads with semi-integrated batteries. One is more than a year old and has been problem free.  One spontaneously shorted after 2 months - Rad honored the warranty claim.  It was a fried fuse - I was able to replace the fuse (thanks to this forum) so have a spare.  Both the warranty battery and the one I fixed haven't had any problems in the last year.  Although I've seen lots of complaints about customer service, I picked up another RR6+ on sale recently.  Its been fine (so far - knock on wood. . .).

[JimInPT]

I think you're right; it certainly sounds like a defective battery.  Since you can't reach them on the phone, I'd suggest telling Rad exactly what you've described here and email it to them immediately.  Then, also send them a printed copy by registered mail with a returned receipt/signature that proves delivery date; that will prove you documented the problem and notified them prior to warranty expiration.

You may not need that evidence, but they won't be able to argue "sorry, it's out of warranty" if/when the parts service operation is running smoothly again. 

If by chance you get a replacement battery under warranty, if you get to keep the old one, it "may" be possible to repair it.  AFAIK it does have fuses soldered to the circuit board, but they're not standard automotive types - a little electrical and soldering knowledge would be necessary.  It's been documented here on the forum.

Anyway, notify Rad right away and make sure you can prove doing it, and when.  Good luck!

[Jetty Island Jim]

Thanks Adams and JimInPT,

Thanks for the tip that the battery MIGHT be repairable. I'm typically a bit shy of opening up these new batteries, due to their explosive nature, but I'll look for that instruction on the forum to see how to replace the fuse, if I have to do that.

It's helpful to hear that not all batteries are failing like mine. It's also a bit comforting to hear that RAD once honored their warranty for your batteries. But at this point, I'm feeling pretty unsupported by RAD's warranty department. RAD Customer service won't answer their phone and it's been 6 days and 3 emails to RAD Customer Service with still no response from RAD. Their Customer Support was hailed as "the best" when I bought these bikes. I hope their commitment to their customers isn't failing with time. I also hope the time stamp on the three emails I've already sent can help me get through the rapidly approaching warranty deadline.

I live near Seattle, where, if I block out an entire morning, I could fight the traffic and go into their store with battery in hand, but I suspect that after driving into the city, and showing up at their store, they'll tell me they can't support warranties from there and I have to go back home and send another email into the CS black hole. I'm too busy right now to spend an entire morning driving into the city only to be turned away.

I'm not ready to totally give up on RAD just yet, but each day I wait for them to respond erodes a little bit more of my confidence in their products. If they don't honor the warranty, I'm selling both bikes and going back out on the market to look for better customer service.

These two bikes are kept at our vacation home. I've been wanting to buy two folding eBikes, to keep in the city so we can take a bike ride together no matter which home we're at. How RAD handles this issue will be the determining factor as to what brand of eBikes I go with in the city. I don't need the fat tires here, and there are plenty of eBikes to choose from. Again, customer service will determine what brand I go with. For now, that purchase is on hold until I can gain some confidence back on RAD's ability to support.

[JimInPT]

Their Customer Support was hailed as "the best" when I bought these bikes.

This will be no comfort, but it wasn't long ago that IMHO Rad's support WAS the best.  I only called a couple of times and have never had a part-failure problem, but one of those calls was about a front-wheel squeak I just could NOT track down no matter what I did (this was due to my ignorance of the wheel assembly details; the problem would have been obvious to experienced bike maintainers).

I called Rad support, was answered on the 2nd or 3rd ring and I explained the problem, expecting to be transferred to a service tech.  Instead THE GUY WHO ANSWERED THE PHONE asked if I had a few minutes, then walked me through diagnosis and repair after I walked out to my garage with a cordless phone and flashlight.  He stayed on the line until I found the lube I needed and where to stuff it - problem gone!  Total time on the phone less then 15 minutes and the problem has never returned.

As you might imagine, I was very impressed as someone who's not only worked as a CSR but hired them for my own company.  Absolutely outstanding, so it makes me sad to witness the recent reports and apparent precarious situation Rad seems to find itself in.  Until earlier this year, I used to sing Rad's support praises at every opportunity, losing this positive word-of-mouth is the last thing any company needs.

My theory is that the RadWagon tire replacement and frequent failures of the new-generation controllers, combined with all the people who keep blowing up their batteries by getting their key into the power connector (which should have been designed to make that nearly impossible) and the lack of easily replaceable fuses like the previous batteries ("sorry, can't be fixed with a replacement fuse that would indeed fix it, so $600 please") have just beaten their reputation and available cash onhand to death.

[Adams]

Jetty Island Jim - try politely reaching out to Rad thru social media describing the problem. They have at least one person tasked with addressing social media issues, and she?s pretty responsive and helpful. I just picked up a new RR6+ that had a part damaged in shipping and received a really quick response by reaching out that way.

[Jetty Island Jim]

It's been 8 days and several emails as per their instructions on the RAD website, and STILL nobody from RAD has bothered to contact me  back. As said before, they do NOT answer their phone. Their customer support phone line instructs me to write them another email.  8 days. I don't care how busy they are, a simple call back after 8 days is not unreasonable. Especially since they're running my warranty out of date.

I will try contacting them through facebook. I don't use facebook, nor any other social media, so I'll have to look around to figure out how to make contact that way. But it's worth $600-$700 to me to keep trying so I can get that battery before they make me pay for it.

I will not be bragging about my RAD bikes anymore. In fact, I'm seriously considering getting them both running and selling them so I can find a brand with better customer service.  This has been very disappointing for me.

I also used their customer service a few times during the past 8 months or so and they were EXTREMELY helpful. It wasn't for warranty work, just for answering questions I had about the bike's squeaks and such. I was very pleased. But now...they're like...gone or something. Did they outsource their customer service to a lowest bidder overseas? That happens a lot. Maybe that's what happened here?

[Jetty Island Jim]

Adams,

Can you guide me to where to find them on social media? I don't use any social media, but I do have a FB page that I never use. I just went into FB and tried searching on RAD bicycles, but didn't get any hits that would indicate I was in touch with the company themselves.

Thanks.

[JYoung707]

They laid off a very large portion of their customer service employees. Look up Rad Power Bikes on Facebook they are there. Or try calling one of their shops like in Seattle. They are probably going bankrupt honestly.

[Adams]

Adams,

Can you guide me to where to find them on social media? I don't use any social media, but I do have a FB page that I never use. I just went into FB and tried searching on RAD bicycles, but didn't get any hits that would indicate I was in touch with the company themselves.

Thanks.

Get on Facebook and find Rad?s most recent Facebook posts. Should be able to just search for Rad Power Bikes. Add a comment to their post detailing what your issue is and ask for help. Be polite, and maybe tie it in to wHatever their post is about.   But let them know you really need a response. I?m not on FB but did that  through Instagram and got a response within hours and a part sent the next day.You could also send them a message through Facebook Messenger.

[Jetty Island Jim]

There are many, many RAD Facebook pages, none of which appear to be connected to the RAD bicycle company. In light of the news that RAD is likely going bankrupt, I guess the only thing i can do right now is take my sales receipt and my battery to Seattle to the showroom and see if I can come into contact with a human being face to face who can direct me to my next course of action. As soon as I get the new battery, I'll start thinking about putting both bikes and the trailer up for sale before my next battery fails. That or just use these two until the batteries die on them and then sell them for spare parts.

My lesson learned now is to shop by price. If any bike can go bad this quickly and any bike company can go bankrupt this quickly, I should be looking at $700 bikes instead of $2,000 bikes. Less loss when it fails.

I have two Trek eBikes, but they don't have throttles, nor fat tires. They have been problem free for years, but they're just for pavement. Maybe the fat tire thing was not the cool thing I'd hoped it would be. Back to narrow tired street bikes from super reputable companies like Trek and Specialized. They cost more, but they are trouble-free.

My RAD experience was great until it was not. I need to get down to Seattle tomorrow to see what I can salvage before they close their doors permanently. If I can get my $600 battery replaced on warranty I'll be at a zero balance with them before it all comes to an end.

Thanks for the honest reports on the condition of the company. Sad, but good to know I guess.

[Adams]

Do a search on FB for Rad Power Bikes.  Their main FB page, with the logo and link to the website pops up. Not too tough to find.

[ChrisB]

Hi,
I don't know if this helps your situation, but the fuse in the semi-integrated is replaceable. It is just much more of a process than it should have been. There are lots of videos available online, but this one seems to cover all the bases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q287-kQNDsM

[Jetty Island Jim]

Okay, I drove into Seattle and found the store. They were busy. Lots of people buying and test driving bicycles. The service department was friendly and accomodating. They tested my bad battery and confirmed that it discharged itself wrongly and I qualify for a new battery on my warranty. They assured me that the batteries are sound, but that they did experience a bad batch of batteries during the time I'd purchased this bike. They are out of stock, so he's having a new one mailed to my home address in a week or two when they arrive.

I asked about why I can't contact RAD Support on their email or 800 number and he said that it is a big problem right now, and that RAD support is weeks behind on backlog AND he said they just hired a dozen people to get that support system up and running again.

I left there feeling supported. It's a shame that their 800 line is shut down for now, as it's giving a global message that RAD can't or won't support. If the service person I talked to is right, then this is a temporary issue. My warranty runs out in a week or so, so to me it's almost no longer an issue. Repairs will be done on my dime soon anyway, so now I know how to find the local store's phone number, and I know where they are in Seattle now and I believe I now know how I can manage these bikes through my local store.

The service person also said that I'm not the only one. His shop is getting inundated with people who did exactly what I just did. They tried and tried and tried to get support from the main support line, then figured out a way to use Google to find the local phone number, bypassing the RAD Support group, and then bringing their problems directly to him, which has increased his workload too, but he assures me this is all temporary.

The folks at RAD in the showroom and in the service room were very polite and easy to talk with. While I was there I test rode a new RAD Runner 3 Plus. I liked it. A LOT. It's smaller than my RR6+, has fat tires, but the smaller diameter gives the bike quicker acceleration. It has the exact same controls, motor, battery, etc, as the RadRover6+, but it's smaller size is easier to maneuver, ride, lift, and mount.

Now: I'll watch RAD Bikes to see if its true that they are getting their customer support back up and running, and that they are not at all headed for bankruptcy. If in a year or so I have regained my confidence in RAD's support, maybe I'll stick with the brand. I'm miffed at the experience of not being able to get a hold of them for 2 weeks, but I'm a reasonable man, and if they are having temporary issues, I'll stick with the brand. It's one of my core beliefs that it's not what happens to you that defines you, but how you recover. If RAD is experiencing the same staffing issues as most other companies, then how they dig out of it will define their strength for me.

So for now, my bikes are not going up for sale, and I'm willing to continue with the brand to see if they are truly digging themselves out of a resource shortage. It happened to most companies. How they recover will show us who they are as a company.

[JimInPT]

So for now, my bikes are not going up for sale, and I'm willing to continue with the brand to see if they are truly digging themselves out of a resource shortage. It happened to most companies. How they recover will show us who they are as a company.

Thanks for taking the time to write up your experience in detail; it's overall encouraging news if they are indeed following through on trying to get back on track.

May I suggest you copy/paste this post into the General Chat category as well, for visibility to others who would benefit?