Urban Mover

[Bigbee]

Has any one got a contact number for them that works?The two including Ultra Motor on their website are dead.I assume theyre still around as Halfords are still advertising them??



Urban Mover - contact

 

[cinclocx]

hi,

taken from a chat i has with halfords last week, they too are having problems getting in contact / sourcing parts and cycles from urban mover. They couldn't give me an eta on an urban mover folding bike at all.

good luck,
chris S

 

[inno-cycle]

The rep visited me today and this is what I was told...

The American arm of the company has received a huge order for urban mover bikes - so all orders have been diverted over there.

They had some of the mountain bike ones in stock, but nothing else would be arriving until the end of May.

Apparently there are no issues with spare parts.

I could be wrong - but this is what I was told today.

Cheers,

Martin

 

[Alex728]

perhaps is this something BEBA should be taking up (as UM are a BEBA member?)

Whilst they can't be expected to turn down a lucrative deal,by neglecting the British market they are turning good news into bad at least this side of the pond... Shutting down the UK telephone numbers (just tried both and one is incoming barred, the other is ceased) is IMO inexcusable

if they treat the resellers like that, what hope does the individual end customer have?

at the very least they should make a public statement with a commitment to when the bikes will be back in stock...

 

[flecc]

UM are very good at promoting their bikes, but were the subject of numerous complaints in the forum about terrible service and contact problems a couple of years ago. They are really going to have to buck their ideas up, standards have improved so much elsewhere that they won't survive at this rate. One thing is for certain, the Americans won't stand for substandard service.
.

 

[Alex728]

Who actually owns the company? (by that I don't even mean the directors but major shareholders as they call the shots) - I suppose though their own website says 80% of sales are outside the UK - (although not exactly where) maybe the money is across the pond and they just follow it

it seems very disappointing though they have messed up the Halfords deal and not delivered as its surely poisoning the well for other e-bike companies..

 

[Haku]

When I first got my UM36 almost 3 years ago and had problems with the original battery (they switched to Panasonic batteries because GE screwed them over) I did have trouble getting in contact with them and had several "we'll call you back"'s that went nowhere.

But last year when I had a bunch of bits replaced and then later on needed replacement spokes and then later on again bought the upgraded battery contact parts for the bike+battery I had no problems getting through, one time when phoning the main office Keith himself answered the phone & helped out.

BTW, if anyone's selling a good condition 'forest green' Urban Mover UM36 with throttle, NiMH or lithium battery, please let me know as I want another.

 

[gbeton]

Hi All

When I was going on the Halfords "Cycle to Work" scheme last year I was interested in getting a UM bike. However, Halfords told me that they weren't going to order any more through them until they had sorted out their "supply problems". This was August '09 - looks like the problems haven't got any better!

Graeme

 

[Wisper Bikes]

UM

I have spoken to Mark from UM, he will post later today.

Regards

David

 

[Pedelit]

My Understanding that you can contact U/M on 0844 561 8869

Halfords has stock of two of the UM range exclusivly and the two electric bikes can be ordered from there website to be picked up built in any of the Halfords stores, and are available to view in 80 Halfords stores.


I hope this helps

 

[Alex728]

My Understanding that you can contact U/M on 0844 561 8869

and (perhaps) pay a slightly higher call rate for the privilege of making a sales enquiry or getting the customers service they are entitled to?

OK as a telecoms engineer I do know that not all 084x numbers are made for revenue sharing and some are genuinely used by small businesses for convenience when moving premises or operating from more than one place, but they are still more expensive for some mobile users and non BT lines to call and it doesn't break the bank to get a geographic number for your own area which VOIP can deliver to anywhere...

and it doesn't alter the fact that if the number has been changed the website should be updated as a matter of priority and basic business ethics..

 

[Ultra Motor]

We're listening...!

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your concern and to David for raising this issue to me

I appreciate it has been a frustrating time for many of late, we are growing the team so we can manage the service in the most effective way.

To clarify (for those who aren't aware!) Ultra Motor are now distributors of Urban Mover in the UK, but this doesn't give us control over the Urban Mover website- we run all updates through them.

We have recently moved London offices and so have changed to the 0844 number (which actually costs us a fortune to receive calls to a mobile, 21 pence a minute!). We are having a BT line installed in our Cheltenham technical office so we can extend support to 6 days a week (Mon- Sat). In the meantime we are 'freestyling' and work as efficiently as we can to support the consumer.

We are rather excited to have a large stock of spares arriving on the W.C 12-04-2010 so we are able to offer continued support to bikes in the market.

As always, if anyone has any specific enquiries please do contact me directly on 07824 771 652, the phone is on 24/7. I can't answer all calls instantly (as often in meetings) but do leave a message and I guarantee a call back!

Hope to speak to you soon!

Thanks

Mark

Ultra Motor, Urban Mover, The British Electric Bicycle Association

 

[Alex728]

We have recently moved London offices and so have changed to the 0844 number (which actually costs us a fortune to receive calls to a mobile, 21 pence a minute!). We are having a BT line installed in our Cheltenham technical office so we can extend support to 6 days a week (Mon- Sat). In the meantime we are 'freestyling' and work as efficiently as we can to support the consumer.

for the benefit of Mark, and indeed any e-bike company with staff across different sites, if you find someone who knows how to set up VOIP and Asterisk telephone systems and have reliable broadband at all sites (very important for this to all work) you can get telephone numbers galore and extensions shared between sites and your home offices - your customers need only remember one number to dial but adding other "lines" is much easier even for an expanding business. If you have to use a 084x number for any reason most VOIP providers woudl knock the cost of the forward to mobile down to 12-15p a minute...

it can be used to share support calls amongst a team of people as well improving service and reducing burnout.

A combination of this equipment and e-biking helps me do my job supporting 3 sites full of users whilst keeping flexible office hours and without needing a car

I'm not touting for business as I work as in house IT management staff for my employers, have already built three such PABXs and don't have time to take on a extra consulting job the other side of the country, but there are often local suppliers of this equipment or in some cases technically minded staff can build their own system (its all open source!)

 

[Ultra Motor]

Cheers Alex! Much appreciated! I'll have a look into it, maybe my AVCE IT will come in handy!!

We are only as we currently are to make sure we remain contactable for customers, but appreciate your comments and i'll research further!

 

[Alex728]

apologies for the off topic post - I was going to send a PM to mark but realised in the interests of fairness I should share my knowledge with all as every British e-bike company and dealer could benefit.

For the telephone systems, the versions of Asterisk I use are with FreePBX which makes the configuration slightly easier. I use PBX in a Flash - there are other distributions available such as Elastix and Trixbox although PIAF is most versatile and configurable for British phone lines. You may also need specialist hardware such as line cards, depending on whether you want to interface with BT lines.

Its not a trivial project and will take up a fair few hours of someones time, it needs testing before you trust your business to it, but of these systems are way more powerful and versatile than traditional phone systems.

The glaring difference I find between the LBS and e-bike dealers is that when I call my usual LBS, someone normally picks up the phone 6 days a week and answers your query. it is rare to get an answerphone. Emails are also quickly responded to, and its a traditional British LBS, not some high tech place run by computers and robots!

But of course the LBS usually has all the people in the same place, whilst e-bike manufacturers and dealers seem to work from different premises and use mobile phones much more! Intelligent use of PABX's can make them more available to the customer, whilst not tying them down to a single site..

in the medium to long term there could even be a BEBA helpdesk/call centre!

 

[Ultra Motor]

Thanks Alex- I'm going to play with it over the weekend!

FYI for everyone- the Urban Mover website has now been updated with a new contact number...

Thanks for your patience