Its Alive!

Quick update: after a few hours of work (mainly me assisting the efforts of my newest best friend Steven), the scooter is up and running! Assembly was smooth, we had to resort to jump starting it the first time as the battery hadn't been fully charged yet, and I've taken it for a spin around the block. That short ride convinced me, though, that I need a bit more practice before I strike out on the road in a full-time way; no commuting to work today.

There is a moderate list of things that need to done or re-done to, uhmmm, overcome some of the non-standard assembly we resorted to to get all the pieces together. The most significant is the auxiliary right blinker was mis-wired and I'll have to figure out how it really needs to be connected.

I'll give you the full scoop later (including pictures of me in my Power-Ranger-esque cycling gear). Stay posted for further updates.

Almost There

Well, I've spent the past week talking, emailing, and discussing my scooter with the retailer I purchased it from and I've decided to keep it. This is partially motivated by the difficulty in returning the item, partially by the fact that the same shop here in town will be able to provide service for it and has parts in stock, and partially because I believe that the scooter I was delivered will perform just as well as the one I ordered. This is actually another way of saying that I bought a chinese scooter from a primarily online dealer and if I wanted top-notch service and a top-notch product I would have been shopping elsewhere (and paying four times as much.) When all is said and done, you get what you paid for and I expected difficulties like this along the way. All that matters now is how this specific scooter performs.

This we shall soon be finding out, too. An eager friend of mine with vast amount of knuckle-scrapping automotive knowledge is coming over tomorrow evening and the two of us are going to be uncrating and assembling the scooter. The assembly isn't very involved: attaching side-view mirrors, attaching front windshield, putting acid in the battery and charging it, and attaching the rear luggage trunk. I'm pretty confident that I could do this all on my own but I'll appreciate the help of an expert. (Plus he is VERY eager to see how all of this goes; he asked me if he could come over, not the other way around.)

Last but not least, the title for the scooter arrived in the mail today so I'm going to be picking up plates tomorrow as well. This means that the plan is to have a fully functioning and street-legal scooter by tomorrow evening. As you might guess, I am VERY excited by this prospect and am looking forward to my first scooter-ride to work as early as Friday.

With fingers crossed....

Caveat Emptor

Well, after four weeks of waiting, minor hassles and confusion regarding the shipping date and the tracking number my scooter has finally arrived!

I got a call on Wednesday from the freight company saying that delivery would be between noon and 3pm on Thursday and they'd give me a call half-an-hour before attempting delivery. The next day I got a call at 10:30 from the truck driver saying he was two block from my house and asked if I was there to accept delivery. Sigh. Logistics can be difficult but you figure a freight company would be good at it. Fortunately, I was able to leave work and head home right away so all worked out fine. The driver backed his semi into the alley (How do they do that? I would have trouble doing that in my Civic.) lowered the gate, and we pushed the rather large box into the garage. The driver was a very pleasant and helpful and didn't seem to have minded waiting a few minutes for me to get to home.

That evening, in the company of a few friends that were over for dinner, we tore into the cardboard box the lay eyes on the machine.

The first thing I noticed: it wasn't the color I ordered.

The second thing: it wasn't the brand I ordered.

As you might imagine, these two things are not trivial and it took me a few minutes to get past them. Katie was snapping pictures while we opened the box and I'm very curious if they will show the disappointment on my face. Once I had accepted that even after delivery, things were not perfect, I began to look more closely at the bike.

The cardboard box turned out to be a kind of exterior surface for a rectangular metal frame that caged they bike. The frame looks like 1/4" steel angle-bracket; very serious stuff. The bike will take some assembly (not much) and it is a lot bigger than I expected. The styling is very similar to the bike I thought I would be getting and it looks like all I was hoping for in a scooter. The promised luggage truck was included and the keys were in the ignition.

So, after looking everything over, I got back on the computer and reread over all the fine print I had read before ordering. Boy, I must not have looked very closely because there are a lot of stipulations in the purchasing agreement. The most interesting one that may explain my situation is the following:

"All model numbers and name are use as references only and does not represent the name on the scooter."
and
"Bnscooters does not guarantee color options. Customer may request a color option, however if the color requested is not available during time of shipping, we automatically ship out a default color without notification. This condition is due to high sales volume and non real time updates on inventory. We make every effort in keeping our inventory updated, however Bnscooters reserves the rights to ship out a newer model or higher priced model at our discretion if the model you order is out of stock or unavailable. Pictures and specifications displayed on our site may be subject to change due to constant improvements from the manufacture. We reserve the right to update model specifications at any time."
Does this seem funny to you? When it all boils down, it really seems like they view your order as a suggestion and they try their best to honor your request. No promises though.
If I had noticed this when I placed the order I may not have ordered from them. Caveat emptor, buyer beware.
What's done is done, though, and though they do provide a way to return the scooter, I would have to pay shipping and a restocking fee so I don't know how interested I am in that. The silver lining on this cloud: this online retailer is based here in Wichita and they have a shop. I'll be going in today to talk all of this over with them and see what can be worked out. This single fact, that I would be able to visit the store in-person, is the only reason I took the risk in placing such an order online. Without that face-to-face accountability, I wouldn't have taken the chance.
When all is said and done, things don't seem so bad. I have a scooter and as long as I can get some kind of co-operation out of the dealer (parts availability, specifically), I think things will work out. If this ends up being a big fiasco, well, at least I didn't spend several thousand dollars on the scooter. I'll learn my lesson and do things differently next time. Until then, I have every intention of enjoying the scooter.

We have a WHAT!?

I have spent quite a few hours today trying to combine all the paper files that Katie and I have. Katie had already gone through her's, getting rid of things she didn't need and carefully organizing everything into distinct folders. Today I have been doing the same for mine as well as trying to group the two sets of folders together. (First rule of organizing, one I have to remind myself of often: make sure everything has a home.)

As I was doing this I got to my folder with all my car-related documents in it and, knowing Katie would have a similar folder, I went over to her box of folders and started searching. Sure enough, there was a folder named "CAR" right there, just like I expected.

Right behind it was another one labeled "LEARJET."



(Blink.)



Hmmm. Maybe that's where all our money has been going.