Peloton is reportedly bleeding subscribers in the wake of its May recall of nearly 2.2 million bikes over a defect that could result in the seat breaking during use. The company offered original Peloton Bike owners in the U.S. free replacement seats, but a flood of requests has left it scrambling and customers waiting for months. Roughly 20,000 subscribers have paused their monthly subscriptions in the meantime, according to a Peloton shareholder letter released this week.
The recall's overall price tag is costing Peloton tens of millions of dollars, which has “substantially exceeded” the company's expectations, Peloton CEO and President Barry McCarthy said in the letter. Peloton has received 750,000 requests for new seat posts since issuing the recall for its PL-01 Bike in May. McCarthy said that amount was “more than we expected,” and so far only about half of those requests — 340,000 — have been fulfilled. Peloton expects to complete the remainder by the end of September.
