[UPDATE November 1, 2023: I spoke to several Better Business Bureau staffers regarding its usual processes for complaint resolution in general, as well as Sondors specifically.
Regarding Sondors specifically, the staffers investigating these complaints said that the BBB started receiving complaints early on in 2022. When those staffers reached out to Sondors to resolve those complaints, the company was very responsive at first. Responses and refunds to customers, in appropriate cases, were regularly going out throughout 2022.
All that changed in January 2023, according to those BBB staffers. While the BBB has repeatedly attempted to contact Sondors about the complaints it has received since that time, as of October 31, 2023, no BBB staffer involved in this matter has received a response since the beginning of this year. Notably, the emails that the BBB has sent have also not bounced back.
Regarding the BBB complaints process more generally, the BBB said that when it receives complaints from consumers, it does its best to find a positive resolution and satisfaction for consumers. That could be through receiving an item that a customer paid for but did not receive, or else receiving a refund.
The BBB maintains files on its investigations, and cooperates with the appropriate authorities (such as state attorneys general) in the event that an investigation it conducts suggests anything criminal or fraudulent. If the BBB discovers such activities in the course if its investigations, it proactively informs the appropriate authorities about what it has found.]
Original piece follows.
It’s October 30, 2023, and if you’ve been waiting for a Sondors Metacycle, things aren't looking great. While manufacturers big and small experienced supply chain-related delays and hiccups, particularly in the immediate wake of the global pandemic, circumstances seem to have hit the Sondors Metacycle line particularly hard.
For those unfamiliar, Metacycle was supposed to be the first-ever electric motorcycle from e-bike company Sondors. When the firm first announced the Metacycle in 2021, its design immediately drew attention.
Preliminary specifications looked almost too good, including a top speed of 80 mph, range of 80 miles (or thereabouts) on a single four-hour charge, a removable battery for ease of charging off the bike, and a 200-pound curb weight. All that, and the bike was supposed to cost about $5,000. Excellent news if true, right?
Then came the delays. By September 2021, the company announced that deliveries were pushed back until Q4 of 2021. As the year 2022 dawned, still no Metacycle preorders had found their way into owner hands. The happy first delivery dates were then pushed back to June 2022.
Finally, Sondors announced that Metacycle deliveries were beginning in November 2022, with a goal of delivering all its US preorders by the end of that year. (There's more involving an attempt at an IPO and preorders for another electric motorcycle called Metabeast, but in the interest of clarity, we're sticking to the main Metacycle narrative.)
While some customers received their Metacycles, if the firm’s Better Business Bureau listing is anything to go by, nowhere near all of the US units were delivered. As of October 30, 2023, Sondors Premium Electric Bikes carries an F rating from the Better Business Bureau. It is not BBB Accredited. The Customer Complaints summary lists 201 total complaints in the last three years, with 141 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
We’ll note that this math seems incorrect, however, because RideApart conducted a review of BBB complaints with a status of “Unanswered” and that explicitly mentioned the Metacycle. Please note that there were also additional unanswered BBB complaints during this time. However, those that were about e-bikes or that did not mention the Metacycle were not included in this tally.
We found a total of 83 Metacycle-related complaints marked “Unanswered,” with the most recent one filed on September 30, 2023 and the oldest one filed on January 13, 2023. Many of these complaints contained sensitive information (including payment information) that the BBB censored before publishing them on its webpage.
A cursory review of Sondors’ BBB complaints page shows that most if not all complaints filed prior to January 2023 have been answered.
What Do the Unanswered BBB Complaints About the Sondors Metacycle Say?
Of the 83 unanswered complaints filed, all but eight told variations on the same story. Complainants said that they’d preordered a Metacycle, not received the bike or otherwise changed their minds, and then attempted to obtain a refund from Sondors. Some then said that they were given the runaround before eventually not receiving either a refund or further communication. Others simply received no communication, regardless of whether they e-mailed or called.
Some tried to sort things out with third-party companies that Sondors had contracts with, including the payments service Partial.ly and the helpdesk service Zendesk. In those cases, complainants also said they had no luck.
The amounts these customers said that they prepaid varied, because promotional pricing on the Metacycle has varied since preorders were opened. Many customers recounted being asked to pay one price for the bike, then later being asked to pay $700 or even $800 as an additional shipping charge when they contacted Sondors to ask when they could expect to receive their Metacycles.
What About Those Eight Complaints That Weren’t About Not Receiving Metacycles, Refunds, Or Good Communication?
One customer alleged false claims on the part of Sondors with regard to the Metacycle’s specs. As many have noted, the specs changed from what Sondors had initially announced and what eventually rolled out to the public.
This customer was particularly upset about two things: That the battery on the real-world Metacycle is not removable, and that the bike is significantly heavier than the 200 pounds that was originally promised.
The Sondors website states (as of October 30, 2023) that the bike weighs 300 pounds. This customer bought the bike thinking that they could remove the battery and bring it to their apartment to charge. Since receiving the bike, they do not think that it’s feasible to carry a 300+ pound bike up six flights of stairs because the original specs were inaccurate.
The other six unanswered complaints were about Metacycles that were received, but that needed either warranty service or parts. In all cases, customers noted a by now familiar pattern of communication problems in getting their issues resolved.
The Better Business Bureau is currently investigating Sondors Premium Electric Bikes as of September 2023
According to the BBB, it has opened an investigation into Sondors Premium Electric Bikes due to the number of inquiries it has received. On September 12, 2023, it attempted to contact Sondors, but did not receive a response. RideApart has reached out to the Better Business Bureau and Sondors and will update this post if we receive further information.
There’s More, And Worse
In a bombshell piece of reporting from our colleagues at Electrek, sources at the factory in China where Sondors manufactures its Metacycles told a tale of unpaid bills, unmet deliveries, and thousands of abandoned bikes sitting in warehouses. The source(s) provided that publication with documents and photos to back their claims and spoke on condition of anonymity due to understandable fears of retaliation.
It’s a breathtaking story, and one that’s well worth reading. You can also see the extremely sad photos of crated bikes sitting in a warehouse, waiting to be shipped. We’ll include the link in our Sources so you can go read Electrek’s investigation.
