Congratulation, Mr Hemanth.
We have experienced a strange problem today. As usual, my wife came back form office yesterday evening and plugged in the scooter for charging in our apartment basement parking. When I came home at around 18:30, I saw that the pod was off (usually I’m welcomed by the blinking green light). I thought my wife had forgotten to put it for charge. I went to switch it on and it was actually plugged in and MCB was on. I heard the DG sound and realised that power wasn’t there and hence it wasn’t charging. I went home. Power came back sometime later and the scooter charged overnight; or so we thought…
Today morning, my wife went down to go to office but strangely the scooter had only 15% charge 
. The pod was blinking green but only 15% charge! She thought she’ll take her car but imagining the car in ORR traffic (silkboard towards belandur) at that time, she decided to work from home (generally if she goes by car she leaves early).
She removed the plug and put it back for charge and it said “charging”. We are keeping an eye for the charge but the app is only loading… we have to go to the basement everytime and look out. A strange problem and it’s a first! If we continue seeing this issue, I’ll report it to the CS via call of via the app(if it opens)
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Last weekend, a colleague of mine got his Ather delivered and he wanted to have a casual talk. Instead we decided to go on a small ride. Called another friend who has a four month old Ather. All 3 of us went till Ramohalli Dodda aladmara (big banyan tree) for a small ride of 25+25kms ride. Some snaps from that…
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Hi Hemanth, could you please enable your DMs, I can’t message you. I have some questions that I think you can help me out with. Thanks!
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It’s no secret how Covid-19 has just changed the entire world and how we see things. Both the companies that I work in and my wife works in have declared working from home many months ahead. My company has also reduced office space and even after Covid-19 (whenever that is), we will continue to work from home most of the days.
This meant our usage of the 450 has come down drastically (office rides was our scooter’s major duty). Just look at the graph below. We used to ride an average of 800-900 a month earlier but now, The scooter has covered just 414 kms in the last 8 months!
the last 8 months has not only been low in terms of usage, but it’s also a low for me in terms of the overall ownership experience. Some of the issues so far
The ride statistics not syncing issue
The ride statistics stopped syncing sometime in April. Whatever minimum usage that was made of the vehicle is not appearing on the App. I’ve raised 2 to 3 tickets for the same issue and so far it is still WIP. In between some rides have appeared but after August 13th all the new rides are not shown on the app. Strangely the ODO meter reading was getting updated.
The rides not syncing issue is not a new one really. Previously it used to sync after a few days and everything used to be normal. But the bad thing this time around is that it has affected the home charging reimbursement too. The Apr-Jun reimbursement was matching only the few rides that were synced. Jul-Sep reimbursement has not yet been credited so far. It also affected the data in the Ride log…Hoping to get a resolution at the earliest.
OTA update package not downloading
The 4.2.2 OTA update rolled out couldn’t download…previously too download issues were faced but that was due to low signal strength in the basement. bout once out in the open, it used to download and install without much hassles. but this update even though small, wasn’t able to download. I raised a ticket for this last month. An executive came home to install manually but he just couldn’t connect his laptop to the scooter! So he had to take it to the service centre. I was told that the Dashboard Control Unit was replaced under warranty. The firmware update was installed after this replacement.
During this update I also told them about the boot light yellowing. It was replaced under warranty…this was the second time that that was replaced. seems like an inherent defect.
I also asked them to rectify the ride sync issue and then give back the vehicle. They told they don’t need the scooter for troubleshooting that issue.
Unknown mysterious issue
Two days after the scooter was returned after replacement of DCU, I got a call from Ather and they told they need to arrange a pickup. When asked for the reason they told that they had forgotten something in the previous service and they’ll rectify that. I asked again for details and I was told that the service executive will tell me the details after work is done. After the work was done, I asked for details and All I got was that there was some issue with the charger which has a probability of throwing up charger error code C014 . In 20 months of ownership I never had never faced any C or M errors. TBH… The answers were not very convincing I must say. Somehow my sixth sense tells me that this was a recall disguised under the word “Forgotten”
Anyway, this time again I told them that they can keep the vehicle with them till all issues were solved. Also asked them for the SIM swap. I was told that I must book and arrange separately and it is done at a different location (Proto Lab). I was told it takes an hour to do the job and all the slots are completely booked for the next few days. Although I can’t believe there are so many vehicles in Bengaluru requiring a SIM swap…I’m not really interested in the SIM swap. I’m more interested in the 4G dongle so I’ll directly go for that whenever it is available.
More data sync issues
Just when I thought these were the only issues, I found another one just now while composing this message. After the scooter came home two days ago, I had not checked the app. Today when I checked I see that even the ODO and software version displayed on the dashboard and the app are not matching. also you can see the ride stats section doesn’t load at all. What’s more…The ODO reading has gone back!!! (compare previous image with the image below)
I’ve not raised a fresh ticket for this as the ride sync issues is still in work.
All these are not dangerous issues or performance issues. But it has certainly marred the good experience I’ve had so far. Even today, I take my vehicle out once in a while simply to enjoy the way it rides…I just love it.
450Xupgrade
I had booked the 450X and was eligible for the Series 1. However as stated above, my usage has reduced drastically due to this Pandemic! Added to that all my lease benefits I have for this scooter (Ather One 360 for entire term for example) will be lost with the upgrade. I decided to become deaf to my heart and used only my head (A rarity for me personally). After this, it really didn’t make sense to me and it really didn’t feel like an upgrade. So I decided not to buy the Series 1.
If I hadn’t had the 450 with me, it would’ve been the opposite. I’d have loved to have that translucent panels but as I said…I’ve tuned a deaf ear to my heart. A friend wanted to buy the 450X and I transferred the order to him. I sent a mail to CS on 19th October. After some mail exchange formalities (and some public holidays), the transfer was finally completed today afternoon.
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Do we need to keep the home charger pod switched off when not in use or just keep it on always?
It’s up to you. Standby consumption is very less.
But does it meddle with the life of the charger?
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the ride by wire device is loose and moves inside out of dashboard, monitored when just throttling and de-accelerating in idle.
My scooter touched the 10k kms mark on the ODO on 6th June 2021 (and currently the ODO reading is 10023 kms)
The usage of the scooter has dramatically reduced and the last 1k kms took 450days!! The average kms per day was around 25kms till Feb 2020 and now it’s 12kms and going down! So is the avg kms per month!
The vehicle has been picked up today morning and the 10k Kms service will be performed. Mechanically, the scooter has no issues whatsoever and is running as it did on Day1. However, there are software bugs.
My scooter had stopped receiving OTAs since quite some time. After a lot of troubleshooting exercises, I was told that the source of the issue must lie with the Vodafone 2G connectivity and the issue should get solved with the 4G upgrade. I had hence kept the ticket for this issue open till the 4G upgrade is done.
Yesterday evening, I got a call from Ather for the 4G module installation on my 450. Today morning the vehicle was picked up and it is currently in IBC for the same. As communicated by Ather earlier, I was informed again that this 4G module upgrade will cost me ₹2500+450tax=₹2950. I confirmed.
Since mine is on lease, as per the communication sent by Autovert, information about the 4G upgrade must be given to Autovert in advance so that they adjust this amount of ₹2950 towards the cashback/retention charges of the lease. I informed Autovert yesterday and they acknowledged and gave a go ahead.
Hoping to get the scooter back with all issues solved and no new issues!
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Do update if the OTA thing is solved.
Congratz Hemanth 
My odo reads half of what you have done in almost same duration.
I too didn’t receive my OTA & I was sure 2G to be the reason. Becoz, 4G upgrade was on the cards by May-June, didn’t complain. Even postponed my 5K service so that I can do along with 4G upgrade…
Waiting to hear your feedback after your 4G upgrade.
I was among the first few who signed up for 4G dongle upgrade as soon as it was announced. Waiting to hear from Ather soon
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Mine scooter 450 problems starts after 13.5k ODO .
Let see future updates…
On 10th July, the scooter was returned back to me. Both pickup and drop was handled well - on time, masked up, well sanitised.
As soon as I got the scooter I could see “4G” written beside the signal strength. Eager to check out, I switched to the navigation screen but I was welcomed by this loading screen. A bummer!
The rider who dropped off the vehicle and I waited for 10 mins but nothing changed. Then I did the usual Cntrl-Alt-Del of this vehicle and the vehicle rebooted. After that it worked!
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I went for a small ride and made the following observations:
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I was informed that the belt tension has been adjusted and that’s resulted in a minor change in the Wheee sound of the vehicle.
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After the vehicle was picked up when the Service advisor had called me, I’d told him to check two squeaking noise issues - One coming from the side-stand spring and the other coming from the brake pads. Both seem to be rectified and not hearing any noises so far.
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Maps loaded visibly faster and searching locations was way faster now. However the signal strength is nothing great to talk about. Even in the open, the signal strength was nil!
- My ride stats have not been in sync for a very long time now-since March 2020 to be correct. I’m told the 4G upgrade should help solve that issue too and I’ve to keep an eye on that now
The latest firmware has been installed during the service. But I guess it’ll be flashed manually and not OTA. Whether the 4G upgrade has solved the issue of me not receiving an update OTA will only be known in the next update.
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Did you ask for the old hardware which was replaced?
From what I’ve understood, this 4G upgrade involves a Dongle that’s “added”. I don’t think there is any hardware removed. And moreover, even if I’d asked, I wouldn’t have got it as my scooter is actually a property of Autovert and not mine.
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I had always loved the way 450x looks in white. Compared to my white 450, the only visual difference is that the front handle shroud on the 450x is black. Just this one change makes the vehicle more sportier. Over the last weekend, got that changed in my 450 and this is how it looks now 
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However the entire experience with the service centre for this exercise was unsatisfactory! Here’s the long story…
Two weeks ago, when the 4g upgrade was done, I’d requested for this change too. But this shroud was out of stock and I was told to get it done later. A week later (Friday) I called the Customer Service(CS) number to check and the part was back in stock. I requested the executive to schedule a pick-up. He told me that there were no pickup slots that day and it’d be faster if I could drop it myself. I was informed that if I drop the vehicle myself on Friday evening itself or Saturday morning, I’d get it back by Saturday afternoon itself. Even though pickup and drop is not chargeable for me, because I have Ather One 360, I decided to drop it myself as it’d speed up things (or so I thought). Also with this excuse I get to ride the vehicle at least(although it’s just 8kms).
By 10am I dropped the vehicle at the NS Palya service centre. The handover was smooth and in 10 minutes, I was out of there. I was told that someone would call later when it’s ready. But till 4pm, I didn’t get any call. I called the CS myself at 2pm, 5pm and 6pm to follow up and all 3 times I was promised a callback from the service personnel immediately and the vehicle will be delivered the same day. But as it happened, neither did I get a callback, nor did I get the vehicle. It’s high time that a direct number to call the service folks is introduced.
Then Sunday was a closed day! I then expected to get a call by Monday morning at least. But I only got a call by the service personnel at 3pm. He told that the vehicle is ready and I could collect it anytime. I requested him to schedule a drop. I was told that if the vehicle is dropped by me, it should be picked up also by me. TBH, I was baffled by this strange condition! I then told him that I have a subscription plan and I wanted the vehicle to be dropped as I was entitled to it. He said that they can’t do it like that. I told I’ll take this up with the CS and didn’t discuss it further with him. I called the CS AGAIN and they told they’ll arrange it and I’ll get a call from the service guy. I sure got a call this time but he told that all drop slots were full for the day and it can be dropped only on Tuesday. I was unhappy but I agreed as I didn’t want to go and get it myself. Finally, on Tuesday at 11PM, I got a call that the vehicle will be departing to my home. What was supposed to happen on Saturday afternoon finally happened the next Tuesday afternoon!
I was informed about the final billed amount. I asked them to send the card swiping machine as I wished to use my credit card and didn’t want to pay using UPI or cash. He acknowledged and told that it’ll be sent by default.
After an hour, the vehicle reached home. Guess what, the card swiping machine was not sent! This really put me off. I said I won’t pay in any other mode! (If I hadn’t asked for it before, I’d have probably paid in other mode). I was then given a payment link through which I could use my credit card (this was how payments used to happen earlier with Ather).
This was not the end…after I paid, I looked at the bill the next day and saw that there was a row item for labour charge! for my subscription plan, labour change for “any” kind of service is not chargeable. My bad, I should’ve checked the bill before paying. I now have AGAIN contacted the CS and have raised a ticket and awaiting a refund. 
TLDR: Previously my experiences with the services were all good but this was the opposite. With increased number of vehicles on the road, this is probably their turbulent stage in setting things right at the service centre. Alignment between the Ather teams need to improve a lot if customers are to be given a good service experience.
An update here. The 4G hasn’t helped to solve the ride stats issue. The ride from my home to the service centre and some other small ones around my home are not appearing in the app!
I’m having this problem since March 2020 and 16 months later, there still is no solution in sight! Below is what I’ve kept track of and the numbers are consistently inconsistent.
Creating tickets, sending it to IBC for investigations, parking in a different location with good connectivity, installing new firmware, upgrading to 4G…I’ve done it all now. The tickets are still open and teams are still working in the background. Not sure when a solution will come out.
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Oo the mod does look good! Just for my knowledge, how much does this front shroud cost vs. getting it wrapped?
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Ather = Boy, Take light heartedly
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