Agree This is what that is happening. Actually they give information, they accept their software bugs and mistakes also. But they does not communicate well so that every one knows the exact information. Their faulty communication has to be improved. Else only those follow forum, open house will know things others will just know what they hear and later get disappointed and frustrated (fair on their part if we are in their shoes).
Ather is not hiding anything, but not communicating well is the concern as far as I feel.
This is like saying “he is not lying, but simply keeping quiet about the truth”
Simple question: why is this information not clearly mentioned on the main site or during the order process? What does it take to modify a couple of webpages with ACTUAL useful information?
Where was the option to pick a charger? At the time of payment, only Dot charger is shown and you don’t have any other option. Also like I said, I have enquired at the EC and was told portable charger is an add on and cannot be exchanged for Dot charger. So now who’s responsible?
Like @blackworks said, not everyone has the time to attend events. And just because one doesn’t attend it, they can’t be held responsible for this. Rather Ather is responsible for getting this information out clearly, starting with the inclusion of this option at the time of payment.
I am sharing my experience, as I did spend decent amount of time on understanding what I’m paying 1.70L for, and did my share of research. Also, I’m from Mumbai, and we bought our scooters from dealership setup here in Mumbai by Ather. We did get a call before when we made our payments, to confirm our choice of charger.
I do not expect everyone to spend as much time as I did, but the fact that I’d read into details when I’m spending such a huge amount on a scooter. Ather team should definitely work on making these details more clearer at time of purchase, communicating these messages should be something they need to work on.
Yes you are allowed a choice but the final payment link doesn’t give you the option. Please call up customer support and, for good measure, send an email as well informing them of your request.
Online payment would be valid for Chennai and Bangalore. In @vijaykongi’s case, he’s from Hubbali, so you’ll have to let the dealer know of your preferences when you complete the payment.
On the portal yes. We still recommend the Ather Dot for home charging, hence that’s the default option. If someone cannot get the Dot installed or only want the portable charger, they can request the CS team for it.
I think what @abhishek.balaji is saying is. It’s not really an option between the 2 and more like ather recommends you to get the DOT and if you can’t then you would have reached out to ather CS anyway. If you had no use of the dot you wouldn’t even accept it right ?
Okay this is what I think ather will justify. But. This seems a bit shady and looks like someone screwed up in a few cases by not mentioning that it’s a possibility.
Unlike the 450 Pod and Portable chargers that were as different as chalk and cheese, here it’s the same stuff in two different enclosures, and the Dot charger has no reason to even exist, let alone for someone to recommend one over the other.
A simple frame can locate the portable unit securely on a wall while also keeping it detachable if required.
This is purely in the firmware. A Portable can be paired to a scooter as well, if needed, although I personally find it pointless. The option should be available to the user in real time, and it isn’t a big deal to bake this feature into the app / user control panel.
The frame I mentioned above can be constructed to have a connector holder. I don’t exactly follow how user centricity comes into the picture here.
No more or less so than the Portable. Neither of the two is waterproof.
No arguments there, but everything you ask for can be pretty easily achieved with a simple frame that adds on to the portable unit.
But hey, if a company wants to unnecessarily complicate it’s inventory by stocking two versions of the same thing, who am I to stop them?
All I ask is for the choice between chargers to be made crystal clear and for representatives to stop implying that both variants are functionally different.
Hang the portable charger and dot side by side and I feel dot looks good when fixed. Everyone don’t want to carry charger.
It is known fact that both are same and the outer shell is the only difference and dot is water resistant (not proof). There might be arguments that both are same but technically portable charger doesn’t have the certification that dot had (AFAIK).
Recommendations are not mandatory so Ather is recommending to use a dot but if required they are giving an option to take a portable instead. They cannot provide both so we have to buy one if we need both.
This point is for Ather if you have an option provided please accommodate it in the website while purchasing. These small things are giving people chance to point out.
Ather is not loosing or gaining here because I don’t think there is a difference in manufacturing costs of both. May be a very few couple of bucks more for dot due to the aesthetics provided.
Lastly when Ather themselves are saying that the outer shell is the only major difference apart from authentication (Charging time and core charger itself are same). I don’t see a point for discussion by opening it. ( no offence just my point of view)
exactly except only I never heard them saying they are functionally different.
I only opened both the covers out of my own curiosity, not to prove a point. Again, I didn’t know that Ather had acknowledged that they were both the same. This is probably buried in some forum thread that I need to actively look for. Coming back to the original point, this information being presented during the order process would have eliminated all confusions and discussions.
After reading many other posts of yours’ I know that you did this out of curiosity and not to prove a point. In fact some of them enlightened me too. I just wanted to say that they acknowledged this and so you & many others also know that.
Actually good for your curios mind else you wouldn’t have opened if in first place.
