Disappointing Purchase Experience

All about purchase
1

Not sure how and where to begin with… I’ll perhaps begin this rant where it all started.

13th March 2022: I took a test ride and fell in love with the 450X straightaway. I asked for the delivery timelines here in Mumbai, and was informed it can be 4 months. Lowkey, I was shocked, but I pre-booked the scooter on the same day, because of how good a machine this was. Kept in my mind that the waiting period is going to be long, so I braced for it mentally.

I followed up with the experience center every month, just to make sure things are on track and I am updated. Things did look on track (from what the people at the showroom said), and I was happy. Come the month of May, I get an email saying that the showroom will shut down in Bandra and it will be shifted to Malad. It also mentioned that nothing will be affected except the delivery location. And I was okay with it.

On 15th June I get a call from Ather, asking me to confirm my preferred delivery location: Malad or Thane. I pick Malad as that is the closest to where I stay and the opening date of the Malad showroom was confirmed to be 30th June. This date was confirmed on the phone, via email and on this forum as well. (Mind you, the Thane showroom was already operational this time. I could have picked Thane and gotten closer to delivery. But since Ather confirmed through multiple channels that Malad showroom will open on 30th, I chose Malad.) The support guy also confirmed I will get my scooter delivered in 30-45 days. I was happy.

Things quickly changed on the 30th June though. To my surprise, the Malad showroom hadn’t gone operational yet. I called support and they had no clue. I then posted on the forum, and all @abhishek.balaji did was reply with a couple of showroom front door photos, indicating that the work is in progress and it will open soon. On the same day, later in the evening, I also got a call back from Ather Support saying that the Retail Parter has confirmed that the showroom will definitely open BEFORE 15th July.

11th July: I call up the Support to see if there is any update? Voila! Now the Malad showroom will open AFTER 15th July. What date? No clue. No one has an answer. Ather themselves seems to be in the blind. So I asked if I can shift my delivery location to Thane and get the delivery? Voila x2!! Apparently, there is no stock and there are no scooters allotted to the Thane showroom. So it won’t make a difference anyway. New ETA for the delivery? No ETA!

I am genuinely at crossroads right now. I don’t know what to do? It’s not even about the scooter anymore. It’s the support. Is it even worth waiting so much and then paying a premium for a support that is genuinely clueless? And I haven’t even gotten the scooter yet! I am really skeptical of the after-sales service. Don’t get me wrong, it may be great, as I haven’t experienced it yet. But what do I do? Except for the machine, nothing about Ather seems great so far (personally).

The least Ather could do is acknowledge and compensate for this, instead of blurting out scripted responses and keeping their prospects and customers in jeopardy.

TLDR: Waiting period too long with no real response or ETA from the support. Disappointed. Not sure what to do.

17 Likes
2

Faced the exact same situation. I cancelled Ather, bought a bike I always dreamt of and got the bike within a week. :slight_smile:

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3

Sad to hear this, but there is a dealer transition in place and it should have been managed seamlessly by all the parties involved, but it is not so.

Regarding the waiting period, it is a bummer, but thats a sad reality across the industry.

I’d suggest you wait (if you can) for your flight since its a machine like no other. All the very best and hope you get your flight soon :slight_smile:

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4

Yeah, man. The only reason that I am still waiting is because the machine is too good. But I really wish that Ather comes out and acknowledges the real issues on the public platform instead of keeping everyone in the dark. A man can only hope.

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5

It’s worth waiting, service is not bad either.

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6

Whattttttt, you guys are waiting 4 months for a delivery of the bike. i booked my first Ather on january 13th in hyderabad, got the delivery on 18th january. Booked another Ather on 25th june and got the bike on 27th june. i guess the hyderabad team is very effecient in deliverys and are commited to it. Hope you get your new Ather soon. The experience is amazing.

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7

Yeah, man. Waiting for 4 months and counting. Still no visibility on the delivery either.

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Will wait to see how the launch goes tomorrow and what the actual price difference is. Will cancel or continue waiting for the order accordingly.

Oh btw, still no update on the Malad Showroom.

1 Like
9

Yes! The 450X Gen 2 is no longer in production.

All pending 450X Gen 2 orders are now being upgraded to Gen 3.

About the price hike, the difference is worth the price as you get higher battery capacity hence more range + the speculated upgrades that will be confirmed tomorrow.

Peace :v:t2:

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10

Makes sense. But I might have some budget constraints there. I really hope the extra 12k is worth much more

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11

My experience has been very similar. I booked the Ather450X on 22nd March and still haven’t got delivery. I’m getting tired of following up. They keep updating the wait period as well. When I booked the bike they told me 75 days, now it’s become 100-120 days. The 120 day mark is almost here and still no word from the team. The wait has been disappointing mainly because they commit to something and keep pushing it out. This is unfair to the customer. If I knew the waiting period was more than 4 months, I would’ve never purchased the bike

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12

Since you have not got the delivery of your vehicle yet, waiting has an upside for you now that you will be getting the 450X Gen 3 model.

13

No bro now the waiting period is 2 months

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14

Which city? I am also waiting from 4months.

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15

Just an update:

https://forum.atherenergy.com/t/i-just-a-call-to-make-payment-for-450x/50244?u=baditya721

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16

In Hyderabad

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Dont even try to make payment only kamal motors is authorised dealer in mumbai, i have purchased my 450X on August 21 almost 11 month and I’m very much satisfied with my purchase…this bike is addiction but only issue is range and now gen 3 is quite enough already pre booked but no call form mumbai and thane team even call is not reachable… only wait and watch

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19

I called the Ather experience centre in Thane and the call was legit. Maybe Ather has a different dealer for Thane

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20

Kamal Motors is no longer Ather dealer in Mumbai

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21

Unfortunately, that’s the reality of the purchase experience with Ather :disappointed:

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