Apple Scooter Disaster...A resolve, sort of. Post #31

[stitchlovestink]

I just talked to my sister-in-law about their experience with Apple. They just got back from a 10 day stay and said their experience was wonderful and that she couldn't say enough good things about them. They had a battery issue at Magic Kingdom and Apple sent a tech right away to help them. They also had problems with a wheel while at HS and they brought them a replacement scooter very quickly. I was telling her about what I'd read and she said that she had no problems when calling Apple and that the customer service she received from them was excellent and that everyone was very friendly and professional. She said they were just as great now as they've been on their past trips. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but I don't believe that Apple's service is as bad across the board as you think. You had a bad experience and, by all means, use a different company next time if you wish but we'll be sticking with Apple based on our own experiences.

That's great that you had such wonderful service from them but after reading your post what sends up a red flag IMO is that you had TWO different issues with the same ECV in a fairly short amount of time. I'm glad they addressed and fixed the issues quickly. But in All the the times I rented an ECV prior to owning my own, I only ever had ONE issue with a rental unit and I was able to fix that over the phone. Honestly, it was my first or second time renting and I think it was an 'operator' issue more than an equipment issue. I think we weren't doing something right, but the exact details escape me because we are talking about something from years ago. But anyway...I think this is concerning when you have multiple issues with the same piece of equipment, no matter how great the service is. It can cause guests to lose park time, dining ressies, etc... just my .02


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[katrina1122]

So DH called them today to follow up about our promised refund for the 24 hours of useless scooters, headache and stress. They still have not credited it back to us. The person who answered the phone said she remembered our problems, but had no power to process the promised refund. DH asked to speak with Jose again, he was apparently not in but is supposed to call us back.

DH explained that we would be willing to rent from them again since once we got a working scooter it was really good (ie head rest, superb turning radius, could go two days without charging), but they really needed to address what happened. Maybe reaching out a bit on our end will give them incentive to respond.

I still have issue with them and that so many people were having mechanical issues, this is not right. I've never experienced that from any other rental company, but since I can't seem to find another company who rents an ecv with a head rest, they may be my only option so we have to come to some sort of conclusion with this whole mess.

 

[peemagg]

So DH called them today to follow up about our promised refund for the 24 hours of useless scooters, headache and stress. They still have not credited it back to us. The person who answered the phone said she remembered our problems, but had no power to process the promised refund. DH asked to speak with Jose again, he was apparently not in but is supposed to call us back.

DH explained that we would be willing to rent from them again since once we got a working scooter it was really good (ie head rest, superb turning radius, could go two days without charging), but they really needed to address what happened. Maybe reaching out a bit on our end will give them incentive to respond.

I still have issue with them and that so many people were having mechanical issues, this is not right. I've never experienced that from any other rental company, but since I can't seem to find another company who rents an ecv with a head rest, they may be my only option so we have to come to some sort of conclusion with this whole mess.

I am not sure who Jose is with the company, but the owners name is Alex, and anytime that I have talked with him I had no issues. Maybe he is the one who you need to speak to.

 

[katrina1122]

I am not sure who Jose is with the company, but the owners name is Alex, and anytime that I have talked with him I had no issues. Maybe he is the one who you need to speak to.

We've tried to speak with Alex and he never calls back. We are always told to talk with Jose, I think he's the manager. We are always told Alex is offsite and will have to call back, but Jose is available. This time neither were.

 

[Friendly Frog]

I rented from Apple earlier in the year and had problems with my ECV. I also spoke with others who had problems. My general feeling is that they have great customer service but at least some of their ECV fleet is not holding up well under the heavy usage.

With that said, since they have great prices and customer service as well as insurance coverage, I am giving them another try. This time I am upgrading the ECV I rent and I am going to see if that helps. Reliability is extremely important!

Edit- At least they gave me good service in the past. Sorry op that you are having such a problem. That does concern me.

 

[toocherie]

I am so sorry you had this experience. In some ways it is similar to a situation I had with Apple a couple of years ago. I was left waiting at the entrance to Animal Kingdom for several hours waiting for them to bring a replacement scooter. Based on that experience I made the decision never to use them again--I agree that equipment failures happen, but the important thing is how the company responds. In my case--and it appears in your case too--they seriously dropped the ball.

I am appalled that they made the "Preferred Vendor" list and other company's--like Randy's and Walkers--did not. There are rumors that there is going to be a preferred vendor list here in California too and I am hoping that the vendor I use here (Scooter Village/OC Medical) is on it.

 

[disney david]

I am so sorry you had this experience. In some ways it is similar to a situation I had with Apple a couple of years ago. I was left waiting at the entrance to Animal Kingdom for several hours waiting for them to bring a replacement scooter. Based on that experience I made the decision never to use them again--I agree that equipment failures happen, but the important thing is how the company responds. In my case--and it appears in your case too--they seriously dropped the ball.

I am appalled that they made the "Preferred Vendor" list and other company's--like Randy's and Walkers--did not. There are rumors that there is going to be a preferred vendor list here in California too and I am hoping that the vendor I use here (Scooter Village/OC Medical) is on it.

Their doing it on both places and in wdw might soon expand it to cover strollers. I think walker not being a preferred vendor is walker choice I think they like to diliver to the guest directly to answer questions. So soon they might just decide to join just to say their preferred.

 

[SashaFarce]

We always use Apple and a couple times have had issues; they resolved them as quickly as possible and to our satisfaction. We have used another company as well as rented onsite before and to be realistic, there is no way that a high traffic company is going to have perfect ECVs 100% of the time. Sorry for your experience, OP - we usually contact them via email if we need to in non-emergent situations and Alex always emails us back promptly, so maybe that is a better avenue for contact.

 

[SueM in MN]

From what I have heard, Walker elected not to participate further in the selection process. I know there were some specific requirements for the contract (including a fee) and they may not have felt it was economically feasible for them to do it.

As far as I know, Randy's did not participate. Their policy was to pick up and deliver to the renter, so there would be little 'advantage' to them to become a preferred vendor.

Readers should keep in mind that not being a Preferred Vendor is not an indication that Disney or anyone else thinks those are lower quality vendors in any way. Disney elected, for whatever reason, to make contracts with a limited number of vendors to allow them some services that other vendors will not get.
With the large numbers if vendors, there was no way they could all be included.

 

[aubriee]

Their doing it on both places and in wdw might soon expand it to cover strollers. I think walker not being a preferred vendor is walker choice I think they like to diliver to the guest directly to answer questions. So soon they might just decide to join just to say their preferred.

Up until the last two trips we have always used Walkers. Other than talking to them on the phone when I first ordered the ECV, we've never had any other personal contact with them. We just always picked the ECV up at bell services, then dropped it off there the last day. We always received good service-never got a bad ECV and the ECV was always waiting when we arrived. The only reason I switched to Apple was the good reviews they got here on the DIS and because they were cheaper. Both times we've used Apple (this past Sept 1st-8th and then again Oct 27th-Nov 4th) I called early in the morning and both times Alex was the one that answered the phone. He was very nice and professional. Both times we got the same great service and ECVs that we had gotten from Walker's in the past. We have not had a problem with either company and would highly recommend either, although these reports about Apple are concerning to me.

 

[katrina1122]

So DH called Apple back again when not hearing back from Alex again. This time Jose was in.

He apologized (in a round about way according to dh) and said they were looking into getting better batteries or hard wiring them so that they stop unplugging...this says to me alot of people ran into what we experienced.

DH asked about being refunded and said we may rent from them again in March since I can't find anyone else with a tall back scooter with head rest. He agreed that he didn't know of any other companies who rent those like they do. So...instead of refunding us, we are to book directly through him and he will give us the credit towards the rental then.

While it's a refund either way, I'd prefer to just get it now in case we opt to not use them again. I also don't like that we had to hassle them for this resolve, but at least we came to an agreement. My concern now is that they will be dropped from the vendor list before March since Disney told me the updated list come Jan 1 will allow them to legally react to bad service that a guest may be getting, so I'd like to use the list if possible.

It's been experience for sure.

 

[peemagg]

I don't think that you will have to worry about them being dropped of the preferred vendor list, I read on here that they had to sign a 2 year contract with Disney. Probably the only changes that might be made to the list in January would be additions, not subtractions.

 

[stitchlovestink]

I don't think that you will have to worry about them being dropped of the preferred vendor list, I read on here that they had to sign a 2 year contract with Disney. Probably the only changes that might be made to the list in January would be additions, not subtractions.

I wouldn't hold my breath on that. I'm sure Disney was smart enough to put it into their end of the contract that they could withdraw their rights as a preferred vendor if Disney wanted to. I can't imagine Disney didn't give themselves a way out of that contract!! And it was my understanding that they were limiting the number of preferred vendors, so in order to add, somebody's gotta go... I believe maybe it was Sue who said they were only going to allow five...but I'm not positive it was Sue who said that. Disney can do pretty much 'anything' they want to...so if Disney wants Apple gone as a preferred vendor then I bet it will be 'see ya!'


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