I remember when I was a newbie with renting and then buying my own mobility scooter over a decade ago when asking the DISboards DISability Forum for help.
I didn't always recharge my mobility scooter completely every night when I would use it all day. I think that it was because I came in late at night and restarted early the next morning and not being able to charge it for 12-hours and I attribute that to being my fault.
I can't remember that far back when I used to rent from several different vendors if I received a mobility scooter that wasn't fully charged. I didn't really know what to look for.
I remember WDW rental mobility scooters running out of power a couple of times, but the Disney cast member would come all the way out with another one and take the other one back to recharge.
I did have an unusual experience with my own mobility scooter when I was at WDW over a decade ago.
I thought that when the needle said fully charged that I was good to go.
But each succeeding day, even though I plugged my mobility scooter in when I entered my resort room for the night and recharged it until I was ready to leave, my mobility scooter still wouldn't make it all day.
The power gauge showed fully recharged before leaving my resort room.
After about three years one day, I left my resort room fully charged. Later in the afternoon, it when from 3/4 full during the day at MK park to zero charge. I very slowly drove back to my room and most of the time I made it back. I think a couple of days I had to push it or someone pushed it for me. Bless them. I went back to my resort room and called it a day and recharged it again.
But then the same thing kept happening in the next couple of days.
One day it just dropped all of a sudden until my mobility scooter stopped completely with no power. I didn't notice the power gauge. I guess I was having too much fun.
I was glad that I started taking my charger with me just in case.
That particular day, I sat near the MK merry-go-round and plugged it in for about an hour and I barely made it back to my resort room.
I called
Buena Vista Scooters and they said that even though my mobility scooter said that it was fully charged in the morning after charging, it only meant that the non dead parts of the batteries that were fully charged.
He said my batteries were 75% dead and could not charge.
So he said I was charging only 25% of the batteries that were still working.
Over that week, I also noticed that it took less and less time that my mobility scooter gauge to say it was fully charged. I thought cool, but the reason what it was only charging 25% of my batteries.
He said that it was correct.
It took less time to fully charge on 25% of the working batteries.
I had no idea because I was new to owning my own mobility scooter.
For some reason, I was thinking that the battery meter gauge would show only 25% charged instead of 100% fully charged.
Now that I think about it, I was pretty dumb.
So, I guess if you happen to notice that your mobility scooter does the same thing that it might mean your mobility scooter's batteries are at the end of their life.
I was lucky Buena Vista was able to take my mobility scooter and change out the two old batteries for two new batteries without me having to take my batteries off-site.
If you are a newbie, I would also suggest not turning the power knob all of the up to maximum. You can use the tiller accelerator pull lever to go in reverse and forward, but leaving it in maximum power over time will decrease the amount of time your battery will last. Whether it is a mobility scooter or now, my wheelchair, I try and set a power level equivalent to the walking speed of those around me. I can still slow down with my joystick or the mobility scooter's tiller pull lever.
And when I enter a crowded situation or boarding a bus, I turn the power lever down much lower just in case I hit my joystick and speed up. I don't want to scare anyone by lunging forward accidentally. That is the main reason to turn down the power lever in crowded areas. Not to accidentally lunging forward. Keeping the power lever at the appropriate level is my safety issue and it can add time to the time the battery lasts. I have tested this many times and even though I may not speed up and go full power all of the time like in wide-open areas, my battery did a couple of hours per the battery gauge staying out all day. I hope that makes sense in the way I described it.
Just a thought if this happens to you some time.
My electric wheelchair has Lithium-Ion batteries now and I'll see how long they last and if they do the same thing when the batteries reach their end of life.
Any company can have customers with good and bad reviews. I've seen the same company listed as someone’s favorite and another person’s worst (sometimes even in the same week or some thread).
And any customer could get a super new, good condition
ECV or one that seems close to its last legs. The ECVs from all companies get hard use and parts, like batteries, may fail.
During our recent trip, I saw ECVs from many companies - a mixture of companies, not any particular company with a larger number than any other company.
I saw both scooters that looked brand new and ones that looked the worse for wear from ALL of the companies, (including Gold).
Customer service is important to all companies. No company has a ‘captive audience’ as far as customers are concerned. It’s in their best interest to have a good condition, well-functioning equipment. If they slip up, there are numerous other companies ready to offer a similar service. All will slip up or have issues from time to time, but it’s in their best interest to correct things ASAP.
If you have a problem with any company, let them know by email and phone, even if it’s after you leave. If you don’t get an answer/resolution, keep trying until you do.
Thanks, Sue and I agree.
Gold Mobility quite literally replaces their entire fleet every 6 months, sorry but I have to disagree that other companies have the same level of customer service. I have used a few different companies now and none have the level that Gold Mobility does and they don't have a single review that has anything less than 5 stars. I know Buena Vista probably doesn't like people mentioning that or the issues they have with Buena Vista. But ultimately for me, it comes down to the fact that Gold Mobility scooters last all day in the parks (I haven't had one from any other company that could do that without charging during the day and theirs will only drop one light or so) and that they will meet me as I am getting off Magical Express, far more convenient than even using Bell Services was.
And generally, the only way you are going to see a bet up the scooter from Gold is if the current user damaged it somehow. Seriously, on our last trip, we rented Maximas that were brand new (still had the protective film on them...lol) and because we weren't used to how wide they were, the armrests were pretty.beat up by day 3, that was our fault, not Gold's and they weren't bothered by it, they just replaced the armrests when we returned them. My guess is you may have seen something similar, but I can guarantee that their scooters lasted all day.
You are right, no company has a captive audience and Gold understands this and goes out of their way to provide customer service that exceeds expectations. If you have never rented from them, it is hard to understand how they can be so much better than everyone else, but they are indeed that much better. You know everyone complains when something goes wrong, see the OP in this thread, but how many of us take the time to praise when things are done right? Yet people tend to give you a hard time when you are praising a company rather than bashing them.
I have had issues with customer service at Buena Vista in the past that were major and they flat out refused to resolve, but rather than bash them, I prefer to keep it positive and praise the companies that do well. So when I find a company that goes so far above and beyond like Gold, I tend to praise them.
And the closest you will find to a negative comment about Gold is that they don't deliver super late (like after 10 PM or before 7 AM) and they are working on a solution for that as well.
Evita_W, I agree. I have never rented anything from Gold, but I do a lot of research and I don't know of another company that buys and then sells their mobility scooters every 6-months. Practically guaranteeing a new mobility scooter each time rented. I don't know how long other vendors keep their mobility scooters before getting rid of them, but I know batteries do not die after only 6-months either.
I may be wrong, and you can correct me if I am wrong, but I haven't found any other Orlando vendors that do that.
Plus I think that Gold was the first to offer so many other extras in their rental prices that some of the other vendors would charge for.
I mean it is a vendor business and all businesses need to make money and I understand that, but Gold really upped the bar when they came around a couple of years ago as a newbie vendor.
I have rented from Randy's and Walker multiple times, and Scooterama once, and never needed to recharge ever. And I spend a great deal of time in the parks, and travel between multiple parks in a day (including riding the scooter from THE to Epcot) and resorts
I agree, me too. I think my very first vendor rental was from Randy's from this board's recommendations over a decade ago.
I have rented from Walker Mobility and BuenaVista in the past. I NEVER had to recharge my battery duri the day with either company. I have had exemplary customer service with both.
I appreciate
@SueM in MN non biased comments.
Okay.
How do you KNOW they could have? Do you work for Gold Mobility?
Okay.
.
