ECV Rental - why are Randy's a lower price?

[Mazzy]

I've just been reading up on scooter prices, and to hire from Randy's Mobility for 2 weeks is only $250 compared to $400 from Care Medical and Walkers Mobility so it's quite a big difference.

I'm just wondering why Randy's is less expensive? Are their scooters not as good as the other firms? I need the easiest possible to dismantle as we will be using towncars to non-disney parks and I'm just wondering whether I would get a newer, better, easier to dis-assemble scooter if I paid more? Or maybe not? I must admit that Randy's site doesn't look that professional as I noticed some errors in the spelling which didn't fill me with confidence!

What do you think?

 

[Figaro]

We rented an ECV for my mom from Randy's and were very happy with the service. It is a family run business (his son delivered the ECV). Part of the difference in the cost might be because you have to be there to receive and return the ECV. It won't be waiting for you at the resort and you don't just leave it at the resort for them to pick it up whenever. We called the number they gave us and in 10 minutes they arrived with a brand new ECV and we signed the waiver and paid for it with our credit card. When we were done with it, we called and they came and picked it up from us.

We had no problems dealing with them and would rent from them again.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have never used them. However, Figaro's comment brought up three points, they delivered it when called, picked it up when called, and Figaro mentioned signing a waiver.

Yes, Walker is more expensive. However, there is convenience. Most of my rentals are for a week or less, so the dollar difference is not verey significant.

However, with Walker our scooter was always waiting for us when we arrived. When we got in to the hotel late at night the ECV was there so we could use it first thing in the morning (and we were not charged for day of arrival). Also if we got in and were on a tight schedule, with our room not ready, we could check our luggage and go, with the ECV, to wherever we were going.

I don't know what is on the waiver, but I have heard it is a waiver of liability. Walker does not ask for any such document.

Similarly, when we leavewe can just drop the ECV at Bell Services and not have to wait for someone to pick it up from us. If we are leaving in midday they will only charge us for half a day.

They do charfge the creedit card for the full amount of the rental the day prior to arrival.

As far as assembly/disassembly, there are five parts: the seat, two battery packs, the frame and tiller assembly, and the motor/wheel combination. I can normally brerak it down in about a minute and put it together in about two minutes. Most cars considered full-size do not have problems putting it in the trunk.

Also, if I am at a hotel with valet service, normally the valets will hande the disassembly/assembly as well as loading into the trunk or removing from the trunk. I will give them a tip of $5.00 compared to my normal valet tip of $2.00. You have mentioned you will be using a towncar service for your travel to the non-Disney locations. Since there will be a professional driver, I would expect that person to volunteer to do the work (and consider that when tipping).

 

[travelitis]

I've rented from Walker and have chosen Randy's for our upcoming trips. We're also going in June. Walker charges you for every extra day, but Randy's is giving me the scooter for 8 full days for the price of 7. Randy's is a smaller, family business who probably is charging less to establish clientelle. They need something to induce past customers of Care and Walker to give them a try, and money talks. For a 1 week trip, they're saving me $90 (w/out taking into acct the 8th day). So far they've given me great service and answered our questions about the ECV in detail. I've been told all their units are new, but that if we don't call, they won't deliver.
That sounds reasonable to me.

As far as the convenience of a drop-off without you present, after our last experience, it's not always a good thing. We like that we'll meet a person familiar with that model ECV who can quickly run through disassembly and any tips with us. Last trip our hotel desk was a bit disorganized and locked the keys to my ECV in their safe but no one who was there had the combination. This was the hotel's fault, not Walker's, but it took us 2 hours to collect that ECV. Maybe it's better not to involve that 3rd party and invite a possible snafu.

 

[Mazzy]

Well, I received an email back from Walker yesterday and they offered me 15 days rental for $349.50 instead of the full price of $399.50 so I have gone ahead and booked with them.

 

[JudithM]

Mazzy, have you ever used the ECV from Disney? If so, you will (hopefully) like the one from Walker so much better - at least I did last weekend!

I was skeptical of the three wheel scooter (Walker) since I was used to four wheels (Disney). The turning radius is so much better with only three wheels! You can turn around is small spaces without bumping into things. Plus the Walker scooter has a speed control, so you can adjust your speed. Also, you can adjust the handle bar to put it closer to you or further away - depending on how you "drive."

One thing I noticed though is I had to be careful backing up since the Walker scooter did not stop immediately like the Disney ECV.

Personaly, I liked having the scooter delivered before I arrived. Our room was not ready, but I was able to drive it to the pool! I turned it back to bell services the night before the morning Walker was coming to pick it up. Walker told me to have it there by 8 a.m.

 

[travelitis]

I probably should've posted this earlier, but I'd forgotten about it.
Walker is a good company, but they did give me a unit that was on it's last legs. I'm 135 lbs., and that ECV kept dying. We had to go plug-in to plug-in charging it while we rode or ate. The the guy from Walker asked in a slightly annoyed tone why we didn't call them to get it replaced the first night instead of putting up with that a few days. We were in the parks before they opened and after they closed. Arranging an ECV exchange seemed more inconvenient than living with the failing battery. I'm not saying don't rent from them, but be aware that being a big company doesn't neccesarily translate to having new equipment.

 

[Nanajo1]

Did you know they will meet you at any of the parks if your ECV needs to be echanged for any reason. At least that's what the told me at Care Medical.

 

[Mazzy]

Judith - no, I've never used the Disney ECV or ANY type of ECV in my life before so I'm hoping that I manage to cope OK! It's good to hear that the 3-wheeled scooter from Walker is easier to handle! Regarding backing up, does the scooter have some kind of 'sound warning system' to alert folk that you are reversing? This is all new to me so any tips you have regarding actually using the scooter would be very useful!

Travelitis - well I hope that I have better luck than you! You had a bad run didn't you, what with the keys being locked in the hotel safe and the run-down ECV? Fingers crossed everything will go smoothly for me!

Nanajo - thanks, that's useful to know, hopefully Walker will offer the same service, I must remember to keep their 'phone number with me.

One question I've just thought of is, what do you do if it's raining? I guess when using the scooter a rain-cape would be good cover but when you are leaving the scooter eg to go into a shop, what do you use to cover the seat (as I assume they are fabric?), are covers provided or do you just use anything to hand that you have? Will the ECV be OK left in the rain?

Sorry for more questions, just trying to cover everything so I'm well prepared!

 

[JudithM]

From my experiences the seats on Disney's ECV & Walker's scooter are not fabric. It is more like dark colored vinyl. That is one reason I bring a white towel from our hotel room - I use it to cover the bottom & back of the seats. It is amazing how quickly that dark color seat will get.

As for rain, Walker provided a little plastic bag with a note that says in case of rain please cover the controls (or something like that). I lucked out - I encountered a rain drop or two before we got the scooter to the car, so I did not need to use the plastic.

The control handle on the scooter I rented from Walker was a bit different than the Disney one. On the Walker scooter I pushed the lever to the right to go forward & to the left to go backward. There is no noise when going backwards unless you specifically push the horn at the same time you are pushing the lever to the left to go back. I hope that makes sense !

The Walker phone numbers were attached to the key to the scooter. Fortunately I never had to call them !

One more thing I just remembered ... Walker had my name on little sticky name tags on a few parts of the scooter. For personal security reasons, I removed those tags. I attached them to the plastic key ring. Then when I turned in the scooter to bell services, I put the tags in visible places.

 

[Mazzy]

Thanks for replying Judith - that info is a big help! I'm glad to hear you had little rain during your trip. I'm hoping for the same but I do know that in Dec/Jan anything goes but fingers crossed!

 

[travelitis]

The ECV's I rented did beep automatically when I backed up. The 2 I rented were not identical. I last rented in 9/2000. They didn't give me any info about rain, but I drove mine through rain with no problem. You can use a rain poncho to cover the entire unit or take a plastic tablecloth with the soft backing. Elsewhere I read the suggestion to take a tablecloth to provides a dry place to sit.

 

[Mazzy]

Travelitis - thanks for letting me know of your experiences, every comment is a helpful one!