My question about rented ECV’s

[bobbiwoz]

Perhaps I have it wrong. My rented ECV last week lost green dots every day, up to 3 of the 5 and sometimes within 2 hours of setting out after charging all night. Generally, we went back to the room or somewhere to recharge.

When the person picked up the scooter, I mentioned this, and he was unconcerned. He said he has picked up ECV’s which we’re down to two red dots, and they were just fine.

DH’s ECV never lost more than 2 green dots after a day!

Just what do those dots mean, and would you be happy in a park if you had no green left. I tend to worry more, is that unfounded.

Thank you.

 

[lanejudy]

My first thought is your battery was older and doesn't hold the charge as well.

But there can be differences based on use: Did both you and your DH rent the same model from the same company? Did you both turn it off when not moving? Are you close to the weight limit for the unit you rented? If you had the same model, did you try switching units to see if it had something to do with the user (maybe forgetting to turn it off)? Did you try swapping charging location -- maybe the outlet you used for charging is defective?

If I was concerned that each day I was losing power too quickly and that impacted my enjoyment of the parks, I probably would have contacted the vendor before the end of the rental. Asked for a better battery or unit.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Yes we rented the same model, I am about 40 pounds lighter than him, and I am the one turning it off in lines!

I was never in trouble but it was stressful. I called the company because the chargers had different lights but was assured it was different chargers.

 

[KPeterso]

We had some issues in September with my Mom's scooter. It would drop the first green dot within 10 minutes of leaving the room. We called gold and were told it was a brand new scooter and we discussed several times with them. We just turned off every time we stopped in line or in shows. When we would turn it back on, it would go back to all green dots lit and then within a couple minutes drop again. We got through our trip, but it was a worry every day. When we returned it, my Mom showed the guy picking it up what would happen and he said that it was strange and they would look at it more closely.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'd be concerned about that also. I know that the GoGo Sports don't last as long as the next model up, but you said that you both had the exact same model. I've never lost more than one or two green dots in a full day. If I lost all the green dots, I'd be freaking out!

 

[Selket]

I've rented from Gold a few times now and usually the battery would only be down 2-3 pegs at most (sometimes not that) by the end of the night - and I was out very long days. Honestly I think it was probably down just a peg at most - seemed like I was always surprised it just never showed power loss.

I rented from them this past week and my battery was always down to the last green bar by 7pm or so. I was concerned a bit especially some place like Epcot that I curtailed my evening plans a bit some nights and ended up just parking and sitting. I could have called them and discussed it (does it take as long to go through the yellow and red as it does the green?) but I never did so that's on me I guess.

I was a bit disappointed with Gold this time. Delivery/pickup was fine but the scooter itself looked dirty when I got it and none of the lights underneath (to light the way at night) worked. This was almost a bigger problem because I have trouble seeing at night so the places it was dark (parts of Epcot) were tough. This scooter also had the thing where you move the tiller to "go" and it has a delay long enough that people (at rides or the bus driver) would repeat themselves sometimes thinking I was just off in outer space I guess - when I was actually trying to move. Now that I write this all out - yes I should have asked for another scooter - but it is kind of a pain in a shorter packed vacation to plan to be at the room during the day to meet them so I didn't.

I saw the dropped off Buena Vista scooters waiting for people to pick them up at the resort and they looked about the same shape as the Gold one - except mine had the higher back I think (cause Gold puts a better seat on their regular scooter). I did tell the pickup guy all of this - I might email them also so I know someone else is aware and at least will look at this scooter and fix the issues.

**edited to add I did email Gold after posting this and they responded asap. They said the moving delay was intentional and put as a safety feature on their newer models. They also said if I had 1 green bar that the scooter would have lasted long enough to get through the evening on yellow and red. They said the battery indicator was changed to be more accurate so that's interesting! They apologized for the cleanliness saying they are generally very careful to clean and sanitize (the basket, seat and handle was clean - it was the bottom part that looked dusty - not sure what it was on it). They also said generally they can get a replacement to someone in 30 minutes (!!!!). So I should have called especially cause of the lights. I was just more stressed this trip with all of Disney's changes to everything and this was one more thing on my plate I just chose to try to ignore or work around. I want to add also that all my interactions with them were fantastic - including them letting me change my pickup time to 4pm so I could go to the park my last day (I wanted to add a day to my ticket). They did this the day before no problems. I'll continue to rent from them.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I have used Gold for two rentals now. I had the Go-go last time, but went with Pride or Victory this time, I think both words were on the ECV’s but in different places.

The question about just how fast the equipment would go through the yellow or red is definitely a good one. Does anyone here know? Is anyone here the person who returned it with two red lights left, but wasn‘t worried?

Our next stay has barely three park days, for short times, and I’m going with Scooterbug, simply for pick up/drop off convenience. Sometimes I just don’t know what would be a convenient time.

 

[Evita_W]

**edited to add I did email Gold after posting this and they responded asap. They said the moving delay was intentional and put as a safety feature on their newer models. They also said if I had 1 green bar that the scooter would have lasted long enough to get through the evening on yellow and red. They said the battery indicator was changed to be more accurate so that's interesting! They apologized for the cleanliness saying they are generally very careful to clean and sanitize (the basket, seat and handle was clean - it was the bottom part that looked dusty - not sure what it was on it). They also said generally they can get a replacement to someone in 30 minutes (!!!!). So I should have called especially cause of the lights. I was just more stressed this trip with all of Disney's changes to everything and this was one more thing on my plate I just chose to try to ignore or work around. I want to add also that all my interactions with them were fantastic - including them letting me change my pickup time to 4pm so I could go to the park my last day (I wanted to add a day to my ticket). They did this the day before no problems. I'll continue to rent from them.

DH bought a Victory 10.2 from them, so here are a few comments based on his experiences:

• The moving delay is indeed added in by the manufacturer, this is intentional and a safety feature. His understanding is there may have ben legal action that required them to do so.
• For him at about 460 lbs, each dot represents about 1 mile of range (a little more generally) assuming a reasonable speed, faster will be less and if constantly charging a cell phone or other device, even less.
• If you are a ways away from the bus, he would be slightly concerned at 2 red dots, 3 if the bus stop at your resort is a long distance from your room.

As for the issues:

• cleanliness, I know Gold has been swamped lately, but they are usually really good about all of that.
  • One thing to note about the bottom is there are sometimes some things that get spilled on it that are hard to clean.
• yes, they generally can have a replacement to you within 30 to 60 minutes and can usually come inside the park for these kinds of issues, so really, you could be anywhere on property, as long as guests are allowed to be there.
• Being able to change times for delivery and pickup is huge as well

Now for a comment about being more stressed with the changes that Disney has been making:

• If the changes are stressing you out or you are having issues at the parks that you don't know how to navigate around, do reach out to Gold mobility, they can often tell you what the best way of handling things is currently. I am not saying to bug them constantly, but if there is something that is really bad and causing stress, they are more than willing to do what they can to help in our experience.

 

[TillyMarigold]

Just FYI, everyone: one day I got down to i think 2 green dots after all day in the park, and then we forgot to charge it overnight (due to the layout of the room, my husband would manually turn it 180 degrees before plugging it in). The next day, I was still able to go all day and lost the last gold dot as I reached my room. (And I'm not small.) We weren't going all out, but were out of the room for a solid 10-12 hours each day.

The delay in starting is really annoying and frankly I think it's dangerous. I had a LOT of people get annoyed with me for not moving and jump in front of me just as it finally started to go. Not to mention how many people repeated themselves, cleared their throats, tapped me on the arm, whistled, or very kindly suggested that I return the scooter because it was defective.

 

[TillyMarigold]

By the way, our return flight was changed (2 hours earlier) and we lost an entire park day because they could only offer me a pickup time 5 hours earlier (10 am instead of 3 pm). I wish I'd known that before I paid for the tickets. The person I picked it up from was also rude about my being 10 minutes late to meet him, even though I'd spoken to the owner as soon as the flight landed (late) and he'd said it was no problem. They also brought the wrong attachment and it took 2 days for them to me get the right one. (Have you ever tried to drive a scooter with a broken leg while balancing a walker between your knees?)

I mean, overall I'd still recommend them! But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows by a long shot.

 

[Evita_W]

Just FYI, everyone: one day I got down to i think 2 green dots after all day in the park, and then we forgot to charge it overnight (due to the layout of the room, my husband would manually turn it 180 degrees before plugging it in). The next day, I was still able to go all day and lost the last gold dot as I reached my room. (And I'm not small.) We weren't going all out, but were out of the room for a solid 10-12 hours each day.

The delay in starting is really annoying and frankly I think it's dangerous. I had a LOT of people get annoyed with me for not moving and jump in front of me just as it finally started to go. Not to mention how many people repeated themselves, cleared their throats, tapped me on the arm, whistled, or very kindly suggested that I return the scooter because it was defective.

Yeah, unfortunately the delay isn't something they can control, that is done by Pride and I believe there are legal reasons they had to.

 

[Selket]

I mean, overall I'd still recommend them! But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows by a long shot.

Tilly - what company was this?

 

[Selket]

If the changes are stressing you out or you are having issues at the parks that you don't know how to navigate around, do reach out to Gold mobility, they can often tell you what the best way of handling things is currently. I am not saying to bug them constantly, but if there is something that is really bad and causing stress, they are more than willing to do what they can to help in our experience.

Thanks Evita! All the stress was more trying to navigate the Genie+ and decide whether to buy it, whether to wake up at 7am and buy the paid LL$, which rides were paid, which were Genie, what had a boarding group (only Remy). I used to go to WDW a lot then stopped going during the pandemic so it's been 2 years! I spent awhile finding a place to charge the scooter on my MK late night (for fireworks) and for Epcot fireworks I essentially just stopped going around. Sounds like I could have kept going without an issue. I should have called them because of the lights if nothing else!

Your info on the lights was very helpful!

 

[Evita_W]

Thanks Evita! All the stress was more trying to navigate the Genie+ and decide whether to buy it, whether to wake up at 7am and buy the paid LL$, which rides were paid, which were Genie, what had a boarding group (only Remy). I used to go to WDW a lot then stopped going during the pandemic so it's been 2 years! I spent awhile finding a place to charge the scooter on my MK late night (for fireworks) and for Epcot fireworks I essentially just stopped going around. Sounds like I could have kept going without an issue. I should have called them because of the lights if nothing else!

Your info on the lights was very helpful!

Yeah, DH will take his down to one red dot at local theme parks if necessary (only happened once for him). At DisneyWorld he keeps two, because he wants to make sure he can get back to the room.

 

[Bethctraveler]

By far we had the best scooter rental ever from Gold Mobility Scooters. We had (4) Victory 10 4 wheel rental scooters on the last trip. They came clean and on time to our resort. Excellent communication. After 12 hours of use we still had at least 2 green lights on all four scooters with passengers ranging 175 lbs. - 300 lbs. every single day. Having many nightmare experiences with 3 other scooter rental companies in the past, I would highly and only recommend Gold Mobility.

 

[TillyMarigold]

Tilly - what company was this?

Gold.

 

[Euby]

Another thing that can affect battery life is the temperature. If it's cold, it can suck the life out of the battery. I've used ECV's for the past several trips to Disney. One that I took in February, was more stressful than others because it was colder that week than normal by quite a bit. The highs were 10 degrees lower than usual, and the lows were in the mid 40's.

 

[bobbiwoz]

By far we had the best scooter rental ever from Gold Mobility Scooters. We had (4) Victory 10 4 wheel rental scooters on the last trip. They came clean and on time to our resort. Excellent communication. After 12 hours of use we still had at least 2 green lights on all four scooters with passengers ranging 175 lbs. - 300 lbs. every single day. Having many nightmare experiences with 3 other scooter rental companies in the past, I would highly and only recommend Gold Mobility.

Wow, that was certainly not my experience with Gold Mobility in early December.
We are in Day 3 of my 3 day rental from Scooterbug, and for once, both DH’s and mine have worked perfectly.

 

[maxiesmom]

By far we had the best scooter rental ever from Gold Mobility Scooters. We had (4) Victory 10 4 wheel rental scooters on the last trip. They came clean and on time to our resort. Excellent communication. After 12 hours of use we still had at least 2 green lights on all four scooters with passengers ranging 175 lbs. - 300 lbs. every single day. Having many nightmare experiences with 3 other scooter rental companies in the past, I would highly and only recommend Gold Mobility.

They were great for me too. Was at the parks for 8 days in October. Never lost more than one dot.

 

[Evita_W]

Wow, that was certainly not my experience with Gold Mobility in early December.
We are in Day 3 of my 3 day rental from Scooterbug, and for once, both DH’s and mine have worked perfectly.

If you wvwrr have an issue with Gold Mobility, just call them, they will generally be there within 30 minutes with a new scooter.