Walker Mobility - Beware of Owner

[Scarlet584]

Just returned from 6 day WDW on-site xmas/birthday trip with Mom (knee replacement surgery) and my daughter.

Rented scooter from Walker....disaster!

Scooter delivered to wrong hotel, 2 hr. wait for it to arrive. Charged overnight
per instructions.....still seemed only half-charged and speed was erratic.

Called office (supposedly available 7 days a week 7:30am-8pm) on xmas day to
question problems as indicated in contract to CALL IMMEDIATELY for tech issues.
Left message at 2 pm. Decided to risk scooter dying out and went for xmas dinner plans at Downtown Disney.

Received call from John Walker, owner, at 7:30 pm (5 hours later) who was very annoyed to be bothered on xmas day (no mention of holidays excluded in contract). Refused to answer simple question of charging indicator. "No big deal tonight, call office in the morning". Maybe no big deal to him, BUT BIG DEAL to us to possibly be stranded. Very poor customer service, which left us
anxious about getting back to hotel.

Recharged scooter overnight, but Mom stayed in room next day to rest.

Third day, scooter still seemed half-charged. Called Walker's again, asked for
John Walker, put on hold--he refused my call. Now very angry,upset and anxious
that we can't get the support we had contracted for. Mr. Walker returned call
and after relaying my frustrations with his previous refusal to answer a simple question about charging matter in a timely manner, he became abusive, claiming we were trying to get something for nothing, said I was "irritating him"
and that I was lucky to get him in the office on a Sunday. After a vicious commentary on my situation with an elderly mom with Alzheimer's and knee replacement ... "We all have problems, get over it", he still refused to answer my
simple questions, but did offer to send a tech to
hotel with replacement scooter, or a refund and pick up of the one we had. By this time, I was crying on the phone with frustration.

The tech arrived and was kind and patient in answering our questions. There was nothing wrong with the scooter after all; we just needed quick answers to resolve the charging indicator issue, all of which could have easily been handled
by Mr. John Walker, owner, during my first call.

I would warn potential customers that this man is in no way customer service oriented. Look around WDW and see how many scooters he is renting. He just
doesn't care, as he is making serious money from disabled guests. His comments to me twice indicate that he has no regard for anyone in this unfortunate situation who are tyring to make the best trip to WDW for their disabled loved ones. Just my experience/opinion.

Scarlet584
BWV '99

 

[Belle1962]

I have been renting from Walker for over ten years now. I have NEVER had anything but exceptional custmer service from them. Even when I was a newbie to ecv's and would call after hours with questions or concerns. I have never had issues with hotel pick up or delivery--even when I changed hotels mid-stay.

Last time I broke the key that goes into the ignition. Couldn't have had better service from them. Fast and efficient.

I would NEVER rent from anyone but them (even in Vegas).

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

lol, we broke the key, too. they were tricky, and had a hide a key.

we've always had good service from them, even when they had to come replace the scooter. sorry you had such a hard time.

 

[kaytieeldr]

NEVER had that kind of 'service' from Walker. One year, I did have trouble and went through three scooters in a week (one flat, one just 'died'). I didn't speak with a John but I did speak with an owner both times, and there were replacement scooters at my resort first thing in the morning both times - and they picked up the 'dead' scooter at the Magic Kingdom, didn't expect me to freewheel it back to Pop!

 

[shellybaxter]

I have rented from Walkers for several trips now. Last trip they weren't so great in the customer service department. I wouldn't have minded if they had just said - "we're really busy, its the day after Thanksgiving and we are running late and short of charged ECVs" but instead they told me I shouldn't have expected a charged ECV on time because "yesterday was Thanksgiving". I don't mind being asked to be patient, but I mind very much being excepted to accept less than what I agreed to without so much as an "I'm sorry". I am trying Randy's Mobility this trip

 

[mickeysaver]

I have rented ECV's from both Randy's and Walker. I have had issues with both company's scooters. I have had issues with Randy's customer service, but never Walker's.

I have learned that because I am Pooh sized, that just renting the super heavy duty scooter isn't enough because of my weight and my commando touring style, I can tucker out the regular super heavy duty scooter meant to haul around big butts like mine, so I now book the super heavy duty scooter with "extended range" which holds someone up to 500 lbs. That scooter usually lets me go from dawn to midnight.

I did have some issues with the scooter that we rented a few weeks ago. We had been given this new style charger, which is tiny compared with the old ones. The first night, the fuse was loose on it, so the scooter didn't charge well overnight. We didn't discover the loose fuse until morning. The scooter said that it was charged, but it didn't hold a charge for nearly as long as it should have. That night, we charged the scooter with the fuse firmly in place. Unfortunately, the scooter still didn't hold a charge well. We made do with it. We were not doing our usual commando thing this trip or else I would have called for a replacement scooter.

I did charge the scooter overnight before dropping it off with the valet and I plugged in the charger before I left the key with him. I can only assume that it functioned well with the next guest. I did meant to call Walker to report the issue, but I forgot to do so. (I know, bad Maggie. )

I won't go into what happened in the past that made me go with Walker, let's just say that the OP had and experience that sounded much like what I went through with Randy's but that was almost 3 years ago. I tend to vote with my wallet in these sorts of matters.

 

[peemagg]

Man this thread (and other like it) is not showing well for the 3 big named scooter rentals. I have heard horrible things about Walker's, Randy's and Buena Vista. I think if I was renting from someone I'd check out Apple. They seem to be getting great reviews and look to be cheaper than the others too. Just my opinion though. I have not used any of these rental places.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

do you have a link for Apple? i didn't see it listed on the faq sticky.

found it. thank you for mentioning it.

 

[KateMW]

Can somebody share the link for Apple? We have an ECV rented from Walker for my mother in Feb. It's her first time ever using one and I don't think she can do WDW without one{MS}. Now I'm worried!

 

[peemagg]

Just do a google search for Apple Scooters-Orlando. Should be easy to find.

 

[aubriee]

We have always used Walkers for my mom's ECV when we go down there. In fact we just used them Dec 12th-20th. We've always received excellent customer service from them. I know they're popular. We used the main bus stop at CSR and saw Walker's van delivering ECVs every day we were there.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sorry to hear about the experience the OP had.
The companies thst are listed in the disABILITIES FAQs thread are the ones that people have mostly listed good experiences over the years. Unfortunatly, not every experience is going to be good. But, on average, most of the experiences with those companies have been good.
One positive thing in the post is thst even though the phone contact was not positive, the end result was that the problem did get resolved by a tech person who was friendly and helpful. That doesn't excuse bad service, nut does show there is capability of good service.

Apple has not been listed in the disABILITIES FAQs thread because we have not had much feedback on them. After the holidays, I will do some searches to possibly add a few more companies such as Apple and ScooterOrlando to the FAQs thread.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Man this thread (and other like it) is not showing well for the 3 big named scooter rentals. I have heard horrible things about Walker's, Randy's and Buena Vista. I think if I was renting from someone I'd check out Apple. They seem to be getting great reviews and look to be cheaper than the others too. Just my opinion though. I have not used any of these rental places.

I just want to point out that two negative experiences with Walker (one detailed, one mentioned) and one each with Randy's and Buena Vista - especially considering the volume each company handles - shouldn't turn people away from any of these companies. Heck, the first time I rented from one of the other companies listed in the FAQ, they were supposed to have the ECV at Pop about nine hours before I arrived. They apparently delivered it to the wrong hotel, and wouldn't be able to get it to me for several more hours! Pop CMs were fantastic - and that experience did NOT turn me off from that company. I have rented from them since.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

thanks Sue. I was thinking primarily about the cost. apple seems a bit cheaper. I've used walker and randy's and been perfectly happy each time.

 

[JudithM]

I am very sorry the OP had a negative experience with Walker Mobility.

I have rented from them for about two to three times a year for the last seven years. Once or twice we've had to call for "service," and the response was timely and efficient.

One time they delivered a second scooter to my hotel while I was at the park; I had called them from the park. Then they picked up the original one the next day. So I actually had two of their scooters at one time.

I have actually talked to John and found him to be very customer oriented. Again I am sorry the OP had issues with the rental.

 

[peemagg]

I just want to point out that two negative experiences with Walker (one detailed, one mentioned) and one each with Randy's and Buena Vista - especially considering the volume each company handles - shouldn't turn people away from any of these companies. Heck, the first time I rented from one of the other companies listed in the FAQ, they were supposed to have the ECV at Pop about nine hours before I arrived. They apparently delivered it to the wrong hotel, and wouldn't be able to get it to me for several more hours! Pop CMs were fantastic - and that experience did NOT turn me off from that company. I have rented from them since.

I wasn't just speaking of what is mentioned here, but also what I have read on some of the other forums that I visit.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Even so - rarely does anybody post about a good or satisfactory experience; even if you've read a hundred bad reports, that has to represent a VERY small percentage of the business each firm does every week.

 

[mickeysaver]

Just to clarify, between my MIL and I, we have rented scooters in the Orlando area at least once a year every year since 2003. We have tried Care, Randy's, and Walker. Care was fine, but expensive. Randy's was not a good experience from flat tires to bad batteries and poor customer service all in one trip, even though we had used them successfully in the past. Walker has always given us excellent customer service, there have been flat tires, bad batteries, and the fuse on the charger issue.

When you consider all of those rentals and the fact that many times, it was 2 scooters in our party, it's no wonder that things happen. I will continue to rent from Walker, even though we occasionally end up with a "dud". I would rent from Care again, if the prices are right, and I would even consider renting from Scooter Vacations, now that their advertising videos have been changed to be a bit more responsible.

Just remember, Murphy's Law applies to scooter rentals too.

 

[toocherie]

and I have only used Buena Vista in three trips and had great service. Last time (in November) the tiller on my scooter wasn't acting right--seemed to be "surging" and they brought a new one out and it was waiting for me the next morning. So, no complaints at all from this quarter . . . . . we had rented a car and I didn't know how I was going to move the scooter from BWI to SSR and they left one at both places (i.e. on the day we checked out of BWI they left a different scooter at SSR)! So I've been very happy with them.

 

[brekin67]

We used Best priced mobility. We were very happy with the service. My aunt used them last week and was also happy. Free delivery to and from the hotel, with no gas surcharge to deliver it to the hotel. Very good price and a 10% off coupone on next purchase.