X-Treme Scooters Review: Customer Service Sucks

I have never before used my blog as a means to complain about crummy products/service. But my experience with x-treme scooters (I will not be linking to them!!) this past holiday season has prompted me to do so since I feel like I have no other means of recourse.

Two years ago I had purchased my son a Razor electric scooter...it had a myriad of problems and I think only ran properly about ten total days.

This year I decided to try again and scoured the web for affordable electric scooters with a better reputation than Razor. I found the x-treme scooter brand which is sold by several resellers on-line. I made my purchase from one called Scooter Jones.

I have to admit when they arrived I was not overly impressed with the looks and quality but hoped for the best.

Within 24 hours both were broken to one extent or another. The x-10's flimsy decking had cracked and a pivot bolt had fallen off. The x-250's belt had broken. My first attempt at customer service via email went fairly well and they replaced all parts and shipped them fairly quickly.

However, the x-250's belt snapped again, after just a few days of use...they way it broke had the appearance of a factory defect. This is where the real problems started. I called their "customer service" line and was told the following. "We've sent you a belt already, you will have to buy one."

Their lame warranty only lasts for 30 days and covers replacement parts only. Neither of the belts they had sent lasted anywhere near 30 days. The customer service lady then claimed that their warranty only covered shipping damage....huh? After much wrangling she agreed to send another one if I paid $7.00 for shipping costs. Remember this is a less than 1 pound belt. I waited a week, no  communication, no belt. I called again today only to find out that a) The belt only shipped yesterday. b.)The belt had no tracking number, since it had been sent US Mail not FedEx Ground as everything else had. c.) That yes $7.00 is the right shipping charge for US mail and it would have cost me $30.00(!!) for FedEx ground. (Their site advertises the belt for $16.00 with free FedEx Ground shipping.)The CS agent was rude and indignant throughout both calls that I have made to them

I strongly recommend staying away from any retailer selling x-treme scooters as their customer service is highly lacking and the product is not nearly as well made as advertised. (The x-10's flimsy deck being the most flagrant offender  in this area. If you stand anywhere near the rear end of the scooter you will crack it.)

Update: It is now February 18th and my belt they supposedly shipped on Feb 6th (which I ordered on Jan. 30) via First Class Mail and paid $7.00 for, still has not arrived. When I called to find out what they problem was I was sent to a voice mail box that then promptly disconnected me. The beat goes on...

Update 2: Actually received a call back from customer service today. Turns out the belt had been returned by the USPS since the address was bad. They did not re-take my address when I ordered this belt, but were supposed to re-ship to the same address they had shipped to three times before. Of course they didn't, but somehow managed to completely change one number in the street address. Amazing work!

Update3: Now March 8th, five and a half weeks after the replacement belt was ordered. Still no belt, called and left a message. Received a call back saying that once again the belt had been sent back by the Post Office for a bad address, yet she was able to read back my address and it was correct(having been in the customer side of the shipping business in the past I know it is always convenient to blame the shipper for your own mistakes.) They still refuse to use FedEx Ground that would have the tracking needed to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen. Said that they would ship Priority Mail and send me the tracking number via email (we'll see) Also said they are still filling back order parts from December and once again blamed the carrier (excessive shipping damage)

Update 5 (Feb 24, 2007): This post has become quite popular and I hope it is helping people make better purchasing decisions. Several more incidents happened since my last post almost a year ago, I had two cracked wheel hubs on the x-250 due to not being able to easily and accurately adjust the belt tension. Also I had a throttle break on the x-10 and when a replacement was sent the electrical connectors were the wrong type. I finally gave up. This was the worst purchase I have ever made, my boys had a total of maybe 5-6 enjoyable days with their scooters and countless more of days of frustration. Both scooters sit in a junk heap waiting for me to pay some more to dump them off in a landfill somewhere.

Oh and by the way...X-treme scooters have introduced a new x-140 which is a smaller and cheaper version of the x-250...Before you order one, I 'd read the opinions of the owner of X-treme Scooters in the comments section of this post!

Comments

[fred habib]

I just bought one of these xm3100 on ebay from getscooters for $620.00 and I am worried about the quality. Although I have not yet received it I cant help but wonder if I may have made a mistake. It seems there are lots of complaints about xtreme scooters reqarding customer support and reliability. I have tried to call them many times and no one ever answers the phone and you have to leave a message that no one ever returns. CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF I HAVE MADE A MISTAKE BUYING THIS SCOOOTER?

[jdrive]

Recently bought an X-treme scooter electric XB-562. Just awful. Scrapes and dings come pre-installed out of the box, but I can live with that. The handlebars are not securely fastened with a pin-based system, creating a wobbly experience that would be scary, excerpt, not only does this thing not go the advertised 18 mph, it doesn't break 12 mph!

Essentially, I have a $650 pile of junk that none of my kids want to ride. They love the two Razor electrics, which are far superior products.

[Gregg Muret]

Just another X-Treme Scooter tragedy. Purchase the X-560 last year (Sept 2008). Just taking it out of the box clued me about the lack of quality. Parts not complete plated, some parts had rust, innertube nipple sheared off on one wheel. Assembly was a joke with parts not fitting properly and a manual written by someone with no command of the English language. Headlight never worked and the bike only ran for about a week.

[John Q. Public]

SOMEONE AFFILIATED WITH X-TREME Scooters (I assume) is trying to advertise here in my comments. I assume because this page has climbed the Google results due to the sheer volume of complaints about their products and service. I am removing all advertising content. I will, however, leave their contact info should you need to contact them regarding their poor products or uncaring customer service. Buyers beware.

--Struggleville Ed.

X-Treme Scooters Contact Information & operating hours:

Main number 1-402-603-4445

Operating Hours (Recession schedule) Monday through Thursday 9 AM to 4 PM CST

Customer Care - Press 3 or dial extension 203 customercare@alphaproductsintl.com

Management – Joel B. – Customer care can transfer the call to management

[Carol]

I purchased my XG-499 scooter from Speedy Pocket Bikes and it shipped quick, but when it came the box was busted up a bit from the shipping which damaged a piece of the frame. I had heard about X-Treme Scooters customer service not being very reliable, but I went straight to SpeedyPocketBikes.com and they facilitated everything for me. I didn't have to speak with x-treme scooters once. They had the parts sent out quickly and helped me become a satisfied customer. I appreciate the facilitation they used with my support request, so I am writing this review to let others know this company is a good place to go.

[nathan Triplett]

GGRRRRRR :[
my X-Treme XG-470 Gas Scooter broke down, the motor still works but nothing else will, first the back tire tube broke, i spent 2 hours taking the tire off, the sprocket was bolted on and after i took it off i figured that it was a split rim, so i didnt need to take off the sprocket,(this is frustrating to do, i dont have any tools because im only 14) then i had to find a tube off of the internet ($15) of my very little money, so i got the tire fixed, the i started having electrical problems, the battery wouldnt charge, no lights would work, nothing electrical would work, i think its a fuse, i need to take my multimeter and map all the wires out and try to find a fuse (unless someone else knows what the problem is) so please help :]
then finally the rear brake (and only brake) went out, so i just use my shoes to stop for a while (and that was like $40 worth of shoes ruined, but old shoes), so i un-tightened the braked, adjusted them and tightened them back up, but the cable line is gay and old, and broke, so theres another $20, well i got that fixed and the breaks i guess are okay, it runs like a beast (well it did) but that was in november of 2008 now its march 14 of 2009, so ill check to see if the brakes held up over the winter, and try to get the motor to run, prolly needs new gas and the oil/gas ratio skrew adjusted, so if anyone could help me with the electrical problems that would be great, my aim is nattrip@aol.com send me a message if you can help me, by the way i bought the scooter in the summer of 2008 for $200, and it was like 4 years old when i bought it, so its prolly about 5 now, and still runs almost perfect (except for the electrical problems) if i can get it fixed ill rip off the motor and attach it to my bike, lmfao

[Derek]

How is this company still making any $? Here's my experience from a video response I posted on youtube:

Man, I got mine last year (bout 8 months ago). The thing was a POS!! The manual had no information about the scooter at all, it did not even reference there was two sets of brakes and shocks. Anyway, every I did and could read led me to believe I could ride it out of the box. BIG MISTAKE!

So, after a couple weeks of riding, I noticed the front steering bar was always loose, not the kind of "slop" you would expect with a collapsible assembly (dropping the front bar down for transport). After taking apart the threaded crown (btw, the guy on tech support wanted me to measure this for a replacement part, he didn't even know what it was called, I found this out from my local bike shop) the bearings fell on the ground, the bearing washer (piece with tiny fingers/teeth to hold in the bearings) was destroyed and there was grit inside...long, long story short, the size was off. My buddy who is a machinist and deals with tiny and accurate measurements told me the size of the nuts and washers (everything the sent me to replace the threaded crown) was off by the thickness of the thread (enough to cause enough movement and have the result be the crit and destroyed bearing washer). WHAT!!! This was all noticed within a 30-day period. Again, long long long story short, I begged, pleaded, threatened, offered sexual favors, everything short of buying a new one, I wanted them to send me a completely new scooter, not one that I received and would have "lot's of fun" working on it. I don't have any tools or the knowledge of these thing, so this was not easy. The following had to be done to even reach the point where I am now (rebuilding the whole damn thing, actually I'm gonna salvage the motor and controls for a new scooter)...less then a year I have had this fu(king nightmare! Here is the list:

***front threaded crown replaced
***kick stand fell off, I am very aware everywhere it's mentioned the kickstand is welded on the frame HA!!!!!!!!!!! fucking liars
***back plastic piece over rear wheel broke off (it's too bad plastic last a long time, unless you need it to be functional!!
***brakes need adjustment (had no clue how to do this, had to search for someone to do this for me)
***the tire pressure is supposed to be 40lbs (I believe), when I received it, they were only filled to 10lbs.
***my chain fell off during soft braking, you know why? Because the tires/wheels needed to be adjusted and tightened out of the box (are you fu(king serious!).
***The "shock" (or as I call it, dead weight) works, but apparently is only devised to work for like 100 bumps or whatever, I have adjusted this to the point where the back tire is being pushed farther back on one side vs. the other, when looking down...and of course this leads to having to adjust the fucking centering of the back tire, even though it is parallel to the metal plates it is attached to.
***because the shock is defective or lame (haven't decided which yet) I bottom out when gently dropping off sidewalk curbs (mind you, this thing has front and rear shocks for the occasional little dirt or grass which is why I got the X-600 vs. X-500), so I am beyond flabbergasted to learn that the bottom of my scoot is scratchy and raw and the sheetmetal has ground off a little and rusting, even worse is the fact that this is causing the welds to pop off the rear assembly.
***(re-iterating the weld BS) the rear wheel assembly that is welded to the sheetmetal box (where the batteries are stored) is coming apart, the welds are popping and a couple look like the are just peeling off, maybe they tried to Elmers glue, I would have recommended at least epoxy it I just don't know.

Also, when I did finally tell them what was wrong, the sent me a bunch of parts I did not need, and this "tool kit" they speak of...HA!!!!! What the fuck is it supposed to be used for, it's a piece of sheetmetal with various holes cut into doesn't fit in places for the parts it was made to adjust---but boy, it sure does look like it would work...on something anyway!

I tried like you can't believe to exchange the whole scooter, I even offered to pay for shipping one way, but as mentioned, there is no number to call (I do better when I can talk to someone), and all they insisted on was finding out the issue and sending replacement parts (again, I did not have any tools to replace anything...and this was told to them too). I took pics, itemized and even wrote notes on the pics to avoid any confusion on their part, nope. I threatened them with a Better Business Bureau contact, did not phase them. Again, begged and pleaded (I'd show you the emails/work tickets, but don't have that email account anymore), told them a million times I never wanted to buy this scooter under the premise that it is something I have a adjust, tighten, put air in, replace parts, learn how to measure bolts/nuts/pitch thread, learn about braking system and of course all the wasted time pleading to them...

My scooter is awesome, the few times I haven't had to do something to it, but based on all the issues and the fucked up customer service, I have NEVER EVER recommended it to anyone, I say I don't remember where I bought it from...that's really too bad for the company as I live in Marin County (By San Francisco) and there are tons of people that would get this...we are all about green techs and alternative transportation...again, no-one I have talked to knows the name of the company that sold this, they may find out from the web, but I will never say..fuck them.
Riding one last time in it's current condition to my buddies place tomorrow, gonna tear it aprt and start from scratch...and the name X-treme scooter will never be associated with it...woo hoo!!

A lot of factors made this very difficult to deal with, and whats worse, no bike, automotive, or motorcycle shops around here would touch it (even if I signed something releasing them of all possible indemnity's) .

Sorry if this email bounces around in weird directions, I am clearly still pissed about it.

I put a "I LOVE MY PET" bike bell thingy, that looks pretty cool and it works awesome!!

I was gonna do the same and film a sick review, but as you can see from above, I never got to it...and my frustrations where to much to want to after a while. Maybe what I will do is the best review ever on using it for parts on another scooter...!! :-)

[Gregg Verses]

Hello My Name is Gregg Verses,
We ordered an Extreme XG-499 Gas powered Scooter for my oldest son and there
were some issues with it and I started communicating with the tech support
person John. I would like to let you know how extremely helpful and patient
he has been with me in helping me with my problems. He is a great asset to
the firm and I hope he is recognized for all his hard work. I will extend
my thanks to him as I will probably need his assistance again we just
ordered another Extreme Scooter for my other son.

[Joe]

I was very surprised how quickly this product was delivered. When it was delivered the box looked a little beat up and it looked like someone had re taped the box. I had figured the item was used or broken and was displeased until I opened it. Everyone hears the horror story's about ordering something online from a company you haven't done business with before. My daughters x-250 came out of the box in perfect condition and a snap to put together. This scooter is incredible, it is very powerful too. I don't usually take the time to complement someone on a job well done, but they deserve it. They get a rating of 5 out of 5 from me.

[Lori Belliveau]

I can't begin to tell you how impressed I was with the customer service.
All to often I am sending an email to let a company how horrible their
customer service was, but that was quite the opposite with this company.
The personnel were pleasant and very professional, and the parts were
replaced quickly. I thank you, and will definitely do business with you in
the future.

Lori Belliveau

[Jen]

Arrived in torn, water-logged box w/ poor wheel assembly directions and parts missing as well as a tools that didn't fit the parts and a dead battery that weighs 30 lbs. At our cost, we were required to ship the battery back to them before they would give us a new one. "Customer service" was a nightmare. Lies, half-responses, unknowlegeable, dim-witted, rude.....the worst company I've ever had to deal with.

[Frank Licool]

I just happen to come across this blog some 3 months after I have received my x-treme scooters, actually they were x-treme bicycles. My church group purchased 17 of the XB-300Li electric mountain bikes from an online dealer that sells xtreme's products. The total cost was $18,683 delivered to our church in California. Each of the 17 people shared equally in the expense so the total cost per each person was $1099.
We are a green church meaning we are promoting California living the green way, and we promote members traveling to church using a means that reduces or eliminates pollution.
After reading this blog I got in contact with each of the 17 people that have purchased these XB-300LI model electric bicycle and i asked them what sort of problems they were having. I was amazed after reading this blog to find that not a single person had even a single problem, not even so much as a flat tire. I felt obligated to post to the blog after reading a comment from someone that was about to purchase a 300Li model but decided not to do so after reading this blog.
Most of us are putting 5 to 10 miles each day commuting to work and church on our electric mountain bike. The warranty is getting ready to expire as we are about 90 days out but i don't think we need it anyways since this bike is as solid as a rock. This blog promoted me to read further into the warranty offered & now i see x-treme scooters offers a FULL 1 YEAR WARRANTY on this model. I don't think i will need the warranty but it's nice knowing it's there should something go wrong.
It seems like i'm going against the grain of this blog and that makes me wonder how many happy people really take the time to write a review! I am happy and so are my 16 other riders that drive along side me once a week to Church!

[melissa george]

After reading all of your posts, I will NOT be buying an X-treme scooter! Thanks for the blog, thanks for standing against the man and posting all of your comments and thanks for saving me some hard earned money!! You guys rock.

peace out~

[Sean]

I recently purchased an extreme scooter model number xg550 from a ebay powerseller, i recieved the shipment 3 days after purchase. My scooter came unharmed, after messing with the mixture screw for a few times, the scoot seemed to bog down on full throttle, so i took my old k&n air filter off my goped sport and mounted it to the carb. The scooter now hauls ass at 43 mph as opposed to the stock rating of 35. Something so simple can cause a big difference. Since then i bought 3 more of them, took the shitty stock air filter off and all 4 run strong. You all must have had yours built on a monday or friday. Lol.

[Jim]

Thank god for google! I was seriously thinking about purchasing the xb-300li which would of put me out over 1000.00! I have been researching it for a couple of days and couldnt find anything using the model number so I finally googled the company name. The internet is full of these type of pages.

On a side note the places that are selling these things should be held accountable also! I have yet to find a retailer online that is a true retailer and not a dropshipper. I am willing to bet that 90% of the online scooter stores are x-treme themselves!

[william]

i am curious that is the x-treme x-500 scooter can ride on raining day or not?
Like bicycle we can ride on raining day, but how about this x-500 scooter? is anyone know about this? thank you!

[waygone]

This is short but worthy of this blog. I purchased three X-500 scooters from x-treme sccoters, friends of our also bought 3 for the great price of $638. Sounded great! Well to make a long story short within 2 1/2 weeks 2 of my 3 were shut down and the third is going fast (rear wheel bearings and rachet gear). Our friends, the first day they rode theirs all 3 went down. I called tech support after my 1st scooter broke and Bill said no problem I am ordering the replacement parts, 2-5 days shipping. It's been 6 weeks. Then I called after the next 2 went down and I requested an RMA. Mr. Bill did not order parts did not create a ticket but did submit the RMA request. How funny that my RMA was denied 10 days later.
So here I am with 3 scooters that do not work, and now Sean a new name says that I was out of my 30 day warranty and called me a Liar when I told him the dates I called. He isisted that I am just trying to pull a scam over them! HA! Oh, did you know that if your scooter breaks and it is in warranty and you call the company you have to specifically ask them to create a ticket. They,unlike 99.99% of the businesses in the world who automatically create a job order, feel that it is the customers responsibility to ask for one to be created. I have almost accepted the fact that I am out the money but it will not be for lack of trying. I have contacted the Washington State AG, and will be contacting the Iowa AG, and the BBB, and our news station's problem solvers.
I also own 2 Razor electric scooters and one Schwinn. Those work great. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM X-TREME SCOOTERS.

Thanks for setting up this blog. I told you it would be short.

[inviplila]

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[Mike Hunt]

The box was of higher quality than the scooter.

[Rick]

X-treme Scooters is a rip-off and their customer service does suck! When I tried to deal with their "customer service" they were no help at all. Companies like these guys should not be in business.

Shortly after we bought an X-500, the batteries went bad. We had to buy new ones at $140. The new ones they sent were defective, but customer service wouldn't replace them, telling us we needed to buy another set and pay another $140. We never got any use out of the ones they sent.

I wish I had seen this web site before I bought this scooter. Don't buy their product!

[swedlobbicbic]

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[Steve (Cincinnati Ohio)]

Oh yeah, the scooter model is the XG-550.

[Steve (Cincinnati Ohio)]

Here's another big, fat sucker! I paid $399 of hard earned cash for my screw-job from The Scooter Guru!!

Out of the box I should have known better. After installing the handle bars and filling the tank up with gas I was ready for my first ride. After jumping aboard and rolling on the throttle... The rpm's went up as I slowly rolled to a stop! No air in the tires!! Startup said nothing about checking the air pressure. Needless to say, the rim spun within the tire severing the inner tube stem where it protrudes from the wheel. The tube was now trash. I spent about an hour or so removing the wheel, sprocket, rotor when the pig metal tools stripped. I bought new tools. Contacted the Guru and the new tubes are of course, on backorder and should be in in 2 weeks. It's been 3 weeks so I bought a new tube at Lowes. Installed it (what a be-atch!) and made my first test ride. Seemed pretty peppy, but the brakes were not adjusted correctly, if at all! I adjusted or tightened more nuts and bolts on that thing than I have fingers and toes!!

The seat, nice feature, well... if you like to be dumped off the back of the scooter! You can tighten and retighten all you want. The metal simply stretches and lacks the notches required to achieve a non slip union. I replaced the seat with a Bell and it was fine.

Now on to the gas tank. The bolts will vibrate loose after only an hour or two of riding. I found the rear bolt magnetically attached to the starter motor. I had to replace them both along with the spacer sleeves also using LockTite on the threads. First go 'round didn't hold, added more LockTite (crossed fingers and toes).

While on my second tank of gas, oh yeah, the claim to +20 miles per tank must be for a 50 lb Chinese kid (who probably assembled this scooter) on a 20 mile downhill slope. This engine does like the gas! I weigh 210 and I think I got about 7-10 miles on the first tank. I'm not sure of the capacity of the tank, but let's say it's about a quart (1/4 of a gallon). This would mean the an average 28-40 mpg. That sucks considering the vehicle only weighs 50 pounds!!! Equate that efficiency to a small car weighing 3000 lbs and that is 0.017 mpg or better represented as 58 gpm (yes - that unit of measure is "gallons per mile"!). Check my math!!

How 'bout that "dual front shock suspension system". Nice eh!? Completely false! There is no shocks, simply a flexible plastic part that resembles a dust boot on a real shock. The forks are static (fixed). The only suspension you get is in the flex of the tires. That's it!

Which bring me to the claim "The XG-550 cannot be broken". All that stress goes directly to the frame and it can be broken. All you need to do is ride it, just normal everyday riding, on streets and sidewalks. I'm only on the second tank of gas here folks! I'm 6'-0" and weigh 210 lbs. The specs reflect that a rider of my size should be no problem. Well, I noticed a new bounce in the ride. The welds at the back where the frame meets the deck broke. The Guru said he would put a claim in and I should here something in two weeks on whether they would replace the unit or replace the frame. I'm pretty sure of what the verdict will be.

So here's some really good advice. I consider myself mechanically inclined. I can fix just about anything. Unless you intend on spending a lot of time and money installing parts and correcting design flaws for the life of this scooter, RUN! Run as fast as the wind, the other way! This unit is made of only the best, malleable "pig" metal that China has to offer! Perhaps this is where they are disposing all their excess "LEAD"...

[lee]

I purchased a schwinn s500 in april, and the only problem I have had is the chain became loose, once I tightened it no problem except going down a hill about 3 weeks ago I lost control and broke my left hip left arm and a left rib, also a large hematoma on my head, now my children wont give it back. it still runs great

[Alex Burdash]

I purchised two schwins 500 at wal-mart and they both broke down after 6 months.