[ChevyTeddy]

Mandatory disclaimer: Not really familiar with biking, so you aren't going to get a connoisseur's review of the hardware here. that way, I guess. But this was an experience that restarted my hankering for a cruiser, a search that should end soon btw (more on that in another post), and I figured I should give back whatever I can back to a community I've lurked in for many years.

Date of Rental: June 2, 2017

Cruisers like the Avenger and Yamaha’s Enticer have always been on my must-ride bucket list, and this past Monday, I finally bit the bullet (sorry about the pun there!) and decided to rent a bike for a few hours to see if it lived up to the hype within my head.

A quick search on Google gave me options such as Wheelstreet, Rentmojo, WickedRide, RentOnGo, MetroBikes, Royal Brothers and Ziphop. At short notice, the closest one with an Avenger available at nominal rates (Rs.30/hr) was WheelStreet. No deposit, a painless registration and booking process and, five minutes later, I’d booked a pickup from their Marathahalli location. (I just tried their website again, and turns out only the booking form on the home page works well. The ones on the location pages are buggy to the point of uselessness)

Pickup

This was the part I least enjoyed about WheelStreet. For one, they give their location as Star Mall, Marathahalli. This is idiotic since their actual location, right opposite Lightspro on Gulmohar Enclave, is just as easily a searchable landmark, and if you have a vehicle of your own (as I did), you don’t have an option but to park it in Star Mall and walk back. Why not give people the actual pickup location itself?

I booked a bike for 9 AM. All pre-paid, so I figured the bike should be ready by the time I arrive. Thanks to Bengaluru Monday Morning traffic, I actually get there by 10. The WheelStreet location manager (LM) started calling me by 9.40 or so. You’d imagine that, since he knew I was coming for and since it was already paid for (I can’t stress this enough), the bike would be ready.

Uh huh. It wasn’t. Worse, it hadn’t even been tested. Cobwebs hung off its grill, unmistakably obvious. If I hadn’t committed the time and effort to get there, I would have been tempted to call it off right then and demand a refund.



The bike refuses to self-start. Kicking doesn’t really help either. The LM tells me it is because it was out in the cold. Tries and fails to start it. Finally, takes it out on the road and gives it a running start. Brings it back telling me, “Now it will work.” And I am wondering, what if it stops on a main road and refuses to start? What will I, an amateur biker at best, do then?

Then we notice the smoke coming out of the engine. And no, not through the exhaust.

The bike is dusty too. I ask him if he shouldn’t have kept it ready by 9 itself. His reply? “Sir, you are late.” The logic is irrefutable, you see. If I had been on time, the bike would have been ready – but since I was late, the bike wasn’t ready on time. Wheelstreet, if you’re reading this, you might want to retrain him on certain matters of logic, reasoning and customer handling.

I had had enough. I tell him I am not going to accept that bike.


The bike that saved the day

To be fair, he agreed without argument (a sad commentary on Indian companies’ attitudes towards the customer – I half-expected him to put up a spirited defense on why the smoke was merely the evaporation of water vapor from last night’s chill) and gave me another bike.

Time from arrival to kick off, almost 30 mins. I kid you not.

Pluses:

• Replaced defective vehicle.
• Ease of booking
• No deposit!

Minuses:

• LM did not brief me on fuel, choke, gear, etc. Assumed I knew.
• I had to submit an original ID card. Thankfully, I always carry at least 2 on my person at all times. But this wasn’t mentioned anywhere, I think. Certainly nowhere prominent.
• Vehicle wasn’t ready at the appointed time.

Rating: 1/5. And that one point is for giving me another Avenger 150, new one, without fighting over it. Otherwise, -2/5.

Vehicle

The bike was an absolute beaut to ride on. Only 292 kms on the odo when I started, and everything worked as it should. Once I grew comfortable with the gear system, it became even easier. Riding the Avenger was everything I imagined it to be, and then some more.



No issues anywhere. I do wish, however, that their pickup point had been closer to a petrol station. With the fuel gauge on the wrong side of E (and despite the LM’s assurances that there would be enough fuel to get me to the nearest petrol bunk on the other side of the Marathahalli junction), I kept worrying that the crawling traffic – it took me half an hour to cross 1 km – would drain what little fuel there was.

Rating: 4/5

Return

Despite the delay in pickup (not the 1 hour that I was late, but the half an hour that was occasioned by WheelStreet’s own carelessness), I was asked to bring the vehicle back by 2 PM sharp or face penalties. Not really an endearing memory as far as dealing with the LM was concerned. The process was painless, however, because I returned it at 1.50 PM and took my ID card back and was on my way a couple of minutes later.

Rating: 5/5

Overall: 3/5.
The second bike saved it for WheelStreet. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really create a USP for WS. With competitors offering similar rates and promising the same (or, given the first bike I was assigned, better) quality of bikes, I am not really sure WS currently has what it takes to develop a loyal clientele. My first – and perhaps only? – experience with them will always be defined by, “Sir, you are late… that is why bike is not ready.“

[audioholic]

Ouch! That looks like a horrible experience. Prior to buying my Ninja, I had rented a Duke from Wickedride and it was a pleasant experience. The bike had 35k kms on the odo IIRC, but apart from its share of bruises, it was mechanically perfect and the whole process from booking the vehicle to delivering it back was flawless. The only policy I did not like is the fueling. They gave the bike with almost no fuel in it, and I had to return it in the same way. .

I told this to them while returning the bike and they offered a refund for the remaining fuel in the bike which I refused, since I had filled for 300 rupees and had used up a good amount of fuel.

[Omkar]

Originally Posted by ChevyTeddy

Mandatory disclaimer: Not really familiar with biking, so you aren't going to get a connoisseur's review of the hardware here. that way, I guess. But this was an experience that restarted my hankering for a cruiser, a search that should end soon btw (more on that in another post), and I figured I should give back whatever I can back to a community I've lurked in for many years.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading the review! Nicely penned down the whole experience.

Many BHPians have shared their experiences on renting on the forum. The pickup experience was surely pretty bad. The rental company should have informed in advance regarding the availability of the bike and they should have ensured that the bike was in working condition. Had a similar experience with the delay in delivery last year with Rebel Rides (Full report).

As you mentioned correctly, the customer handling is the key in rental business and most people try to push it through and just be done with it (like he did with the first Avenger). The silver lining is that you got a new bike.

Though one question, you had booked the Avenger 150 or 220? And did you get the same as replacement or different?

Originally Posted by audioholic

The only policy I did not like is the fueling. They gave the bike with almost no fuel in it, and I had to return it in the same way. .

I told this to them while returning the bike and they offered a refund for the remaining fuel in the bike which I refused, since I had filled for 300 rupees and had used up a good amount of fuel.

I'm guessing this is the similar strategy with ZoomCar as well. The fuel charges are included in the rental amount, so them providing a refund was mandatory.

Another strategy which some rentals also use is that they give the bike with a full tank and expect it to be returned with a full tank as well. The number of kilometers is not limited and IMO this is a very good option.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Omkar

I'm guessing this is the similar strategy with ZoomCar as well. The fuel charges are included in the rental amount, so them providing a refund was mandatory.

Another strategy which some rentals also use is that they give the bike with a full tank and expect it to be returned with a full tank as well. The number of kilometers is not limited and IMO this is a very good option.

I find both Zoomcar and the other competitors like Revv and Myles to offer a decent fuel policy. While Zoomcar pays you for the fuel you fill into the car during rental, the others give a full tank and need a full tank of fuel during return. Pretty straight forward, keeping the distance limit aside.

But coming to wickedride or wheelstreet, they dont have such a policy. They simply state in their FAQs that fuel is not included in the rental. Heck, wheelstreet dont even have any condition wrt fuel. Hence, they end up giving as less fuel as possible and they dont care about how much we fill in. However, we wont have an idea of how less fuel can be returned to them. Hence, more or less every customer would be filling surplus fuel. Wonder what they do with this.

That brings us to another important difference between WickedRide and Wheelstreet. While WR owns all their inventory and their locations are managed by staff, WS is just like an aggregator. This was a main reason I chose to stay away from them and went with WR. If you read the terms and policies of Wheelstreet, they have mentioned 'Vendor' everywhere. Hence, in case of any trouble, we are left at the mercy of the vendor and even in case of damage/breakdown, they have clearly stated that the vendor is the one who will decide what is the cost to be borne by the customer.

Leave that, in Wheelstreet, if the vehicle is stolen, one is required to reimburse the market cost of the vehicle which is absurd. How can one pay up the full amount of a new bike if a run down and battered bike is stolen? Compared to this, wickedride has capped the maximum damage liability and the only grey area is we have to pay for the loss of rental when the bike is not usable. Not sure on what basis that is calculated.

[ChevyTeddy]

Originally Posted by Omkar

Thoroughly enjoyed reading the review! Nicely penned down the whole experience.

Thank you. That's a very encouraging note.

Originally Posted by Omkar

Had a similar experience with the delay in delivery last year with Rebel Rides (Full report).

Thanks for sharing the link. I read it, and it seems nothing really changes as far as punctuality is concerned. I recently booked a ride on MetroRides, and the pickup had to be delayed by over an hour because the in-charge got a breakdown. I'll share a detailed report on that later, but for now, my impression of the overall industry is that most of them still haven't gotten their operations on track and are relying on jugaad and customer amnesia to skate by.

Originally Posted by Omkar

The silver lining is that you got a new bike.

Very true. The new one rode like a charm. #SavingGrace

Originally Posted by Omkar

Though one question, you had booked the Avenger 150 or 220? And did you get the same as replacement or different?

I'd booked the Street 150. The replacement was also a Street 150. What I can't figure out was why, with both 150s in the same yard at the same time, wasn't I assigned the better bike off the bat? Why wasn't a QC done ahead of the pickup slot? A good CRM strategy should have been to hook a new customer in with a quality bike, not risk putting them off altogether with a shoddy bike that had cobwebs hanging off the frame!