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Report: #745686

Complaint Review: Pedal Powered Work Bikes - Burlington Vermont

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  • Reported By: Kris — Plattsburgh New York USA
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  • Pedal Powered Work Bikes Burlington, Vermont United States of America

Pedal Powered Work Bikes Pedal Powered Bike Taxi, Poor workmanshp UNSAFE bike cabs Burlington, Vermont

*Consumer Comment: Poor Business Idea.

*General Comment: Attatched to a BIKE?..really?

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After our recent purchase of a bike cab (pedicab) trailer from James Simpson we have experienced many issues. Mr Simpson has worked with us to solve some of our issues but there are so many that I do not feel that they can be rectified in a manner fast enough to meet our dead line for business that has already had to be put back several times do to Mr Simpson unprofessional and chronic lateness.  I am will to settle with Mr Simpson out of court ONLY if there is a strick date and time give and it is met. If he is more then 1 minute late I will ask for a trial. Here are a list of a few of the main big issues at hand. 1) Length and height of trailer tow bar. 

Due to poor and improper engineering the tow bar rubs on the bike tire when cresting a hill or pulling into a raised parking lot.  I have made Mr Simpson aware of this and he stated it was not the trailer at fault but the bike. This is completely FALSE. We have tried sever different bikes from road bikes, to cruiser, to 3 different mountain bikes and on all of them the tire hits on occasion creating a HUGE safety issue!  I have taken the trailer to a local fabrication shop and they stated it would cost $400 to around $600 to repair this engineering mistake. (Plattsburgh Spring Fabrications) Look at attachment "A" to see tire rub. 2) Canopy. 

I paid $250 for a canopy from Mr Simpson. From what he told me it was a quality canopy made of good material and sewn by a professional seamstress.  When I finally got the canopy (almost two weeks after dead line)  it was NOT painted to match, it was made from shoty material, and WAS NOT professionally sewn.  After driving a few feet the canopy starts to sag. After about ten miles of light use the velcro came loose from the material because it was poorly hand sewn probably by Mr Simpson himself.  On top of it when he install the canopy he drilled one hole in the wrong place leaving a hole in my brand new cab.  He asked me if it bothered me and I just said no because I was very upset and just wanted him away from me before I lost my temper.Cost to fic canopy by properly having the right material sewn the right way.

$250 (Naomi's Tailor Shop)  See attachments B & B-1 3) Wasted time. I had an employee retained to pick up our cab on the first contract completion date. Mr Simpson canceled 2 hours before we were supposed to pick it up. Costing me 4 hours of wasted labor ($75) On our next contract date I drove to Vermont and was 10 minute early. The cab was not even welded YET!!!! I had to wait over two hours for him to fish our contract. And then I had to paint it myself because I could not wait any longer. The seats where not done, and the canopy was not finished. I had a babysitter watching my kids that expected me to only be gone 2.5 hours and I was gone 6 because of Mr Simpson not meeting a dead line AGAIN. So i drove over to bring back a useless hunk of aluminum, because there were no seats or back.  All together this day cost me an extra $150 on top of what I had expected, This does not include MY hourly rate that I lost because I had to cancel an event to to his unprofessionalism. 

My hourly rate is $65 per hour.  I will just say he owes me $200 all together for missing deadlines , however it was far more. See attachments C & D 4) Misleading sales tactics. Mr Simpson lied to me in several emails I have attached in order to sell me his trailer verses buying a used pedicab.  This has hurt me greatly financially.  I was told it would cost me a mere $750 to insure one cab.  I did research and this was true as far as I knew for a pedicab. What he did not tell me is that I had to tell the insurance company that I wanted to insure a TRAILER and not a real PEDICAB. This not only increased my insurance rate by DOUBLE but delayed my busniess start up by several weeks because we could not find an insurance company willing to insure any trailer type pedicab if it did not have brakes. 

If Mr Simpson had been upfront with us we never would have bought his trailer to begin with.  There are 3 ways Mr Simpson can fix this problem.  1) Supply me with a FULL refund and I will not sure him for the other cost I had $1750.  2) He can pay a local bike shop to install proper brakes on my trailer. I do not want him touching my cab because of his poor engineering skills.  Also Pay the local welding shop to fix tow bar Estimated settlement $750.  3) He can ignore my request and I will go to trial for the full amount of all cost I have reaching over $3000 and seek an income execution against Mr Simpson asking for immediate cash settlement OR an auction of his shop content to pay me back for this scam.  See attachemnt "E"

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 06/26/2011 05:01 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/pedal-powered-work-bikes/burlington-vermont-05401/pedal-powered-work-bikes-pedal-powered-bike-taxi-poor-workmanshp-unsafe-bike-cabs-burling-745686. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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#2 Consumer Comment

Poor Business Idea.

AUTHOR: Robert - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, June 27, 2011

This is a poor business idea.  A trailer attached to a bicycle for hire?  Not with me on board.

This is NOT a rikshaw in any sense of the word.  A rickshaw is made on ONE SOLID FRAME (not two separate assemblies clamped together.)

As a consumer, I would never pay anyone to ride around in this contraption-too unsafe as you pointed out.

If you wish to have a rikshaw business, I suggest you purchase a rikshaw.  This nonsense is just that, nonsense.  I'm not certain that this contraction can be licensed and INSURED for running a personal conveyance business.  If I was an insurance underwriter, I wouldn't allow it or I'd make sure the insurance premiums were so high that no one would consider this rediculous business idea.

I fear that you might be stuck with this nonsense.  Perhaps you could use it for delivering firewood or groceries to shut-ins.  I do not recommend you use this thing to convey people.

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#1 General Comment

Attatched to a BIKE?..really?

AUTHOR: Adolph - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, June 27, 2011
'Rickshaws' (three wheeled bikes) have been used successfully in scores of foreign
countries, including the USA. They are inherently stable as they remain upright when at rest
without a side stand. The passengers needn't be concerned about the operator crashing on
his BICYCLE, throwing them foreward with possible injury.

It's sad the "designer" chose this his inherently unstable design for his "work bike trailer"
I was in Japan from 1947 to 1952 and NEVER saw a bike pulling a trailer, but hundreds of three-
wheeled 'rickshaw / pedicabs' for personal and freight transport. IMHO the 'designer' decided
to 'reinvent the wheel' in an effort to market something less expensive.
 .
Interestingly, there are quite a few other sites alluding to everything from non-delivery to unuseable equipment from this 'manufacturer'. IMHO his wares show no proprietary parts,
only a bunch of straight tubing put together in the maner of a highschool shop class project.
I surely hope you can get your money back, as there exist many (three wheeled) pedicab rickshaws on the market. Granted, more money than a "trailer", but at least useable,
emminently safer, and available. Some have the passengers in front (saving the complexity of a driven 'rear axle), others postition the driver / peddler in the front. The passengers would have unrestricted vision in the former.
.
Here's an unknown brand of same in New York city.
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