Omegastores, Monica LLC Upgrades not delivered, very poor quality, deceptive return policy: BUYERS BEWARE! Wallingford Connecticut

Do not buy a Cozy Bike.  I did research and test drove several electric bikes, and then came across the Cozy Bike offered by Omegastores.  It offered the features that were useful to me; upgrade to long range lithium battery, upgrade to more powerful controller, free shipping, 90 day return policy.  There were none available in my area, but I decided to take a $1700 chance.   The 1st warning was that credit cards or PayPal were not accepted, to keep costs low.  So a check was provided and duely cashed.  Ultimately I changed my bank account number due to concern over fraud.  

The bike was delivered in 2-3 weeks by UPS freight on a 4'x8' pallet in a box (important because in confirming with UPS, the actual discounted freight cost was $575 outbound and $580 inbound!  Ouch. Ultimately upon returning the bike, I was charged these amounts).  

Peddles were missing (I bought my own seperately just so i could try the bike). The peddle cranks had a poor fit with the crank shaft and ultimately fell off during the first exteded ride.  The battery provided had no markings.  I measured the weight at 40 lbs; typical for a lead acid battery.  Based on the range claims in the industry, a lithium battery should weigh about 20 lbs.  The controller also had no labelling.  So there was no way of determining if the upgraded battery and controller were provided.  Note that the instructions for resolving missing/broken/damaged components were very cumbersome: customer pays for parts and cost to return parts upfront, then maybe Omegastors provides new components, so more money then weeks of delivery time!!

The first trial revealed 1. that the battery was lead acid; only 8 miles actual range (vs 40 claimed for lithium).  2. that the controller was the low power version (i had test driven high and low power bikes and know the difference). 3.  and the mechanicals were really poor quality.  Surprisingly, the electrical system worked well.  After walking home the last two miles, i had to choose what to do; repair or return.

Note that after the sale, email and phone communication with Omegastores was very slow and responses to my querries were trite and incomplete.

Thank goodness for the 90 day return policy.  Well it took more than three weeks to sort out the details for how to return the product.  Eventually it worked out and a return authorization granted and a shipping label provided. The refund would be processed 10 days after the bike was received.  The check was received as stated but for only $550!!  It turns out that the big print giveth (free shipping) but the fine print taketh away (customer pays for both the outbound ($575) and inbound ($580) shipping costs).  Stated yes, but buyer beware.  Luckily Omegastores waived the 25% restocking fee and administration fee or could have owed more than i paid.  

In doing some quick calculations, Omegastores makes more money from people returning their product than from people who keep the product.  Brilliant business plan.

Run away from this company.  Run, Run Run!