Do NOT purchase a NIU e-bike
WARNING ** WARNING ** WARNING Although NIU sells their e-bikes through Best Buy and Walmart THEY WILL NOT HONOR THEIR WARRANTY if you purchase them there! NIU & Besender are Chinese based companies and there are no repercussions in the USA if they damage your bike when it’s being repaired or fail to honor their warranty. We purchased a NIU e-bike from Best Buy in July for the purpose of taking it on a 6 week vacation in at the end of September. When assembling we were unable to release a bolt required to move the handle bars and ended up shipping it back to Best Buy for a replacement. The second e-bike also had a defect - we were unable to remove either of the batteries. We contacted NIU customer support and, after being given instructions to turn the key harder and/or push the battery harder, we were still unable to remove either of the batteries. Three people unsuccessfully attempted the battery removal. The bike was shipped to the manufacturer for warranty repair the 2nd week of August. At that point it was too late to ask Best Buy for assistance as they only have a 2 week refund/return window. Daniel at NIU customer service assured me we would receive the e-bike back in time for our vacation. The bike was finally assigned to a technician on September 9th. After several calls to customer service - who were unable to provide a status update - we were finally told they could not fix it as they didn’t have the key. We had shipped the key with the bike - placed it in an envelope and taped it to the inside of the original box. We had further completely sealed the box with stretch wrap shipping tape. Many, many emails and phone calls ensued and the last email received from NIU today said they couldn’t fix the bike without the key and they wanted to return it to me as is without honoring their warranty. Not only did we have to purchase a replacement e-bike (not from NIU) for our vacation, we are now being told we will be stuck with a defective e-bike missing a key. There is no way for a customer to directly reach out to the repair department as they outsource all repairs. There are no corporate offices in USA to reach out to. There is no way to contact the company in China. We have spent countless hours trying to reach anyone outside of customer service. We have paid over $1,300 for this e-bike. ********** Oct 25, 2024 ******* It’s been 3 months and NIU still has the bike. No response other than ‘we need the key’. What? The manufacturer can’t do a replacement key for their service contractors to replace the one they lost? I just checked the Besender (NIU’s repair service) tracking system. On 10/22/2024 it was shown as ‘unrepairable’. ************ Oct 26,2024 ***** Just received this email from NIU: “Since your device was not purchased from the official NIU website, it is classified as a non-official order, and therefore, we are unable to provide return or exchange services.” So - as I bought it from Best Buy (who is their authorized re-seller) I’m out of luck??? Best Buy only has a 15 day return/refund window. ******Nov 2024 update******* NIU shipped the bike back without repairing it the battery removal issue. Upon opening the box we discovered they didn’t put the support bolt into the front fork and it was bent during shipping. After emailing them with pictures we waited a week for a response. NIU claimed they received it from me in that condition. Don’t you find it interesting they didn’t mention the bent fork during the 3+ months they had the bike? Dec 2024 update: I FINALLY got a refund from Best Buy. Actually not Best Buy corporate, but from a store manager who took pity on me. Best Buy corporate wa still not willing to do anything to help. Thank you to the manager (who shall remain nameless for fear of corporate repercussions) that was a decent human being!