My dispute is now in buyers protection. I demanded 135$ refund which is the value of the missing parts in the shop without considering the shipping costs (wanted to be nice). Now they never answered in text but changed the amount to 70$. Never buying anything from them again.
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Sorry, man. Except for the few early guys like me, @DAddYE , @mishrasubhransu and @esk8jpn, somehow the product got worse as it progressed. Didnāt see that coming.
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Iām still riding mineā¦ and Iām keeping them going somehowā¦ so far Iām into 3 motors, two of which are fucked up, and two axles. eLofty sponsored me one motor, I paid shipping, and I paid $25 for the extra axle. if you count all the shipping, the extra bearings to fix the fucked up ones, the bearing puller, the timeā¦ the aggravation, YES 100% if I knew then what I know now, Iād 100% go with @torqueboards direct drives, Iām about into the eLofty drives the same amount as TB DD drives, and Iām stuck with these drives of lesser (perceived) quality. When they runā¦ I love themā¦ when they fuck upā¦ I kick myself.
I was almost going to pull the trigger on the group buy for another set of drives, when i heard another manufacturer was making the drives and i saw pictures of the new axles and drivesā¦ but then the price went up on the 58Kv drives, and I finally sussed out they were obtaining the 58Kv drives from the same manufacturer as my drives I opted out politely.
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I need to pop over to the torqueboard direct drive thread and see what issues they have going on!
Iām going for a full refund via Paypal.
I have chatted to someone from this forum in the DMās about the truth of my whole experience, because I didnāt want to be a dick and expose Kenna here for how my correspondence with her has gone, I did not post anything publicly. It didnāt feel right.
I figured I would focus on the positives and give everyone involved the chance to do the right thing regarding finding a fair solution to resolve this problem.
Reluctantly Iām sharing two screen shots of the last thing she offered me, this is what has made me decide to bail on these drives and Kenna as a supplier altogether.
When my axle bent after 2 hrs, I was genuinely under the impression that my input to her was going to help her make a better product. I sent so many pics and videoās explaining in detail the howās and whyās it happened and how and why improvements should be made.
I felt that we as D.I.Y. builders and they as suppliers were in some unofficial symbiotic relationshipā¦mutually helping each other create pioneering products.
I must have been off my faceā¦what was I thinking?
Pretty soon, and for various reasons I realised that this was not the case.
This for them is about selling products, no more no less. Every solution offered was really a suggestion to buy more of their stuff.
I was disarmed by the whole āHi Dearā style of Whatsapping, but now that I see through the friendly style of texting, I see these are shrewd and hard business people.
Why does it cost $30 to send two small kegel adapters that failed? How do all of the eBay sellers in China manage to do free postage while Kenna says itās impossible?
After building the converted 12mm axle trampa wheel project, I got to ride for a couple of hours again until one motor stuttered and then failed, I was done.
Iād had enough, I put my board away and got stoned for weeks!
The whole back and forth, the highs, the lows, the promises, the frustration, the lies, the gamesmanship, the greed, the dissapointmentā¦I just thought āwhat the fuck am I doing here?ā It actually wore me out and I gave up on the whole esk8 thing all together.
Iām in the UK, the weather was turning, it was all just too much aggro for nothing.
It was a random text from Kenna weeks later that made me think āitās a signā LOL
I told her the issue about the motor, sent videoās etc. More promises to help and fix the issue and the merry-go-round started to turn again. I sent the video of the motor buzzing and not turning on the 10th Oct, I finally got a price afterā¦you guessed itā¦much back and forth on Whatsapp yesterdayā¦the 6th of Nov.
Thatās nearly one whole month. ONE WHOLE MONTH?
People, I have been patient, I really have.
The price she gave me for ācost price motorā is $258
Before someone tells me itās probably a mistake, I already agree with you.
But conversing in simple English does not explain how she can misunderstand what I actually need, which is one motor sold at a reduced price as they are never going to send one for free are they?
Sheās offering 2 motors at regular price minus the trucks. āDollar, dollar bill yāallā
I responded immediately, and radio silence ever since.
Sheās had a day and a half to read my text and respond, the lack of blue ticks shows she hasnāt even read it.
In all of this I have never been rude, condescending or aggressive in my text correspondence.
My text history going back to June shows this, Iāve re-read my posts to her to see if it was my manner that caused such a difficult experience, It wasnāt.
āWinter is comingā here in the UK so now Iām in no rush to get this mess with Kenna fixed.
I simply want to resolve this once and for all and I donāt mind how long it takes, itās now a matter of principle.
For the record, I feel like such a douche for writing this, itās not my style but I feel genuinely wronged here.
I never got a replacement axle as she refused to see that an un heat-treated one was weak.
The 72kv axle is heat treated, the 58kv one is not. They are not interchangeable though.
Different design.
I didnāt want the same axle without any changes as I knew what would happen to it.
Staying positive, I built the 12mm axle Trampa project to prove a point and was happy I did so.
I got to meet you lot here and learned some useful shit in the process.
I still wanted the kegel adapters but refused to pay $30 for them to be shipped, so never got those either. When the motor failed you can see why the mere thought of trying to negotiate with Kenna was beyond what I was prepared to undertake, my giving up and getting stoned was real, I know some of you relate. (maybe itās just me though)
So now what?
Iāve started a dispute on Paypal for the āitems being not as describedā.
Itās the only option that is close to my situation. Most of the options refer to the buyer not receiving the goods, I did receive the goods but for the money I paid and the service Iāve experienced, I feel I have no option but to push for a full refund and use the money to purchase something else. Why would I engage in any more transactions with this company, knowing what I already know? Never mind some of your stories that I have read here that only confirm my already negative experience.
Do I really want a replacement motor with a totally different design (screw on can like @kook received), for it to cause almost guaranteed problems like @kook is having?
The very thought of paying some crazy price for an owed replacement that takes up to 6 weeks to arrive in the hope that itāll finally work like a ready for market product should, is ridiculous.
The fact that they are changing the design without warning or informing as and when they see fit is also totally unprofessional.
When a product goes through design upgrades you usually know what you are getting because the version is normally stated in the description. This goes for software and hardware products, itās an industry standard. Even the debacle that is enertions Raptor states version 2.1 etcā¦
With Elofty itās like a ālucky dipā for hundreds of dollars at a time.
You simply donāt know what youāre getting.
Even the version I received looked nothing like the one I actually purchased.
I ordered non double kingpins with the front hanger that had the curved design.
I got double kingpins with evolve hanger copies.
Sorry for the negative post for all here that are genuinely happy with these drives, if my intentions were bad, I would have posted this type of post months ago.
It is what it is and for the sake of fairness, transparency and the possibility that my sharing could save a fellow skate dude from re-living my experience, Iām posting it, albeit reluctantly.
Get the @torqueboards drives if you are thinking about getting the elofty ones.
What you will save in money, you will pay in hassle, ten fold.
I know I wish I had, I intend to rectify this mistake I made however.
Bummer Kenna, just Bummer.
Any suggestions?
Am I over reacting?
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I took a shot on these drives. Hoping all is good with the new ones in that group buy. I went for the 72KV with those 105MM wheels. I only went with the wheels because theyāre apparently anodized black now which seemed neat.
Iāll be re-building my short board (The Taytor). 10S3P, dual focbox, BKB Tayto. Iāll switch them to another deck if they hold up.
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Being disappointed that you didnāt receive what you had very right to expect isnāt overreacting at all. What I really hate seeing is a fellow skater turned off to the sport by a bad experience like this.
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This sucks dude. Hope the charge back goes through. BTW, can you post pics of the drive, I want to see what variant you have.
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I also want to see what variant you have.
I donāt expect mine to last very long. I would never take mine for a ride longer than 10 miles and honestly expect there to not be some sort of incident. Iām constantly having to tighten bolts just to keep mine held together, even with loctite. Definitely wish I had received the first version (which is what I thought I was getting and what was in the photos of the purchase I made)
Dunno why itās ok for them just to send out āsome random iteration of Chinese direct drivesā every time someone makes a purchase lol
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Thanks dude, her last offer of help was the final straw Iām afraid.
One month of exasperating false promises and then boom! another attempt at making a fast buck.
If you want to help me Kenna then help me, strop trying to help yourself while pretending to fix a problem.
To say Iām angry now, would be the understatement of the year.
Iām writing an essay to Paypal right now. I had to use a word doc itās so long!
I know how to write, and Iām writing this water tight.
I want it all back, ALL OF IT.
Nothing is turning me off of skating though dude, Iām in this for life.
Iām gonna build the the deck that I think some company should build if itās the last thing I do.
Iām so determined now itās a joke!
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Awesome. Glad I misread that and youāre locked in like the rest of us maniacs. Fingers crossed for your PayPal appeal.
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Hello mate, if you go back to post 505 on this thread you can see my drives before I started adding and changing and tweaking and filing and sanding and bending and grinding etcā¦
What a ridiculous journey this has been!
Iām actually laughing writing this.
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so sorry for this, and I feel your pain I truly do!
And this just solidifies my resolve and decision to verify 100% what Iām getting before I commit to anything from this/these, manufacturer/vendor.
I too offered an educated opinion as to how to improve their product, it fell on deaf ears. I realize that Kenna is only a sales rep. for some company/vendor as she almost always had to speak to someone else, or an engineer.
I finally got some relief when her and I and an enginner got in a video chat about my motor problem. I had to show and show them and prove to them that what they said was the problem was not actually the problem.
Even between my 3 motors there are variants, and not in a good way.
everything I see in the variants I can observe have been done to make the motors cheaper not to make them better.
Good luck with your chargeback.
I can deal with the drives I have until they finally expire.
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as close as I can figure, the eLofty drives started to go sideways about July time-frame somewhere before @Tonkatron received his drives.
and now for a completely different direction, I just got a reply back from LaCroix, two week build time for a Nazareā¢., Iām still waiting for @Kaly 's replyā¦ I think this just about makes my decision for me.
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Donāt buy from kaly get a lacroix
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read between the lines my charger-less friend!
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Haha good
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This rings true mate, I ordered mine on the 25th July.
I stated that my text history goes back to June, I meant July, my mistake.
Itās a mad scramble to get a working product quickly to market it seems, as the copies once a product is released come thick and fast the moment it can be copied.
Itās a crazy business model they work under, high volume, low profit margins and the ability to tweak and adapt on the fly to seemingly stay ahead of problems and competitors.
When problems arrise, wellā¦they havenāt covered that part yet it seems.
We take the losses and hits on theyāre behalf.
It blew my mind that while problems arose, the willingness to absorb the cost due to shortcomings on their end or take any kind of financial back step was absolutely out of the question. When you make a mistake, it is in my opinion, rude and quite greedy to still try and make more money while pretending to resolve the issue.
At the very least itās bad business practice long term.
You made your profit at the point of sale, now that you didnāt deliver what was promised or described FIX IT. Simple
You want more money? WHY?
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Is this confirmed that the 58KV are also from Elofty?
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YES, from @Esk8supply 's info to me the 58Kv drives are from the exact same manufacturer as eLofty drives
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