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That looks like a map of my wife’s average trip to Costco lol
Yep not a good look to have to go to vital to find out where your bike you paid for is.........Stark going under? Threads like this are a really good way to kill some sales.
Just the control they have over the bike is enough for me to never buy another one. The riding aspect of the bike is amazing but the fact that here in Oz they have simply dropped our charging rate and there's nothing we can do about it, plus a few other things have really pissed me off with the company.
Update
Sorry late reply I have been traveling.
I was given a # through a member on here which I was able to speak on the phone Friday morning with someone US based with Stark. He was nice and eager to try and figure out what is going on.
He explained to me basically when you buy a Stark online through Starks website you are technically buying the bike from Ekho Dealer. Basically stark sells bike to Ekho and Ekho sells to the buyer on starks website. He recommended I send another formal email request through starks website to get ball rolling on what’s going on. As I said, he was super nice and genuinely seemed to want to get it resolved, so I would expect to hear some kind of update first of the week and hopefully get this worked out.
For me I lucky that I have other bikes to ride, I’m not without a bike so it’s not a huge deal. I love combustion engines but I also love anything with 2 wheels is the reason I bought the bike. I’m bummed for the fact that the bike seems awesome and I think several of my buddy’s would have bought one and opened up new riding opportunities for us. But at this point they don’t want mess with it when I told it would be here early March and I have disappoint them every weekend when it hasn’t showed up with no explanation.
As I said, the contact at Stark was super nice and genuinely wants to help and I believe he will make it right. Out of respect for Stark as a company, I will update one here once this gets worked out.
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Any update on this, have you received your bike or an explanation from Ekho?
What's the scoop?
The world is watching this scenario..
Thanks @7eleven for the assist.
Got my Stark ordered in March and delivered within about 1 month. I got the 80hp mx. I was going to say but you since replied. You're not buying from Stark but Ekho. They were solid for me. Hope you get yours!
Wow. That helps
Throw a little salt in his wound. lol
I hope he has made progress.
We were able to solve the issue. In the end, OP had options and at that point, that's all I could do.
He will likely chim in with his decision once he's ready.
The Stark buying process seems absolutely top notch, as usual.
You just need to throw a boatload of cash in the wind, open a thread on Vital after months of waiting for nothing, be lucky enough to get help from a connected good samaritan who won't unlock the bike you paid for, but provide you with "solutions" -such as keep on waiting or get a refund someday, I guess...
The "Future" is here, I guess.
Not the bike, though.
Why do I keep coming back to “ there’s more to this story”.
Fwiw
Update…
Since I last posted someone from Stark did call about the situation about 10 days ago. Evidently there was an issue with getting the bike delivered and the original refund march was held up by ekho because the bike showed it had been delivered in their system.
He was nice and apologetic about the situation. He offered to give me a $500.00 parts credit and upgrade it to the alpha(which I already paid for). I told him at this point it’s more of an issue for me to get the bike and in good faith recommend a 12.5k bike to my buddies with how this deal has gone. I told him if they wanted to sell it at an actual discount I would probably take it so we can try it out or just give me my money back. He said he was going to call someone and should get back with me that afternoon (the 6th). Heard nothing until this morning when he text me saying he was going to refund me(which it hasn’t hit my account)
I think the stark is an excellent bike but at this point I’m just ready to be done with this and move on. Stark is a new company and selling a lot of bikes, so I feel like situations like this are going to happen as they grow. But even after after this original post and contact, I was still in dark for 10 days. So I just assume these guys are really busy. Hopefully I will get my refund soon.
Just so we're clear... this deal had absolutely nothing to do with me. I simply connected the right people so that they could get it resolved.
I saw a guy on vital who hadn't received his Varg yet so, I wanted to help and I did.
^^^Still sounds like a mess
So now I go from, I hope you get you bike, to I hope you get your money back.
Without 7elevens help it sounds like you would have been shit out of luck. Seriously how does a company let that happen and not bend over backward to make it right.
Please let us know when you get your money back.
Pit Row
To be clear, 7 eleven has been stand up guy and I feel done everything is in his power to help. I think it boils down it’s a big company and nobody really has the power to do anything without talking to someone else(which is with all big companies for the most part). I update when I get my money back so we can close this out.
In another thread some feel the dealership model should go away, but this is an example of why there is an advantage dealing with a brick and mortar store. I'm sure the OP could have resolved this much quicker being able to a) walk into the store to talk with management or b) have instant, easy access to staff over the phone.
Hope you get your money back soon.
Another lost sale by Stark...way to go turtleneck. I'm not even remotely surprised this keeps happening.
Indeed, their DTC model, especially at launch of a new model, is not working well.
I think I would rather wait a couple more months until local dealers have some inventory unaccounted for and buy it on the spot than go with a preorder and get it a bit earlier but with a headache after all kinds of shenanigans.
$12.5K and nothing
That would be the only way I'd buy something of that dollar value. Face to face at a store. I'd image actual Stark retail locations are far a few between though.
sarcasm/
But then they would have to look people in the face and interact with them. Maybe even work with them in person to solve their issues... and thats really really scary. Its much easier to pass all of the work onto the customer and just keep all the profit and credit without supporting a local bike shop.
Are you knew here? Did you not remember we are growing the sport?
Until I see Stark supporting a actual brick and motor dealership and building an infrastructure they are just a really kick ass china $12k kids scooter with nowhere to turn for help except "the internet".
/rant
Sucks for OP.
Only a few more years before Fark Qwarg goes tits up...
to the OP. I really do hope you get your money back. Ive been in a similar situation and it didnt work out well at all. Im now a instant skeptic of any larger purchase DTC and it sets me off to see this. Adding dealerships and points of contact adds credibility and responsibility that some of these new "Wonder Companies" just lack. Its sad because the bike seems to be loved.
/rant seriously this time.
There are 131 brick & mortar Stark dealers in the US. Look under dealer locator on the stark future site and you'll find one near you.
Adding to that, in my region, I have 2 tracks set up w/ demo bikes. You can show up on any open practice day and ride a Varg for free. River Valley in Boyd, TX and Cycle Ranch down in San Antonio have these free demos.
Show me another manufacturer that supports demos like that. That initial test ride holds a super impactful impression.
Hope you all get a chance to at least try one sometime.
You can ride a demo bike for free, but then get ghosted after paying over $12k.
I know you helped, and respect to you for that, but this whole situation has eyes on it and I guarantee it has lost Stark more than one sale.
Communication and service is a fixable issue. Period.
There are a lot of brick and mortor dealers selling Vargs. Most of the people around me that have Vargs got them at a dealer. Below is a screenshot of the Stark dealer map I grabbed from thier website. Unfortunatly shit happens and slips through the cracks. I hope the OP gets his money back soon. There are many other compaines with issues that slip by without being resolved quickly.
There are so many people trying to scam these days. Anybody on here that has done anytype of selling online will have some story of a customer trying to claim their order never showed up. And trying to get a free item out of the deal. Starks system was showing the bike was delivered so how did they know for sure that it was not. They do need to work on the customer service side , but just about every company is going to make a mistake at some point.
I would say that buying from a local dealer would be the way to go .
Post a reply to: Huge Stark Issue/ Refunded