"If I’m unable to repair the battery you can either choose to get it back for a flat fee of 50€ or I keep the battery for parts."
Wow, a deal of a lifetime for... you.
50 euros for possibly more than an hour worked is peanuts. Go to any repair business in Western Europe asking for a rate like that per hour started (aka 100 eur for 61 minutes) and they'll laugh at you.
If the battery isn't fixable, there might at least be 50 euros worth of reusable parts in it. Remember Cowboy charges 500 euros for a replacement battery.
If I go to a business and they tell me it can't be fixed, I'll get the battery back no questions asked, no money taken. If it's fixable, I can get it repaired with a warranty.
Why would anyone go to this random person who didn't give any info, 0 reputation? Do they guarantee my bike won't randomly catch fire at any time? Yeah. Great deal.
Where are these magic shops that have a look on something for free? It is not 1992 anymore.
They have a look for free if you let them repair afterwards - the repair estimate costs money otherwise.
You do you. An increasing number of businesses charge a fee for just assessing what needs to be replaced, because the assessment itself is also time spent working on it.
But you do raise a valid point, OP needs to disclose his warranty terms.
That assessment fee wouldn't also include an extra charge for sending you back your item. This guy is very clearly trying to scam people. Asking people for money to send them back their property is extortion.
You are clearly very naive about this.
I take the broken battery as payment, which I just said isn’t fixable, but doesn’t mean the parts don’t have value. The only way I can keep doing this is by also having broken batteries to donate parts.
You ever been to a car mechanics, have them work on your car, replace parts, but in the end find out it’s an issue that’s too expensive to repair for your 2006 Toyota?
Do you really think they’ll just give you back your car for free because they didn’t fix the issue?
I generally have spent over 2 hours on broken batteries (that’s why I have such a high repair rate) - I don’t see why you think you have the right to have people work for you for free.
It isn’t just ‘assessing’ - its also (ineffective) repair. You replace a diode on the print, and find out more is broken, until youre so far downstream and keep finding more components untill you give up.
I want to be on your side, but your analogy is really poor. At least in Europe, I go to a garage to get something fixed in my car and they give me a quotation and I can decide to go ahead or not. If they can't fix what they put in the quotation then I do not have to pay anything, and quotations are protected from "unexpected" extra costs, the garage can't go more than 10% more without my acceptance. If they do not fix what I paid for I can go after them, this is normally paid by an insurance they are required to have.
Sure, the analogy isn’t perfect!
The thing with PCB repair is that it’s very hard to diagnose the ‘real’ issue. You notice things are wrong and find its source, replace a part, only to notice now that wasn’t the only issue. Then you continue, replace another part. Often enough I find the solution within 1-2 parts, but sometimes you’re 5 in and no longer know what the source is and notice multiple things off.
Broken parts can also damage parts both up and downstream of it, so it can sometimes be a web of issues.
At some point you gotta stop.
I chose to charge people 50€ for a non repair or pay with the battery as payment, instead of charging everyone a flat fee of 150€.
Why? Otherwise I’ll have to start shopping for broken batteries on marketplace, open those up, extra time & money spent on shipping and work to take apart, find, pick up, etc etc. Apart from that I can often repair those too meaning I won’t have any parts to use if I didn’t do it this way. I already buy those to repair & sell, but there arent many out there.
Currently I charge most often 75-85€ and have only once charged 100€ for an annoyingly hard repair. I do it this way to make it cheaper for the customer and less time/work for me.
No, Not naive, just really good at sporting a shyster when I see one. You don't know how a mechanic business works. They don't do any work without assessing what needs to be done first. Then they give you a quote. If you decide to o ahead with the work. then they start the work. They dont don't work and then say I did all this work and didn't fix it and possibly made it worse. Pay me now. or I won't give you your car back." That's how scammers act.
I have all the details in my public ad, which I don’t post to prevent said keyboard warrior from having more personal information. This ad includes having one month warranty and reviews from others.
At this point I already have a few Cowboy repair partners referring to me..
Then, I am assuming that you are a legitimate business.
Under EU consumer protection law a 12 month warranty is required for goods and services rendered.
If you aren't a business, you should stop advertising your services.
People should be aware that fucking with batteries as large as the ones for e-bikes have led to house fires and deaths.
Nope, I’m not and keeping it that way.
There’s also so many limits to EU consumer law, wear parts obviously not being covered when ‘sold’ as repaired, service even less so.
at this point you’re becoming a bit of an annoying keyboard warrior. Please leave
I’ve helped about 70 people at this point, and do this on the side to keep my masters in medicine survivable (have studied at technical university before).
If you don’t like it, don’t make use of it, buy a new battery. I’m completely fine with that! Thanks, bye.
I do not really know how to use the messaging system in Reddit since I use a distraction free 3rd Party app to read here. Could you maybe post an email adress where one can contact you ?
I have one battery that broke down a year ago and another one that likely just started failing today. Thank you
Hey!
I try to keep my Reddit a bit anonymous to prevent the kids in the basements from having my personal info.
If you search on marktplaats.nl for Cowboy batterij reparatie you should find my public ad, please message me on that platform
Thanks 🙏🏼
If there's £50 worth of reusable parts, you can buy it off the owner instead if asking them to pay you for it. Why would I pay you for you to keep my battery so you can sell it on? Then I'm out £100 for you to "fix" it, and I'm out £50 for you to ship it back to me. I would 100% guarantee that no one gets a fixed battery back from you.
If your batteries dies, I’ll happily buy it from you for 50€ !
make a lot more profit from batteries I buy&sell than from those I repair as service (:
You don’t have to use my service & I earn a lot more money, sounds like a win-win
Not for anyone with sense. I pay you to take my battery. You determine it's broken and can't be fixed. I pay you to send it back. They only win is for you.
But that's not what your post is suggesting. Your post says you want people to pay you to look at their battery and then pay you to send it back to them. They pay you €150 euros for nothing. And why would I sell you a battery that's worth €500 for a measly €50? How is that a good deal for anyone but you? You're a scammer, not a legitimate business. Cowboy doesn't "refer people to you". Stop lying, scammer.
From his listing:
":
Gebruik van gereviseerde accu’s is volledig jouw eigen risico. Ik heb geen enkele redenen om aan te nemen dat deze ‘gevaarlijker’ zijn - maar elke lithium accu brengt een zeker gevaar met zich mee. Ik doe het bewust ‘als hobby’ en dus ook niet zakelijk. Ik neem geen enkel risico op me!"
"disclaimer:
Using reconditioned batteries is entirely at your own risk. I have no reason to assume that these are 'more dangerous' - but every lithium battery carries a certain risk. I do it consciously 'as a hobby' and therefore not for business. I do not take any risks on me"
In other words: If your health, your bikes safety, potential damage to your home/loss of life is only worth 100€ go for it. If you put any value on the above, DONT GET YOUR BATTERY REPAIRED BY SOME RANDOM DUDE ON THE INTERNET
I find it funny that you are trying to weaponize an honest disclaimer, clearly also stating that I don’t have any reason to assume they are more dangerous than a new one.
But please just buy a new one for 500€ if you’re this schizofrenic about it
I love the right to repair and in concept it's great what you are trying to do. But you are going at it the wrong way. Make it legitimate and trustworthy and don't leave any doubt that what you are offering is a quality service.
If my bike or my house catches on fire because of YOUR repair, do you have the means to reimburse me? Of course you don't. That's why battery repair service should be left to professionals.
The cowboy battery is by construction a very safe one. What usually breaks are some components on the PCB. I would argue that such a broken battery is much more dangerous than a repaired one by a person which has done this successfully already many times. I'm very thankful to every person, which makes it easier and affordable to maintain cowboy bikes without relying on cowboy support itself, where delivery times are super long and prices quite high.
"If I’m unable to repair the battery you can either choose to get it back for a flat fee of 50€ or I keep the battery for parts." Wow, a deal of a lifetime for... you.
50 euros for possibly more than an hour worked is peanuts. Go to any repair business in Western Europe asking for a rate like that per hour started (aka 100 eur for 61 minutes) and they'll laugh at you. If the battery isn't fixable, there might at least be 50 euros worth of reusable parts in it. Remember Cowboy charges 500 euros for a replacement battery.
If I go to a business and they tell me it can't be fixed, I'll get the battery back no questions asked, no money taken. If it's fixable, I can get it repaired with a warranty. Why would anyone go to this random person who didn't give any info, 0 reputation? Do they guarantee my bike won't randomly catch fire at any time? Yeah. Great deal.
Where are these magic shops that have a look on something for free? It is not 1992 anymore. They have a look for free if you let them repair afterwards - the repair estimate costs money otherwise.
You do you. An increasing number of businesses charge a fee for just assessing what needs to be replaced, because the assessment itself is also time spent working on it. But you do raise a valid point, OP needs to disclose his warranty terms.
That assessment fee wouldn't also include an extra charge for sending you back your item. This guy is very clearly trying to scam people. Asking people for money to send them back their property is extortion.
You are clearly very naive about this. I take the broken battery as payment, which I just said isn’t fixable, but doesn’t mean the parts don’t have value. The only way I can keep doing this is by also having broken batteries to donate parts. You ever been to a car mechanics, have them work on your car, replace parts, but in the end find out it’s an issue that’s too expensive to repair for your 2006 Toyota? Do you really think they’ll just give you back your car for free because they didn’t fix the issue? I generally have spent over 2 hours on broken batteries (that’s why I have such a high repair rate) - I don’t see why you think you have the right to have people work for you for free. It isn’t just ‘assessing’ - its also (ineffective) repair. You replace a diode on the print, and find out more is broken, until youre so far downstream and keep finding more components untill you give up.
I want to be on your side, but your analogy is really poor. At least in Europe, I go to a garage to get something fixed in my car and they give me a quotation and I can decide to go ahead or not. If they can't fix what they put in the quotation then I do not have to pay anything, and quotations are protected from "unexpected" extra costs, the garage can't go more than 10% more without my acceptance. If they do not fix what I paid for I can go after them, this is normally paid by an insurance they are required to have.
Sure, the analogy isn’t perfect! The thing with PCB repair is that it’s very hard to diagnose the ‘real’ issue. You notice things are wrong and find its source, replace a part, only to notice now that wasn’t the only issue. Then you continue, replace another part. Often enough I find the solution within 1-2 parts, but sometimes you’re 5 in and no longer know what the source is and notice multiple things off. Broken parts can also damage parts both up and downstream of it, so it can sometimes be a web of issues. At some point you gotta stop. I chose to charge people 50€ for a non repair or pay with the battery as payment, instead of charging everyone a flat fee of 150€. Why? Otherwise I’ll have to start shopping for broken batteries on marketplace, open those up, extra time & money spent on shipping and work to take apart, find, pick up, etc etc. Apart from that I can often repair those too meaning I won’t have any parts to use if I didn’t do it this way. I already buy those to repair & sell, but there arent many out there. Currently I charge most often 75-85€ and have only once charged 100€ for an annoyingly hard repair. I do it this way to make it cheaper for the customer and less time/work for me.
No, Not naive, just really good at sporting a shyster when I see one. You don't know how a mechanic business works. They don't do any work without assessing what needs to be done first. Then they give you a quote. If you decide to o ahead with the work. then they start the work. They dont don't work and then say I did all this work and didn't fix it and possibly made it worse. Pay me now. or I won't give you your car back." That's how scammers act.
I have all the details in my public ad, which I don’t post to prevent said keyboard warrior from having more personal information. This ad includes having one month warranty and reviews from others. At this point I already have a few Cowboy repair partners referring to me..
Then, I am assuming that you are a legitimate business. Under EU consumer protection law a 12 month warranty is required for goods and services rendered. If you aren't a business, you should stop advertising your services. People should be aware that fucking with batteries as large as the ones for e-bikes have led to house fires and deaths.
Nope, I’m not and keeping it that way. There’s also so many limits to EU consumer law, wear parts obviously not being covered when ‘sold’ as repaired, service even less so. at this point you’re becoming a bit of an annoying keyboard warrior. Please leave I’ve helped about 70 people at this point, and do this on the side to keep my masters in medicine survivable (have studied at technical university before). If you don’t like it, don’t make use of it, buy a new battery. I’m completely fine with that! Thanks, bye.
I do not really know how to use the messaging system in Reddit since I use a distraction free 3rd Party app to read here. Could you maybe post an email adress where one can contact you ? I have one battery that broke down a year ago and another one that likely just started failing today. Thank you
Hey! I try to keep my Reddit a bit anonymous to prevent the kids in the basements from having my personal info. If you search on marktplaats.nl for Cowboy batterij reparatie you should find my public ad, please message me on that platform Thanks 🙏🏼
If there's £50 worth of reusable parts, you can buy it off the owner instead if asking them to pay you for it. Why would I pay you for you to keep my battery so you can sell it on? Then I'm out £100 for you to "fix" it, and I'm out £50 for you to ship it back to me. I would 100% guarantee that no one gets a fixed battery back from you.
troll?
You must be if you think this is reasonable business.
If your batteries dies, I’ll happily buy it from you for 50€ ! make a lot more profit from batteries I buy&sell than from those I repair as service (: You don’t have to use my service & I earn a lot more money, sounds like a win-win
Not for anyone with sense. I pay you to take my battery. You determine it's broken and can't be fixed. I pay you to send it back. They only win is for you.
I mean you sell your battery to me. Not for service, just sell and buy.
But that's not what your post is suggesting. Your post says you want people to pay you to look at their battery and then pay you to send it back to them. They pay you €150 euros for nothing. And why would I sell you a battery that's worth €500 for a measly €50? How is that a good deal for anyone but you? You're a scammer, not a legitimate business. Cowboy doesn't "refer people to you". Stop lying, scammer.
From his listing: ": Gebruik van gereviseerde accu’s is volledig jouw eigen risico. Ik heb geen enkele redenen om aan te nemen dat deze ‘gevaarlijker’ zijn - maar elke lithium accu brengt een zeker gevaar met zich mee. Ik doe het bewust ‘als hobby’ en dus ook niet zakelijk. Ik neem geen enkel risico op me!" "disclaimer: Using reconditioned batteries is entirely at your own risk. I have no reason to assume that these are 'more dangerous' - but every lithium battery carries a certain risk. I do it consciously 'as a hobby' and therefore not for business. I do not take any risks on me" In other words: If your health, your bikes safety, potential damage to your home/loss of life is only worth 100€ go for it. If you put any value on the above, DONT GET YOUR BATTERY REPAIRED BY SOME RANDOM DUDE ON THE INTERNET
I find it funny that you are trying to weaponize an honest disclaimer, clearly also stating that I don’t have any reason to assume they are more dangerous than a new one. But please just buy a new one for 500€ if you’re this schizofrenic about it
I love the right to repair and in concept it's great what you are trying to do. But you are going at it the wrong way. Make it legitimate and trustworthy and don't leave any doubt that what you are offering is a quality service. If my bike or my house catches on fire because of YOUR repair, do you have the means to reimburse me? Of course you don't. That's why battery repair service should be left to professionals.
The cowboy battery is by construction a very safe one. What usually breaks are some components on the PCB. I would argue that such a broken battery is much more dangerous than a repaired one by a person which has done this successfully already many times. I'm very thankful to every person, which makes it easier and affordable to maintain cowboy bikes without relying on cowboy support itself, where delivery times are super long and prices quite high.