Beware : Online buying during the pandemic
 

I've been trying to order a scoot online, and I've run into the same problem twice now : The company says the item is in stock, takes payment, waits a while, and suddenly discovers they don't have it and refunds the money.

The second time it happened, the wait time was a month from payment. Even though I called and got their personal assurance the item was in stock. The retailer was Veloz (d.b.a. Superiorpowersports.)

This is a mistake that's pretty hard to make with modern inventory control systems. But it sure makes a nice interest-free line of credit at the customer's expense.

I don't know what the answer is, but wanted to warn other buyers to be careful out there. Perhaps sharing experiences both positive and negative in this forum would help out us buyers, and warn dealers to clean up their act.

What is the real reason you are buying online?

Save maximum money?
No local dealers nearby?
Live in the boonies?

Just curious. I had a acquaintance who bough a Mad Dog online, just to save $200. Then when it broke, the local Mad Dog dealer pushes him to the bottom for warranty work because he didn't buy the scooter from him. That's what you really need to be cautious about.

Yes - few local dealers here in Massachusetts, and we've all been locked down in quarantine so I couldn't go there anyway.

So online is my only hope for a decent selection right now. I wish there was a local dealer I could go to, I'd gladly pay their well-earned markup!

There are other dealers. Power sportsmax, mega motor madness, family go karts, redfoxpowersports

Even Bintelli will sell you a scooter online if there is no dealer nearby.

If the local dealers don't have inventory I'm pretty sure the online retailers don't have any either. The Covid craziness have made Chinese supplied products back ordered. Even some American products are hard to come by. I know our local dealer has low inventory of scooters right now. Plus I ordered a ebike and its back-ordered till September. Maybe look at the used market for a scooter?

Maybe try Facebook marketplace. In my area there are new 50cc scooters available along with slightly used 150s.