Disposal of unwanted mobility scooter

Wibbles

I have an unwanted PRIDE apex scooter to get rid of. It is 4 years old but needs a new battery. Rather than taking it to the tip (at £25 !)

I have checked online and have found two companies who will come and collect it (nationally)

https://www.wheeliegoodmobility.co.uk/donating-to-us.html - resells scooters (for profit !) not charity ?

and

http://www.mobilityscooterrecycleman.co.uk/ - appears to sell broken down scooters at great expense - not charity !!

Anyone used these companies ?

Any alternatives ?

janer1967

Hi 

Try British Red Cross or British heart foundation 

I know you can arrange bhf all online I have done b4 but it was furniture British Red Cross supply disability aids and wheelchair so they may take it 

JessieJ

I don't know of either of those companies, but new batteries can be bought, so maybe you could advertise locally & someone in need could pick it up or get it picked up for their use.

Alex_Alumni

If it helps, Scope has lots of information on both selling used disability equipment, and recycling used disability equipment @Wibbles

Wibbles

janer1967 said:

Hi 

Try British Red Cross or British heart foundation 

I know you can arrange bhf all online I have done b4 but it was furniture British Red Cross supply disability aids and wheelchair so they may take it 

Neither the red cross or BHF are interested in accepting my 4 year old Mobility Scooter - so it is looking highly likely that I will have to dispose of it via the tip (stupid sounding because it cost me over £1500)

OverlyAnxious

You could try eBay if you're comfortable with a stranger coming to collect.

I don't know what the selling fees would be for a scooter though.

Wibbles

Found a company willing to buy  my old scooter @ £60 !!

https://sunshinescooters.co.uk/

They collect nationwide

Alex_Alumni

I'm glad you've found somewhere to sell your scooter onto @Wibbles let us know how things go, as it might be a useful recommendation for others in a similar situation.

It's good to see a few different options for selling or recycling mobility aids on this thread

Wibbles

Update:

Believe it or not - I still have the unwanted mobility scooter

Despite Sunshine scooters offering me £60 collected for it - they never showed up to collect it and are now ignoring my emails !!

L_Volunteer

Oh no - how frustrating @Wibbles!!

Steve_in_The_City

I give mine away! There is always someone with walking difficulties who will give a mobility scooter a good home. I have given away 3 so far. I am not physically capable of changing a battery so once the battery starts to fade I give them to people who only want to go shopping locally. I gave my last one away last November to a neighbour and she still uses it to go to the local shops. 

Wibbles

Steve_in_The_City said:

I give mine away! There is always someone with walking difficulties who will give a mobility scooter a good home. I have given away 3 so far. I am not physically capable of changing a battery so once the battery starts to fade I give them to people who only want to go shopping locally. I gave my last one away last November to a neighbour and she still uses it to go to the local shops. 

Can't you get someone to help you with the battery?
Ie) take it to the battery shop and ask them to change it? 

Steve_in_The_City

No! I have no family, no carers, all my friends are either dead or moved away so I have no-one to ask for assistance, so it is a case of muddling through those times when I need help as best I can. I wouldn't even know where our local battery shop is, but in any case I think they need specially designed batteries (not sure). It is easier for me to just give a scooter away than try to change the battery. I hope you will be able to dispose of yours.

andrewkuk

Wibbles said:

Update:

Believe it or not - I still have the unwanted mobility scooter

Despite Sunshine scooters offering me £60 collected for it - they never showed up to collect it and are now ignoring my emails !!

Hi Wibbles - Did you manage to get rid of your scooter? If not where in the UK are you? Is your scooter the one with suspension? Regards Andrew

Wibbles

Sunshine scooters did reply and told me that they are very busy at the moment, but will be in contact soon

Wibbles

Still nothing from Sunshine scooters 

andrewkuk

That's really bad. Hopefully  will contact you soon and collect the scooter.

Wibbles

andrewkuk said:

That's really bad. Hopefully  will contact you soon and collect the scooter.

It looks like the tip 

Jimm_Scope

It's a shame it cannot be used or collected. I assume you've already looked to people you know if there's need. Are there any local groups that help those with motability? Or perhaps something like a volunteer repair workshop, my local town has one and they're always taking donations of things they can fix or take parts from to help fix other things.

Wibbles

Jimm_Scope said:

It's a shame it cannot be used or collected. I assume you've already looked to people you know if there's need. Are there any local groups that help those with motability? Or perhaps something like a volunteer repair workshop, my local town has one and they're always taking donations of things they can fix or take parts from to help fix other things.

Good idea
There is a fix it "club" 

Jimm_Scope

Maybe if you just make it clear to them that NOBODY is taking it and it's just going to go to the dump otherwise. Make it clear you've tried to give it to charity and other avenues and this is a last resort.