Difference between Velobike and Green Power mobility scooter

MissKarenB

Hi! My name is Karen and I am looking for a mobility scooter for my elderly mother- she is in her late 70's. Mum is still out and about a lot, but due to her diabetis I want to make sure she has no problems with her mobility. And now I am about to choose the scooter for her. I get these calls from Green Power, I looked them up and though they seem ok I am concerned about many bad reviews on Trustpilot. My neighbour suggested Velobike, apparently that comapany has much better service than Green Power. But to be honest, I would like yo know more about both companies, as this will be an expensive purchase for me. And I want this scooter to also look trendy for her so she looks like she's driving a Mercedes  not Vauxhall:)

Alex_Alumni

Hi @MissKarenB and thanks for your question, I've marked it as answered to help our members find it more easily.

I noticed you've posted the same question in a few much older discussions, so if it's alright I've deleted these posts, so as not to confuse anyone. 

Has your mother spoken to you about which one she would prefer? What's most important is that she feels happy with the scooter she'll be using, that she's comfortable with it and wants to use it. 

Have you considered visiting a mobility aid shop or showroom with her, if there's one local to you? It'll really help your mother get a feel for the equipment. It's much like testing a car, you won't know how it feels otherwise, especially if you are totally new to the process. You may also have the option to rent or lease a more trendy scooter if that's more affordable for you. 

Please do let us know if you have any further questions.

Alex

MissKarenB

Hi Alex! Thank you so much for this. I have been thinkingto do so, but as it is Christmas approaching I wanted to buy a new vehicle. And as I do read reviews online, I do believe that real opinions do matter most! 
Also, I want my Mum to feel safe and comfortable once she takes her scooter out. And most importantly, I am worried if something happens to the scooter, how does the servicing looks like etc. And I have mixed feelings.

Alex_Alumni

You're welcome @MissKarenB, I don't think you need to rush into buying anything too quickly, you could just commit to buying it as a present, then purchase a scooter once your mum has had a chance to try something out and decide for herself.

It's important to also remember that some reviews online aren't always reliable, so it's perhaps best to speak to someone from an accredited community equipment supplier as well, such as a mobility aid shop. I appreciate they aren't always available locally, so it might be worth looking into first. In my experience, shops like these will be able to talk to you about their servicing agreements should you make a purchase with them. What is it you have mixed feelings about?

I hope this forum can also provide some advice from members with experience in this area, so it's positive that you've reached out here.

MissKarenB

I have those hopes, too. I still have not decided which one to get. Green Power seems cheaper, but then they have many bad reviews which seem to be eligible. Then Velobike is a bit more expensive but their scooters look similar.

Alex_Alumni

It depends what your budget can stretch to, oftentimes you get what you pay for, but the best way to find out which is the right choice is to test them out, if you can. 

As I mentioned, by testing them your mother would then be able to get to grips with what she wants most out of a scooter when she's using it.

If you can't test them, way up these features with her: does she want long battery life, lots of mileage, or how well does she want the scooter to handle kerbs or difficult terrain? Will she be using it mainly indoors or outdoors? Knowing the answers to these will help to narrow down your search. 

Paul520

Hi Karen. 

My brother bought a scooter from Green Power two weeks ago. Mine needs replacing so I also looked at the same model. 

When messaging with a person (not a bot) on their site I was totally lied to when I mentioned I was VAT exempt and told that the price was excluding VAT and he went on to say that others would have to pay VAT on top of the price advertised if they were not. This is a lie as my brother didn’t, he isn't exempt nor did he get asked to sign the usual VAT customer disclaimer. 

At this point I must add that his delivery was on time and he was very pleased with the tuition given by the driver who explained everything to him and watched he ride it around a bit. 

However, his lie didn’t sit well so I copied the model name into Google and then came across Velobike. 

You are right, there appears to be around £100 difference in the two base prices with VB being more expensive and lacking a few free extras like cover & mobile holder.

I wanted to ask a few questions as  the scooters looked the same but GP had gimmicks like iPod feature and something else on there’s that VB didn’t. 

My actual goal at this point was a price match tbh. After about 10 minutes of posting a message on their chat support I sent another saying that if they were too busy tonight I would come back tomorrow as I was going to look back on the GP website again 

They replied very quickly saying please be careful as they are offering a cheaper fake version of their product. 

Without me texting back he had already sent me a warning that I could be contacted by HMRC for non payment of VAT if I was to buy from GP as the fake version isn’t a verified disability scooter that qualified for VAT exemption. 

I now thought he could be just saying this but he couldn’t have know my VAT concerns but I still pressed a little as (like me) his spelling was poor a speedily written. He said the chat had closed for the night and had I not mentioned GP he wouldn’t have answered at all tonight. 

What lead me to post on here was a further search trying to find more out about the two companies and your question popped up. 

Before posting I noticed another reply from VB with this link in it showing that trustpilot had successfully sued GP before.

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.mobilitypower.co.uk?sort=recency&stars=1&stars=2&stars=3&stars=4&stars=5

 See link to their group and link to GP just above the select tab. 

I will be calling VB directly tomorrow to find out more for my own purposes and I will let you know on here on Wednesday how I get on. 

For now I would advise to do nothing especially not with GP. 

Paul520

Hi Karen, 

I have researched this issue and spoken with Velobike today. 

I am 100% convinced that GP are not to be trusted and that VB are an established and reputable company and appointed distributors of Veleco products in the EU. 

That being said, the company is registered in and works out of Poland with a UK sales office in Bedfordshire 

I have had communication with Jacob there owner today as I wanted some clarity and confidence before thinking of proceeding any further. 

He was open about the fact that their service and maintenance teams are Poland based but that they are also involved with deliveries fortnightly in the UK and can combine these trips with any issues that may arise. 

For me this is good enough as I now wouldn’t expect an engineer the next day or two if I know it could be 2 weeks in average. 

My local disability centre took 8 working days to collect my scooter this time and charged me £30 ew collection and delivery to be told it is obsolete so 2 weeks isn’t that bad. 

Here are some links I found that has lead me to proceed with VB. 

I hope this has helped you and other community members from making a mistake and losing your money. 

Kind regards 

Paul. 

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.mobilitypower.co.uk

https://youtu.be/pI9bmaTbB1Y?si=hMw2UC3bJF-lRBkj

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/velobike.co.uk