Disgruntled Bike & Scooter Owners Gone Wild: Ola Showroom Burned & Other Tales

We recently came across a news report about a disgruntled Ola Electric scooter owner burning a showroom down. The owner decided to take such drastic action after the manufacturer failed to address his scooter’s issues since purchase. In this article we will be going over some similar interesting cases where disgruntled owners have taken things a little too far.

The Ola Saga

Ola Electric in the past couple of years has struggled with their product and servicing. Customers haven’t been shy of voicing their issues with the brand. A few months ago we saw an individual taking things into his own hands. He took his scooter on a trolley and protested in front of the Ola showroom by singing a sad Bollywood song about heartbreak.

In another case, the customer decided to place a placard on her scooter to warn others about the issues with the brand. On the placard she wrote “Please don’t buy Ola Electric - A Frustrated Ola Customer” in Kannada and English. 

“Ola ತಗೊಂಡ್ರೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಜೀವನ ಗೋಳು “
I will Be Spreading Awareness Against Ola Electric 😁🤌🏻
Thanks For The Idea @UppinaKai Sir 🫡 #DontBuyOla#OlaElectric pic.twitter.com/bcVQ3i6P3K

— ನಿಶಾ ಗೌರಿ 💛❤ (@Nisha_gowru) September 12, 2024

After this, we heard the news about the disgruntled customer from Kalaburagi, Karnataka who decided to take things too far. He ended up setting the showroom on fire resulting in 6 Ola scooters on display being damaged and great loss to the showroom owner. 

Karnataka: A customer set an Ola showroom in Kalaburagi on fire after facing issues with the ongoing service of his new bike.

Following a verbal argument with the showroom owner yesterday evening, he set the showroom on fire. A case has been registered at Kalaburagi Chowk… pic.twitter.com/AItGyakP4f

— IANS (@ians_india) September 11, 2024

Now a case has been registered and the police investigation has begun. Ola Electric also put out a statement condemning this act of arson, via their social media.

The Pegasus Story

This isn’t the first time disgruntled customers have taken things too far. A couple of years ago, Royal Enfield had launched a special edition of the Classic 500 called Pegasus 500. The bike featured a similar military-styling as the currently available Classic 350’s signals edition. 

The Pegasus 500 was supposed to be limited edition, with only 250 units made. It was priced at a substantial premium around Rs 30,000 over the Classic 500 and over Rs 71,000 over the Classic 350. The bike received an overwhelmingly positive response from Hardcore Royal Enfield enthusiasts and the 250 units were sold pretty quickly.

But the trouble began when Royal Enfield launched the Classic 350 Signals edition, which was sold at an ex-showroom price of around Rs 1.6 lakh ex-showroom and the bike also offered dual-channel ABS. Some Pegasus 500 customers felt they were cheated and were quite open about their feelings.

There were two cases where customers dumped the Pegasus 500 in the trash as a protest. Royal Enfield decided to buy back the bikes to use as display pieces.

A Respectable Protest

Harley-Davidson dealers and bike owners had faced a big issue when the brand decided to leave the Indian market. The owners who had invested crores into their businesses and the customers who had bought the bike would have faced huge losses and difficulty in getting their bikes serviced and also when it comes to acquiring spare parts. 

Most of them felt abandoned and decided to launch a protest. But this time no showrooms were set on fire or bikes thrown into the dump. The Harley owners launched a massive ‘Dark Rides’ campaign across 14 cities in solidarity with the dealers and fellow Harley owners.

After this, Harley-Davidson announced a partnership with Hero MotoCorp for distribution and sales. This helped Harley owners greatly and a solution to their troubles was finally attained.

This example highlights the fact that not all expressions of dissatisfaction have to be extreme and amicable solutions that can benefit both the customer and the brand can be attained.

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