Complaint Review: Woodstock Whizzer Works

I'm a little late in writing this, the transaction I'm describing took place in 2009.  I just noticed that this company is somehow still in business, so I wanted to make sure that no one else makes the mistakes that I made.  

The owner of this company is pretty slimy.  I ordered a green, NE5 whizzer motorbike from him in the spring of 2009.  He gave me a quote, which I accepted, even though it was around 400 dollars more than MSRP.  They had just discontinued both the green color and the NE5 model at Whizzer, and I wanted both, so paying a little extra made sense.  

Mr. Westman provided me with a shipping confirmation and when he did, he said that if I had any problem with the bike, make sure to take it up with the shipper.  This sent up red flags...was there already a problem that he knew about?  

When I got the motorcycle, I realized that, yes there was!  It was incomplete.  It didn't include turn signals, including the brackets that hold them on, which in the back also support the lisense plate.  

The bottom engine mount screw was also missing.  This was frustrating because it is very hard to replace, you just about have to take the whole engine off to do it!  It's also in a non-visable area, so I inadvertently rode the motorbike without the bolt, and it damaged the other engine mounts.  

The electronics never worked right.  The battery was dead from the day it arrived, and my mechanic couldn't figure out why.  I had to replace it.  Also the fuse kept blowing, and I got used to replacing the fuse weekly, eventually learning to live without the electronics. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the electronics on this bike were seconds, that he knew they were faulty.  

When I received the bike, I took note of the problems and contacted Mr. Westman.  He never replied.  Obviously his statement about having the shipper take care of any problems meant that he was not willing to take any responsibility for the product he sold!  On the shipping label, he described it as "bike parts."  You tell me-did he know that the bike was incomplete?  I think so!

He did include an extra speedometer and extra pedals, but these were of no use to me, obviously.

In dealing with my problems, I contacted Whizzer USA, the importer of these bikes.  They indicated that they had had problems with Ralph Westman before, and to try to steer clear of them.  They did not go into detail about the nature of the problems.  

Whizzer USA has since went under, or at least they are not selling new bikes.  But the manufacturer overseas now sells the product under the name "Cruzzer motorbikes"  I noticed Mr. Westman is now pedaling these new machines, and I assume he is doing so with the same care that he did when selling Whizzers.  

My advice, if your in the market for a motorized bicycle, is to steer clear of Woodstock Whizzer Works and Ralph Westman!