Unhappy customers who were hoping to #DestroyBoredom with a brand new Onewheel XR are now finding their purchase has indeed destroyed boredom. Sadly, the $1800 purchase isn’t replacing boredom with stoke and excitement, but with frustration and stress.
Just when 2020 couldn’t get any worse, there have been recent reports of brand new Onewheel XRs not working out of the box in this month of July.
In the midst of a pandemic, folks have been looking for a way to get out and relax while staying socially distanced. Many have been getting their first personal electric vehicles like Onewheel, electric unicycles, and electric scooters.
Imagine putting in hours of research and nearly $2,000 of your hard earned money into purchasing a Onewheel XR and then enduring ordering and shipping delays only to receive a bricked Onewheel XR right out of the box. It would be a total disappointment.
To make things worse, imagine trying to reach Future Motion’s customer support looking for answers right now. Future Motion’s customer support has been notoriously difficult to reach and painfully slow to respond during normal pre-pandemic situations. Right now is no different.
How could this happen to a 2 year old product?
The Onewheel XR was released in 2018. Two years later, the price tag is the same and the board has seen almost no noticeable change other than the internal hardware. The common trait shared amongst all the recently bricked brand new Onewheel XRs is they are all the new hardware: version 4211.
While no one knows the exact cause of the matter right now, likely causes include a batch of bad parts, poor quality control, or a change in the new hardware version 4211 that was not thoroughly tested and vetted.
Attempts to reach the company for further information were unsuccessful.
What to do if you have a brand new brick?
Some people are not waiting for their bricked board before having to get in line for Future Motion customer support. They are being proactive and contacting customer support before they even receive their order, even threatening to cancel their purchase.
Threatening to cancel their purchase has found some success. It’s kind of like when I call my cable company or cell phone company. As soon as I threaten to cancel, I suddenly become a VIP customer.
Future Motion has responded to concerned customers who have threatened to cancel because of fears of receiving a bricked board. Here is the message that some have received:
Thank you for reaching out.
We appreciate your concern but can assure you that your board is going to go through an extensive inspection prior to shipping where we will look for any issues that have been previously reported to make sure your board reaches you and is ready to go out of the box.
Your board will ship with the latest hardware and firmware.
We look forward to getting you riding soon!
Of course, if you already have a brick on your hands, you have few options. Some have found success repeatedly turning the board on and off or holding down the power button. But even if your brick gets up and running, the entire situation is far from confidence inspiring.
Submit a ticket. Understand you may have to ship your brick back and wait for repairs or for a new board to be sent to you. Unfortunately, there will be no destroying boredom for you any time soon.
The Future of Future Motion
It’s been a tough 2020 for many, Future Motion included.
While bicycle companies, electric scooter companies, and electric unicycle companies are all seeing huge successes right now as people look for socially distanced forms of recreation, Future Motion seems to be stumbling from one misstep to another.
Through a botched social media campaign, Future Motion recently lost one of their biggest fans and probably their most recognized Onewheel rider.
The rash of brand new bricked Onewheel XRs is yet another nightmare for the company and for its customers and fans.
Conclusion
Yet another reason to buy a used Onewheel if you can. I’ve purchased 3 used Onewheels and have not had any issues with bricking. To learn more about buying a used Onewheel, check this out.
I often get asked if I would buy a Onewheel right now. My answer is no. While I still enjoy the Onewheels that I own, I would rather spend my money on something like an electric unicycle or this amazing e-scooter which are a ton of fun, can be purchased for less than a Onewheel XR, and has great customer support if purchased through ewheels.
For more information on the status of the bricked 4211 Onewheel XRs, check out this reddit thread.
If you do get a working Onewheel, enjoy it. Here is my 2 year review of my Onewheel XR:
Thank you to Andrew Stark for inspiring me to write this. Thanks to all those who have reached out to me with their board problems. Sorry if I have not responded. I don’t work for Future Motion so I don’t feel it is my job to act as their customer support rep.
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