"Mobie" Mobility Scooter

Hi Heather,

I know you posted this question a while ago but I just bought a Mobie and wanted to let the world know it's brilliant!

I've been using a stick to walk with for a couple of years but that's tiring and I've generally avoided going out to shops and places where I can't take my car up to the door!

It folds up and fits into a Fiat Panda boot with room to spare. The battery is about the size of a DVD box, is light and they say it would go for up to 10 miles. The seat is at a good height, higher than a wheelchair. It's easy to get on and off. It's controlled with 2 small levers on the handlebar so you can use either hand to go forwards or backwards. Stopping's easy, you just stop pressing the lever and the brake is activated. I took it out for the first time last Sunday and whizzed around, exploring places which have been out of reach for me. It managed a reasonably steep hill with no problems. and this week I took it into a busy city centre and people were getting out of my way (made a nice change). We're busy planning all the things the Mobie has enabled me to think about (we have a 7-year-old daughter).

I've only used it on pavements so far but I think it'll handle uneven ground. It's too wet out there to try just yet.

It could be a great investment, depending on your needs.

Best wishes,

Louise

My wife and I fell for the Mobie whilst on a 6week holiday in Orlando last year, all was going well until she had a slight (and i mean slight!) altercation with a kerb! she was approaching a dropped kerb and as we where in a crowd we where right at the edge where the pavement started to slope upwards she heard and felt a slight bump as the kerb nicked the underside of the scooter, we thought nothing of it and carried on. It wasnt until I tried to fold the scooter i realised how flawed the design actually is!! The slight nick had caused one of the metal struts to bend slightly (and i mean slightly!) and as a result the scooter would not fold! I wouldnt have been too bothered if we had really damaged the scooter but it was no more than a slight tap! With great difficulty and the help of a very coureous (but expensive) private hire minivan driver we got the scooter back to the resort where reception where kind enough to arrange a hire scooter for my wife (a gogo type machine that I had to break up) while we sent the mobie to be repaired. TWO WEEKS later they got the scooter back to us pretty much in the same shape as it was!! We where furious! Apparently the strut is all one part and to replace it would be very expensive and not under warranty as it was damage! (again i stress she barely touched it!) We decided as we where flying home a week later and unaware of whether we could get service in the UK we paid the $370 dollars to have the bit of metal replaced for a new straight one and went away with a bit of sour grapes but now aware of the frailty of the scooter! Anyway we got home to freezing weather and the scooter went straight into the shed! Last week we got the scooter out and the battery was completely flat and would not charge (it was fully charged just four weeks previous), we emailed the company in america and apparently if you dont charge them for 3 weeks the batteries can die! They wouldnt help us under warranty and tell me they couldnt even ship one if they wanted too as they cant airmail their lithium batteries (strange and slightly worrying given the fact we'd just taken ours on a flight!) At this stage I marched the wife down to our local shop and part exchanged our mobie nightmare for a nice new GoGo elite sport with all the bells and whistles. I just hope UK customers get a better service as I am sure you are going to need it!