As an essential worker, I was excited about the scooters coming to Manhattan. (Yes, they are scooters not "mopeds" as try to insist.) Having to travel on the subway and often at weird hours when it is totally desolate is not my favorite thing. Erratic schedules and then late night shutdown for cleaning made it more stressful. Taking control over my transportation was amazing.
Finding scooters was challenging until they added more to Manhattan. They were fun and reasonably priced. But after a while I was encountering more and more problems with rentals. Mopeds went from a loose mirror to missing both mirrors. Connectivity issues where the app wouldn't talk to the system and I would have to struggle to get it to unlock the bike or rack up extra minutes because it wouldn't end the ride. Try to contact customer service and wait on hold for 10 minutes. If you opt for a call back, that's about 20. Glad I didn't wait on the phone.
More and more I find scooters are damaged, tires are flat, HANDLEBARS are loose. Yes, handlebars are wiggling. Use the app to report a problem or email them directly, you've got a 50/50 chance of a reply. When you DO get an email response it's a canned reply. Coincidentally, if you try to report problems via the app, the app crashes. Hmm...
Last night, traveling home late from work I had to go to 3 different scooters to find one that wasn't damaged or would actually start. That's what prompted me to finally write a review.
Revel Transit needs to make some changes if they are to be taken as a serious (and safe) transportation option in NYC and not a hazard and a nuisance. Besides the growing number of mopeds that shouldn't be on the road because they're unsafe, there's a growing number of idiots riding without helmets, riding on sidewalks, going the wrong way down streets, two to a scooter with the passenger riding sideways and simply disregarding every law. I've almost been taken out at intersections more than once by another Revel scooter running a light or going the wrong way. I get that they're trying to make this affordable and accessable to the masses, but there needs to be some vetting besides a valid driver's license. Maybe an annual membership fee will minimize the people who abuse these scooters. The recently raised the per minute rate but I've seen no improvement other than some additional scooters available. Maintenance still sucks, and may be even worse.
At this point, for what I've spent using Revel scooters to commute, I'm seriously thinking it would be the same money to invest in buying my own scooter. At least I'll know it's going to be maintained properly and safe. read more