Terrible experience.
We went into the shop and asked to rent a moped for 5 days. We had already been in touch with them on WhatsApp to check prices and availability. The guy in the shop suggested we should pay more to rent a newer model - didn’t really see the point in this despite him being quite insistent so we went with just one of the more basic/old bikes. It was pretty scratched up but this wasn’t really an issue.
Didn’t realise that ‘old’ also meant ‘broken’!
First place we went was to get fuel, put three bottles in and got a couple of kilometres down the road when we realised the fuel gauge on the bike was broken as it was still flashing empty. Not ideal. We contacted the rental company on WhatsApp who initially didn’t answer the phone. When they did they just said to please call back in 5 minutes as they were busy. Stood on the side of the road for 5 minutes and called them back. No apology, they just said to fill it with fuel then you know how much is in it! I wish we had just returned it then.
On the fourth day, we were driving over to our next hotel (had only been on the bike from Chaweng to Lamai so hadn’t used it much), and we got about a kilometre in when the back tyre suddenly went flat leaving us stuck on the main highway. We tucked the bike in as well as we could and got off the road, then called the rental company on WhatsApp again hoping they would help. Wrong!
They said ‘you have to fix it yourself’. I asked for their help in how we get it to a mechanic/repair shop. He said to ‘look on google maps’… super helpful!
We did find someone very helpful though in a nearby restaurant who helped us by somehow managing to get the bike down to a mechanic that he knew, and dropping us down there. In trying to find the puncture, the guy said that the seams of the tyre were just worn, old and deteriorated so it went flat. He suggested we call back the rental company as a new tyre was not something that we should be having to pay for seeing as it was already an issue before we had the bike. He actually spoke to the rental company for us, who all of a sudden decided they would come and pick it up after all, and bring us an alternative bike. Half an hour later, they turned up in a pickup with a bike in the back which they left with us as they took the other. Not a word of apology.
Just as a cherry on the top, the replacement bike they brought us almost seemed to be in a worse state than the previous one! Awful ticking sound from the engine and a loud clunking noise every time we went over a small bump or dip. I was fed up at this point so we drove back to the rental place and gave it back a day early. There was no offer of a refund for the day not used and no apologies for the shambolic experience.
Didn’t make a fuss at the time as they had my passport as a deposit and I just wanted to get it back and leave.
Have rented bikes many times in Thailand before and this is by far the worst company we’ve dealt with.
