Beware when hiring a Tricycle!
Beware when hiring a Tricycle!
We booked a tricycle for my Nana as she has no experience of riding a two-wheeler bike, and a normal bike for myself.
We were given the requested trike, however we discovered this was no ordinary trike.. It had curved handle bars, and a hard-back seat with a body-harness. I don’t mean this to be rude, but the trike was clearly for someone who is disabled. After requesting a standard trike, and being told that the seat was not detachable, and that it was the last trike remaining, we decided not to make a fuss and take the it as we were told this was the last one.
Just 30 seconds into pedalling, my Nana ended up in a ditch. Luckily, she wasn’t hurt. We put this down to her lack of experience on bikes, and after laughing it off continued to cycle down The Trail.
Around another minute or so later, I heard my Nana scream for help as she fell down another ditch (around 200cm deep). She had landed on a wasps nest. I pulled her up and out from the ditch despite getting stung, but there was no way the bike was coming up with her. We called the provided emergency number, and the girl at the end of the phone explained that the trike is specially designed to help someone with no balance, in that it will even out the weight being put on the bike. Therefore, the bike was not suitable for someone who is able-bodied. She told us she would cycle up to us straight away.
A woman (whom we later found out was the owner of the company) arrived 20 minutes later and approached us in a very hostile manner, clearly far more concerned about her bike than my injured, shaken up, 63 year-old Nana. She did not once ask if she was ok, or even apologise so I asked her: “why was my Nana given this bike, when the company KNEW she could be in protentional danger?”. She completely blamed my Nana, and told us we could have asked for the back to be removed. Hilarious that we already had. She was verbally abusive: shouting and interrupting us and wrongly putting words into my Nana’s mouth. After admitting the bike was indeed “adapted” for a special needs person, the woman’s solution to the situation was that she would “speak to her staff”.
I asked her “Would YOU like to ride the bike”, and she replied “No”. I think that says it all. We slowly walked back to the Bike Shop, as my Nana was in great pain. The rudeness continued, as the man issuing the refund for our bikes sarcastically said “it just steered itself into the hedge, did it?” as we explained what had happened once again.
I really feel as though this bike company should not be allowed to give out bikes that will potentially put their customers in danger. Thank goodness the bike didn’t land on top of my Nana, and didn't cause any serious injuries.
3 days later, she is still in a lot of pain.
