[Wason4699]

Ola is simply enjoying the behind the scene model of Sales. No brick and mortar showroom means people have to accept the data they give and purchase. Even if they are getting lemon as the final product. The scooter can run backward without intended to charge can dry within seconds but they would just have a simple robotic reply.

You can imagine a simple document verification is pending for the last 35 days with the Ola team clueless about the same.

[ambandla]

This is epic facepalm stuff. This S1 owner from Maharashtra tied Ola S1 Pro to a donkey and paraded in his town. Apparently, his scooter stopped working only few days after it was delivered. There was no proper response from the service guys.

https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/maharas...dtv_topstories

[lalgudi]

As Automobile lovers and early adopters of technology, we all should be very wary of data shared in such detail.

I am scared of certain things

1.There is absolutely no protocol that governs such sharing of data on a public forum by a manufacturer
2.The end user right now has no control on how his/her data is shared
3.There is no third party audit that corroborates the veracity of the data shared.

While 3 is also a good business opportunity for technically minded folks , till the time a law allows fair play, early adopters will be at the receiving end.

i personally feel that Ola may have overplayed its hand by revealing this much data and it is an act that might end up unsettling more than what it settles.

[impala]

Originally Posted by lalgudi

1.There is absolutely no protocol that governs such sharing of data on a public forum by a manufacturer
2.The end user right now has no control on how his/her data is shared.

Totally agree. That's where we need stronger privacy laws and mechanisms that enforce that too. While companies ask end users to accept or reject agreements, even those who are conscious would be left with no choice. i.e., users must be allowed to continue using the product even if they want to minimize sharing personal information. Users need to be able to request what data the companies has about them and be able to request deletion of that data. GDPR in the EU made a significant impact across these aspects and we need something similar in India too. Of course, we also need a stronger awareness about data privacy; quite surprised that many of us believe that what Ola did is ethically OK even if the laws or the privacy policies may not be preventing it.

[ayush18kaushik]

I would like to point out that what if the rider was applying brakes while the scooter was air-borne? If that's the case then the wheels of the scooter can go from 80 to 0 in under 3 seconds.

[hemanth.anand]

This owner from Tamilnadu was so frustrated with issues on his Ola that he has set it on fire!! People have gone crazy!

http://youtu.be/ElSJW67FNZ8

[AGupta]

Finally canceled my booking for the S1 Pro. OLA has to go a long way before it can instill some sort of confidence.
What OLA needs to do is to have a Service center in every Tier1 /Tier 2 city with a dedicated team of competent service technicians.

[kk_00]

Recently I have put on a new seat cover for our OLA electric bike. Check it out.

[karthis91]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

This owner from Tamilnadu was so frustrated with issues on his Ola that he has set it on fire!! People have gone crazy!

http://Youtu.be/ElSJW67FNZ8

More negative publicity for the bike! Will be interesting to see what Ola responds to this.

On the surface, looks like a customer getting frustrated with continuously poor service. Burning a >1L looks over the top - wonder if it was that level of frustration or rather something else. Poor customer service is something that other members of the forum have highlighted. It will take some work for Ola to come out of all this. For the time being, it causes negative outlook to the whole EV 2wheelers rather than a single brand.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by karthis91

Burning a >1L looks over the top - wonder if it was that level of frustration or rather something else.

I noticed this video and another in which a donkey is pushing a scooter. There's also the possibility that it's from a competitor.

[VigneshMC]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

This owner from Tamilnadu was so frustrated with issues on his Ola that he has set it on fire!! People have gone crazy!

Below is another video where the owner talks about the issues he faced which led to setting his vehicle on fire . Video is in Tamil .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMsDAixlqs

Key issues he mentions in the video are

1. Vehicle not registered even after 3 months post delivery .
2. Multiple vehicle breakdowns where vehicle shows system error while driving asking for a reboot , post reboot vehicle shows 0 % charge , even if there was more than sufficient charge before reboot.
3. Poor response from customer care team.

Ola seemed to have reached out to him and requested him not to provide any interviews and were ready to provide a replacement .

[Sebring]

Did he say that in this interview? Sorry, I'm not catching it. I just cant believe he did this out of frustration

Originally Posted by VigneshMC

Ola seemed to have reached out to him were ready to provide a replacement .

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

This owner from Tamilnadu was so frustrated with issues on his Ola that he has set it on fire!! People have gone crazy!

Isn't that dangerous as well? What if there was an explosion? Crazy that people can do such stunts on public places.

Originally Posted by Sebring

Did he say that in this interview? Sorry, I'm not catching it. I just cant believe he did this out of frustration

Yes he did, he says the after the video went viral, OLA reached out to him offering a replacemnt, and also asked/requested him not to give interviews.

[Glifford]

Exactly what we expected happened!

Originally Posted by Sran

User data should be anonymous and hashed. OLA should not use individual data and all data should be mixed. This is a breach of safety.

Originally Posted by srivibhu

While the reply is good
2. How does Ola publish such data. It should not by normal privacy standards. Even if the user has complained Ola can say that it has the data to justify that the scooter did not malfunction and take it to a court of law.
4. Does Ola take a waiver from owners to own user data and use it as it pleases? This is a genuine question to the current owners. To diagnose even? Or is it implied in some contract?

Unfortunately (for Ola), both the owner of the scooter and his son (the rider who fell) are lawyers! And they are not taking the sharing of telemetry data lightly! They have served a takedown notice!

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/in...c-8414161.html

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Since the whole process is online, I am pretty sure that in some 'click through ' agreement that a customer signed, there is a clause where you grant permission to Ola to use the data as they wish.

I am surprised that Ola published the whole thing in public, that definitely seems a violation of privacy. Unless of course there is a clause that covers that also.

Originally Posted by impala

Did their Privacy Policy read 'we may share your driving data to anybody at our sole discretion'!? If not, the guy may sue them!

As per the article above, the agreement is to share the data privately only:

“Ola and I signed an agreement to share data only for private access. The posting of telemetry data online is a breach of the privacy agreement between me, the user, and Ola Electric, the seller,”

Originally Posted by niteshsharmab

1. Even though the kid was speeding. The incident still happened due to issues in the vehicle. Why does a scooter go to a halt from 80 to 0 in 2 seconds? Why is there a need for such high and regressive regenerative brakes? In telsa and any other cars it is fine. But can one go from 80 to 0 so swiftly on 2 wheels and not fall off and die???

Also point mentioned in the complaint that the braking timing seems too optimistic if true!

[Glifford]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

This owner from Tamilnadu was so frustrated with issues on his Ola that he has set it on fire!! People have gone crazy!

And then it also gets the Donkey trick!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcxAINOD...eo_watch_again

I remember this treatment given to other bigger brands like the MG Hector and one more (can't remember which) in the past!

https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/maharas...es-why-2918695

Wonder if this is a case of any publicity (good or bad) is pubilicity! But I suppose people know enough about the Ola scooter already (case in point that this scooter was sold in central Maharashtra far from a metro) and incidents like these will definitely make the people think and wait!