[bijims]

FINALLY GOT MY OLA S1 PRO DELIVERED ON THE DAY OF MAHA SHIVARATRI- DELIVERY EXPERIENCE, THE GOOD, BAD AND UGLY

After almost 3 months of deliberation, several queries, questions, test rides, and price quotes taken, I finally bought the OLA S1 PRO GEN 2 on my birthday and got the delivery on Maha Shivaratri Day.

The Experience Centre staff told me that my vehicle was ready to deliver at around noon, and I told them I would take delivery around 4:30 pm.

When I reached there for delivery, the showroom was full of customers, many getting their delivery, others who had come to book and so on, the staff was running around here and there, I was way back in line, and with the demonstration process taking a lot of time for every customer, I told them that I just want the formalities done quickly and I will take my scooter home, they obliged and I was off to my home with my New Matte White S1 PRO GEN 2.

The scooter performed well on my trip home with everything working as expected, including the proximity unlocks, OLA App, ride modes, etc, but sadly the OS was still MOVE OS 3 and they hadn't updated it, I updated the scooter once I reached home, and along with it came a dozen more features, including hill hold, hill descent, OLA Maps, Fall Detection, Tamper Detection, Concert Mode, A new Care Mood, Auto cut off indicators, regen-off setting, and many more.

I tested all of these features and most of these new features work well, except the Proximity Unlock (which is still in BETA in Move OS 4) which works sometimes.

Now coming to the bad and ugly, the fit and finish are mediocre, to say the least with visible panel gaps and a huge panel gap in the mudguard above the tire, this is a serious QC issue and should be taken care of.

I immediately reported the same via the OLA app and received a call from the service center (not the one I bought it from as they don't handle these issues) and was asked to bring in my vehicle for panel refitting on 13th March, I obliged.

Now coming to my overall experience over the last 3 days, I could say, the scooter gets many things right including range (150 km+), battery, storage, loads of features (Concert Mode, Party Mode, Maps, App-based controls, etc), The ride, handling, etc are good too with it doing well over bad patches of road, acceleration is also brisk and you get varying levels of regen which helps you brake effectively and forced regen as well which works by twisting the throttle in the opposite direction

However, it lacks in one crucial department, quality control, the build is acceptable, but how can you fit panels in such a haphazard manner, I could put my finger through the gap in the front panel above the tires, the other panel gaps however are within an tolerable limit, moreover, there is a slight issue with paint too, as there is a noticeable line on the side of the scooter where there is a slight difference in paint, these issues are more to do with the carelessness and lack of quality control at OLA. Moreover, Today, while I was reversing I suddenly noticed an error "Scooter Issue, Please restart the Scooter", I don't know what caused this but it went away after a restart.

So, I will be updating my observations after the service center visit, but so far, I am satisfied with the scooter apart from this one major flaw. If this is corrected, I can say I will be a happy customer. Hopefully, more issues don't crop up and I am praying for a hassle-free ownership experience going forward.

Image of the Front of the scooter before delivery


Rear


Left Side


Right Side


Odo at the time of Delivery


Now, the gaping panel gap at the front


The gap above the left front pocket below the handlebar


The increasing panel gaps


The difference in paint, notice a line visible


The error that popped up today

[aim120]

The panel gaps above is unacceptable, is this due to plastic design problem or is it due to fitment problem.

Any company that follows DEI, the quality goes down. Jobs in these companies should purely be based on skill and some of the panel gaps like the one below the handle bar appears to be due to poor fitment by the people assembling it.

[bijims]

Originally Posted by aim120

The panel gaps above is unacceptable, is this due to plastic design problem or is it due to fitment problem.

Any company that follows DEI, the quality goes down. Jobs in these companies should purely be based on skill and some of the panel gaps like the one below the handle bar appears to be due to poor fitment by the people assembling it.

The panel gap above the tires seems to be a common sight in a lot of S1 PRO GEN 2 scooters, maybe it's a design flaw, but not all of them have it either. The panel gap below the handlebar is defintiely due to poor fitment.

I have raised a request with a ticket on the OLA Electric App and they have allocated me an appointment with the service centre on 13th (tomorrow), hopefully I can get some of these fixed, if any one of these is a design flaw, it is definitely unacceptable and a serious issue to be considered by prospective buyers.

[yedukrishnan199]

As I have observed, this is an issue plaguing a lot of the current crop of Ola Scooters, be it the S1 PRO GEN 2, S1 AIR, OR THE S1 X+, OLLA seriously needs to up their Quality Control and sort these things out, they have sorted out many of the major flaws of the GEN 1, but blatant quality defects like these are unacceptable.

It truly deserves further attention, as many of these things are overlooked by quite a lot of buyers who do not pay attention to these at the time of delivery.

[Aditya]

My Ola S1 Pro Gen 2 | Delivery experience, The Good, Bad and Ugly - Posts moved to a new thread.

[dileepcm]

Originally Posted by bijims

Moreover, Today, while I was reversing I suddenly noticed an error "Scooter Issue, Please restart the Scooter", I don't know what caused this but it went away after a restart.

The error that popped up today
Attachment 2581981

Congratulations and hope rest of your ownership experience gets better.

Talking about panel gaps and other issues - When they cannot get a proper, meaningful error message coded into their operating software, Its obvious that hardware follows similar route also has some niggles to follow. The more I read "Scooter Issue...", the more I feel sad and funny at the same time.

[bijims]

Originally Posted by dileepcm

Congratulations and hope rest of your ownership experience gets better.

Talking about panel gaps and other issues - When they cannot get a proper, meaningful error message coded into their operating software, Its obvious that hardware follows similar route also has some niggles to follow. The more I read "Scooter Issue...", the more I feel sad and funny at the same time.

Yes, I too felt it awkward, it seems like they want to use this as a common error message or they don't know what the issue is. Why else would they pop up a message like "Scooter Issue, Please restart the Scooter"? In the Gen 1 scooter, there used to be a multitude of error messages and faults including overheating, switching to eco mode, etc. The OLA Electric App has this error message in their troubleshooting, but it just tells me to restart the scooter without any explanation as to what has caused this.

Hopefully, it is a one-off and I hope I get my issues sorted, I am visiting the service center today and will update you all with my expriences at the earliest.

[anilsurya1985]

Regarding Scooter restart issue

This happened frequently in my OlA S1 Pro Gen1 also, this happens when you reverse the scooter in inclination. Seems there is conflict between reverse and inclination and that is resulting in the scooter restart.

[anilsurya1985]

Moreover, Today, while I was reversing I suddenly noticed an error "Scooter Issue, Please restart the Scooter", I don't know what caused this but it went away after a restart.

[bijims]

Originally Posted by anilsurya1985

Regarding Scooter restart issue

This happened frequently in my OlA S1 Pro Gen1 also, this happens when you reverse the scooter in inclination. Seems there is conflict between reverse and inclination and that is resulting in the scooter restart.

Thanks a lot for the reply, I feel you are right here, as to get out of my parking, I have to go through a slight downward slope in reverse, and I think the issue is related to the same, as when I tried to reverse this error occurred, moreover the scooter is quite reluctant to reverse with the throttle even on the slightest downward slope,so it makes sense, that when I tried to reverse it with full throttle on the slope, this error occured.

[bijims]

UPDATE AFTER SERVICE CENTRE VISIT
I visited the Ola Service Centre in Thrissur (Peramangalam) yesterday, and boy were there many scooters waiting to be serviced, repaired and whatnot. I don't know how much pride they put in showing that they have over 30 vehicles waiting outside gathering dust and another 30 or so more inside the service centre.

A common sight in what I noticed was that 90% of them were either the OLA S1 PRO GEN 1 OR OLA S1, with hardly a couple of OLA S1X+ and OLA S1 Air in the lot.

I had booked the service appointment in advance (timing 1 pm to 4 pm) and reached at 2:30 pm but it is of absolutely no use. The security guard displayed ownership of the service centre and said they had over 60 vehicles waiting, and the service centre staff were on a lunch break, I persisted that mine was a panel gap issue and just wanted some service personnel to take a look at it and see what they could do. He asked me to come back after 3 pm, and I could do nothing. I went into the sales section and was greeted by a nice polite lady sales personnel, and I told her my difficulties, she immediately sent me a technician she knew, and he inspected the gaps and told me to come back tomorrow to pick my scooter up.

I told them that I was coming from over far away (the service centre in Thrissur town which is just 20 km from my house said they do only small work) just to get these repaired as per the appointment given to me and I am leaving for Muscat tomorrow evening and won't be able to wait and come back.

He told me to wait for an hour and let him see what could be done. I showed him the panel gaps and the poor fitting of the mirror the delivery executive in Thrissur had done and asked him to kindly fix that too. He obliged. While waiting I was inspecting the 30-odd scooters gathering dust outside the showroom and noticed every single one of them having a few panel gaps here and there, some were more pronounced while others were subtle.

After half an hour, the service personnel came back and told me they could do nothing and it was a "manufacturing defect". I sighed and he told me there is nothing to do and I should just accept it. Saddened, I took my scooter and drove away.

Afterwards, in the evening I got a call from the OLA backend team who asked me whether I got everything fixed to my satisfaction I told her No, and what had happened. I don't know if it would be of any use but anyway I conveyed my dissatisfaction.

Anyways, while on the ride back home, I tested the scooter quite thoroughly and found most of its functions working as well as they are supposed to. The brakes were on point. Forced regen was working well, Ola Maps were accurate, the other features like music, party mode, and mobile app connectivity all worked well. Most importantly the range shown was accurate, and even though I was riding with a pillion and some luggage (altogether 150 kg), I was able to extract 120 km from an 85% charge (100 to 15%), which left me quite impressed.

Overall, I would say that these panel gaps, fit and finish issues are the major drawbacks of the OLA S1 PRO GEN 2, while most of the other issues plaguing the GEN 1 Scooters have been fixed. However, such inconsistencies in panel gaps, including improper alignment, huge gaps in the mudguard, and panel gaps below the handlebar are unacceptable and should be dealt with by OLA ASAP.

So, to all those looking for an OLA scooter kindly look above your front tyre for the huge panel gap between the body and the mudguard as it is a common sight among many scooters. To add to the misery, my scooter comes with a panel gap below the handlebar which no other scooter gets, so I am sad to say I am stuck with a scooter with panel gaps higher than the norm for OLA scooters.

Finally, to conclude, I must say that the OLA S1 range of scooters isn't definitely for the ones who prefer build quality and fit and finish and prefer their scooters aesthetics being top notch. For that please have a look at the Bajaj Chetak, TVS iQube etc. But for those who prefer function over form (and don't mind the form being poor), you can go for the OLA S1 GEN 2 series ( be it the PRO, AIR OR X).

[bijims]

UPDATE FROM OLA CUSTOMER BACKEND SUPPORT TEAM

I don't know what the service centre and Ola Backend Team are up to here, but I got a call yesterday asking me whether I had gotten everything fixed to my satisfaction, I told them NO, I had visited the service centre and they had me wait for an hour told me it's a "manufacturing defect" and there is nothing they could do about it.

Earlier I received a couple of text messages telling me that My scooter's repair work had been initiated and then my repair work was completed and Ola Scooter Service was done and delivered back to me.

I guess, the backend team raised a call on the response from the service centre team that they had taken the scooter for service and had completed work on it, Whereas in reality they made me wait for an hour, took my scooter in and after 15 minutes, told me there is nothing to do.

Now, the OLA app shows a repair estimate of Rs.265.50, where in reality, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE.

In the meantime, after this thread had gone live, OLA raised a ticket on their own citing a Social Media Escalation along with an Invoice of Rs.225.

I don't know what in the hell are they raising these invoices for when there was absolutely nothing done YET on their part to resolve my issues. The service centre personnel have shamelessly raised two invoices (one for Rs.265.50 and another for Rs.225) for doing absolutely nothing on my scooter.

I have attached the relevant screenshots.

Hopefully, they do something about my issues.

[jaganm]

Originally Posted by aim120

The panel gaps above is unacceptable, is this due to plastic design problem or is it due to fitment problem.

Any company that follows DEI, the quality goes down. Jobs in these companies should purely be based on skill and some of the panel gaps like the one below the handle bar appears to be due to poor fitment by the people assembling it.

You hit the nail on the head, when the aim is to get plaudits at HR conferences rather than get the best people on the job, the customer pays the price. Of course there are a lot of skilled women in the workforce, but not in the numbers that these guys need.

[bijims]

Originally Posted by jaganm

You hit the nail on the head, when the aim is to get plaudits at HR conferences rather than get the best people on the job, the customer pays the price. Of course, there are a lot of skilled women in the workforce, but not in the numbers that these guys need.

This may be true to an extent, but there are ways you can get everything done with better QC practices, Even if it were an entirely "man" powered workforce, these defects are possible if QC is not set right.

You may or may not feel it is the right choice, but I appreciate OLA for its efforts in helping women steer India's EV drive.

https://www.cnbctv18.com/auto/ola-wa...e-17648781.htm

Of course, there have been a few hiccups here and there but with the vast amount of scooters sold, there are bound to be a few. No one comes close to the numbers OLA sells, and I see that as a testament to the value proposition they offer. Other than the panel gaps and the mediocre build quality, OLA gets almost everything else in the scooter on point, be it range, performance, battery (including an 8-year warranty) or features.

Service is another issue that needs to be taken care of in many areas and with around 200 service centres opening within a couple of months, OLA can get this right as well. If this issue is also resolved the experience would turn out to be much better.

I may have gotten a scooter with abnormal panel gaps and the service experience and response received from OLA on this issue may have been subpar, but I hope the situation improves in the future.

[lionell]

I don't understand how an automotive company can go backwards in their design and implementation.

Gen 1 - Single sided swingarm, sorted rear hub design

Gen 2 - Instead of making it better, they have taken it an easy way out and trashed the entire design of the scooter, the top (panels, design) and bottom (suspension, drivetrain) don't gel at all.