Woman left stranded after scooter breaks
A WOMAN said she felt abandoned after waiting five hours on the side of the road when her mobility scooter stopped working.
Rachel Gentle, 48, from Cefn Glas in Bridgend, uses a wheelchair normally, but has a mobility scooter to make life easier when out of the house.
After having issues with her own mobility scooter she reached out to local repair company Steddy.
The company collected her scooter last Tuesday and provided her with a replacement while hers was repaired.
She noted the new scooter was harder to operate than her own, but didn’t want to cause a fuss.
However, as she made her way to Bridgend town centre she claimed the battery on the scooter was low and she contacted Steddy for help.
She claimed she was then advised by an engineer to either attempt to get herself home before the battery died, or to call her breakdown cover company Motability.
Rachel said: “I said I can’t walk and this battery is going to die – I can’t try and go home, I know it’s not going to get me home. I needed somebody to come and get me.”
But Rachel said that despite several phone calls, the breakdown service didn’t arrive for five hours.
When a vehicle did arrive to collect Rachel and the scooter, she claimed it was unsuitable.
She said: “There were three big steps to get in there, to get up on the seat and he had handles where I pulled myself in. I was so distressed.”
Rachel, who said she pays around £200 a month for her breakdown and insurance cover with Motability, said she finally arrived home at about 9.30pm.
Paul Steddy, the director of Steddy, said: “She’s a Motability customer so she did call here in the afternoon because she was worried about the scooter but she talked to an engineer. Apparently she had three bars of battery left on the scooter which should have been enough to get her home, so that’s what we advised her as she hadn’t broken down at that point. If she were to break down, Motability have a recovery service.
“We can’t recover people, we’re not insured to do that part of the service.”
A spokesperson for Motability said: “Unfortunately, we are unable to comment on the specific details of individual customer cases.
“However, I can confirm the process when using the Motability Scheme’s breakdown assistance during a lease agreement for a scooter or powered wheelchair product.
“Scooters and powered wheelchairs leased through the Motability Scheme are fully covered by specialist breakdown assistance for the life of the lease agreement.
“The Motability Assist helpline is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
“Motability Assist will take the customer and their product back to the customer’s home address if they break down while out and about.
“The customer will then need to contact their dealer who will be able to arrange the repair.
“We’re sorry to hear this customer didn’t experience the service they would expect, and we would urge them to contact us on 0300 456 4566 to discuss their individual situation further.”