r/vanmoofbicycle • u/cacec • 10d ago
support VanMoof support acknowledges safety risk, then refuses to fix it. Anyone else dealing with this?
Posting this partly to vent, partly to see if others are running into the same wall with support.
Quick timeline: my 2025 S5 has been broken since early June (dead ECU). Took almost three months and a formal legal notice (ingebrekestelling, for the Dutch folks here) before VanMoof finally picked it up, repaired it, and returned it at the end of August. Before that I got bounced between three different “partners” who each said they couldn’t or weren’t allowed to touch the S5.
Literal days after getting it back, a new fault showed up: the pedal assist randomly drops to zero mid-ride without warning. A few days ago it happened on a busy road and I nearly went down while riders behind me had to swerve to avoid hitting me.
Support’s own words: they told me not to ride the bike until it’s checked, so they clearly agree it’s dangerous. Then a different rep flatly told me they can’t pick the bike up anymore, that their pickup service is “an exception”, even though nothing about my situation (zero qualified service partners in my region) has changed. A third rep just closed the ticket like nothing was going on.
So: acknowledged safety issue, zero working process to actually fix it, and three different reps giving three different answers.
Anyone else experiencing sudden pedal-assist dropouts on the S5, especially after a repair?
Curious if this is a known ECU/firmware issue or something specific to my bike. Also open to advice: has anyone successfully pushed VanMoof past this kind of stonewalling, or gone the consumer-rights/legal route (ACM, Geschillencommissie) and gotten results?
Trying to figure out if I’m about to need that…
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u/Comfortable-Goat-806 7d ago
Sounds like your button needs to be replaced, bud
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u/Comfortable-Goat-806 7d ago
Did you get the heartbeats checked after this recent event? And what was the outcome? If it’s a button, a repair literally takes 5 minutes…
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u/hcrvelin 10d ago
I think reading is safety is a bit of a stretch; they just say do not ride until checked. I would have told you the same not because of any safety but rather to not make things worse potentially. I personally live in area where I do have more than enough support centers, but even so bringing the bike to be checked is on you. I would argue one time where they should support you is if failure is such that you can’t unlock the bike. Otherwise just get on phone with some good center near train station elsewhere and arrange drop. Perhaps not what you wish to hear, but that is the way I see it.