After a long period of uncertainty and insecurity among many customers, the cargo bike manufacturer Babboe has now started recalling the first bikes in Germany. The Dutch company published on Wednesday on its German-language website a call for customers to first register individual models with the cargo bike provider and leave their contact details. Further details about a possible recall and a possible refund campaign will be worked out. It was also said that customers would be contacted again with relevant information as soon as it was available.
The background to the whole thing is an order from the Dutch supervisory authority. The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) closed the sale in mid-February numerous Babboe models due to safety defects stopped. Accordingly, there have been reports of frame fractures in recent years. The authority then started an investigation at the end of 2023. The research showed that Babboe had received “numerous reports of broken frames” in recent years and had not investigated these reports as required by law. The authorities then ordered the company to recall a total of eight models and advised consumers to stop using the cargo bikes. Babboe himself later followed the advice.
For a long time, the company withheld information about what would happen next – which led to great unrest and massive annoyance, particularly among customers, but also among many dealers who sell Babboe bikes. Many felt left alone by the company and still don’t know how to go about their daily errands.
At the end of February, Babboe launched an initial recall campaign in its home market of the Netherlands – but only for some of the cargo bikes affected by the NVWA campaign. Babboe customers could enter the frame numbers on a website and have them checked. Things will now be similar for Babboe customers in Germany: According to the company, owners of the City, City-E, Mini and Mini-E models can find the frame number on the website www.steuerieredeinenpreise.de to see whether your cargo bike is affected by the recall. According to Babboe, you can also leave your contact details there. Customers will then be “informed about the next steps as quickly as possible,” it continues.
However, this first measure is likely to be initially unsatisfactory from the perspective of many Babboe users – especially since the offer only applies to some of the eight models in question and even for these bikes many questions remain unanswered. Babboe boss Gerard Feenema recently promised that as part of the recall, those affected would be given “a replacement cargo bike or another suitable alternative as well as compensation for the inconvenience caused”. When asked, a Babboe spokeswoman at the company headquarters in the Netherlands explained that customers there would be given a voucher for a new bike in exchange for their old bike. reported that Manager Magazine. And the promised compensation for the inconvenience caused will also be reimbursed in the form of a voucher – although the amount this would be and whether it can also be redeemed with other brands or manufacturers remained unclear at first. Babboe boss Feenema simply assured that they would ensure “that the recall campaign runs as smoothly as possible”.
Industry observers and consumer advocates point out that the problems at Babboe cannot be narrowed down to the four models that have now been recalled. Until further notice, the recommendation is not to use the other models either – specifically, according to the company, these are the Curve/Curve-E/Curve Mountain, Babboe Big/Big-E, Dog/Dog-E, Max-E models , Pro Trike/Trike-E/Trike XL, Carve-E/Carve Mountain, Slim Mountain, Go-E, Go Mountain, Flow-E, Flow Mountain and Babboe City Mountain. Babboe claims to be the market leader for cargo bikes in Europe.