An Aberystwyth pensioner said he feared “being left stranded in his home” in a row with a mobility scooter firm.

George Fraser, who lives in Trefechan, claimed that an engineer demanded over £300 to replace the battery or he’d walk away, leaving the pensioner unable to get around.

But the scooter company has said that documentation makes it clear that batteries are considered consumables, that they acted in good faith, and that they were prepared to reimburse Mr Fraser £115 as a good will gesture.

Mr Fraser had been experiencing problems with his mobility scooter’s battery just 10 months after buying it.

Mr Fraser told the Cambrian News that after waiting for over a month for an engineer to come out from Quingo Scooters, who sold the scooter to Mr Fraser, he was told that the battery was defective.

But Mr Fraser says he was then hit with a demand for immediate payment of just over £330, claiming the engineer said if it wasn’t paid he’d walk away, leaving Mr Fraser with no way of getting around.

He said he was then told that to get the battery replaced at a later date would require the same £330, but that there would be a call-out fee of almost £60 for an engineer."

Mark Joyce, the customer service manager for Quingo, said the company was prepared to make a payment of £115 to Mr Fraser and insisted they had acted “in good faith”.

He said: “On electric vehicles batteries are similar to fuel in a vehicle, it’s very hard to say how long a tank of fuel will last due to the conditions and amount of use and terrain a vehicle travels and the same applies with batteries on an electric vehicle.

“We feel we have acted in good faith throughout this customer’s process and complaint.

“As a gesture of goodwill I am as a customer care manager prepared to refund Mr Fraser £115 as a full and final settlement in this situation to hopefully regain Mr Fraser’s confidence in Quingo scooters and put this matter to bed.”

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