Segway Tours Gone Bad!

[gbrandwood]

Originally Posted by bvelke

But I don't. A person who buys a Segway has a big investment in behaving well, i.e., skin in the game. The rental customer does not.

When a local person buys a Segway, I strongly encourage them to take a free tour with me as soon as possible. I want a chance to teach them the local regulations and customs, introduce them to local police and rangers, etc., and to impress on them that their behavior reflects on me. They are just as eager to learn how to stay out of trouble. We both make valuable friends in the process: I offer them a tour discount for guests who come to town and I've been known to borrow their machines when I'm in a pinch.

I get phone calls almost every day from people who say that they want to rent Segways. When I explain that we only offer tours and escorted rides, most say that would be fine. That is, they didn't understand the distinction and are even happier to have a guided tour (if they want the history) or an escorted ride on a proscribed route (if they just want the experience of riding a Segway).

Those that just want to "joy ride" in a tourist town are up to no good and I am thrilled to turn them away. Good riddance!

When a Segway owner comes to town, I offer them a tour at half price when they use their own machine. I'll even give them a small discount if they didn't bring their ride. But I won't rent them a pistol with which to shoot me. It isn't just a matter of riding experience. It is a matter of understanding and respecting the local regulations. It doesn't even take an accident - just annoying a merchant or scaring a single pedestrian can start a wave of discontent which could end with regulations or restrictions on me. We have carefully cultivated the trust and good will of the citizenry (not an easy task) and I won't do anything to jeopardize that.

I know of at least half a dozen Segway rental businesses that not only went out of business but managed to poison the atmosphere and ruin the prospects of any future tour business in that area. You probably know of some as well.

I find myself agreeing with all of the above. I'm currently just a glider but have plans to operate a tour and find a lot of what has been said by Bob & Tom to be in-line with the risk assessments I have been preparing.

A few Brits have also toyed with the idea of creating a self regulatory body for gliding certification. I think it would help in lots of cases - and whilst I wouldn't expect it to become government regulated like our car driving licence, it would be more in-line with cycle proficiency and may be recognised, in time, by insurance companies that offer Segway insurance.

Perhaps this could be an international effort?

I like the name "SegwayAcademy" and thought about registering it for a while. (I've just registered it now before posting!). My original thought envisaged me travelling to NH to be trained by INC so atleast I could atest to having training knowledge in its purist form. Or maybe I just needed a good excuse to go visit the mothership!

Will have to discuss this will some of the UK heavyweight dealers/tour operators...

[Florida Ever-Glides]

I believe that some form of regulatory body will be necessary sooner or later. Lots of businesses that have public safety concerns have responsible regulations to weed-out the bad apples. It is a normal occurence and one that could put a halt to the dangerous Segway operations and allow the safe operators to thrive for many years to come. Just a thought. An association of professional Segway tour operators is no a bad idea either...

[emrnyc]

We would join an association, a good way of showing our professionalism. Safety is number one!!

Originally Posted by Florida Ever-Glides

I believe that some form of regulatory body will be necessary sooner or later. Lots of businesses that have public safety concerns have responsible regulations to weed-out the bad apples. It is a normal occurence and one that could put a halt to the dangerous Segway operations and allow the safe operators to thrive for many years to come. Just a thought. An association of professional Segway tour operators is no a bad idea either...

[bvelke]

My original thought envisaged me travelling to NH to be trained by INC so atleast I could atest to having training knowledge in its purist form. Or maybe I just needed a good excuse to go visit the mothership!

I called INC a few days ago when this thread came up and I was told that they no longer offer instructor training, nor even tours of the mothership. I'm not a dealer and maybe that's why I got the brush-off but they couldn't seem less interested to talk to me.

I got my instructor training through my local dealer. He's out of town now but when he gets back I'll ask whether there are resources available that INC just wasn't offering to me.

[SF Segway Tours]

Originally Posted by emrnyc

We would join an association, a good way of showing our professionalism. Safety is number one!!

We also would join an association and contribute to a professional training and operational standard.

Our market has a least one operator with little or no guest training - and their errors & mistakes become my mistakes simply by being in the same market.

[Bob.Kerns]

Originally Posted by SF Segway Tours

We also would join an association and contribute to a professional training and operational standard.

Our market has a least one operator with little or no guest training - and their errors & mistakes become my mistakes simply by being in the same market.

I can attest to the quality of your guest training. I brought my mother and my adult daughter; I'd already trained my mother but was looking to have the benefit of a more experienced trainer as well. My daughter had never even stepped on one.

I watched your training techniques closely, and learned a few things, as I hoped would be the case. And my mother went on to become a Segway owner and SegwayChat member.

I'd have been a very disappointed customer if you'd skimped on the training!

The tour aspect was also great.

I find it hard to imagine anyone thinking that skimping on the training would be good business. But I can easily imagine someone not knowing how to put together a good training program -- especially one that can be delivered repeatably by different trainers.

I think a good professional association might not only help weed out bad operators -- it might help some bad operators become good operators.

[scoob5o]

Is there any trainer here willing to film a session and post ??

[bvelke]

Originally Posted by scoob5o

Is there any trainer here willing to film a session and post ??

There are dozens already on YouTube. Just search for "Segway Training".

[scoob5o]

I spent the better part of four hours looking at every segway video/training or not and all really just show inexperienced users just gliding and no real training going on I would like to see a trainer on a machine with a lapell mike to the camera talking about what to and not to do on the machine show some examples of real world scenarios, also showing just what the machine can do I guess i'm just asking for to mutch. I watched the training video that came with my unit 3 times and while it was very helpful i still had to learn the hard way in the real world just what i can and can not do with the machine I have had two critical shutdowns, both were my fault. 1st was very slow as i was testing the climbing limits of the machine. 2nd i was in a hurry and attempted to glide into the back of the car trailer and the ramp wasn't all the way down and tried to make the machine climb about four inches and continue uphill from that point and needless to say i hit the incline and then hit the ramp and went down pretty hard. So with those two learning episodes i am alot more careful around uneven surfaces and also where i will let someone demo ride my machine

[Florida Ever-Glides]

Dave at Segway of Central Florida is a good dealer and shares the ethics towards the proper and safe Segway tour industry that should be a model of all other Segway dealers. Unfortunately there are bad apples all the way through the tree. You know who you are and so do others...