Cargo bike company Babboe stops sales and tells customers to “immediately stop” riding their bikes due to faulty frames – after “lying” about defects

Dutch cargo bike company Babboe has brought a temporary halt to sales of its entire range, after a number of its frames were found to have manufacturing errors, amid accusations of a cover up by the brand to hide the faults from customers.

Last week, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) ordered the company, which specialises in pedal and electric cargo bikes, to stop selling and recall eight of its bike models due to safety risks, after receiving hundreds of hundreds of reports about broken frames.

An investigation into the cargo bike company found that Babboe knew about the defective frames but had failed to report them to the regulator despite being required to do so by law, even going so far as to instruct staff to “make up stories” to customers.

> Babboe was “well-aware” of its sale of faulty frames, finds investigation

Now, a week later Babboe appears to have finally acknowledged the authority’s findings, halting sales of its entire range and instructing customers who own the affected models, the frames of which are subject to manufacturing errors and welding defects, to “immediately” stop riding their cargo bike, as the company prepares for a recall.

“On February 14th 2024, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) informed Babboe that the company has not provided enough information to prove that certain models are free from safety risks,” the brand – which is owned by Raleigh and Lapierre’s parent company Accell – said in a statement.

“The sale of these models must for this reason be put on hold. As a precaution, Babboe has decided to temporarily stop the sales of all Babboe cargo bikes.

“Babboe and the NVWA continue to work together to ensure that the requested information is provided as quickly as possible, so that sales can be resumed. Until then, we will follow the NVWA’s advice to not use the Babboe cargo bikes.

“We are currently consulting with the NVWA to prepare for a recall of certain Babboe models. We will inform Babboe owners of this as soon as possible.”

In addition, Babboe announced a safety warning for their two-wheel cargo bike model City, and frame numbers starting with GB10, GB11, GB12, GB16K, GB16L, GB17,GB18, U17, U18, WSP3, WSP4, 11, 12, and CAK.

“After quality testing, Babboe found that the CITY model frame parts, produced between 2010 and 2012, have a manufacturing error. In addition, front frame parts produced between 2017 and June 2018, may have welding defects,” the company said.

“Intensive use may possibly cause hairline cracks in the affected frames. These cracks may lead to the frame sagging and therefore create an unsafe situation. This means the frames do not comply with the high-quality standards we set for our cargo bikes.

“We won’t take any risks and will replace the above-mentioned frame parts free of charge.”

Owners of the affected models have been advised to check the frame number located on the left-hand side of the bottom bracket or, for later models, on a sticker with the frame number on the seat tube, and enter it on checkyourframe.co.uk.

“If your frame number is listed, immediately stop using your cargo bike,” the company said. “We kindly ask you to contact your reseller.”

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The sales pause and recall come after a RTL Nieuws investigation spoke to 12 current and former Babboe employees who claimed that the company’s directors were “well aware” of the widespread defects and that the staff were often instructed to “lie” to customers to keep the issue under wraps.

“We always had to lie,” a staff member said. “I made a story to the customer: ‘this never happens’, and gave them a free cargo bike rain cover and a free cushion.”

Another employee said: “A new boy came to work with us. He told a customer: ‘This happens every day.’ Then they said, ‘You really should never say that.’”

Eleven of the 12 employees interviewed, all of whom wished to stay anonymous, claimed that management viewed the problem as “the most normal thing in the world”, and that an ironmonger would even come weekly to collect the broken frames. A number of the employees said they’d delivered flowers to customers injured after crashing while riding their faulty cargo bike.

The NVWA said that it had been receiving “hundreds of reports” on frame breakage from customers, and launched its own investigation last December when it found out that Babboe had failed to lodge any formal issue with the body. The regulating body has also announced that it will assess if the apparent improper and unlawful approach to the problem by Babboe’s management necessitates a proper criminal investigation.