Wheelchairs of Berkeley

Stay on top of them, keep them positive, there is a lot of red tape but that being said they could be a lot more proactive…

Don’t go here for your wheelchair! Their order and delivery time is stated to be a month (of course they will rent you a chair, for a price) and even when the month is up you can’t get them to tell you when it will be done. Six weeks and many many phone calls later I finally got my chair. I even had my insurance company fast track the request so they weren’t the hold up. So many things weren’t properly assembled in their hurry. Good thing I’m handy. Remember to carry around some basic tools (like allen wrenches) to help with on-​the-​fly repairs if you use them cause you’ll end up having to do the work yourself to get it done right. I wouldn’t go back to them if they offered to pay because their customer service is THAT terrible.
The guy that comes out to ‘fit’ you for your chair will arrive promptly and on time and be very nice so you think it’s going to be a good experience and chose to use them. Then you can’t ever get a hold of the guy or his support team. Ugh! Save yourself frustration and go somewhere else.

I doubt that Wheelchairs of Berkeley will mind very much about this lone star review; after all, they have a captive audience. I went into the store a month ago with a friend who wanted to buy a scooter. We can forgive them the scruffiness of the salesroom and the limited available stock, but NOT the poor customer service. Our salesman, Hugh, promised to call back «by the end of the day» with the information we asked for about a particular brand. No news after three days, so we called him to jog his memory. He was «working on it», and would get back to us in 24 hours. It’s now been closer to 24 days and still no call back. I guess business is doing so well that they don’t need cash customers …

WOB operates with product literature that’s out of date, so the HCPCS codes are wrong… this means they get to sell you a cheaper chair and pocket more profit from insurance companies with negotiated rates.
They insisted I couldn’t get my first choice chair, even though I’d done my homework, and they «proved» it with literature with a different code than I’d found in my research. Since they were staring me in the face, I assumed I was wrong and made a second choice chair.
It wasn’t until I did a lot more in depth research to figure out why my information didnt match the store’s information that I figured out the codes had changed a couple years AFTER the copyright date on the literature WOB was using.
They’re refusing to exchange the chair now, even though their deceptive sales practices and less-​competent sales people were the reason I got the wrong chair that was poorly configured.
In talking with other members of the community who have had the misfortune of needing WOB for a wheelchair, I’ve discovered my experiences are not unique, and it seems like the disabled community around here puts up with them only when they have no choice, and expects the terrible service they provide.
Before going to WOB, you might think about driving farther to another store, or checking out The Shop at the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley. They do repairs and sales both, and have less of an attitude. I don’t know if they do new chair sales, but they’ve got a huge inventory and compassionate talented employees who return phone calls in a timely and professional manner.

Not being able to walk is bad enough, we don’t need antagonizing ‘bullshite’ from insurance companies, store access, or therapists… BUT WE GET IT WHERE EVER we go in a 24 hour period.
So, it’s been a pleasure for ten+ years to have Chris work on my ‘mobility machine’ in the San Francisco shop. Chris has a professional, patient, pleasing attitude when it comes to wheelchairs and people. Now, if he could only pass it on to all the office people in Berkeley… we’d have a great company to deal with!

Ordered parts 4 months ago and followed up with many phone calls. Was always told that they’ll look into it and call me back. Never received a call back and now was just told that the parts were never ordered.

Crappy service for sure. Went in to get a motorized scooter, they were my insurance companies choice of providers. They held the processes up for 6 months and then we ended up going to Grandmar.
I called the place a few times and was hung up on. I am deaf and used the relay service and the stupid person at their office said «I don’t have time for this kind of thing – slam» Wow if you work with the disabled and make your money for the disabled don’t you think you have the time to learn how to use the Deaf Relay system?

They do a good job with the chairs… When I got a chair fixed for a client it took a little longer than expected but the end result was great. Will give them the benefit of the doubt and say their lag was due to the volume of requests they get. Their actual number is:
Berkeley — 510−549−8727
San Francisco — 415−310−6157

As a wheel chair user inevitably go to wheel chair shop to maintain and fix my chair. The Chris who is the manager of SF shop — he is so awesome since he is so patient and caring but also he is technically impeccable.
Hence my mobility impairment is not that much a big obstacle.
My life has been a lot smoother ever since I use Chris’ service.
Moon.