Segway Of Oakland

Alex is a nice guy.
I called ahead, and Bob (also nice) said to go ahead and bring in my Ninebot One, because they can repair those (turns out: they can’t). 30 minutes later in person, Alex said they couldn’t take it (they did). He said he would call me back Thursday (he didn’t). Friday morning they said they’d call back at noon (they didn’t). Friday at 1:30pm Bob said he’d call me back that evening (he didn’t). Saturday (today) I get the call from Alex: They haven’t even looked at the unit, and they’re not going to, and I should just come pick it up, broken… in two more days. Thankfully I was ultimately able to get it same-​day.
The repair needed is just a simple 2 mm washer replacement, a 10-​minute job anyone could do with the right socket wrench. I work 80 hours a week and commute everywhere with this vehicle, and this week off was my one chance to get it taken care of. This has cost me: 1) All opportunity I had to actually get my vehicle working again, and 2) who knows how much in Über fees as a direct result.
The shop itself is also dirty, crowded, and graffiti’d. How this place is still open is beyond me.

I really wanted to try this tour company.
But, after two weeks of trying to book a reservation (was promised a call back, but no reply so I tried email and voice mail but no replies)
I finally talked to someone but he who would not honor our Groupon voucher.
bad business treating customers so poorly.

My friend and I planned an unusual day. Segway of Oakland was right in the middle. Alex was our guide. He was great. He made sure we were safe, had fun and didn’t interfere with the other people enjoying Lake Merritt. I can’t say enough about Alex and Segway of Oakland. I especially enjoyed the balance he brought to our experience — between safety and fun — between our fun and the other people enjoying their day. Thanks for a great adventure.

I’m only giving one star because Unilocal doesn’t allow zero stars, but that’s what this place deserves…
So this is frustrating. I called twice and made a reservation for my family for a nice weekend Segway tour. The guy on the phone was a slow talker so it took a while to get all the info, but what was annoying was how he kept trying to up sell my family of four, a package for six people. Anyways I just brushed it off as a sales person. And they kept arguing with me that there is no Unilocal discount even though right here on this page, it says it is. Okay company, you need to sort that out with Unilocal if you need a change made.
Anyways here’s the most ridiculous part, I show up day of the reservation with my family in tow and the place is closed! Lights off, gate locked… now granted I was here early for the reservation, but working hours started an hour ago… so where is everyone? Why didn’t I get a phone call if they were going to cancel on me? What kind of company is this?
Trust me, I’m never coming back here and I’m going to tell everyone I know that this is an irresponsible establishment.

I would have given it 5 stars but this was the second time I went and this time it was not the same as the first. The first time I went we had free time to ride around at the park in the middle of the tour. And free ride after the tour ended. This time we were all scurried to one single line and went around Oakland. Nothing spectacular. Felt like we wasted our money, could have rented bicycles and did the same thing. Not worth it anymore.

Great fun! Terrific way to spend a few hours. Took the tour around Lake Merritt, Jack London Square, Old Oakland, and downtown. Really made this easy for all of us in our group. This business is outstanding. We will be back!

Hella fun! Another gem in the awesome neighborhood that is Oakland!
I’ve lived in Oakland for a while now but learned and saw a lot of new things. The guide, Riche, was so patient with us. We were a group of 4 that included a senior, youth, and a plus sized person. None of us had any experience on a Segway but with a little training we were ready to roll.
The training took about 30 minutes and the tour itself was about 2 hours. We went on a Sunday and the farmers market was in full swing in Jack London Square. We went around Lake Merritt, headed to JLS, downtown Oakland, party of Uptown, and back to Lake Merritt.
We are definitely coming back and will be sure to take all our visitors on this tour!
A few practical tips for the unfit. Stretch before you get there. Standing for that length of time strained my calves so we took stretching breaks along the way. Taking the ramp onto the sidewalk was a little challenging. Picking up a little speed as you approach the curb is the best way to deal with the upward slope of the on ramp. Take wide turns as tight turns may sometimes cause the segway to hit a wall and cause you to fall off. Yup, happened to me.

You don’t often find an activity that is a fun, exhilarating, educational AND appealing to mom, dad and a teenage son!
A very memorable and pleasurable experience. Thanks!

Found these guys on Groupon and decided to give it a try as our girls day /​monthly adventure with a group of ladies. We had a blast! We were all first time segway riders and a little skeptical at first, but it was really so much fun! Once you get comfortable on the segway you really enjoy yourself. And, our tour guide, Riche, was hilarious and so much fun to hang out with for a few hours. I would definitely recommend this place!

I will most definitely write a more thorough review later, but just know that Segway of Oakland is great! The people and the places we visited were awesome. Oakland is such a beautiful place and this Segway tour really allowed me to see all of its beauty. By the way, I want a Segway now. So. Awesome.

Our tour guide was good. Segways are pretty easy to ride. Even for those with bad balance. I got to see parts of Oakland I never saw, even though I’m from the area. Over worth it. One thing to note, wear comfortable shoes, because you’ll be standing for two hours. Try to look for a deal. I got mine for $ 59 for two for a two hour tour on travel zoo. They do make you watch a 15 minute safety video. It also takes some time for everyone to practice on their segways. We went from lake merritt to jack london and back. Most of it is on the sidewalk, but there are parts for us to ride on road. Overall, a good experience and tour.

My family came here because my dad bought a groupon tour. It was an amazing experience! I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical when we first arrived. The location is in a kind of run down area of Chinatown, and the office inside isn’t great either. I thought to myself, «this place is on groupon for a reason…» But I was wrong!
We took the tour with 1 other family, so there were 6 people total with 1 tour guide. My family brought our own helmets because my mom is a germaphobe, so the cleanliness of their helmets didn’t apply to us. After teaching us how to ride the segway, they took us around downtown and also the beautiful lake. I didn’t realize how pretty Oakland was! I thought it was ghetto, but this tour changed my mind. We also got to ride thru bridges, grassy areas, etc. Overall, I would definitely recommend this place for renting segways!

We have done their tour of Oakland twice now… just too much fun to do once. It includes a quick lesson for those who have never used a Segway before. Then the tour is on! One time we zoomed around Laney College campus, the other time through Chinatown. Then both times we visited the Jack London Square area, and continue through downtown and around Lake Merritt. Their teachers were great and very enthusiastic.
Just go, try it! Segway-​ing is really fun, and this tour will make you want to get one of your own (sadly I need the price to come down A LOT to do that).
An earlier review complained about the facilities… uhhhm, OK, but that’s missing the point, right? Why would you care whether the back office is luxurious or in a high rent district? It should be all about the quality of the Segways (which were excellent both times we tried them), the spots you see (zipping around in Oakland’s urban, downtown setting was really fun), and the tour guides (super fun individuals). Cmon, dude, pull the stick out!

3 friends and I did the Lake Merritt tour yesterday and had the best time! The your people were great & it’ll only get better when they add some tour narratives coming soon! The Segway’s are amazing & so was Oakland. Really enjoyed the lake, Chinatown, Jack London Square and old town! Really amazing tour! Highly recommend!

I bought my Segway i2 at Segway of Oakland several years ago. On occasion I bring it in for maintenance and I also had it customized at the cost of some additional thousands of dollars. At the time that I bought the Segway, from Steve Steinberg, I was very pleased with everything about the business and my purchase.
Recent interactions on the phone and in person have been much less than stellar. Failure to return calls, inability, by staff, to answer questions, general lack of politeness on the phone seems to be the rule of the day.
Imagine my surprise when I learned, from a staff member on the phone, today, that the business almost went under in January, and is under new ownership. This was the excuse I was provided when I complained about the poor customer service I had been experiencing. «We’re doing the best we can.» the person on the phone said.
Now, if I was running a business that was barely hanging on I would bend over backward to keep my existing customers happy, so that they wouldn’t sabotage new business, like I’m doing with this Unilocal review. I would hope that I would get good word of mouth by trying very hard to keep my customers happy. I would not do what the people who answer the phone at Segway of Oakland perpetually do these past months. I wouldn’t be apathetic, I wouldn’t forget to return phone calls, and I would remember that «please, thank you, sir and ma’am» are still culturally relevant.
I used to recommend Segway of Oakland to everybody that enquired when they saw me riding my Segway. As of now I will steer everyone to another dealership at all costs.
ETA: I spoke with Steve Steinberg via email and with Ritche on the phone today. I learned from them that the business was not under new ownership; that Steve still owned the business. I was told that they had been reorganizing staff because they had increased their tour business, but that things were fine. I have no reason to doubt their word. Ritche said that he would speak to the employee who had given me the false information.
It doesn’t change the fact that they clearly have a staffing problem. But it’s clear that the core leadership, there, is still good, based on my personal acquaintance with those people and with the excellent reviews given for their tours.
I’m raising my star rating because they were responsive to my complaint, and because I know Steve Steinberg is a decent guy. But I’m still giving them a 3 until they get the young idiot staffers trained or removed.

Great experience at Segway of Oakland.
Staffs were Superb!
I had always wanted to do Segway and glad Groupon was offering the deal.
They first show you safety video and hand on training you on Segway. Making sure you are comfortable to ride. Plenty of time to practice prior to hit the road. We scenery lake marrit, Chinatown, Jack London Square, Uptown, city center, and back to office.
It was a great experience. I strongly recommend Segway of Oakland!
Safety: it’s not the best activity you want to experience if you are lack of self– balance. You don’t want to fall from it. Keep distance and focus when ride one.
Bring your water!

On one hand, it was kind of fun to ride a Segway and the instructors were upbeat and nice. On the other hand, this struck me as a novelty.
My take is if you ever wanted to try out a Segway or want to try something novel, go for it. If you are so-​so about riding a Segway or very familiar with the area of Oakland around the lake this may not be the best value for you.
My boyfriend bought a Groupon and we showed up a bit before 4 pm for our safety lesson which involved watching a video. Pretty meh, what can you say it’s a safety video. Next we got a basic instruction on how to use a Segway and got to scoot around the block a few times. The instructors were definitely paying attention to people to make sure they were OK and the warnings were repeated a few times. Stay away from walls and tires!
Next we were off, doing a loop around South Lake Merritt, through Chinatown, Jack London, Old Oakland, back to the North part of Lake Merritt and back over to the SE corner where the Segway was.
The main reason I give it a 3 stars, and don’t take this to mean I didn’t enjoy myself, is that i felt the overall experience was average. Riding a Segway is really hard on your feet and when we drove around it was uncomfortable. Also, we didn’t get a lot of explanation or narration as we drove around. If you already know what you are looking at that is cool, but some canned tidbits could have been tossed out at us at periodic stops or when we had to pause for lights.
Like I said, if you think this will be interesting go for it. If you are not sure you may be surprised or you may go eh.

We bought Groupons for this on a lark back in December, and finally took the tour a week ago while my brother-​in-​law was visiting from Colombia.
I really didn’t expect much — I’ve always judged people I’ve seen on Segways, I mean, why not walk? But now I know… it is soooo much fun!
Our tour guides were nice guys, and we had plenty of time to become comfortable with basic Segway skills before heading off into the wilds of Oakland.
I grew up in the Bay Area, and we’ve lived in Oakland since 2000 (the first two years on the lake), and still it was a treat to go wheeling around Jack London Square, then downtown, then uptown, and finally around much of the lake back to where we started down at 2^nd and International.
My brother-​in-​law appreciated the chance to get to know Oakland too, though he speaks only Spanish and my partner had to translate for the guides while they were training him. But apart from that, we all had swell afternoon.
This was a Saturday so the tour was full — with 15 people and 2 guides — but we didn’t mind the crowd at all. Still, the guides told us that if you take a tour on a weekday, the group could be much smaller.
AND afterwards we went next door to Ao Sen for divine lemongrass beef bahn mi sandwiches… scrumptious!

Had the most charming time with me and a my friend. We got there a few minutes early, did the training and off we went! Felt completely safe, loved going ‘off roading” once in a while.
The tour guides were great. They don’t skimp on time. We must have been out there for 2 + hours.
I left voice mails 2x, figure, being they’re a small tour company — the guys doing the tours, also answer the phone, and the returned calls both times.
Highly recommend it.
PS I had to reschedule 2x and they were super cool about it.
Why must they cost so much to buy? I really want one now ;-)!

SEGWAY OF OAKLAND PROVIDED US WITH OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE, A GREAT PRICE AND AMAZING EXPERIENCE!
READER YOU MUST TRY THIS:
I GUARANTEE A WONDERFUL TIME TO ANYONE WHO DOES.
Surprisingly, Segway of Oakland actually rents Segways to customers (who have been properly trained in their use). Best of all the process was painless and inexpensive. Some quick paper and in no time we took the Segways for the weekend.
OF COURSE WE HAD A BLAST. WE GOT TO TAKE HOME TWO SEGWAYS.
They worked great and were very well maintained. We were also loaned helmets’ and locks at no additional cost. Nice! I highly recommend Segway of Oakland.
So… What are you waiting for? You have to try it. You haven’t lived until you have rode one of these bad boys. I can’t wait till I get to again. Enjoy!
⁵⁄₅ stars HANDS DOWN!