Why I don’t have an e-bike anymore 🚲💔

When I moved into my house, it was brand new construction. It looked amazing — clean floors, sparkling fixtures, still had that fresh drywall smell. But you know how this story goes: in the first few months, the cracks started to show.

🚰 The water dispenser on the fancy fridge didn’t work.

🌧️ Our neighbor Aaron complained that the pop-drain in our lawn flooded his property every time it rained.

🚪 And then — the real kicker — the vendor repairing said pop drain left our garage door open when we weren’t home. And wouldn’t you know it, the fancy new e-bike I’d bought my husband just a month prior was GONE.

We were livid.

The bike was expensive – it had been a splurge, but with one car between the two of us, it seemed like a necessity for our new, semi-suburban life. We’d only ridden the thing twice, and now it was gone.

So what did we do? We raged.

We called the builder. We called the seller. We called the broker. We wrote long, angry emails. We demanded restitution. We made it everyone’s problem. And eventually? We got paid back for the bike.

Happy end to the story, right? Well.

A few months later, we noticed water in the basement. Not an obvious leak or a flood…just a weird damp patch that got worse every week.

We eventually learned that the HVAC vendor had made a small error — one that would’ve been easy for them to identify and fix if they’d returned our calls. Which they didn’t. Because they hated us.

In our fury over the e-bike, we had gone full scorched-earth. So when we needed a simple fix to a growing problem, we were alone on the battlefield.

This story comes to mind constantly when we talk to retailers who’ve just opened their doors.

They’re tired. Cash has been flying out the door for months, sometimes years. They just moved in and already, things are breaking:

 🚽 The plumbing’s weird
 ❄️ The HVAC’s moody
 🔐 The back door won’t lock
 🔌 Someone painted over an outlet??

All roads lead to one very natural emotion: I’m gonna murder my landlord. (Okay not murder murder, but bullet-pointed email with attachments, read receipts, and follow up phone calls murder.)

We get it. The “this is the last thing I needed on my plate” stress is real. But here’s the thing:

Opening a store isn’t a wedding, it’s a marriage. Like any long-term relationship, there can be really challenging moments, especially in the beginning where everyone is settling in. It’s incredibly common for some issues to reveal themselves only after you move in. That’s not necessarily a sign of deception or negligence — it’s just real life.

Since retail leases are five to ten years of commitment, here’s our advice: don’t go nuclear in the first three months. Instead:

 ✅ Pick your battles
 ✅ Don’t assume every problem is a betrayal
 ✅ Document everything
 ✅ Plan for a higher “repairs and maintenance” budget in the first months
 ✅ Save the flamethrower for actual emergencies

Because one day, six months from now, a mystery leak might show up. You’re going to want to text your property manager and say, “Hey, remember that issue from install — could it be related?” and have them say, “Let me call the plumber and find out.”

Not, “New phone, who dis?”

And you know what else? One day, say three years down the road, you might need two more reserved parking spots…or permission to close on Sundays…or backup when your neighbor’s staff keeps leaving trash in the corridor.

So breathe. Vent to your group chat. Send us the draft of the angry email first (we’ll tell you if you should save/ edit/ send it). Your landlord doesn’t have to be your bestie, but they do need to be a functional partner, and you do want them on your side. Brick-and-mortar business ownership is a marathon, not a sprint — and you’re going to need all the good will you can get.