Lack of communication about safety risks of Babboe cargo bikes is unwise, say experts

It is very unwise of cargo bike company Babboe to hardly inform its customers about the safety problem with many cargo bikes and the recall. This is what two communication experts told ANP about Babboe's lack of clarity about the problem. Babboe should show more empathy and make it clear to people what the company is doing to improve safety, they said.

The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) announced last Wednesday that hundreds of frames of Babboe cargo bikes were broken. As a result, Babboe must stop selling its cargo bikes for the time being and recall most models.

However, the cargo bike company has not yet launched a recall campaign and it is not known what it will look like. On Friday, the company announced on its website that it expects to release an update next week. "We understand that you would like more clarity about your Babboe cargo bike. We are currently working hard to find a solution. We understand that we ask for your patience and that the situation is causing a lot of inconvenience. We apologize for that."

Babboe has kept the situation very vague, said crisis communications consultant Laetitia Gruwel. The company itself doesn't say which models are affected, and if you don't communicate this clearly, people start to speculate, she explained. "Then people wonder whether the other models are safe. Tell them the other models don't have defects." The NVWA has published a list of models that are allegedly unsafe.

Babboe should have advised against the use of certain types of bicycles from the beginning, according to Gruwel. If Babboe does not know what exactly is going on, the company should have added this. "As a manufacturer of cargo bikes, you are responsible for the safety of your products, and this responsibility is not being fulfilled now. It's about the safety of parents, children and other road users." In her opinion, Babboe is not showing enough empathy.

Communication strategist Bert van Plateringen also misses the empathy towards customers in Babboe's formal and legal text. "They forget that behind the facts are worried customers who no longer dare to put their child on a cargo bike. In a crisis, it is important to communicate the facts empathetically, quickly, and transparently. This shows that you have the situation under control, that you are aware of the problem and are working on it. The unrest is exacerbated when Babboe remains silent, he said. Babboe, however, could not be reached for comment on Friday.