Horribly disappointed in Tern GSD

About a year ago our family purchased an Aventon Abound. It changed our lives. We have over 1800 miles on it. We live in a very dense population hilly area in Hawaii. Taking our two daughters on the cargo bike to places, avoiding parking, being outside more, it was great and girls loved it. Unfortunately there are not many cargo bike options in Hawaii. We wanted to purchase another bike so that the whole family (all 4) of us could do outings without ever having to drive. We thought about purchasing another Abound but as we were on our 4 incident of broken back spokes, we dismissed that idea. Of note since a wheel replacement by Aventon this seems to have gotten better.

After doing all the research I could, I figured we should go with the “gold standard” and we purchased a Tern GSD S00 with all the "stuff" storm shield, box, etc., more for sun protection than rain. Unfortunately, it is a special order to the islands and no return possible.

Well upon riding it, I was wondering if ours was defective it didn't feel like there was any electric support particularly on climbing hills. Now I realize the Aventon is a hub motor and the Tern is a mid drive motor, but I was not expecting the Tern to not be able to climb hills. I do admit our hills are not typical and there is a 600' session that has a > 15% grade to get to our house. But on this section I can keep the Aventon in 4th gear on Touring speed and get up at ~ 10mph, in comparison the Tern on Turbo is going ~ 4 mph. It seems that the Tern on Turbo is routinely about 5-8mph slower then the Aventon on Tour mode. I don't feel safe riding in traffic, those 5-8mph seems to me to make the driver behind me patient vs annoyed and angry, but maybe I am projecting. Additionally, I didn't realize how often I need to start and stop at lights and stop signs the Aventon even without using the throttle moves fast to get through the intersection. I do not find this to be the case with the Tern. I took the Tern back to the shop, they had it checked out nothing is wrong with the bike. I called Tern support, get by the way, but they said to be aware the Aventon has 1 horsepower and the Tern isn’t that strong. Maybe I don’t know how to ride a bike? Any tips/tricks would be greaetly appreciated.

As for now the Tern is up on Facebook Marketplace with 77 miles on it. I am willing to take a 1k hit but doesn’t even look like it is going to sell for that, and we might be stuck with it. Not sure what the point of this message is, except to warn others. I did/do not have the opportunity to test ride the Tern, especially up our hill before purchase. But everything I read talks about how great the Tern is at climbing hills I greatly beg to differ, and think others should be able to find incidents that support this opinion.