Sports direct faulty bike. Refusing return

ac085

I have bought a bike from sports direct in store.
After assembling it I found the tyre has a puncture to the extent that the air rushes out quicker than you can put it in.
The brakes also don't seem to work properly as you can use them once and then one side of them will stick on.
I haven't yet even sat on the bike due to the above problems.

I went back to the store I purchased it from and they have said the don't do bike returns in store due to company policy from head office. I have been given the number of the customer care department and told to call them to sort it.

I said that it was the store that should be sorting out the faulty product as per the sales of good act but just got fobbed off with company policy etc etc.

Where do I stand? I think the number they have given me is part of the company but I can't be sure as their email address is universal cycles.co.uk not sports direct.

mcja

Have you rung them? We found them to be incredibly helpful when we had a faulty (read shockingly crap) BMX from them. But you have to expect low standards at the price.

Plain_Speaking

mcja wrote: »

Have you rung them? We found them to be incredibly helpful when we had a faulty (read shockingly crap) BMX from them. But you have to expect low standards at the price.

Sports Direct are incredibly hard to contact!:mad:
There is no no contactable phone no for their on-line web site; and my local Sports Direct store (Altrincham) just refuses to answer the phone. It disconnects after 2mins!

I wanted to ask whether I could return goods purchased on line to my local store rather than return by post, (at my cost).

Regarding the OPs bike comments. Sometimes puncture are accidently caused in assembly by trapped inner tubes and brakes can appear faulty if incorrectly assembled!!!
Maybe the OP should seek help from a local bike store. I have found Sports Direct customer support and store staff hopeless.

ac085

Thank you for the suggestions

I wasn't able to call the customer care department when I posted this thread as they are only open in office hours.

I have now called them and the customer care is actually technical support. They were able to assess the bike from my descriptions of the problems and deemed it as faulty. The thread on the casing for the brake adjustment screws has failed so they authorised a refund.
I've taken the bike back to the store (that said they don't accept bike returns) and had a refund processed. Just have to wait for the money to appear in my account to be completely sure!

In order to accept a return Sports Direct require an email from the technical support to prove that the bike is in fact faulty. Once they have that they will begrudgingly take it back.

I'd love to say I won't be using them in future but they sell the running shoes I use at £30 cheaper than anywhere else I've found....we'll see.