bicycle fork failure

steve_bain

I bought a Boardman Hybrid Pro 2010 model secondhand 6 months ago from Gumtree, private seller and paid cash.

It has carbon fibre forks which have alloy inserts at the bottom. The paint has cracked around the join possibly suggesting movement. Movement could suggest a problem that may lead to failure and is not something i like the idea of whilst doing 40mph!

I took it to my local bikeshop who said it is 'probably' ok but to go to halfords (sole distributor of boardman) and ask for them to replace it.

Halfords said what i would expect. The bike is out of the 2 year warranty period. We 'would' have replaced them for free if you were the original purchaser as a gesture of good will but as you are not we will not replace them. no product recall either. They stated that all of the sales of goods acts etc are only related the the original owner i would have to take it up with the person i bought from (which i do not intend to do as it was sold honestly by him).

Halfords have also suggested that they are 'probably' safe but are not prepared to put that in writting. They offered me free fitting if i bought the replacement forks from them (£200) as a gesture of goodwill.

Now my local bike shop are saying that the forks have potentially failed structurally prematurely (and are prepared to put that in writing) for a £1100 bike and that they should replace them irrelevant of ownership or receipts as they are the sole distributor so it obviously was purchased from them by someone at some point.

I feel like i am taking the mick asking halfords to replace parts on a 5 year old secondhand bike but my local bike shop are saying that if it was a bike they sold (irrelevant of receipt or ownership) then they would give a replacement at the cost of the manufacturer.

Any advice welcome.

BigBopper

Private sale and as you say it was sold honestly there's little you can do. You have no contract with Halfords.

wealdroam

steve_bain wrote: »

I bought a Boardman Hybrid Pro 2010 model secondhand 6 months ago from Gumtree, private seller and paid cash.

It has carbon fibre forks which have alloy inserts at the bottom. The paint has cracked around the join possibly suggesting movement. Movement could suggest a problem that may lead to failure and is not something i like the idea of whilst doing 40mph!

I took it to my local bikeshop who said it is 'probably' ok but to go to halfords (sole distributor of boardman) and ask for them to replace it.

Halfords said what i would expect. The bike is out of the 2 year warranty period. We 'would' have replaced them for free if you were the original purchaser as a gesture of good will but as you are not we will not replace them. no product recall either. They stated that all of the sales of goods acts etc are only related the the original owner i would have to take it up with the person i bought from (which i do not intend to do as it was sold honestly by him).

Halfords have also suggested that they are 'probably' safe but are not prepared to put that in writting. They offered me free fitting if i bought the replacement forks from them (£200) as a gesture of goodwill.

Now my local bike shop are saying that the forks have potentially failed structurally prematurely (and are prepared to put that in writing) for a £1100 bike and that they should replace them irrelevant of ownership or receipts as they are the sole distributor so it obviously was purchased from them by someone at some point.

I feel like i am taking the mick asking halfords to replace parts on a 5 year old secondhand bike but my local bike shop are saying that if it was a bike they sold (irrelevant of receipt or ownership) then they would give a replacement at the cost of the manufacturer.

Any advice welcome.

Halfords are right.

As you bought nothing from Halfords, then you have no claim against them under The Sale of Goods Act.

As your Gumtree seller was a private individual, then again, you have no claim against them under The Sale of Goods Act. Under SoGA, the goods only have to be as described at the time of the sale.

There is a possibility that you may have a claim against the manufacturer if the failure causes injury, but you probably want a resolution before that happens.

Sorry, but it looks like Halfords free fitting offer is the best you're going to get.

enfield_freddy

yes , ring the guy you bought the bike from , be nice and ask him to meet you at halfrauds where HE (the original owner) can ask them to change them


then buy him a bottle of his favourite

steve_bain

thanks for your responses. It is as i suspected.

Halfords keep no record of names so if i was dishonest i could go to another store and tell them i am the original owner but have lost the receipt and they may replace them. I wont do that though!

For me buying new comes with the security of warrantees, i bought secondhand and saved a fortune so its just the way it is.

I blame it on my local bike shop for giving me hope!!

Thanks again for your input. I will not bother pursuing replacements and suck up the costs.

BigBopper

wealdroam wrote: »

Halfords are right.

As you bought nothing from Halfords, then you have no claim against them under The Sale of Goods Act.

As your Gumtree seller was a private individual, then again, you have no claim against them under The Sale of Goods Act. Under SoGA, the goods only have to be as described at the time of the sale.

There is a possibility that you may have a claim against the manufacturer if the failure causes injury, but you probably want a resolution before that happens.

Sorry, but it looks like Halfords free fitting offer is the best you're going to get.

I doubt he would have any claim as he knows they're damaged.