Faulty E-Bike

WillyVWade

Hi all,

Got a quick question and want to know what my exact rights are. Here's a bit of a timeline:

I received a bike through my employer's bike to work scheme in late december (21st I believe).
• 29th of January, the bike released a load of sparks and smoke after being turned on.
• I contacted the seller, arranging return through halfords. This took around three weeks to get repaired and returned.
• Around the 8th of May (according to my phone records) the bike started acting unreliably, losing power while riding, gibberish on the display.
• First I was sent a new Battery cradle. This didn't fix it. "The check motor symbol is on, could it be the motor?"
• I was sent new wiring. This didn't fix it. "The check motor symbol is on, could it be the motor?"
• I was sent a new display. This didn't fix it. "The check motor symbol is on, could it be the motor?"
• On June 9th, I was asked if I could send back the NEW battery cradle, wiring and display for testing. I was sick of it and asked for a refund. I was told that I'd have to send the bike back for them to check, then we could discuss refunds.
• The bike was picked up on June 27th.
• Yesterday I was told the bike had been fixed and that they'd serviced it for free (as an apology). When asking about the refund, I was told that the bloke who had said this to me had been let go and refunds weren't company policy.

So I've been paying for a bike that was supposed to save me money, but I've still been paying for alternative transport anyway, They've tried many times,unsuccessfully, to fix it. I'm not even sure it's safe and now apparently I've been lied to (but it's ok because they fired the guy).:wall:

Please help me MSE community

SailorSam

You've probably got the right to have a replacement, at least to have it repaired

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/return-faulty-goods/

WillyVWade

SailorSam wrote: »

You've probably got the right to have a replacement, at least to have it repaired

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/return-faulty-goods/

I know I have that, but my question is (I really didn't explain it well) since they replaced the faulty part in febuary, does my six months full refund right still stand AND since they tried multiple unsuccessful repair ideas (despite my protests that these ideas seem unrelated) that pushed the whole bike over six months old, do I have any room for argument there?

I wouldn't be surprised if they were just trying to stall me over the 6 months point.

neilmcl

WillyVWade wrote: »

I know I have that, but my question is (I really didn't explain it well) since they replaced the faulty part in febuary, does my six months full refund right still stand AND since they tried multiple unsuccessful repair ideas (despite my protests that these ideas seem unrelated) that pushed the whole bike over six months old, do I have any room for argument there?

I wouldn't be surprised if they were just trying to stall me over the 6 months point.

In theory yes you still have the right to a full refund, they are only really allowed a single attempt at repair. Personally, after the last failure I would have been demanding a refund then and there. Remind them of their obligations under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. I'm making the assumption you are dealing with the retailer regards this?

unholyangel

What exactly was the details/set up of the bike to work scheme? Was it the national scheme or a small private one?

Just most of the ones I've seen usually involve the employer paying for the bike and then making deductions from the employees wages until its repaid, which then means the consumer rights act doesn't apply.

bris

There is no 6 month full refund right, it's 30 days. If the first repair attempt doesn't work then you can still reject it but it's an extension to the 30 days and no more.


6 months is when the fault is deemed inherent at time of purchase and not a refund right.

unholyangel

bris wrote: »

There is no 6 month full refund right, it's 30 days. If the first repair attempt doesn't work then you can still reject it but it's an extension to the 30 days and no more.


6 months is when the fault is deemed inherent at time of purchase and not a refund right.

From the way I read it, the OP was referring to the retailer not being able to reduce the refund to account for usage within the first 6 months rather than saying the right to a refund is 6 months.

WillyVWade

unholyangel wrote: »

What exactly was the details/set up of the bike to work scheme? Was it the national scheme or a small private one?

Just most of the ones I've seen usually involve the employer paying for the bike and then making deductions from the employees wages until its repaid, which then means the consumer rights act doesn't apply.

It was Halfords' B2W scheme.

Spoke to them today, one bloke was quite nice, one was... a bit curt, but both of them claimed it was my fault and they'd done me a solid by fixing it. Their reasoning that it was my fault? Because the tires weren't fully pumped up.

Like I'd been riding around on flats or something? The bike has been in my house for two months not being used while they were sending me new replacement parts to fit that had nothing wrong with them, I hadn't exactly been ensuring the pressure was always kept tip top.

They also said I should have had it serviced every three months, which is ironic since I've never had a three month stretch of the bike actually working.

unholyangel

Might not be what you want to hear but I believe under that scheme, your employer buys the bike and then leases it to you until its repaid in full.

There is apparently a clause allowing you to bring a claim against the retailer as if you were the purchaser (according to a similar story involving halfords) - which your employer should be able to confirm by checking their agreement. However this doesn't necessarily mean you can rely on consumer rights and its possible any claim you could bring would be on a b2b basis. If you can get your employer to confirm whether such a clause exists in their agreement & its wording, that might clear up that issue.

neilmcl

bris wrote: »

There is no 6 month full refund right, it's 30 days. If the first repair attempt doesn't work then you can still reject it but it's an extension to the 30 days and no more.


6 months is when the fault is deemed inherent at time of purchase and not a refund right.

Well actually if a refund is offered within the first 6 months then it must be a full refund which is the point I believe was being made.