New £1600 bicycle (faulty frame) Evans Cycles states 3 months+ to replace - what rights? 21 October 2020 at 4:44PM in Public transport & cycling 16 replies 473 views

JesseJames_2

My son bought a bike from Evans Cycles and received it in July, priced £1600.

It was bought using my credit card, so it can have Section 75 if things went awry.

Anyway, son noticed that something was not right with the frame in September (something fell out near the crank or so, that should have been pressed fit).

Took it back to Evans end of September, who said that it will have to go to the manufacturers for inspection.

They came back last week and said that the frame was faulty, and that the manufacturer will replace it, but not until after Christmas at the earliest - that will be a full 3 months.

He has also been told by email, there will be no refund

What rights does he have, as the wait for a replacement is, in my opinion, excessive at 3 months for a replacement (minimum, so they say), and they also stated the replacement will be orange (so the replacement must be earmarked in some way). My son says that other places are still selling the same model.

Is the wait legally too long to wait for a replacement (is there a maximum wait time), as I can't see any mention of that when looking at the legal rights, as he will be without the bike he purchased, with no replacement or refund.

Johnmcl7

You might be better posting on the consumer rights board:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/consumer-rights

I agree a refund is reasonable but I don't know what your rights are in this case.  Bike supply chains are struggling at the moment so it's believable they can't get frames for warranty work at the moment.

Nebulous2

What do you mean by the replacement will be orange? Is that different from the original? 

What does he want? I’d probably be pushing them for a refund and would then buy a bike elsewhere. He is unlikely to get it without a fight. While there has been a shortage of bikes this year that has tended to be sub £1000 bikes. More expensive bikes have been more readily available. 

JesseJames_2

The original was a different coloured frame, but same bike model.

I'll post same on Consumer Rights board - did not see that when posting originally.

MalMonroe

There's a lot of relevant advice and information here. Goods have to be 'fit for purpose', and the bike wasn't. The retailer should have refunded or replaced.

 https://!!!!!!/3m6Dx2I

I certainly wouldn't have wanted to wait for over three months for my bike!

MalMonroe

Nebulous2 said:

What do you mean by the replacement will be orange? Is that different from the original? 

What does he want? I’d probably be pushing them for a refund and would then buy a bike elsewhere. He is unlikely to get it without a fight. While there has been a shortage of bikes this year that has tended to be sub £1000 bikes. More expensive bikes have been more readily available. 

There shouldn't have to be a fight at all, the law is on this OP's side. 

Shortage of bikes or no, should make no difference whatsoever to this case. Why so doom and gloom? 

Yahoo_Mail

MalMonroe said:

Nebulous2 said:

What do you mean by the replacement will be orange? Is that different from the original? 

What does he want? I’d probably be pushing them for a refund and would then buy a bike elsewhere. He is unlikely to get it without a fight. While there has been a shortage of bikes this year that has tended to be sub £1000 bikes. More expensive bikes have been more readily available. 

There shouldn't have to be a fight at all, the law is on this OP's side. 

Shortage of bikes or no, should make no difference whatsoever to this case. Why so doom and gloom? 

The law is NOT on the OPs side at all.  It's yet again more bad advice from you.  Do you get off on misinforming people?

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act

"If you are outside the 30-day right to reject, you have to give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace any goods or digital content which are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described. "

It is perhaps up for debate if waiting 3 months is "reasonable."  Under normal circumstances I'd say absolutely not, but with COVID it's not "normal circumstances."

Norman_Castle

Who's the maker? I'd expect bike manufacturers selling £1600 bikes to have better after sales service.

JesseJames_2

Norman_Castle said:

Who's the maker? I'd expect bike manufacturers selling £1600 bikes to have better after sales service.

Bike Make and Model - Norco Search XR A1 2020

Herzlos

Norman_Castle said:

Who's the maker? I'd expect bike manufacturers selling £1600 bikes to have better after sales service.

All the bike manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand, pre-Covid I suspect they'd have been able to provide one from stock pretty quickly but there's realistically a 3+ month backlog on most bike orders for anything up to about £2,000.
I'd be pushing for either a refund to allow your son to buy the same bike elsewhere, as he doesn't want an orange one in at least 3 months. Or to exchange it for another bike they have in stock.

JesseJames_2

Yahoo_Mail said:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act

"If you are outside the 30-day right to reject, you have to give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace any goods or digital content which are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described. "

It is perhaps up for debate if waiting 3 months is "reasonable."  Under normal circumstances I'd say absolutely not, but with COVID it's not "normal circumstances."

Thanks, I did read that very link before posting, and that the bike is over 30 days but within 6 months, so they have 1 attempt to replace or repair.

Yes, it seems that the interpretation of the following 2 lines are key...

• a repair or replacement would cause you significant inconvenience
  He uses it for Deliveroo and main source of income, and is his only mode of transport.
  
• the repair would take an unreasonably long amount of time.
  Has been stated that it would be until after Christmas (at the earliest) - Taken back end September
  Covid or no Covid, I'm sure Christrmas orders will still be fulfilled at Evans !!
  

Also, this is a replacement, not a repair, so should that generally not be a quicker solution?