BING BANG BOSH - FAULTY ITEM

727gw

I am hoping that someone can offer me some advice.

Last July I purchased a spin bike through Living Social and redeemed the voucher with Bing Bang Bosh.  When the bike arrived, I set the bike up.  The nut of the left pedal arm was supposed to turn anti clockwise, instead, it turned clockwise, but the bike worked so I didnt think anything of it.  Over time, as I was using the bike, the nut was gradually loosening on the left peddle, resulting in the peddle arm falling off the bike.

I contacted the company at the beginning of January (within 6 months of purchase) who after me sending three videos of the problem, offered me a replacement, of which I was happy to take.  However, their emails were uninformative and very few and far between.  I decided that I no longer wanted the replacement and requested a full refund as the item was faulty upon receipt.  They then advised me that to return the bike, I would have to pay a £40 non refundable fee.  I have been in touch with citizens advise, who advised me that I do not have to pay to return faulty items.  I emailed Bing Bang Bosh for them to tell me that only  if the complaint is under 14 days of delivery they can collect the item without any cost.  The most recent email I have recieved, they have said that company policy is that they offer 14 days money back guarantee and offer replacement after one month.  Any damages are supposed to be reported within 3 days.  They have said that if the item was faulty, I would have known about it in the first place.  They have said that I am in the wrong and that I do not fall into the category of any of their policies and that all they can do is now offer a partial refund as a gesture of goodwill.  I have read online, that many people have had problems with this company, and that a partial refund is only £50 (I paid £200) and then you still need to pay the £40 return fee to receive this.

I am at the end of my tether with them, I have emailed over ten times in the space of a month, and they are using classic stalling techniques in the hope that I will give up.  Could someone please advise, am I entitled to a full refund and what my next step should be?

Thanks in advance

Sandtree

After 30 days it is the merchants decision on if to repair, replace or refund.

As you didnt reject the within the timescales you cannot dictate the mechanism for dealing with the matter so either you enforce your statutory rights and accept their free replacement or you accept their offer of a refund less the £40 fee.

If the second bike were to come and it also is faulty at that point you have the right to reject the item and get a refund.

727gw

Thanks, I did originally accept the offer of a  replacement, but as it took so long for them to reply, I asked for a refund, to which they agreed.

Manxman_in_exile

Does the OP have to pay the £40 fee if the bike was "faulty" from purchase? (Whatever that might mean    )

If the direction of thread holding on one of the pedals was the wrong way round*, then the bike was faulty from the outset, wasn't it?  (Though I'm not sure how it could possibly have been manufactured that way.  If it was, it's a blatant manufacturing error, and if it wasn't I don't see how the OP could have assembled it in the first place... )

*  I can never remember which side pedal is clockwise and which anti.

born_again

Manxman_in_exile said:

If the direction of thread holding on one of the pedals was the wrong way round*, then the bike was faulty from the outset, wasn't it?  (Though I'm not sure how it could possibly have been manufactured that way.  If it was, it's a blatant manufacturing error, and if it wasn't I don't see how the OP could have assembled it in the first place... )

*  I can never remember which side pedal is clockwise and which anti.

As well as which side you look at it from. 

IvanOpinion

I would have tried a dab of loctite

Manxman_in_exile

I'd have rejected it straightaway on the basis that the manufacturer didn't know what they were doing when the components were made.  (Assuming the OP knew when they assembled it that the thread should have been the other way and hasn't just realised subsequently)

Aylesbury_Duck

Manxman_in_exile said:

Does the OP have to pay the £40 fee if the bike was "faulty" from purchase? (Whatever that might mean    )

If the direction of thread holding on one of the pedals was the wrong way round*, then the bike was faulty from the outset, wasn't it?  (Though I'm not sure how it could possibly have been manufactured that way.  If it was, it's a blatant manufacturing error, and if it wasn't I don't see how the OP could have assembled it in the first place... )

*  I can never remember which side pedal is clockwise and which anti.

I agree,  it's the very definition of inherently faulty.

(Left pedal crank should have a reverse thread.  The pedaller turns that crank anti-clockwise.)

born_again

TBH. If the thread was the wrong way, as soon as you pushed down on the pedal it would come loose.

It would seem to me that if you stand looking at each side of the bike, both cranks will either tighten clockwise or anti clockwise. Stand on one side, then one is clockwise & the other is anti clockwise...
User error.

727gw

Just to make myself a little clearer, it is the arm and the left peddle that is coming off the frame, not just the pedal.  The arm does not screw onto the frame directly, it is fitted onto a spindle (?) on the frame and secured with a nut.  It is the nut that is only tightening clockwise rather than anti-clockwise.

Aylesbury_Duck

born_again said:

TBH. If the thread was the wrong way, as soon as you pushed down on the pedal it would come loose.

It would seem to me that if you stand looking at each side of the bike, both cranks will either tighten clockwise or anti clockwise. Stand on one side, then one is clockwise & the other is anti clockwise...
User error.

That's not correct, is it?  On a bicycle, the left hand pedal crank is reverse threaded. The right hand one is conventionally (clockwise) threaded. If OP's bike has a crank spindle with a conventional clockwise thread on both ends, that's a poor design that will always lead to the left hand crank undoing itself as you pedal.