Decathlon sent me a faulty Bicycle and refuse to send a replacement.

eskbanker

cheapskate1983 said:

eskbanker said:

cheapskate1983 said:

eskbanker said:

cheapskate1983 said:
If you do not offer a replacement just chuck the bike in the rubbish skip. 

[...]

I'm content with writing the bike off of as a loss

Putting aside all the even sillier stuff, you have shot yourself in the foot here by setting out your proposed resolution, so it's not a surprise that this ended the dialogue!

So there no way by law to get any money back even through Decathlon are in the wrong?

No, I'm not saying that, but it seems unlikely that Decathlon would continue the discussion after your outburst, so that would potentially leave chargeback or small claims as possibilities (but far from certainties)....

True but as for Chargeback, if I cancel their payment they will come in for a payment request?

Quite possibly, yes - it's just a mechanism for recovering your funds if you can make a case to the bank that there's been a breach of contract that the merchant is refusing to rectify, but if the merchant challenges that then you're not really any further forward.  However, it's often worth a try rather than jumping straight to court action, which is generally a more onerous process....

Edit: you also have the option of a section 75 claim if you paid by credit card.

cheapskate1983

Okell said:

cheapskate1983 said:

tightauldgit said:

Maybe just me but I'm totally confused.

Decathlon accepted the return but are refusing to replace the bike? What does that mean? Are they going to refund you? 

They are asking you to pay to have the bike returned to you? Why? You returned it and they accepted the return. Why would you want it back?

I told them the following and this is where most of you are going to tell me I have set myself up for failure.
Here we go.

....

"I am not backing down and falling into your after sales trap. I know my rights and your staff are at fault. Consider this an informal complaint

I will be pushing ahead with contacting a consumer rights organisation and I writing letter to the board of directors and CEO of decathlon to inform them of the shady practices on the shop floor.

I will make it abundantly clear your line staff have tried to scam me since I live in rural location and would have limited means to return the faulty bike.

I will not accept this shady service and out right scam. I will not accept this product and I will not accept ownership of it.

If you do not offer a replacement just chuck the bike in the rubbish skip. I will not accept delivery of the 1st bike you sent me!

Im willing to accept I've been scammed by your company and I'm content with writing the bike off of as a loss for being naive enough to trust a shady retail chain that has no respect for consumer rights.

I am NOT waving my consumer rights. I doing this as a protest and boycotting your company.

I also refuse to take down any videos or Facebook comments that slander your company or promote libel. If you don't like it sue me."

...

I regret writing the comments in bold.

They've probably used that as a basis for getting out of their obligations to replace the bike.

All very interesting, but what I asked you this morning was:

  -  when you originally returned the bike to Decathlon what reason did you give for sending it back?  (I hope that what I've quoted above wasn't your first communication with them!), and 

  -  what reason did they give you for not accepting your rejection and wanting to send it back to you?

I'd be interested to see their response as presumably that's what angered you so much to get back to them as you did...

They claimed that the ware on the cables and brakes was all natural of a used bike that had been taken out and used for a week or two. They where implying that I had been outside and riding it for a whole week.

They claimed that the buckle was my fault.

This is what angered me because from day 1 of taking the Bike out of the box I was on the phone to one of their stores and then I was navigating their Whats App / Email only customer support. You cant exactly ring them up and demand a refund. Its all done by automation and is text based.

So my out burst was like delayed rage for dealing with the whole automation steps.

They are claiming its not returned as new but as used.

So I have no way to recoup my payment so I just decided to borderline slander/libel them to get their attention as they where down playing the whole returns process.

The only option I really have from a Customer to Store point is accept the faulty bike and sell it on Ebay as Used. Then I might be able to get maybe 25% of the money back.

cheapskate1983

Okell said:

cheapskate1983 said:

tightauldgit said:

Maybe just me but I'm totally confused.

Decathlon accepted the return but are refusing to replace the bike? What does that mean? Are they going to refund you? 

They are asking you to pay to have the bike returned to you? Why? You returned it and they accepted the return. Why would you want it back?

I told them the following and this is where most of you are going to tell me I have set myself up for failure.
Here we go.

....

"I am not backing down and falling into your after sales trap. I know my rights and your staff are at fault. Consider this an informal complaint

I will be pushing ahead with contacting a consumer rights organisation and I writing letter to the board of directors and CEO of decathlon to inform them of the shady practices on the shop floor.

I will make it abundantly clear your line staff have tried to scam me since I live in rural location and would have limited means to return the faulty bike.

I will not accept this shady service and out right scam. I will not accept this product and I will not accept ownership of it.

If you do not offer a replacement just chuck the bike in the rubbish skip. I will not accept delivery of the 1st bike you sent me!

Im willing to accept I've been scammed by your company and I'm content with writing the bike off of as a loss for being naive enough to trust a shady retail chain that has no respect for consumer rights.

I am NOT waving my consumer rights. I doing this as a protest and boycotting your company.

I also refuse to take down any videos or Facebook comments that slander your company or promote libel. If you don't like it sue me."

...

I regret writing the comments in bold.

They've probably used that as a basis for getting out of their obligations to replace the bike.

All very interesting, but what I asked you this morning was:

  -  when you originally returned the bike to Decathlon what reason did you give for sending it back?  (I hope that what I've quoted above wasn't your first communication with them!), and 

  -  what reason did they give you for not accepting your rejection and wanting to send it back to you?

I'd be interested to see their response as presumably that's what angered you so much to get back to them as you did...

My mate said I am best using an Ombudsman but Its a 2 month wait. By then Cycling season will be over.

eskbanker

cheapskate1983 said:
My mate said I am best using an Ombudsman but Its a 2 month wait.

Did your mate identify an ombudsman whose remit would include this (I'm not aware of any)?

powerful_Rogue

Something does seem amiss here.

I found Decathlon support to be very good. I ordered a treadmill which arrived last Wednesday. Built it on the Thursday and noticed they had sent a two pin plug. Emailed them a picture and on Monday a new cable with a 3 pin plugh arrived via Royal Mail.

cheapskate1983

powerful_Rogue said:

Something does seem amiss here.

I found Decathlon support to be very good. I ordered a treadmill which arrived last Wednesday. Built it on the Thursday and noticed they had sent a two pin plug. Emailed them a picture and on Monday a new cable with a 3 pin plugh arrived via Royal Mail.

If you watch the repackaging video for bikes you will see that there is a cardboard rail that keeps the bike aligned in transit. The bikes I received didn't have that. They where put in their boxes upside down and where free to move about.

So that may explain why 1 bike came with a buckle and the medium frame didnt. I guess it was just luck.

I know everyone has their consumer loyalty to their favourite brands.

I just wanted a bike that works. At this point I'll accept 50% of the value of the Bike. I just want to be clear of Decathlon. Whats worse is on every Bike ride I am going to have to stare at that medium frame and remember all this triggering story.

Sorry if I offend you but look at it from my side. I cant just forget negative experiences so easily. It ripples in my memories.
Autism etc.

cheapskate1983

eskbanker said:

cheapskate1983 said:
My mate said I am best using an Ombudsman but Its a 2 month wait.

Did your mate identify an ombudsman whose remit would include this (I'm not aware of any)?

retailadr.org.uk

eskbanker

cheapskate1983 said:

eskbanker said:

cheapskate1983 said:
My mate said I am best using an Ombudsman but Its a 2 month wait.

Did your mate identify an ombudsman whose remit would include this (I'm not aware of any)?

retailadr.org.uk

Fair enough, although strictly speaking they're an ADR provider not actually an ombudsman!

cheapskate1983

eskbanker said:

cheapskate1983 said:

eskbanker said:

cheapskate1983 said:
My mate said I am best using an Ombudsman but Its a 2 month wait.

Did your mate identify an ombudsman whose remit would include this (I'm not aware of any)?

retailadr.org.uk

Fair enough, although strictly speaking they're an ADR provider not actually an ombudsman!

The problem I have is if I use a charge back Decathlon will come after me for the debt of the 2nd bike, medium frame.

Solicitor fees for small claims court is most likely going to be more than the value of the bike,

Decathlon are pretty much ignoring all correspondence Ive sent them in the last 2 days.

I think that ADR is probably the only way Im going to get any money back. .

cheapskate1983

Think next time I buy something online I am literally going to record the unboxing.

If this is a taste of things to come I think most retail chains are going to go bust very fast.