Halfords bike faulty - what are my rights?

javixeneize

Hi

i am having a nightmare with a bike I bought in Halfords. It’s a pretty expensive one, over £2000. The bike was bought through cycle to work

i bought it in February 2023, and after 4 months the saddle started to slide backwards. They told me it was a problem with the seat post, replaced under warranty and it was working for a period of time

This year I started to have the same problem again. They replaced the saddle clamp and it didn’t fix the issue. I bought a new seatpost and after some rides, the problem appeared again

clearly there is a problem with the design of the seatpost/saddle, as it has been replaced 3 times and the problem still appears. this model is proprietary of Boardman, there are no aftermarket seatposts compatible with this bike so it means that the whole bike can’t be used at all

what are my rights here? I don’t want a replacement because it has been proven that every replacement still fails, so I want a suitable solution here. I want to keep the bike as I like it, but the seatpost problem makes it unusable.


thanks

powerful_Rogue

javixeneize said:

Hi

i am having a nightmare with a bike I bought in Halfords. It’s a pretty expensive one, over £2000. The bike was bought through cycle to work

i bought it in February 2023, and after 4 months the saddle started to slide backwards. They told me it was a problem with the seat post, replaced under warranty and it was working for a period of time

This year I started to have the same problem again. They replaced the saddle clamp and it didn’t fix the issue. I bought a new seatpost and after some rides, the problem appeared again

clearly there is a problem with the design of the seatpost/saddle, as it has been replaced 3 times and the problem still appears. this model is proprietary of Boardman, there are no aftermarket seatposts compatible with this bike so it means that the whole bike can’t be used at all

what are my rights here? I don’t want a replacement because it has been proven that every replacement still fails, so I want a suitable solution here. I want to keep the bike as I like it, but the seatpost problem makes it unusable.


thanks

Have you contacted the Cycle to Work scheme, as that is who your contract is with.

You don't want a replacement, yet want to keep the faulty bike, so what remedy are you looking for?

Tucosalamanca

No other seat posts being compatible seems unlikely. 

Have you researched this independently or taken it to another bike shop for a second opinion?

I wouldn't trust Halfords to change an inner tube, let alone diagnose and fix a fault....

javixeneize

I contacted then last year and they told me it was my responsibility to keep the bike in good shape. Cycle to work is basically halfords

sorry if I didn’t explain properly, I’m not a native English speaker.

Given that the repairs fail after a period of time, I believe that the only available solution would be a refund, but that’s why I am asking here, to hear from people with experience in this area what are the recommended steps to follow and what are my rights

Thanks 

Wonka_2

javixeneize said:

I contacted then last year and they told me it was my responsibility to keep the bike in good shape. Cycle to work is basically halfords

sorry if I didn’t explain properly, I’m not a native English speaker.

Given that the repairs fail after a period of time, I believe that the only available solution would be a refund, but that’s why I am asking here, to hear from people with experience in this area what are the recommended steps to follow and what are my rights

Thanks 

If you search Cycle2Work there'll be plenty on here of people with issues but it's a complex situation between employer/employee/C2W and retailer

Whilst not disbelieving the seatpost/seat can't be that proprietary to the bike that there isn't an alternative solution

tacpot12

You should have a Consumer Hire Agreement with whoever provided the bicycle to you. You should review the agreement to see what it says about the situation. 

javixeneize

If there was a compatible seatpost, I would buy that from my pocket, I tried that last year. It is q Boardman slr aero seatpost just in case you want to look at it

javixeneize

This one is not… no, and the clamp is slightly more complex than that too 

can we focus on the right matter please?

thabks 

Okell

javixeneize said:

Hi

i am having a nightmare with a bike I bought in Halfords. It’s a pretty expensive one, over £2000. The bike was bought through cycle to work...

Apologies if I'm mistaken but my understanding is that if you obtained this bike through the Cycle to Work scheme then you haven't bought it, your employer has bought it and they are basically hiring it to you.

You need to raise your complaints with your employer (you are paying them for the bike, not Halfords) and they need to take it up with Halfords on your behalf.

As others have said, you should have a written agreement with your employer about provision of the bike.  you need to check what the agreement says.

I'm also going to suggest that this thread be moved to a more appropriate board where you might get more relevant advice.   Public transport & cycling — MoneySavingExpert Forum

javixeneize

Thanks! Appreciate it 

Okell

javixeneize said:

Thanks! Appreciate it 

I've asked the site team to move your thread to the other board, but I don't know if any of the site team work over the weekend so it may take until Monday.

You could post a thread over there yourself, but you might find people moaning about duplicate posts.  Up to you.

Can I ask, do you know if your employer has much experience of providing bikes through cycle to work scheme?  I'm aware that because it has tax implications that it can be quite complicated when things go wrong.