Faulty E-Bike Battery Under Warranty

Chappinator

Hi all,

I'm after some advice regarding a faulty E-bike battery that is still under warranty.

We purchased 2 e-bikes from a well known outdoor store 18 months ago. On purchase, the bikes came with a 2 year warranty on the battery. One of the E-bike batteries has developed a fault and no longer works. We've been to the store today who were less than helpful on resolving the issue. We were told he company that supplied the bike has since gone bust, so they would be unable to source a replacement. They said that if they could find an alternative battery supplier, we would have to pay for the replacement battery ourselves. They are basically telling us there is nothing that they can do. 

The bike was an expensive purchase and if it only lasts 18 months, to my mind it is not fit for purpose.

Can anyone explain what my rights are in this situation and what i should reasonably expect the company I bought the bike from to do?

Thanks in advance.

born_again

If the company has gone bust then you are just looking at your consumer rights on the bike.
Retailer has nothing to do with warranty. But are under your consumer rights.

Aylesbury_Duck

Chappinator said:

Hi all,

I'm after some advice regarding a faulty E-bike battery that is still under warranty.

We purchased 2 e-bikes from a well known outdoor store 18 months ago. On purchase, the bikes came with a 2 year warranty on the battery. One of the E-bike batteries has developed a fault and no longer works. We've been to the store today who were less than helpful on resolving the issue. We were told he company that supplied the bike has since gone bust, so they would be unable to source a replacement. They said that if they could find an alternative battery supplier, we would have to pay for the replacement battery ourselves. They are basically telling us there is nothing that they can do. 

The bike was an expensive purchase and if it only lasts 18 months, to my mind it is not fit for purpose.

Can anyone explain what my rights are in this situation and what i should reasonably expect the company I bought the bike from to do?

Thanks in advance.

Who supplied the warranty?  It would usually be the manufacturer.  If that's the case, then it's almost a certainty that the warranty died when the manufacturer went bust.  

That leaves consumer rights.  You're probably right that an 18-month lifespan isn't fit for purpose for a bike, but expectations of a battery might be different, and will depend greatly on mileage, charging cycles, etc.   To exercise your consumer rights, the retailer is entitled to ask you to prove the fault was present at the time of purchase and isn't a result of fair wear and tear or misuse.  That might mean getting someone independent to inspect the battery and determine if it was an inherent fault that was always likely to result in premature failure, or whether it's just reached the end of its lifecycle.  What may help you here is an inspection of the other bike's battery - if they've had similar use and treatment and the other one is fine, that does suggest a fault with the non-working one.

Take that report to the retailer and they should repair (which means replacing the battery with an alternative), replace the bike (unlikely) or partially refund you to reflect the use of the bike to date.

How much would a replacement battery cost you?  If it's a modest sum, you may decide to just bite the bullet and pay for it rather than jump through the hoops I've explained above.