Faulty treadmill?

Regallbeagle

Back during lockdown (when all the gyms were closed) I bought a treadmill from Argos for £650. 
It's been used semi regularly since then (at least once/ twice a week on average) and I've never had any problems with it - if anything it performed better than some gym treadmills - until last week. Used it fine one day,, the next it just wouldn't switch on. Completely dead. 
Did some basic troubleshooting and replaced both the plug fuse and the circuit board fuse, nothing. No power, no lights, nada. 

Contacted Reebok Technical Support who weren't much help, they thought it might be the motor control board. However as my treadmill has been discontinued they can't sell me a replacement which should be £60 (and I don't even know that's the fault, it seems like a bit of a guess).

They gave me the name of a company to contact who have asked me to post the part to them so they can test if it works and charge me £70. Which might be a complete waste if that isn't the fault. 

I've also tried Argos who weren't much help and I struggled to get the person on live chat to even understand the issue. 

What are my rights here? Looking online the average lifespan of a treadmill is 10 years, mine hasn't lasted half that. Getting it repaired doesn't seem to be much of an option either. All advice appreciated as at the moment I'm probably going to have to rejoin a gym as it feels like any solution is going to take weeks or months. 

TadleyBaggie

Your only Consumer rights are with the retailer, i.e. Argos. Reebok have no obligations here.

Regallbeagle

Thanks that's what I thought. I mainly contacted Reebok for technical advice/ replacement parts (albeit they didn't have much of the former and can't offer the latter). 

Argos have now said that I need an independent expert report but the live chat person couldn't explain what type of expert or what the report is meant to cover? Is it supposed to detail the fault? Is the intention they physically inspect it? (I asked this in the chat but the person didn't seem to understand me). 

TadleyBaggie

Sometimes manufacturers can be very helpful, sometimes not. For example I have a golf trolley that is out of warranty but the manufacturer (PowaKaddy) have repaired it FOC twice without issue. 

The independent report isn't to say it's faulty (as that is obvious), rather that the fault was due to something that was present at the time of purchase. 

Okell

Presumably you bought it 4 or more years ago?

Because you are more than 6 months after purchase, the onus is on you to prove (on the balance of probabilities) that the treadmill did not "conform to contract" on the day it was delivered to you - 4 or more years ago...

The problem you have is how do you do that.  The usual answer is that you get an independent report from some sort of "appropriate expert" to that effect.  But what an appropriate expert would be here, I have no idea.

I think I'd go back to Reebok tech support and ask if they can recommend someone locally to look at it.  Or why not contact a couple of local gyms and ask them who maintains and fixes their treadmills.

The other issue you have is that as you've had 4+ years of untroubled use from the m/c, you'll only be entitled to a partial refund.  In these circumstances you'd get a pro rata refund based on the estimated life of the piece of kit.  I think your estimate of 10 years might be a bit optimistic and 6 years might be more realistic.

Ergates

Even if you managed to locate and engage a treadmill expert AND they confirmed that the fault was inherent then you're unlikely to get more than 1/3 the original value back from Argos.  Which would leave you £400 down with no treadmill.

In practical terms - your best bet is, if you *can* get it fixed, to do that.

One option might be to find someone who repairs treadmills, get a quote from them, and then go to Argos to see if they will help towards the cost.

singhini

I replaced my Lifefitness treadmill earlier this year after it packed up (i had the machine 15 years and i bought it second-hand from a gym who had it roughly 6-8 years). So they can last quite a while (however my treadmill clearly was designed for a professional gym and gym usage i.e. alot of usage). Not sure about your particular treadmill, 4 years might be about right?

Anyhow, my new treadmill (which is good but no way as robust as the ex-gym Lifefitness one) was bought from a fitness superstore type place (ex-demo) and the instruction booklet clearly states that there is regular maintenance i'm supposed to be doing i.e. oiling the treadmill belt. My concern for you is that your treadmill might also require you to either do or have done regular maintenance and if you haven't done it that will be the "get out of jail" card for the retailer perhaps?

As suggested, might be worth visiting one or two local gyms and seeing if you can get the name of a person or company that service treadmills and have a chat with them.

Good luck and keep on moving :treadmill:

PHK

Ergates said:

Even if you managed to locate and engage a treadmill expert AND they confirmed that the fault was inherent then you're unlikely to get more than 1/3 the original value back from Argos.  Which would leave you £400 down with no treadmill.

In practical terms - your best bet is, if you *can* get it fixed, to do that.

One option might be to find someone who repairs treadmills, get a quote from them, and then go to Argos to see if they will help towards the cost.

They wouldn’t be £400 down because they’ve had over four years of use from it. 

But I agree that the OP needs a report from a suitably qualified person that states the fault is inherent and not due to accident, misuse or excessive wear. 

Ergates

PHK said:

Ergates said:

Even if you managed to locate and engage a treadmill expert AND they confirmed that the fault was inherent then you're unlikely to get more than 1/3 the original value back from Argos.  Which would leave you £400 down with no treadmill.

In practical terms - your best bet is, if you *can* get it fixed, to do that.

One option might be to find someone who repairs treadmills, get a quote from them, and then go to Argos to see if they will help towards the cost.

They wouldn’t be £400 down because they’ve had over four years of use from it. 

But I agree that the OP needs a report from a suitably qualified person that states the fault is inherent and not due to accident, misuse or excessive wear. 

I meant in terms of replacing the treadmill.  A refund would leave them with no treadmill, and insufficient money to buy a new one of equivalent quality.

Assuming the OP wants to keep using *a* treadmill (which seems likely given they've been using it weekly for 4 years), the quickest and cheapest option will be to get this one repaired.

TELLIT01

I would expect an electrical engineer to check any of the motors and other circuitry.  They may find a fuse the OP didn't know about but should certainly be able to identify and possibly fix the electrical parts.  The options really are to go that route or bin what could still be a usable treadmill.