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Halfords Refusing To Repair Bike Under Warranty **RESOLVED**


mrbrooks
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Hi, Everyone, first off, apologies if this is in the 'wrong' place, but was really unsure where to post this.

 

step son purchased a bike from Halford back in Feb this year (2017) for £750,

not a small sum,

he has experienced a few issues,

but more recently,

he has been having issues with 'loose' pedal arm/spindle,

I am not sure what the technical term is,

the bits that go through the frame and the pedals are attached to!

 

Well this part has become loose,

he has been in a couple of times to have it tightened up,

again today he had to take it in,

 

the guy that spoke to him has said that as far as they are concerned,

it is classed as general wear and tear

he has to pay for the parts as the warranty does not cover such things.

 

This is nonsense,

first off,

he only used it 2-3 of times a week to get to and from work,

which was the reason he bought it in the first place,

on the bike to work scheme (I think that's what its called)

 

after around 4 months he suffered quite a bad a leg injury,

which meant he could not walk properly and could not ride at all,

 

the treatment and healing has so far lasted for about 14 weeks and he has only recently, in the last 2 weeks, started to use the bike again,

1-2 times a week as the doc said it would be ok as long as he did not overdo it.

 

I wholly believe, this is absolute nonsense, and that Halfords are shirking their responsibility to repair this bike under the warranty.

 

What I would like to know from anyone who has more knowledge in this area than myself,

is what we should be doing (in the right way) to convince and persuade Halfords that they had better step up and sort this out, and if they won't, what do we do about it.

 

I have done some reading but as often is the case, some of it confused me more than helped, so am asking for some guidance and direction on where to start looking and pointing and what actions to take and follow up with.

 

I thank everyone in advance for their time and very much look forwards to some input and am happy to answer any questions anyone may have.

 

Mr Brooks

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I don't think arguing about warranty is way forward here. Use the Consumer Rights Act which replaced Sale Goods law.

 

In the first 6 months, it is up to retailer to prove the fault is not a manufacturing fault.

 

After 6 months, it is up to the buyer to prove the fault.

 

When was the fault originally notified to Halfords ? Is there proof of the exact fault being recorded with Halifords ? If there is, then i think you need to go over the heads of the local store and contact Halfords head office with a complaint and i am sure they will resolve.

 

If Halfords don't resolve, then you would need to go to an independent bike specialist to have the problem looked at and for them to write a report about the issue, as well as quote for fixing it. It might be the part has been manufactured badly and will always come loose. You would then submit this report to Halfords asking them to sort it out or if thr matter remains unresolved a country court claim will be issued.

We could do with some help from you.

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even if it is worn out bottom bracket and bearings should last a lot longer than 6 months so wear and tear not applicable or every time you bought a pair of shoes and the sole fell off after a day they would say that any wear is outside of the meaning of "merchantable quality and fit for purpose"

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Hi Unclebulgaria, Hi Ericsbrother.

 

Thank you both for the prompt replies.

 

@ Unclebulgaria

 

I hear what you are saying, and of course to some extent, I agree, however, what bothers me with this is that the 'fault' would only appear from the bike being used, and the issue with that is that the bike was only lightly used before he had to stop using his bike.

 

The bike has been stored in the conservatory since mid-June and has no been used, and at that time there was nothing to note as far as I am aware.

It is only in the last 2-3 weeks he has been using the bike, and again, he has used it no more than 2 times a week, partly because his leg is still healing, and partly because it started to show these issues

 

the problem with the bottom bracket (thanks to Ericsbrother for providing me with the correct term) and the 'manufacturing fault' angle is that of course there was no real way to prove it in the first 6 months, as it was not being used for the whole of that 6 months, had it been, then maybe the fault would have appeared sooner of course.

 

I am however quite sure that this should be done, and covered, by Halfords, under the warranty or other terms, which I am not sure, the bike itself looks almost brand new, it shows no signs of wear and tear anywhere else, even the tyres look almost new,

 

 

he only cycles about 15-20 miles a week on it, when he is using it, and for example, this last week, he has used it once, and got about half mile down the road and called me to say his bike was playing up, so he has not used it all really.

 

I went and got him, put the bike in the back of the car and drove him down to Halfords with it, they tightened it up, told him it would come loose again and thus he would need to replace it, at a cost to himself, I went and grabbed him and his bike after work, and it has been sat in the conservatory since Monday.

 

He has gone into Halfords today on his way to work, to ask them why they are not going to do it under the warranty, so he can hear them specifically state they are refusing to do the job under the warranty, at which point we will be looking into other avenues to get this resolved.

 

I do know a guy who builds specialist and race bikes and has done so for 30+ years, so if this is what is required, I will ask him to take a look and give us an opinion on the matter.

 

@ Ericsbrother

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly, especially, considering the amount of use the bike has had.

My stepson is a big guy, tall and fairly weighty, and he went into the shop when purchasing this bike, and the reason I mention this, is because I fully expect them to try it on with the, 'well you have exceeded the weight limit' line, which of course may well be true,

 

 

I did look for the specs on the bike itself but it says nothing about weight limits etc...

So the bottom line for that one, is that they were fully aware the bike was for him, they even had him go in when it was built to set up the forks and seat etc, for his weight and height, so they were fully aware, again, he was the one who was going to be using it, and they never said anything about weight limits, either at the point of sale or at the setup time.

 

In my opinion, the bottom bracket should not be failing, and he should not be being forced into paying for such a repair. the bike is barely 7 months old, he purchased it on the 17th Feb this year.

 

 

Along with this he also purchased a 3Yr bike care plan, and they have also said they cannot do it under this plan either, which I suppose is fair enough, as this appears to be for 'servicing'.

 

 

So he needs to have the bike serviced one time a year, every 12 months to stay within the rules of this particular agreement, so he has until Feb 2018 to get it booked in for a service, but he was holding off until about December due how little he had used the bike.

 

With regards to the 'merchantable quality and fit for purpose', this is the route I believe will yield the required result, which is to get Halfords to accept that this is a repair they should be responsible for, however, I am not well educated on such matters and will endeavour to learn more so that I can tackle this issue.

 

If you or any other posters have any further suggestions and ideas I would love to hear them and hopefully with the help of the CAG members here, I can find a way forward and get this sorted out so he can get back to going to work on his bike.

 

Thanks all

 

Mr Brooks

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3 year service plan?

they saw him coming,

he has paid twice for the same thing and they still wont obey the law.

He should set about reclaiming the money for the missold insurance contract for that is what it is.

 

His weight wont really affect the bottom bracket as it is the energy that is transferred though the cranks that is what counts not the mass applied to the frame.

 

Now it may take more effort to move his weight initially but saying that negates the CRA is like saying it was ridden too fast in a low gear so we are not mending it.

 

stop using the word warranty and use the phrase consumer rights act instead.

 

Warranties are in addition to his statutory rights, not a replacemet for them to pick and choose as they see fit.

 

Do you think a bike is designed to last 6 months?

If not you take it as far as you can with the company and then sue them and see if a court agrees with you or Halfords about the law v warranty.

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Wouldn't the force of the mass that is applied to the frame be transferred via the BB? For example when he is stood up.

 

Not that is any reason for them not to sort this.

Are they saying that it would not be expected to last six months ?

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Spud, you then have to consider the Youngs Modulus of the material it is made of as well as the dynamic forces applied.

 

 

I'm sure that if you wanted to try and avoid repairing a bike you might try this on with the customer

but to be honest a court would look at the consumer law and decide that bikes are supposed to last longer than 6 months, claim against Halfords accepted now pay up.

 

 

The decision may even say that you dont dell a flimsy bike to a fat bloke so you avoid these problems in the first place but it wont say " what do you expect, you've ridden it"

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Hi all, thank you for the continuing discussion, very interesting.

 

After another visit to Halfords, really just to clarify their position and give the instore team a chance to take the opportunity to fix the bike and fulfil their legal obligations, they said the same as before.

 

Which is, that they are not going to do the repair and because such moving parts are not covered under their warranty and they firmly believe that the failure is due to 'rider style', which is a bit ambiguous, and the old favourite of 'wear and tear'.

 

They even pulled out a nice company manual explaining all the rules, which was fun.

 

I have today sent an email to Halfords customer support team, citing a few things, mostly around the ‘Goods to be of satisfactory quality’ angle, which they are clearly not, and that I believe the goods, potentially fail in their fitness for purpose in a few areas, but the main one being, it is a bicycle, its sole purpose is to be ridden, safely and with confidence that it will not fail under normal use, yet he cannot ride said bike as expected, thus it is not suitable for the purpose for which it was sold.

 

In addition, that it fails in its freedom from minor defects, as is apparent in the failure of the part in question, which I do not consider a minor defect, but more a major defect. In turn, that it then also fails in its safety aspect as when this part loosens, it affects the stability of the pedals, and rather pertinently, it also clearly fails under the subsection of durability, as no one would reasonably expect such a part, from a £750.00 bike to be failing after 7-8 months and less than 450 miles of light use and road only use.

 

I have also said that in my opinion this part was either defective at the point of manufacture, resulting in the part not working correctly and as intended or that the part was manufactured without defects, and thus is likely to have been incorrectly installed and fitted, or a combination of both, ultimately resulting in a weakening of the part and in turn the part then failing to perform its function as expected and reducing its life, this, of course, highlights its lack of durability and is not something that one would reasonably expect on a bike of such little use and again, indicating that the quality of the bike is unsatisfactory and impeding its ability to perform its function correctly.

 

I have mentioned a couple of other things too and said that I am very unhappy with their lack of willingness to take this on, and that I am also quite happy to take legal action if they do not come up with a satisfactory response within 14 days and make the repairs within 28 days and that I do not believe this is unreasonable of us.

 

thought I would update ye all and let ye know what was going on with the case, and I will update you all as and when I get a response and a result.

 

Best wishes to all.

 

MrBrooks

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well put a lock washer behind the bolthead then............

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Hi dx100uk, is this irony, or advice ??? haha, not sure...I know little about the mechanics of these bike things other than you ride em by pushin on them pedals usually, so either way, likely the sentiment is lost on me!!!

 

I have no idea what they have done previously to tighten the part, maybe they used blu tack, only that they claim it will keep coming loose without a replacement to the tune of £105 +...

 

Best wishes

 

MrBrooks

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I doubt they have any even basic idea of mechanical repair techniques...

but if a part is coming lose..typically they are bolt on...

 

 

if the manu has been stupid enough not to incorporate the vibration of use causes upon bolts..

a simple spring washer or lock nut might be the solution...

 

 

the pedal cranks on numerous bikes I've worked on have nothing bar a flat washer

change it for a spring or split washer.

costs about 30p!!

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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I agree with dx on this. Don't go down the legal route or spend too much money you might not get back.

 

You need someone with good mechanical knowledge to take a look. My Dad who was engineer by trade would have had it fixed in minutes, but then he had access to the tools and knowledge.

 

What you need to find is an old fashioned bike shop which can take a look at the problem. It might well be a very quick cheap fix. If you look in your local company listings, see what you can find.

 

Whilst Halfords are responsible as retailer for faulty goods, if you find yourself stuck, it might be worth contacting the manufacturers. They should be interested in the problem being experienced and might offer up a solution.

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all, update.

 

First, let me just say thanks to everyone for their input and thoughts.

 

I do have access to an expert as it happens, who has been building and repairing bikes professionally for 30+ years, but I figured Halfords should get their shot at taking the job on before I go elsewhere, plus I see no reason why they should get away with it nor why we should have to pay for it, even 30p.

 

I contacted Halfords, mentioned the consumer rights act etc, they backed down almost immediately and agreed to perform the repair/replacement, 'under the warranty', so I said ok and thank you.

 

The bike has now been returned 10 days later (27th Oct), however, it has some additional issues that were not present before it went in for said repair.

 

Firstly the front wheel now 'rubs' as it spins, so clearly something is not straight or inline somewhere, then the handlebars are not on straight and I do not mean off by a little bit, they are off by at least a couple of inches, and finally, where the crank and bottom bracket is, the chain cog has clearly been hitting the frame and the paint on the framework is all scuffed and chipped off where the teeth on the chain cog has been passing over it.

 

Again, I suppose to the skilled and knowledgeable, these are easy things to put right, but the point is we should not have to, and the bike has been in their care and these are things that simply should not be present or have happened, they should never have released the bike with these additional issues.

 

So not really very pleased with this outcome, so I am thinking I am going to write back to their customer services team and mentioned just how unhappy and displeased we are that this whole episode has taken so much time and effort to reach a resolution and now we have arrived, the repairs are sub-par and have resulted in further damage to the bike. I personally feel they should issue a refund of the bike or at least a replacement because they have made a bad job into something even worse.

 

Any thoughts on the matter are most welcome.

 

Regards

 

MrBrooks

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correct

 

though under CRA they have one shot at repairing

they fudged that

you cold now demand a full refund

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Hi Dx100,

I am very unhappy with their attitude,

they are so blase about it all,

the customer services have palmed it off to the store,

not even the store manager,

who I have not heard a peep from,

 

we have only dealt with the guy in charge of the bike section,

who is clearly out of his depth and lacking in customer services skills,

 

I have heard nothing from the customer services team since the first contact,

they have offered no form of goodwill,

not been in touch to follow up and check if we are happy,

or if there is anything else to discuss etc,

 

the guy who handed the bike over was so disinterested it was almost unbelievable,

almost like we are were just some little annoyance getting in the way of his day.

 

I was hoping at least the bike would be back in good repair, this has also proven to be too much for them.

 

I am just a bit confused I suppose about which way is the best way to go now with this,

my stepson has no confidence at all with the bike now,

nor with Halfords to take care of it or his needs

 

I feel they should not get to keep his money

him left with a bike he hates

does not want to ride for fear of it breaking again,

 

then, of course, there is the question of what will happen the next time it breaks,

because clearly they are so 'slapdash' that it is only a matter of time before something else goes wrong.

 

Thanks again for your input and as always,

look forwards to comments and thoughts from yourself and other CAG members to help me find a way forward in this matter.

 

Best wishes

 

MrBrooks

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how did you pay for it?

 

dx

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Share on other sites

I think he paid for it via his bank,

 

I do know he got a kind of loan for it,

through the bike to work scheme (or whatever they call it),

 

I do not know how it all works to be honest,

I will check the details,

though I am not sure how it works exactly,

there is deffo a credit agreement somewhere in the mix.

 

Maybe someone here at CAG knows a bit more about how the B2W scheme works???

 

MrBrooks

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GREAT THEN THEY ARE equally liable.

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Share on other sites

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Share on other sites

Hi DX thanks for the link,

I kind of know how it works,

what I am not sure about is how it works specifically with his employer,

they get a voucher,

take that over the bike vendor,

 

what I do not know,

is whether his employers are the ones who pay and he pays them back,

or whether there is a third party involved who he pays back,

whether he pays them out of his wages before it hits his bank

or

whether he just has a DD that goes out for the payment.

 

Also when you say they are both equally liable,

do you mean that Halfords are liable along with whoever provided the credit?

 

it would be worth finding out who provided/provides the credit agreement?

 

with the credit agreement providers,

do I approach them with the same angle,

that the item is not fit for purpose has been repaired and botched?

How do I approach them with this one in other words?

 

I am just currently getting an email together to send off to Halfords CS and am going to include the CEO and other senior management,

 

I have used this tactic before, on the assumption that 1t rolls downhill and the CEO and other senior management get a bit annoyed when people start contacting them with issues that should be solved by teams of people they already pay for this kind of thing,

 

it usually has fairly good responses and results and of course the customer services and half-hearted people we have been dealing with so far, will have nowhere to hide.

 

I usually forward, with a new response at the top, the last email I received, so they can see the discussion to date.

 

I am happy to include the credit agreement provider if you think this is worth doing.

 

this sounds like a hire purchase agreement?

I was just reading the Halfords Cycle to work scheme stuff...

 

 

  1. If they haven't already, get your employer to sign up for the scheme by going to www.cycle2work.info
  2. Choose your bike and accessories from Halfords' massive range.
  3. Apply online. Your employer can then approve the total cost and you'll need to sign a hire agreement.
  4. Your bike will arrive and the price is deducted from your salary over 12 or 18 months.
  5. After the monthly payments, your employer can transfer the ownership of the bike to you for a fair price.

 

Now does this mean his employer had provided the credit?

 

So how do we get them involved? Could be tricky!!!

 

Regards

 

MrBrooks

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no its who provided the credit - they are equally responsible under the consumer credit act.

 

dx

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Share on other sites

Ok so, this makes things a bit more tricky if asking for a refund, if he has been paying his employer.

 

I assume he approaches his employer (whichever dept deals with this Cycle2WorkScheme and finds out who the credit provider is) and explains to them the issues, and what has been done so far and then makes a request for a refund for the payments he has made to date and to void the agreement? And then he can just hand the bike over to them as technically it is still theirs anyway? And they can deal with it from there on in, and make a claim against Halfords themselves for restitution?

 

There is also the question of the additional items such as the 3Y Bike care plan, can he make a request for this too? I am assuming he makes a monthly payment for the total amount of the original invoice, so this payment would include his extras too. I just want to make sure they don't just offer him the bike money back but still claim he needs to pay for the extras, which of course he would never have bought without buying the bike and without the bike are of course useless.

 

Another thing I have been thinking about, since not having his bike, he has had to be taking buses and taxis (sometimes he does not finish work until gone midnight so no buses are around) which of course is all additional costs, plus of course the cost of me having to pick up/take to Halfords on a number of occasions, again all additional costs, is this something we can mention/claim for?

 

It sounds like the employer provides the credit according to the Halfords info, your employer approves you, you go get the bike, pay your employer over a fixed period at which point they transfer ownership to you for a 'sum', according to the info. I will get my step son to check this out and grab any paperwork so i can find out who is providing the credit and what type of agreement is in place.

 

Apologies for all the questions just want to make sure I am on the right path here.

 

Regards

 

MrBrooks

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halfords

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Share on other sites

Hi dx so I approach Halfords on both counts, aka, as supplier of the item and provider of the contract/hire purchase agreement?

 

Any thoughts on where the employer agreement with Halfords comes into this?

 

Waiting for step son to find the agreement he signed.

 

MrB

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