Faulty bike

[1987mcg]

Hi there,

i dont really know what to think of this myself so thought id get second opinion.

I bought a bike from a really bad bike shop, the bike was faulty i took it back to get fixed.

After 15 trips to the shop and countless arguments i threatened legal action to which they said they would refund me as they had the bike in the shop. 

I mentioned to them that this had caused me a lot of distress and sleepless nights and wasted so much of my time and that i was now out of pocket as i had paid for bike insurance on the bike and i couldnt get a full refund on it.

Admittedly i did have a bike pump and lock that came with the bike in my house which i wasn't using but thought, well they owe me for the insurance at least im keeping them.

Due to it being through the cycle 2 work scheme, they have sent me an email threatening to go to my employer about getting the lock and bike pump back and i wanted to get your opinion on this situation.

1. Do i have a right to claim for the loss in insurance against them?

2. Do i have a right to claim against the amount of time they wasted of mine and the emotional distress?

3. Should i just give it back and be out of pocket?

[BankFodder]

Can you let us know more details please.

Who was the dealer
what date
what value of the bike, insurance,
what were the faults of the bike
what is the value of the lock and pump?

[1987mcg]

Hi there

sure.

 

Giant

 

Bought in March, refunded in June

 

Bike was 650, insurance was £70

 

Faults were wheel warping causing the disc brake to rub against the brake pads making a really loud almost train sound.

broken crank causing clicking when left pedal pressure applied.

Refused to contact manufacturer to replace bike which caused me distress which is why i threatened legal action

 

realised it was a helmet too - thats £30 for lock, £20 for pump and £50 for helmet.

 

In that time they owe me for new pedals and bag i bought for the bike that they kept as they had the bike.

[BankFodder]

The bike is a Giant. Did it come from a Giant store?

I think you are entitled to recover the cost of any losses which were reasonably incurred in reliance upon the proper fulfilment of the contract.
I think this would equally apply to the insurance. Did the insurance policy specifically named that particular bike – or was it a a general bike insurance which could apply to any bike?

That means that if you bought those other items that you are obliged to return the bike for a refund because of their breach of contract then I think that you would be entitled to recover the value of those items as well. Did you buy those items from the same dealer?

Are you buying a different bike elsewhere?
 

You paid extra money for a number of ancillary items. Where those items now? And by how much do you consider you are out of pocket?

[1987mcg]

It came from a Giant store yes apologies but apparently they're also independent which is why they kept saying they're not going to bother Giant in head office with my faulty bike.

 

The bike insurance did say the name of the bike yes.

 

I bought those items from the same dealer yes.

 

I will be buying another bike elsewhere

however im really worried as the situation i was in has left me a bit scarred by it all.

 

No joke,

15 times i attended the store with the bike to say its still broken, countless amount of phone calls, majority of them didn't answer and arguments about it all.

 

I have full email trails including a complaint to Giant UK however as mentioned, due to the independent store, they couldn't do anything.

 

Do i have any way of claiming for the time wasted and stress caused or is that a waste of time?

 

p.s. happy to share emails privately if requested

[BankFodder]

So maybe you'd like to start off by telling us which particular dealer it was. It's generally speaking helpful to get these kind of things on the open forum.

We don't need to see private emails at the moment – but you haven't addressed my question as to the whereabouts of the items and of their value – by how much are you out of pocket

[BankFodder]

Also, you have bought this on a government scheme. Are your employers et cetera aware of the situation now because if you start to make trouble about this then you need to be squeaky clean

[1987mcg]

Apologies for the delay.

 

It is a Giant store , all giant stores however are actually not part of Giant the manufacturer, its a franchise. Just incase they read this i will hold off on saying exactly which store it is.

 

These items are over at my parents house, im having a baby so the spare room is now being used for baby storage - i addressed the value of those items.

 

The items which they owe me for is pedals £20 and bike bag £25. Therefore,  they would owe me £15 currently if included insurance.

 

Ive explained the issues to my employer previously, they sympathised with me at the time when they were being unhelpful but they dont know that theyve threatened to go to my employer now. I suppose i can go to them and explain what ive said to you.

 

So is there anything i can do around compensation for my time and distress?

[BankFodder]

Which store please? Are you trying to protect them? If you are then you ought to consider other people who have found themselves with similar problems. By hiding their identity you are simply protecting them and allowing them to carry on providing defective items and failing to support their customers.
Is this what you want to do?

You won't go to get any compensation for distress or for your time. You would certainly be able to get compensation for the insurance and in fact you should cancel the insurance in writing immediately. You should also inform your employer immediately as to what has happened because if you want to get another bicycle and use the scheme, you wouldn't be able to unless everybody understands that the present matter is closed.

It seems to me that the insurance is useless to you because it refers to another bike. The insurance company will be unhappy about cancelling the insurance and you may be left out of pocket with this – and you ought to ask them if it can be transferred to another bike.

I think it will be helpful if you publish the email that you have received from them which threatens to go to your employer.

Which store is it

 

[1987mcg]

Giant Liverpool

 

Through the cycle2work scheme, can they get my employer to pay them and i would be out of pocket that way? 

 

Ill be honest, i deleted the email in anger and only just been thinking about it during the night and think i should really address it. 

 

What do you think the best action now moving forward would be?

[BankFodder]

Is this the one?

https://www.giant-liverpool.co.uk/gb

 

I can't imagine that they would start trying to recover money from your employer – but of course if they did then it would be quite serious.

I think you should lay down a paper trail by informing your employer formally as to what has happened – and make sure that the purchase of the scheme has been cancelled. Get confirmation from your employer that if you want to get another bike then you can still use the scheme. I suppose you will need to talk to your HR department about this.

In terms of what you want to do about the items you have – it's all a load of hassle for quite a small amount – but on the other hand there is the insurance.

I think should certainly layout your position in writing to the dealer.

Write out a fairly detailed chronology of what has happened – defects, visits to have the defects fixed – et cetera.

Layout fact that you have incurred certain losses – detail the losses because you have relied on the fact that they would provide you a bicycle without defects.

Tell them that in particular you have incurred the cost of an insurance policy which refers to that bicycle only and so is therefore no longer of any use to you.

Tell them that you are hanging on to the various items which were bought as ancillaries in order to set off the value of those against the insurance. Tell them that this still leaves you £15 out of pocket that in view of the trouble it would take to recover this money, you are prepared to let it go. However you are informing your employer as to the situation as well.

Tell them that you consider their threat to tell your employers as an outrageous piece of blackmail and in fact you have now informed your employer about the entire situation and about the threat as well.

Tell them if they want to take any action over the items that you are withholding then they are welcome to do so and you look forward to seeing them in court.

After that I think I would let it go

[1987mcg]

thats the one.

 

I will write a review about them eventually, ive just not had time with everything going on. 

 

Thanks for all your help though, its been really useful

[Manxman in exile]

How did you go about getting a refund on the bike if it was bought through the cycle 2 work scheme?  Others I know who have used this scheme to "buy" a bike actually used a voucher issued by the scheme, and if there were any issues with the bike these were sorted out by the scheme/their employer because, of course, the bike is owned by your employer and not you.  It would be really helpful to know how you got a refund.  Did they return the voucher to you or something?

 

(The scheme's a bit of a pain to be honest as the rules are so inflexible because it's a govt. "approved" tax avoidance scheme.  You don't really want to spend your own money on accessories etc. 'cos it's a pain recovering that spend if things go wrong.)