Yes – the “few weeks to reject” is what Which? say, which I guess must be based on their experiences of it in practice. But you’d suspect most of that to be white goods based 😉

Courtesy bikes and compensation etc is interesting as most of that sort of thing are usually taken care of via warranty terms or through retailer goodwill, so rights to that sort of recompense probably hardly ever get tested in law.

I just found a crack on my meta 5. it's less than 4 months old, and has light use. Now that is cracked I just done want it any more. I can see it happening again and again. I heard about the cracking but I hoped that the 09 would have sorted it. Can i get a refund due to it being not fit for purpose?

I just found a crack on my meta 5. it's less than 4 months old, and has light use. Now that is cracked I just done want it any more. I can see it happening again and again. I heard about the cracking but I hoped that the 09 would have sorted it. Can i get a refund due to it being not fit for purpose?

where's it cracked?
mines 18 months old and has seen all manner of abuse. Haven't noticed any cracks (yet)…

Left side, weld from frame down tube to shock mount, it's small but you can see where it's weakened, the mount and it is now hitting on the frame, causing some abrasion. Very disappointed.

The thing is if every company and shop just immediately handed over replacement frames and gave courtesy bikes and paid for hire bikes etc that would cost them and who do you think would pay for it in the long run, the consumer.
Genuine claims should always be pushed through as quickly as possible, but I've seen people swearing blind that they never used a pressure washer and their 3 week old bike's bottom bracket has just seized and then under questioning admitted well they may have used a pressure washer several times at point blank range actually now they think about it.
Hope you get it sorted out quickly though, normally once they make a decision everything moves very quickly.

Holy thread ressurection Batman!

A Meta5 cracking? Thats just internet mythology/made up by consipiracy theorists surely? 🙄

I had a great experience with an old Klein frame, took it back to a shop i didn't get it from, who didn't even stock Klein bikes but were a Trek dealer. They took one look and said 'yeah we know about that problem'. They sent it back and i got a replacement sent to a completely different shop at my request (about 8 weeks later).

Just had another good experience with Specialized.

Freeborn and Ellsworth on the other hand were a right pain in the @rse.

The bigger and more common the manufacturer the better the warranty IME. I'll be staying away from 'boutique' stuff in future.

Thumbs up for Wiggle too, seem to be the best online retailer for returns. found Merlin ok but seemed quick to assume i was at fault initially.

a mate of mine was down his local bike shop in cardiff 2day and had 4 commencals with cracked frames not sure if yours was 1 of them. they were saying they shouldnt be riding them at places like cwmcarn etc because they are such a light xc bike even though these had over 5 inches of travel.

shop knows what it's doing with good distributor = 48hrs

Customer says he just fetches the milk in the morning on it or the shop has acquired through supplier with no product support it could be up to a month… Honesty is the best policy on both parts!

We have had three frames in 5 years… all sorted within 3 days… that's stripping the bike and building back up.
It's all down to cause of failure and availability.

This decision making should and can be sorted on the day the shop gets to see the frame…. or they shouldn't be selling them.

Then it's down to opinions… cos materials don't lie! 😀

If it's a faulty product the shop has nothing to worry about and neither does the customer! It's when the shop thinks they have something to protect you run into issues.

The shop has more to gain from sorting it quickly… but this logic can be distorted by the attitude and ignorance of the consumer…

sort most of ours over a cup of coffee and friendly chat 😀

zone

here's a tricky one;

i broke my frame 2 weeks ago, it is/was 5 months old.

i bought it on a 'take it now pay in 6 months' deal.

the failure is a known problem, the frame is now back with the shop, and I am half tempted to resist paying for it (in 2 weeks time) if no improved replacement can be supplied.

is that unreasonable?

Great idea, that way you get 5 months biking on it for free. I'm sure the shop will be more than happy with the idea too.

is that unreasonable?

I can sympathise with your position but surely that would mean you've not paid for the warranty yet either?

ahwiles – Member

here's a tricky one;

i broke my frame 2 weeks ago, it is/was 5 months old.

i bought it on a 'take it now pay in 6 months' deal.

the failure is a known problem, the frame is now back with the shop, and I am half tempted to resist paying for it (in 2 weeks time) if no improved replacement can be supplied.

You have had five months use – you have to pay for that .

• If repair and replacement are not possible or too costly, then the consumer can seek a partial refund, if they have had some benefit from the good, or a full refund if the fault/s have meant they have enjoyed no benefit

You have had benefit from the frame – you cannot have all your money back now.

Re: 6 month payment Frame: If a frame fails it fails…still warranty regardless of payment plan… unless you've crashed it… but then you still have to cough up 😀

They should replace it and then you cough up in two weeks 😀 as per your agreement.

You own it, you owe them… If they can't replace it or fix it… then they could in theory void the payment plan… But I would think you should offer them something for the 5 months use… even a token gesture.

You never know you may want to buy a frame off them in the future?

It depends what you consider fair?

After 2 broken Meta 5 frames, (second lasted 4 rides), I secured a refund on the value of the frame (bought a full bike, 2008 XT model), and got myself a Yeti 575 on extremely good terms with the LBS.

Replacements/refund decision took 2 1/2 weeks including transport time. Got to say, I have a good relationship with LBS and this does help tremendously.

all good responses – thankyou.

(especially TJ)

in a perfect world: i pay up happily, and a suitable replacement arrives ssonish – before i have to go on many more xc rides on my jump/play bike.

:)X

(i just invented the pirate-smiley)

Zone – Member

shop knows what it's doing with good distributor = 48hrs

………………….

This decision making should and can be sorted on the day the shop gets to see the frame…. or they shouldn't be selling them.

This is the crux of the matter. Non of this – "it has to go back to the distributor and wait 8 wks nonsense". The vast majority of these incidents it should be fairly obvious if its a manufacturing fault with the frame or user error. Only very few cases should end up in dispute

you buy a frame.. you get an owners manual.. its for you,the owner to read.manufacturers write things such as "we will repair or replace at our discretion"

what that means is: once they have seen the part at fault,THEY will have the final say as to who is paying for the new part at the end of the line. in todays tinternetty world things can be photographed and sent on to the distributor and then forwarded on to the manufacturer pretty quickly.within a matter of hours (more likely to be a few days) its possible to get an answer.

a lot of bike shops work in this way and having spoken to someone about this (consumer rights) they said that a customer has to accept that a period for the shop to get an answer is acceptable.when i asked about this "period".. she mentioned something along the lines of 7-10 days would be acceptable, anything around 3 weeks onwards and she said she would be looking at taking things a bit further but the "here,have a new one right now" idea wasnt the answer i got.and i didnt expect to hear that either.not quite the law as some people in here might think.

having said that, if i owned a shop and a frame failed within the warranty period at a weld with no evidence of a dent/twist/impact or anything else that would make me question the failure.. id replace it at my own discretion without contacting the distributor.if i had the part in stock id replace it as soon as i could fit the work in.

this is me looking at it from the customers point of view and sorting them out regardless of what a manufacturer says.if it looks like a problem with the frame then id sort them out.id be confident in the distributor agreeing with me if it was definately something that should be replaced.a lot more often than not,this is the case.

this might seem odd to some people and no way to run a business.i dont see it this way.the customer will acknowledge this and keep it in mind and will most likely return.not to mention the word of mouth.This is what i like to see when i go to a shop and they too get good word of mouth coming off it.(thinking about a purchase from hein gericke here where i was sorted out no questions asked regarding stitching in gloves coming out)

Shops should just sort it quick….nothing to lose if it's warranty 😀

We have even replaced frames that where not warranty at cost price to the customer (that have been purchased off us) that have been crashed and wrecked… it depends on the circumstances and the customer… say if they have only had the frame a few months..The quicker we get them back on a bike the better.

The goodwill and positive vibes it sends out are massive…. 😀

Matt, having worked in the industry for 8 years its hit and miss, the fact YOU still have the frame is a bad start, the manufacturer or distro will not ok warranty untill THEY have seen the frame, quickest ive seen is 2 days longest 4 months but the fact you went online to buy means it wont be an easy ride, sorry………….

ahhh, you bought it online.

::moves onto next thread::

A surprise reappearance of my old thread! Though it took a while a new part came through the post (before I had sent the old one back), total time was 4 weeks.

Might be asking the question again though as my Meta 5.5 frame cracked at the head tube / seat tube join and have been waiting 2 1/2 weeks so far with no news… 😥 (Bought from the local dealer but doesn't seem to make things any faster)

I can see a rush of Commencal frames hitting the classified section very soon!!

One of the over riding reasons why I bought a specialized was the excellent warranty experiences people have had. Oh and the fact that its a chuffin' ace bike. [:-)]

Matt-P, 2.5weeks in Summer as well? Have they said why the delay?