May risk being flamed here but it is a genuine question. Generally do my own repairs or servicing on bikes but had an issue that I couldn’t or wouldn’t fix. Took it to an lbs to look at and repair which I am not used to doing hence query here. Happy to pay for it etc anyway it appears it is maybe a warranty claim. Is it normal for the lbs to charge an admin fee as bike wasn’t from them although they are a dealer for the brand in question. Yes I do expect an inspection charge not quibbling there at all but admin fee??. Normal or not people?

Not unreasonable IMO. They made no profit on the sale and so need to cover the costs of processing the warranty. As risk of asking a question I suspect I already know the answer to, why not take it back to the shop you bought it from?

+1

From whom should they recover the cost of dealing with your warranty claim?

Lunge….. I guess you know why but yes bought online due to healthy discount and quick availability.

Scotroutes…. I expected to pay them something for an inspection at the very least or a repair if they did it, they are a business after all I am not disputing that I just wondered why it was termed admin fee and specifically because it wasn’t from them.

I guess you know why but yes bought online due to healthy discount and quick availability.

Indeed. Online is cheap as you lose some of the service and the support when things go wrong. I’d guess if you’d bought it from the LBS they’d not have charged you. You pays your money…

I’d say an “admin fee” is just a poor choice of words. It’s going to cost them time, and therefore money, so…..

Processing the claim will involve “office work”. Someone has to raise the claim with the distributor, raise the paperwork, package the item, arrange for a courier to collect the item, answer the phone when you call to find out why the claim is taking so long, make the subsequent calls to the distributor then call you back and so on.

Who knows, they may levy a workshop fee later on.

Isn’t processing warranty claims one of the services the lbs agrees to offer in order to become a recognised dealer fior a brand though ?

Not unreasonable and I would offer anyway if I were asking my LBS.

How much are we talking though?

roverpig – Member
Isn’t processing warranty claims one of the services the lbs agrees to offer in order to become a recognised dealer fior a brand though ?

Mostly not no. as warranty is normally the responsibility of the retailer And we don’t get paid for warranty labour by the bike brands. This may depend on the brand in question

Yes it’s fair op, I paid an admin fee or whatever you want to call it £25 tops iirc for a warranty job on a set of old RS leaky forks from new box surprise surprise ! 😛

I didn’t buy them from my lbs who kindly sorted out a replacement set.
Wishing I had just supported lbs tbh as most cases buying online bike parts results in disappointment.

So yeah just pay up and be glad they’re happy enough to assist you.

I’d expect you to have to cover any labour and postage costs incurred by the shop.

@orangeboy: Fair enough. Thanks for the polite reply. Sounds as though an “admin fee” of some sort is perfectly reasonable then.

IIRC my LBS warrantied a Mavic hub for me FOC.

I had just given them nearly £400 for a new set of wheels though…

roverpig – Member

@orangeboy: Fair enough. Thanks for the polite reply. Sounds as though an “admin fee” of some sort is perfectly reasonable then.

As with the mavic hub post above it’s somthing that often get done for free or discounted in the hope that that person then becomes a customer in the future.

A lot depends on the shop though

Edit , don’t demand stuff explain and be nice

Mostly not no. as warranty is normally the responsibility of the retailer And we don’t get paid for warranty labour by the bike brands.

You don’t? That’s strange compared to the car and motorbike worlds

You don’t? That’s strange compared to the car and motorbike worlds

Different business model is different shocker….

Maybe not a shock to you. But surely you can see why it may be to other people?

Only the slow ones.

Ok. You have a nice day now

I have to admit I’d not expect to be charged “admin” for remedying a fault with any other product, but people certainly can’t work for free…

TBH it feels like the bike brands have many shops over a barrel, and have probably taken the piss for years, effectively getting them to swallow the unrecognised overheads that come with a warranty claim…
Dunno if they really should be billing the customer for warranty related costs though.

I’m sure a SOGA expert will be along shortly to put me straight…

If you take it back to the place you get your bike from then as a customer you probably won’t get charged anything at all.

Its only when you want a third party to process your warranty that you may either be charged or just simple turned away.

Id be surprised if it’s a soga issue but would like to know for sure ?

For clarity I didn’t put it in for warranty, just repair. On their inspection they decided it was a warranty job (or potentially) . It may save me some money it may not.

The contract is with the shop the customer bought the item from. If it went back to them then they should handle any warranty work FOC to the customer.
Say for instance, you bought a Sony television from Tesco. It breaks and you decide to take it back to Sainsburys as they also sell Sony televisions and they’re closer to home. What would you expect them to do?

The contract is with the shop the customer bought the item from. If it went back to them then they should handle any warranty work FOC to the customer.
Say for instance, you bought a Sony television from Tesco. It breaks and you decide to take it back to Sainsburys as they also sell Sony televisions and they’re closer to home. What would you expect them to do?

Alternatively I had warranty work done FOC on a VW at the local dealers even thought I’d not bought it from them.
The OP was asking about an LBS, as pointed out above, different business models are different.

As above, I had warranty work done at the local Nonda garage just this week and we didn’t buy the car there. No charges.

I’d expect the retailer to recover any consequential warranty costs (postage, labour etc) from the manufacturer (i.e. the party providing the warranty) as those costs are being incurred as a direct result of the failure being warrantied.

If it turns out it’s not a warranty claim, I’d expect a bill.

Alternatively I had warranty work done FOC on a VW at the local dealers even thought I’d not bought it from them.
The OP was asking about an LBS, as pointed out above, different business models are different.

Car dealers are generally franchised from the company they supply though.
Sainsbury’s, Tesco and local Bike shops generally aren’t.
That’s why the comparison is relevant with bikes and TV’s.
But not relevant with cars and bikes.

I didn’t put it in for warranty, just repair. On their inspection they decided it was a warranty job

They did you a favor. You should be grateful. You didn’t buy the bike from them so they are entitled to charge you for their services.

They charged him for the inspection and then they charged him for the favour.

Its not really a favour , it is a business transaction. The shop was acting commercially and not altruistically.

Hols2…please read my previous posts before replying, I am not disputing having to pay at all. I was asking a genuine question ref is it normal for admin fee which I assumed rightly or wrongly may be in addition to them inspecting and any charges that’s incurred already.

A few years back I cracked the frame of Gary Fisher bike (bought online from Pauls Cycles several years previously). Stripped the components off and took it to a not-so-local Trek dealer who gave me a new bike – lower spec but modern (at the time). No fees. Lifetime warrantee on Trek frames (who own GF).

I’d expect the manufacturer or distributor to cover the cost of work / return as a result of a faulty product…

I’ve bought something that is deemed to be not fit for purpose. Why should I pay more because of it?

I certainly wouldn’t expect the shop to pay if I hadn’t bought it from them though.

OOI, was there a reason you didn’t want to return the bike to the (online) supplying dealer? This would probably be my first option – even a full bike shouldn’t cost more than £25 to return and then it’s their problem to sort out. You might even be able to persuade them to foot the shipping bill…

FWIW, I full sympathise with OP. I’ve had some pretty poor experiences with some of my LBS in the past and am always cautious and sceptical of anything that I am told by them. It’s a fair thing to question although I would probably agree with the consensus on here – namely that they are entitled to charge for their time, even if it feels a little harsh for OP.

I’ve bought something that is deemed to be not fit for purpose. Why should I pay more because of it?

You shouldn’t. Return it to the place you bought it from and get them to sort it for free under the sale of goods act.

What we’re talking about is sorting an issued under the *additional* warranty provided by the manufacturer, which usually says that you can take it to any authorised dealer.

You can see that sorting out warranty claims is a bit of a raw deal for bricks-and-mortar shops: people buying online may go to a real shop to sort warranty issues, but the reverse never happens. So, under the circumstances, an admin fee seems perfectly reasonable, even if it’s not what the letter of the warranty says.

I’ve always gone back to the online places I’ve bought stuff from for warranty, and so far have been pleasantly surprised. e.g. new swing arm for my Scott posted to me based on a photo of a crack in the old one, and recently was happy that Bike24 send me a postage-paid label to Germany for returning 18 month old leaking Shimano calipers. Obviously if I was hoping for someone to to do the fitting too it’d be a different story.

Some manufacturers are happy to pay a non-supplying LBS to sort out warranty issues but it’s by no means standard practice.

and recently was happy that Bike24 send me a postage-paid label to Germany for returning 18 month old leaking Shimano calipers. Obviously if I was hoping for someone to to do the fitting too it’d be a different story.

I think there’s an assumption that people who buy online are happy to accept this as a trade-off for the cheaper price that they paid in the first place. I find that the majority of serious cyclists rarely use an LBS anyway and tend to be far more self-sufficient, but I’d always recommend that someone who is less mechanically inclined, or purchasing a first bike, should always have warranty and service in mind when buying.

They charged him for the inspection and then they charged him for the favour.

The favor was pointing out that he might be able to make a warranty claim instead of just fixing it and charging him for the repairs. The OP took a broken bike to a shop and asked them to fix it. Presumably, he intended to pay for that. Instead, they helped him with a warranty claim, which will probably save him money. That is doing him a favor. If he doesn’t want to pay for that, he should tell them to fix it and charge him the full price, which is what he originally asked them to do.

hols2 – Member

The favor was pointing out that he might be able to make a warranty claim instead of just fixing it and charging him for the repairs. The OP took a broken bike to a shop and asked them to fix it. Presumably, he intended to pay for that. Instead, they helped him with a warranty claim, which will probably save him money. That is doing him a favor. If he doesn’t want to pay for that, he should tell them to fix it and charge him the full price, which is what he originally asked them to do.

So you’re saying the shop would have been well within their rights to disregard the OP’s consumer rights, effectively commit fraud, and the OP should be grateful that they didn’t?

Wow.

He didn’t buy the bike from them. He asked them to fix it, he didn’t ask them for a warranty claim. If they’d fixed it and charged him as he’d asked, it wouldn’t have been fraud. Instead, they helped him out and he’s complaining about paying for their time and effort. Christ, I am glad I don’t own a bike shop and have to deal with ungrateful customers like that.