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

Good job you don’t own a bike shop then….. He’ll would freeze over first!

That said, I’ve never charged anyone a penny for genuine warranty work, in fact I’ve got an item in right now that was repaired, not under warranty, and we’re taking a small hit on it because we don’t think it should have failed as it did. I did sell said item to the customer though, and he’s a good guy.

Car dealers are generally franchised from the company they supply though.

Indeed

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.

Steady on. I don’t think the OP is complaining, he’s just wondering if this charge is normal.

I might have missed it, but how much was this Admin charge?

he’s just wondering if this charge is normal

No, it’s not normal. Normally, if you take a bike to a shop and ask them to fix it, they’ll charge you for fixing it. If you didn’t buy it at that shop, they probably won’t go out of their way to help you with a warranty claim. So, no, they are doing the OP a favor.

Great thread 😀 I imagine the Op is holding his head at some of the replies lol. He was only asking if an admin charge was normal. Like him I’d be a bit suprised at being asked for one. Obviously wrongly I assumed retailers were paid to do warranty work, so you learn something new every day.
Just out of interest whats the problem and how much is the charge.

So, no, they are doing the OP a favor.

they are charging him for it so they are not doing him a favour they are providing a chargable service

This is undeniable and you repeating it is a favour wont make it true

Ps I will do you a favour I will post your bike anywhere you want for £100 or drive you anywhere for £1 per mile. Decorate your house for £250 per day etc these are all favours apparently 😕

The favor was to not just fix the bike and charge him full price, as he asked them to do. Instead, they helped him with a warranty claim, and charged him much less. They didn’t have to do that and it cost them money. In my book, they did him a favor. I would be grateful if a shop did that for me.

It did a business deal and charged him for it – if you want to call a business doing its business for money a favour than that is your choice
The excellent news is almost all business will do you favours in exchange for money ….aren’t we all lucky we can collect on favours from businesses for money.