So…..the steerer tube on my roadbike snapped in the last week and the bike was still in warranty. The local dealer processed a claim and the distributor will send out new forks BUT only after I have signed a waiver form. Seems a bit odd to me, especially as I wasn’t hurt.

The dealer told me all this over the phone, but they don’t know why there’s a waiver involved and I can’t get hold of the warranty department at the distributor.

Has anyone experience this before? And I don’t want to name names as yet!

Waiver against what?

Yes sounds very odd – I’ve never heard of that before.

That’s exactly my question – what am I signing waiver against? Me taking legal action over what could have happened? Excusing them from further claims etc? What if I refuse to sign – what then? Bike has a year remaining of frame/fork warranty.

So what they’re are saying is they are not confident in thier own product?

Maybe it is a waiver against you fitting the new forks and them not being responsible for incorrect installation???

All sounds a bit strange.

I’ve heard it before, but can’t remember what brand or what the outcome was, think the guy refused on the basis it wasn’t legal (guess it depends whether your claim is under the SOGA terms, or the manufacturers warranty). If it’s just to say “the forks are only warrantied for the remainder of the original warranty” then I guess you might not get a choice (although again, if they failed catastrophically and injured you then whatever the waiver says you might still have a right to sue them, you cant waive your legal rights).

What’s the maximum recommended weight for the bike and how much do you weigh?

Maybe worth buying a decent set that you’ll trust, and ebay-ing the warranty ones.

It’s a standard alu frame with carbon forks(with alu steerer) and I weigh 70kg/11stone.

Sometimes things get done out of goodwill and there’s a ‘without prejudice’ kind of agreement or waiver etc that confirms the action isn’t an admission of fault, to prevent the goodwill biting back.

could be anything – maybe a waiver on something implied in the warranty or sale of goods because it’s not applicable under UK/EU legislation because it’s a US product???

I’ve been told it’s covered by warranty and not goodwill.

Thanks for all the input so far!

It does sound odd, but basically we are all just guessing and the only way you can get a proper answer is to hear it direct from them what the waiver is for.

Exactly! – so until I see the waiver in person/read the terms late afternoon, OR am able to speak to the distributor warranty department before then, we’re all just guessing…..

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you sign, you can’t give you rights away. The replacement is a warranty item, not some other form of consideration so there’s no exchange taking place, so nothing they can enforce.

Read it and tell us what it says.

So, an update…..

I still couldn’t get a firm answer out of the distributor as to why I was having to sign a waiver (and seemingly the dealer couldn’t either), but it appears it’s due to the fact that the forks only have a 2year warranty (I thought it was 3years like the frame) and the bike is 2years 3months old. The distributor were absolutely insistent I sign a physical of the waiver and then post it back to them before they’d send a new fork. The waiver stated it’s a goodwill gesture and there’s zero comeback if these new forks break, etc etc…

So it is a waiver about having to honour a warranty claim again?

resisting the temptation of drawing a c0ck on the returned waiver, else risking getting a favourable resolution, I’d make up an obviously not my signature

If it was clear at the time of purchase that the forks were only warrantied for 24 months then it seems reasonable enough.