My poor old Charge Plug has been consigned to the scrap heap by Wiggle and they’re offering a full refund (kudos for the customer service thus far…).

However I bought it on sale, and since I’d only be replacing it with another Plug, can I ask for a like-for-like replacement instead of the refund? Otherwise I’ll end up £200 out of pocket…

Have put the question to Wiggle, just wondering where I stand…

I don’t believe you have the right to demand it but no harm in asking, I’d have thought most retailers would prefer to give you one rather than stumping up hard cash that you can take elsewhere.

Don’t think you can. They’ve fulfilled their obligation with refund.

Worth asking, guess their response will depend on their margins (i.e. is giving you a more expensive bike actually cheaper for them).

I thought a refund was the last port of call after all other avenues had been explored?

Worth asking though, as that is what you had purchased originally for the purpose you intended it to do.

Charge warranty states that you “will be replaced with the same or the nearest compatible frame available”

Don’t know the circumstances where wiggle are offering a full refund, but its worth asking for a replacement instead.

Got a nasty feeling the circumstances are that there are no equivalent frames available right now (I’ve got the rim brake model, a 2017 equivalent exists but doesn’t appear to be on the market yet…).

Wonder if I could convince them to give me one of those single speed Cinelli frames they have on sale that retailed at £900… 8)

Its sounds like they are being really fair

I might proceed along the lines of “Thanks you’re really trying to help and I appreciate that. What I really want is this bike for £200 more. Is their any chance that you could discount that £200 as a good will gesture”

Aye, don’t want to complain too loudly about Wiggle, they’ve been great.

I guess the bike is good enough that the extra £200 isn’t too hard to swallow, just hope the rim brake version becomes available.

I’ve also sent a cheeky email asking if they would offset the £300 refund against the £409 sale price of the Cinelli MASH SSCX frame, I pay the extra £109 and they send me back the old components off my Charge, minus frame and fork.

Could end up with a crazy light commuter out of the deal, probably bloody lighter than my sunday best road bike at this rate… 8)

I’m confused – did you pay £300 for the Charge frame? If that’s the refund you’re getting then I can’t see why you need to negotiate anything, just take your refund and pay them £409 for the Cinelli frame.

Accept the refund and then buy the Grinduro SS for £510 from them before Topcashback?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/charge-plug-grinduro-single-speed-adventure-road-bike/

I think the cheekiness is because OP wants the bike cost refunded but the complements from it returned? Sounds like a hassle for them to strip it for you if you ask me.

I.e. OP bought a bike, not a frame?

I don’t think you can insist on a replacement if its greater cost than the refund

how old is the bike?

wiggle offering a refund is through the sale of goods act, the warranty is with the manufacturer unless this is a warranty offered offered by wiggle.

I would want a replacement frame that you can bolt your bits too. if there isn’t a frame then you should be entitled to a refund from the manufacturer for the cost of the frame’s RRP not what you paid for the full bike I’d imagine. Again this stems from the warranty not the sale of goods act.

Bought full bike on sale for £300, this is the refund being offered.

Nearest new equivalent (same bike, different paint job) is £539. This is the model that doesn’t appear in shops yet though, potentially unavailable.

Cheekiness was asking for Cinelli frame (minus refund) plus old components to bolt on, but Wiggle politely declined to do this, worth asking I suppose!

Re: the Grinduro, most of what I loved about the Plug was that is was light, simple and most importantly didn’t produce any horrendous squeeling on wet commutes like my disc braked commuter. It would be a real shame to swap it for a heavier and potentially squeelier disc brake model…

Charge reckon it was the forks that were the cause of the warranty issue. They can’t supply replacements but funnily enough I actually have a replacement set sitting at home. If they can assure me it is the forks that are the cause of the problem I might just ask them to send the whole bike back and I fit the new forks I had purchased myself, perhaps asking for a wee goodwill gesture since I paid for the new forks myself and they’re very marginally heavier than stock.. 🙁

what is the actual problem with the bike?

OIC – so effectively you were asking for them to unbolt a load of bits from a warranty return bike (which they’d already given you a full refund for) and send you them for free. I wonder why they weren’t interested in that?

From the sounds of things your ideal option would be to get a replacement fork, but if they can’t supply you with one then the only real official option is a full refund. I suppose you might get some sort of goodwill if you say you’re happy to keep the bike without the fork but there isn’t any legal obligation for them to do that – it’s a question of negotiation, as in theory that ought to be a better option for them than paying £300 for a bike which is worth far less than that to them. So talk to them nicely and don’t try taking the piss (which is what it sounds a bit like you’ve been doing!)

If it is just the fork, £50 cash and the rest of it back and swap out yourself with the spare would seem a good deal for both, I doubt the bike is of any real value to them now so it’s a bit of a win win. Ultimately it will be their call but that might get their attention.

wiggle offering a refund is through the sale of goods act, the warranty is with the manufacturer unless this is a warranty offered offered by wiggle.

This (except it’s almost certainly the Consumer Rights Act).

Under CRA, your contract is with the point of sale (Wiggle) and you have the right to a refund or a replacement in certain circumstances, which is presumably what happened here. You can request a replacement, but it’s up to the retailer which they offer. If you start making demands they’ll tell you to go whistle.

Any manufacturer warranty is in addition to your statutory rights. As Slackboy said,

Charge warranty states that you “will be replaced with the same or the nearest compatible frame available”

It’s a bit late now, but to make this warranty claim you should’ve dealt directly with Charge. You can’t just uplift one company’s T&Cs and transplant them onto another.

If I were you I’d contact Wiggle, remind them of this warranty, and ask them to make a warranty claim on your behalf.

Aracer, in effect yes, that’s exactly what I was asking, didn’t see the harm really, Wiggle get a bit of extra cash from me, and the dirty, part worn components from my old bike still get put to use instead of binned.

But yeah, I’m not complaining that they refused, it was an optimistic request at best!

Waiting to hear back re next years model or just use the spare forks I already have (bought from Bike Discount.de but didn’t return within their 30 day window so stuck with them). Just not convinced the forks were the source of the problem (frame returned due to persistent creaking/cracking from front end).

Already calculating how much extra just building up the Cinelli would cost, probably too much… 🙁

Excellent!

Wiggle agreed to send the bike back, minus creaky forks (apparently an issue with steerer tube/crown bonding) and have refunded me the £120 I spent on replacement forks from Bike-Discount (couldn’t find suitable replacements anywhere else).

Apparently Charge distributor not bringing the rim brake model into the country this year, hence no like-for-like replacement available.

Kudos to Wiggle for the pragmatic solution, saves binning an otherwise perfectly good bike, and I don’t end up out of pocket for fixing something which should have been a warranty.

Of course, if I hear so much as a whisper of a creak out of it once I’ve got it built up again I’ll just be buying the damn Cinelli and be done with it 8)