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looking for thoughts please. I have 2 Spesh ebikes, a Creo and a Levo SL, both are summer 20 bikes, so around 18 months old. Both have had a few small warranty issues, electic/motor related, but not much (bar the Creo needing a new wiring loom very early days).
Anyway, my local bike shop, one of the Glasgow majors, who supplied both, have just recently become a Spesh dealer no more, and I know from previous posts by others that bike warranty isn't like car warranty where you can just go to a nearby dealer regardless of which dealer supplied in the first place.
So does anyone have any experience of how this might shape up for any repair work I need under warranty in the period of cover I have left (not sure if 2 or 4 years on these bikes which have the Mahle motors). There will be other Spesh dealers that I can go to, Alpine @ Tiso for example, but will they by under any obligation to assist ?
Any specialized dealer will be able to and should help you out.
The only change is that the labor (not covered under warranty) for any work needing to be done that may have been waived by the shop you bought your bike from as good will definitely won’t be by another store.
^^^ good to know, thanks
My understanding is that any dealer will need to see the existing receipt to ensure you are the original owner.
Years ago I was in Les Arcs on holiday when the forks on my Enduro packed in. I rang Specialized UK who contacted Specialized Europe who organised for me to visit the nearest dealer to get them repaired. They were done in the day and the dealer also organised lunch at a local restaurant FOC whilst they were repaired.
I've never understood and don't even still accept that. If a failure of a part results in a repair being needed (under warranty) why should we be expected to pay the labour for it. That should be refunded by the manufacturer to the shop if necessary. I'd dig my heels in absolutely over it.
What if it was a recall, resulting in a part needing replacing, do we have to pay labour there as well?
Did the shop say they won't be dealing with warranty issues on bikes sold when they WERE a dealer?
Any Spesh dealer should fix the bike for free under warranty even if it was not originally supplied by them as long as you have the original bill of sale etc...
They then can claim the labour costs back from Specialized
This is what happened when my old 17 Levo needed a new motor under warranty
Evans who I purchased the bike from were clueless (told me they would have to talk to Bosch!)
Took it to the Levo King Chris@BerkshireCycles and he fitted a new motor the same day, no charge as he claims the labour back from Specialized
All my e bikes since then have come from Chris
I’ve never understood and don’t even still accept that. If a failure of a part results in a repair being needed (under warranty) why should we be expected to pay the labour for it. That should be refunded by the manufacturer to the shop if necessary. I’d dig my heels in absolutely over it.
What if it was a recall, resulting in a part needing replacing, do we have to pay labour there as well?
Industry standard is that labor is charged to the customer and not covered under warranty. Recalls are different and there is usually some sort of labor credit that comes through with any parts.
Looks like specialzed may cover labor though, never worked with specialized but the above is true for the brands that I have worked with.
chakaping
Free Member
Did the shop say they won’t be dealing with warranty issues on bikes sold when they WERE a dealer?Posted 1 hour ago
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No, and they are good guys who i have dealt with for years, they won't have the software and firmware backup etc once they lose the dealership
I’ve never understood and don’t even still accept that. If a failure of a part results in a repair being needed (under warranty) why should we be expected to pay the labour for it. That should be refunded by the manufacturer to the shop if necessary. I’d dig my heels in absolutely over it.
What if it was a recall, resulting in a part needing replacing, do we have to pay labour there as well?
As a dealer, its because the bike distributors generally dont cover warranty labour. So we would eat warranty labour on bikes we sold and made a profit on (treat it as a cost of business), but while we were happy to process warranty claims for bikes we did not sell we would not cover the labour. (Easy to end up being the free warranty centre for bikes purchased online, sure it helps the brand, but 0 profit for the shop)
From a warranty point of view (as opposed to your consumer rights under SOGA/CRA) its whatever the manufacturer warranty says, most say parts only, not other costs covered.
Some distributors that do offer warranty labour offered credit in paltry amounts, eg bleed brake £5, rebuild wheel £10 etc.
Some distributors are changing to be more like the automotive industry and offer a real dealer service, along with warranty labour. Sounds like that is what Specialized are doing to build reputation around their E bikes. Some distributors were excellent to deal with, would even send out warranty parts to a non dealer shop just to get the customer going again!
Recalls we used to get a labour credit, some would be good eg £5 to replace a wheel Q/R. Some would be poor, eg £10 to replace a headset part.
Some shops are just crabbit and dont want to do it.
Interesting, I didn't realise that was 'industry standard' but if it is i think that's crap. Maybe I've been lucky (and long time since I bought a new MTB, has been Trigger's broom for ages now) but if I was that would be a question I'd be asking and part of the decision process.
I get that the shop shouldn't eat it, especially on bikes not bought there/bought online or whatever but the manufacturers should, simple as. They designed and built a bike, specced out the parts, and if if it fails prematurely and under warranty 'because you made bad / cheap decisions' why does the consumer or the (Indy) LBS get lumped with the cost?
I think the problem is sometimes the shop gets caught in the middle, if the manufacturer doesn't cover labour and the customer doesn't think they should have to pay labour then it's tricky.
From a warranty point of view (as opposed to your consumer rights under SOGA/CRA) its whatever the manufacturer warranty says, most say parts only, not other costs covered.
^
This is the key point about warranties. The warranty is part of the product, some are better than others, you get what you pay for.
I have significant experience if Specialized's warranty.
I bought a bike from Rutland. When it had issues an LBS fixed it twice. £50 labour each time, reimbursed by Rutland. I have also been to Alpine bikes on a number of occasions and they have fixed it each time and never charged. I have been very impressed and in future I would pay a couple of £100s over the odds to buy from them as I am very impressed. Tiso Perth btw.
Also contact Specialized Rider Care if you have issues. They will help resolve them.
I am now out of warranty...
I've had customers in the shop who have tried a bike for size and we've spent time setting a bike up for them & they'll think about it. They then return a month or so later with an identical bike they bought off the internet and get all huffy when we tell them they'll get charged labour to fit warranty parts. We do explain that a bike bought from us would have labour costs waived.
