My expectation would be that giant pay the dealer for removing and refitting all the components if it’s a valid claim. Of course that gives giant more incentive to refuse a claim.
On a 4 year old bike we're definitely into the goodwill part of covering the labour charge. I've had it go both ways on bikes of that sort of age.
Though the Trek rep did laugh when we asked about covering the rebuild charge on one customers 3rd or 4th replacement frame and forks, on a bike he'd originally bought 10+ years previously, obviously this was in the days of real lifetime warranties!
Proper triggers broom that was. Still nominally the same bike, but not one single original component. Even had to change the seat pin during that frame swap.
No idea about who's right/wrong but how short is that bike.
Looks so old fashioned, plus long stem and saddle set back.
like car warranties where you can go to any Ford garage for example
Pretty sure they specifically changed the law with cars, as long as you use correct spec parts you can use any garage at all, and tjhey have to maintain your warranty.
Ive always liked Giants. Had a far few. Seems like a real dick move, but im also a bit suspicious about the details.
“Only 2″ of seatpin insertion?” no only two inches out. XL frame im 6’1
I'd love to know how that's "two inches" out of the frame.
I’d love to know how that’s “two inches” out of the frame.
looks like a dropper post to me, nearly fully inserted into the frame
It's still not 2" out of the frame.
If it’s a dropper post the whole lower part of the dropper is in the frame.
mert
It’s still not 2″ out of the frame
Closer to 2" than max insertion
I have that very frame, it’s a 2015 giant trance, reach on mine is 425 in medium so not that short although maybe compared to nowadays
I’ll be screwed if mine breaks as all I have left from the original build is the frame!!
It’s still not 2″ out of the frame
it doesnt matter how much of the extendable/movable section of seat post is in or out of the fixed part of the dropper, what matters is the fixed part of the dropper and that is almost fully inserted into the bike- so assuming thats always been the case , it wasnt the seatpost that caused this failure.
same era Giant Anthem's frequently had that top-tube/seat tube failure.
My old anthem cracked at the lower shock mount. I just took the frame down to Pedalon (Berks Giant Dealer) and they sorted - they had no issues with me bring in part of a bike.
I got a new front triangle and they built that back up into what I had dropped off. Excellent service.
it wasnt the seatpost that caused this failure.
Oh, almost certainly not, full insertion is full insertion! But describing it as 2" out of the frame is misleading at best, makes it sound like a jump bike or something, it's more like 6" out of the frame.
You try putting other other 6" into the frame then..
Just had confirmation from Giant that removal of parts, a shock or fork for service by, for example TF Tuned must be carried out by a Giant retailer, failure to do so invalidates your warranty.
Just had confirmation from Giant that removal of parts, a shock or fork for service by, for example TF Tuned must be carried out by a Giant retailer, failure to do so invalidates your warranty.
That basically invalidates any warranty anyone ever has/wants then lol.
That needs to be shouted from the rooftops every time someone asks about/mentions/reviews a Giant on here. That's a ridiculously restrictive warranty term, basically no warranty at all for many customers.
That sounds awful. I'd be tempted to raise it with trading standards. The ancillary components on a frame and whoever services/adds them, unless out of spec, should have no impact on warranty.
Even car manufacturers have to stick to this, as long as it has been serviced to spec with OE parts then the warranty is intact, even if done outside of the dealer network.
Wonder if there would be any interest in STW raising this as a bit of investigative journalism @stwhannah ?
Terrible service from giant on the face of it. Just looks like they're trying to weasel out of it. I'd keep trying via the shop(s) and social media (twitter?) to see if you can force them to be reasonable.
wysiwyg
Just had confirmation from Giant that removal of parts, a shock or fork for service by, for example TF Tuned must be carried out by a Giant retailer, failure to do so invalidates your warranty.
WTAF?!
I've never really considered buying a Giant bike, but I certainly won't be now.
I wonder if this is common among other manufacturers, just not spoken about? The only warranty claim I've ever had was with my Stumpjumper & it was dealt with, without any fuss or questioning whatsoever.
That is nuts. Bikes are not cars and it's impossible to be a MTBer without a degree of mechanical knowledge and be able to fix / fit parts to your bike.
In fact, I'd say it's far better that owners can work on their bikes, check bolts are tight etc. I suspect it states that in the owner manual - check bolts are torqued appropriately every 50 riding hours or whatever. Are they suggesting that should be done by a Giant Authorised Workshop?
As I understand it, anything beyond your statutory 1-2 year warranty is basically unenforceable. Warranties are just part of sales. So yeah, either Giant fixes this or it gets brought up whenever anyone is considering buying a Giant.
OTOH, shout out to Santa Cruz who were amazing and warranted my frame with the newer version in less than a week.
Just had confirmation from Giant that removal of parts, a shock or fork for service by, for example TF Tuned must be carried out by a Giant retailer, failure to do so invalidates your warranty.
Is that what the wording of your warranty was at the time of purchase?
EXCLUSIONS
The above warranty, or any implied warranty, does not cover:
Normal wear and tear on parts such as tyres, chains, brakes, cables and gearwheels in situations where there are no assembly or material defects.
Bicycles serviced by a non Authorised Giant Dealer.
Improper maintenance, assembly or installation.
Corrosion
Modifications from the original condition.
Use of the bicycle for abnormal, competition, and / or commercial activities or for purposes other than those for which the bicycle was designed.
Damage caused by failing to follow the owner’s manual.
Damage or failure due to accident, neglect, abuse or abnormal and excessive misuse.
Improper alteration or installation of components, parts, or accessories not originally intended for or compatible with the bicycle as sold.
Paint finish and decal damage resulting from taking part in competitions, jumping, downhill and/or training for such activities or events, or as a result of exposing the bike to, or riding the bike in, severe conditions or climates.
Except as is provided by this warranty and subject to all additional warranties, Giant and its employees and agents shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever (including incidental and consequential loss or damage caused by negligence or default) arising from or concerning any Giant product.
Bicycles serviced by a non Authorised Giant Dealer.
Joke's on them: "I never had it serviced" <taps forehead>
Poor form from Giant there. I once had a chainstay replaced by specialized on a bike I didn’t buy new or have any documents for.
Also, ref the seatpost moaner up there - doesn’t even look to be 2” out of the frame in my eyes, the top end is irrelevant.
I assume the pretend warranty is also void, if you fly with the bike. Unless you get a Giant dealer to take it apart to fit in a travel bag, find a Giant dealer at the other end etc.
I know some folks do a full strip down to clean a bike properly on occasion.
Effectively there is no extended warranty.
double crosses out giant from list of potential future bike purchases.
What a joke of a warranty policy .
It seems with a giant you have your statutory rights and thats it.
doesn't include disassembly! 🙂
Ridiculous logic. I'd be amazed if they had a leg to stand on. Sure it's their wording, but it needs to be applied proportionally and with relevance to the failure.
Send them this link, ask if the rider is in the process of invalidating his warranty.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/warranty
If adjusting the seatpost is OK without going into a shop, there's no material difference in adjusting it and removing it.
Warrenty over and above your statutory rights is entirely at the whim of the manufacturer
USing their logic above you can't swap tyres/pedals or grips unless you get an authorised Giant technician to do so.
I wouldn't ever buy a bike from any brand that had that sort of stipulation in its warranty terms, they're basically saying they have no confidence in their own product to be fit for its intended usage. Given this is one of the brands that appear to be currently struggling in the marketplace, it's this sort of nonsense misdirection that should deservedly sink them. If you're pushing out a high value product on to a market then flipping stand by the thing you've produced, take ownership of it.. this is as good as saying, our products are price-point junk. So they're basically saying that if the rider drops their fork out to clean and grease their headset bearings then they've invalidated the warranty... brands like this can go stick it.
Add me to the list of people that have been looking at it now certainly won’t be buying a bike from Giant on that basis. Would I have to take to a dealer to fix a puncture? Change brake pads?
Cant theoretically change a tube.
Did they mention how they’d refund that if a warranty claim was upheld?
Labour is chargeable for warranty work
It’s quite possible that the only payment the dealer receives is for the strip-down (and possible rebuild).
Most provide nothing at all
No, Giant reimburse their dealers a set price for warranty work. (Or at least they do where I work.)
Giant reimburse their dealers a set price for warranty work. (Or at least they do where I work.)
Double bubble for the dealer I went to then, as zero mention of that.
I had an Anthem of roughly the same era crack the same way. I was lucky as I worked for a Giant dealer at the time and had a race coming up that weekend so some calls to Giant got me a new frame sent out before the old one was sent back.
When they did get it back they said they'd not have warrantied the top tube/seat tube cracking as some of the pivot bearings was stiff. I'd noticed the crack whilst replacing the bearings. So, no, I'd not buy a Giant again either.
My Specialized warranty experience wasn't great either - they took months to approve a crack around the base of the seat tube on a relatively new frame. This was in about 2014 and it seems they'd been told to tighten up their somewhat generous warranty replacements. It took a lot of chasing by the shop and I'd not buy another of them either.
EXCLUSIONS
The above warranty, or any implied warranty, does not cover:
Removing the bicycle from the original packaging
Riding the bicycle
Anything else not mentioned above
Bloody con merchants.
How does this get flagged to STW staff?
I would really like to see someone from here query this with Giant, to see whether they have the balls to repeat such a ridiculous statement to a high profile publication. Obviously if this is genuinely policy then it needs to be shouted to the hills, and an explanatioin asked for, but I'd give odds that if Hannah or Mark or Chipps went to gIant and asked 'what's the story here' there'd be an awful lot of backtracking and blame cast on the intern/work release kid misinterpreting the intent of the warranty.
Warrenty over and above your statutory rights is entirely at the whim of the manufacturer
Not really. it's their decision whether to provide it and it's terms and conditions, but:
A warranty is a contractual assurance from a seller to a buyer. It is a subsidiary or collateral provision to the main purpose of the agreement: the sale itself. A breach of warranty claim is an action for breach of contract and is subject to the normal legal requirements of proving loss.
So if you've bought a bike, you have a contract. And if the terms and conditions are ambigious, the ambiguity is construed against the drafter.
eg: "Bicycles serviced by a non Authorised Giant Dealer." the OP isn't a Dealer, he's not a Giant Dealer, he's not an unauthorised Giant Dealer. This exclusion can't be applied to him. If they wanted to exclude "Bicycles serviced anywhere other than at an authorised Giant Dealer", they could and should have done.
I think that's a bloody good idea @vinnyeh, also @stwhannah and @chipps
As someone who just bought a Giant eBike based on having a good local dealer and warranty, this worries me (although the Giant thread on eMTB forums suggests mostly very good experiences).
The Owner's Manual is full of ridiculously unrealistic things. Such as suggesting a complete dealer check-up after EVERY 25 hours of off-road riding. Basically once a fortnight for a keen rider.
Section G on page 12 does not say the customer shouldn't swap parts themselves, merely that they should get advice from a dealer about it. If removing/replacing components automatically voids the warranty, they should say so here.
P38:
"It is often necessary to remove and disassemble components in order to properly inspect them. This is a job for a professional bicycle mechanic..." . Which OP is. No mention that this 'professional mechanic' has to work in a Giant shop. Again, if using a non-Giant professional mechanic for this work automatically voids your warranty, it would be reasonable to make it clear.
A reasonable interpretation of their warranty terms would be that if you have it serviced, it should be at a Giant dealer. The handbook clearly suggests that changing components is not verboten, just that you should have it done by a professional.
Obviously the company is using these ill-defined and patently unreasonable terms to wriggle out of its 'lifetime' frame warranty, and hopefully this thread and others like it will cost a few sales and show that burning through your customer service reputation for pennies is a false economy.
I'd love to get input on this whole scenario by other manufactures too, obviously we have people from Bird who drop in here, but would be great to get others who'd share their thoughts on "we're OK/not OK if person does XYZ"
I was just going to post the same link as Martin. Not to point out the ridiculous stipulations, but what the Manual suggests the owner does, all the checks and adjustments. No mention of invalidating the warranty if you follow its instructions.
eg page 3, "if you choose to work on your own bike, you must use a torque wrench..."
from Giants own facebook page, I would be using my social media search powers to see if anyone else has had an issue.
suggesting a complete dealer check-up after EVERY 25 hours of off-road riding
Ha ha.... or after only one decent ride for a really really keen rider. Giant Cretins tm.
