Aaaargh, it never rains but it pours
(although my lot cant compete with the “dreadful week” threads on here at the moment)

OK Ive just seen a crack in my carbon road frame
It looks like a no brainer warranty job but the supplying shop have taken pics which they are sending to the manufacturer to see if they’ll play ball with a replacement and wont commit till they get a reply

I dont see why they need to do this

Its a barn door manufacturing related crack (IMHO) well away from any controversial areas where they could accuse me of either being clumsy, getting it whacked by rocks or overtightening seat clamps etc etc etc

Im currently staying nice and polite rather than mouthing off about my contract being with shop not importer as TBH Im not feeling like riding bikes much at the moment but is this usual for obvious warranty jobs?

Cheers

(IMHO)

That’s the important bit.

And yes, that’s very normal.

It’s usual for the manufacturer/importer to want to see evidence of damage before shipping a new frame.

Your contract is with the shop so you could march in and start shouting about your rights. I’d save the escalation route until after the manufacturer responds, though.

At least we know it’s not an on-one this time 🙂

That was quick, does it usually take long?

Thanks all 🙂

I dont see why they need to do this

Although your warranty is with the supplying dealer, they will obviously be trying to get you a replacement frame from the manufacturer.

As a manufacturer, would you expect to just post out replacement frames to shops with no evidence, other than a phone call?

As a manufacturer, would you expect to just post out replacement frames to shops with no evidence, other than a phone call?

Customer takes broken bike to centre of excellence who usually charge more than online companies for the personal touch and high level of service, knowledge and customer service they provide

Skilled staff at LBS immediately see frame is borked, phone up manufacturer who ship one ASAP whilst shop send broken one in opposite direction thus minimising disruption to the customer who paid through the nose for the privilege of buying locally and supporting his local commerce and LBS

Or am I just naive??

Sorry – as mentioned going through a bad time at the moment 🙂

would be unusual for a bike shop to deal direct with the manufacturer so maybe they don’t have a close relationship with them that enables this to happen?

It’s not unreasnoble of them. They’d probably argue that the importer/manufacturer will see more failures than they do and better able to judge whether it’s manufacturing, design or user error. They’re not going to hand over a new frame untill it’s confirmed it’s a warrenty issue. The importer/manufacturer do have a bit of a conflict of interest, but then they are providing the service of examining the frame for free so don’t look a gift horse in the mouth just yet.

If they say no, then start to argue if you still think you’re right.

centre of excellence

Skilled staff at LBS

I think you’re overstating their qualifications. Hardly likely to have a forensic engineer or materials scientist on the books.

Bike shop will have a warranty arrangement with the manufacturer. Part of that will likely be that the manufacturer has to approve warranty. In effect though, they can reasonably (IMO!) claim that the manufacturer is better placed to say whether it was a manufacturing fault (eg warranty) or not so they’re acting as an ‘expert’.

It’s not unreasonable so long as neither party try to use it as a way to get out of justified warranty or that it takes too long.

Or am I just naive??

This. You describe how it ought to work, not necessarily how it works in practice, though some companies are a lot better than others (one company I dislike for other reasons comes to mind as being much better than most at this sort of thing).

I agree with others that the approach being taken is reasonable – as long as it doesn’t result in an excessive delay. How long has it been so far?

If your frame is under 6 months old, the law stipulates that the fault must be regarded as having been there when you bought it – as long as it’s not crash damage (which should be easy to show).

So, under 6 months old and I don’t think you’re being unreasonable to expect the shop to say on the spot ‘Sorry about that sir, we’ll sort you another one’. This is a case of the shop wanting to cover themselves at your expense in the event of the manufacturer being unreliable.

Not sure you’re right there.

SOGA says that within six months, the onus is on the seller to prove that it was not faulty. After six months, the onus is on the buyer to prove that it is faulty.

clubber – Member

SOGA says that within six months, the onus is on the seller to prove that it was not faulty. After six months, the onus is on the buyer to prove that it is faulty.

That’s the kind of thing you can hit them with if there’s a problem AFTER they’ve allowed the manufacturer to take a look at it.

would be unusual for a bike shop to deal direct with the manufacturer so maybe they don’t have a close relationship with them that enables this to happen

Whilst you’re right that Joe Bloggs Bikes ltd won’t phone up Spesh in Morgan Hills and speak to Mike Sinyard directly, virtually all large bike brands are distributed by regionally based subsidiaries, so they do deal direct with Trek/Spesh/Giant/Scott etc in the UK.

I’d give them 2 weeks MAX. The weathers getting better so lost riding time on it AND nowadays a high res picture is emailed to the supplier, it doesn’t go via carrier-pidgeon does it.

I’d give them 2 weeks MAX. The weathers getting better so lost riding time on it AND nowadays a high res picture is emailed to the supplier, it doesn’t go via carrier-pidgeon does it.

and the lead time on getting a frame is? As for High res photos, pictures don’t always work, there are times when the frame is physically required to see if there is a fault or if it is simply a paint problem, different warranties usually. They might also require the old frame, I believe my Lemond got cut up to ensure that I couldn’t resell (the downtube had snapped so couldn’t if I wanted)but some will try and claim warranty then sell the frame, which does not put them in the position that they started in.

I snapped a road bike, Trek were fine, yes there is a problem, thing is we don’t import anything like it anymore, we don’t actual make it anymore either. There will be a slight delay whilst we get a frame sourced from the States and shipped over. A further delay arose in that the only frames they had were raw so needed to be painted and that bit required my input.