Giant warranty process times

So, my shiny new Liv Intrigue E+1 has popped its clogs after just over 3 months of riding, clocking in at under 300 miles. I’m just about to start the warranty process, and I wondered if anyone had any recent experience of how long it takes stuff to get fixed/replaced.

Genuinely gutted, I’ve been riding my Lapierre Overvolt HT for 4 years or so, done 2000 miles no issue. 🙁 It’s the first time I’ve ever had to warranty a bike (I was already planning on getting it in because the dropper post was a bit wibbly).

Not recent, about 10 years ago, I had a great experience with a cracked frame on my Anthem. I was away on business in Japan for a couple of months so took the bike with me, when the weld on the top tube cracked, took some pictures, sent them to the Giant Store at Rutland water, after 2 days was told it was all approved and the replacement frame was on its way.
Took the bike up a couple of days after I got back, 2 weeks later, everything all swapped over in a couple of hours at no cost (the labour cost wasn’t included in the warranty).

Was a frame upgrade over what I had originally.

It’s going to depend on what is borked and the spares necessary to fix it. We’re in the midst of a worldwide bike parts shortage and that is inevitably having an affect.

Be prepared for a long wait if the bike isn’t in stock.
I am waiting for a warranty replacement rear wheel for one of my bikes. Replacement was agreed at the end of May but I am still waiting. Excuses so far include nil stock, stock on way from Japan and a warehouse move has disrupted stock holdings.

Bottom bracket went on my Revolt after 6 weeks. Was replaced under warranty and back to me in two weeks. I was lucky though, as Praxxis had mine in stock. All dealt with by my friendly local Giant dealer who supplied my bike.

I am waiting for a warranty replacement rear wheel for one of my bikes.

Ditto. Mine is from Hunt.

I currently have a cracked giant frame on my bike that I use to commute, took it to the shop that I purchased it from and the warranty process has been started. When I asked about time they said between a week and a year!

Not recent, 5 years ago, but 11 hours from walking in to the Giant store in Shoreham on a Sunday to a message to say a new frame set was on it’s way to them so they could rebuild the bike for me.

My Giant defy cracked(pre-covid) bought from Rutland cycles. Emailed pics for response the then equivalent frame was contend sl. I said cool Rutland shipped out bike box I packed it up. Week or so later all my bits on new frame delivered back.

Giant are fantastic when dealing with warranty issues, but as others have pointed out, it will all come down to whether what is needed to fix your bike is available due to the global parts shortage.

I’m hoping it’s just some iffy connectors or a sensor issue – it cuts out during a ride, then won’t come back on. The Ride Control will briefly light up, but immediately goes off again, so I can’t even do a system check with the app.

The first time it happened was on holiday in Scotland earlier this month, but it managed to come back on again after about 5 minutes. It was fine after that, but it conked out again today and never managed to come back on. I think it’s pining for the fjords.

Have you tried turning it off and on again at the wall

Sounds like a connector, maybe some corrosion on one through water ingress at some point that now requires replacement/cleaning, Giant Shops are usually good as they can run the first stage checks, so strip it and try and find the fault, run a diagnostic and then swap out main parts or bench test, if caught then it could be a quick turnaround, if it’s a failed battery or motor it might be a bit longer to fix (but keep pushing them!), as stock of the motors/battery are a bit lower these days.

I have a Reign E+1 which is basically like yours, bar a little more travel, i had a shut off earlier this year in the real flood like conditions, checked it over and there was a little moisture around the connectors, so dried it up, then protected the area and no issues since, but if left i could see that moisture would have started some corrosion in there at the connectors.

Hopefully it’s just a simple one, the shop should be able to sort it out ASAP, is it local or an online buy, i bought my giant from the giant shop 5 miles away after a nightmare trying to get a Cube Stereo warrantied, giant shops are dotted around and can do quick diagnostics if you try them sometimes?

I have a Reign E+1 which is basically like yours, bar a little more travel, i had a shut off earlier this year in the real flood like conditions, checked it over and there was a little moisture around the connectors, so dried it up, then protected the area and no issues since, but if left i could see that moisture would have started some corrosion in there at the connectors.

Hopefully it’s just a simple one, the shop should be able to sort it out ASAP, is it local or an online buy, i bought my giant from the giant shop 5 miles away after a nightmare trying to get a Cube Stereo warrantied, giant shops are dotted around and can do quick diagnostics if you try them sometimes?

I bought it from Rutland, they said to take it to a local dealer for the warranty claim.

Water ingress sounds plausible, it’s been out in some torrential rain, plus my regular route involves a couple of water crossings (that never bothered my Overvolt, mind, might just be that the Giant sealing isn’t quite as solid…)

Got the Tee shirt . . .

I don’t know when you bought yours, but they all suffer from water ingress into the connectors. My local Giant store now add some ‘goo’ in an attempt to properly seal the connectors as part of the PDI. I don’t know if this is an official policy though.

A quick fix is to drop out the battery and ‘tickle’ the wiring loom and the big bunch of connectors above the motor with gently heat from a hair drier. Note that the connectors can drop down and become trapped by the battery, so push them up above the motor if needs be.

Hth

Ooof, mine’s a 2021 model – I bought it back in May. Quite surprised that the sealing is such an issue, and that my usual riding has taken out a latest model in three months, when my 2017 ebike has never had a problem. :/

It’s a fantastic bike when it works though!

It’s in the shop. Diagnostic codes suggest that water ingress is indeed the issue. The local shop are going to do additional waterproofing for £45 (as that’s not covered by warranty…)

Probably worth asking them what this is, was it an issue with the connectors that a simple addition of some dielectric grease on the pins would reduce it happening again, or something else?

They do like using the statement that water ingress was the issue, but what issue did it cause in the system (connectors/controller/terminal surface corrosion?), and has this part been modified in later Giants, as i’d be pushing for that fix, rather than the temporary one they’re offering.

£45! Taking the urine.

It is covered under the warranty and any additional waterproofing should have been done at the PDI stage. Tell them to fix or ask for a refund.

Or just DIY it. The ingress is from the back of the connectors (not the male/female pins), so fill them with a silicon sealant and them smear dielectric over the male and female pins. All the connectors are accessible (with difficulty) with the battery removed.

£45! Taking the urine.

It is covered under the warranty and any additional waterproofing should have been done at the PDI stage. Tell them to fix or ask for a refund.

Its not in the shop it was bought from, it was bought from Rutland and has been taken to a local Giant dealer according to the OP.

@bigyan

Good point. I’d be expecting Rutland to pay or speak to the local shop on OP’s behalf. I’d also assumed at one point that (just like a car) you could take it in to any authorised retailer, but I don’t think this is true with Giant?

I wouldn’t expect Rutlands to be liable for any of it, they’re the dealer, if it’s occurred through a warranty issue then Giant would be the one paying via their dealer network.

I do always wonder why on ebikes worth 5k plus why they persist in crap connectors, you can get decent ones that have some protection (some up to IP67), with the raft of failures they’ve had why they don’t fix this issue is beyond me.

So, the warranty work was done for £40 labour cost, including the seat post (which is now super solid, great stuff!) and water proofing.

I got the bike back, took it for a short 6 mile test ride on the local roads (on a warm, dry day), just to check it was working for my weekend jolly to FoD.

Charged it up yesterday morning, then as I was preparing to pop it on the bike rack last night, I switched it on to check how much it had charged, in case I needed to take the charger with me.

Aaaand it kept dying again. Lights come on, then immediately go off. Occasionally one of the leds was red.

Literally had a bit of a cry, I’d been really looking forward to this trip. Got the faithful Overvolt with me instead, but I was hoping to be all gnar and rad on my full susser. I don’t have the skills to be gnar and rad on a hard tail.

*tiny violin*

Yeah.. Mate has a reign e and has no end of issues with it. Replacement motor, wiring loom, battery and about 6 sets of buttons.
He’s currently waiting for the new battery to be fitted and has been waiting since March. It only arrived last week

Aaaand it’s… not going well.

I thought it’d be relatively simple, as the fault came up well within six months of purchase and it’s already had one attempted repair at an authorised Giant dealer (which was what Rutland recommended to save posting it back and forth). But Rutland are refusing to refund me, because they say that they can’t find the record of the local dealer’s warranty work (although I’ve given them the receipt), so they still get a chance to repair it.

I called Giant’s customer services, and they said I’m entitled to a refund, but they can’t get involved as the retailer has to process it.

/deskflip

Nightmare 😬

Make sure the local dealer has logged it in the correct system. I’d copy Giant UK in with any emails exchanged with the shops. Sounds like Rutland are being asses about it, which seems to be the norm for most shops at the moment, in the process of dealing with Scott/StartFitness with my Scott, as it has quite a few issues (wheels, build quality, creaks, leaking shock)

Sounds like its no fit for purpose, water will get inside the frame, if they’ve used poor connectors (seems like a lot of molex stuff in use, which is neither waterproof or vibration proof) then it will fail.

Mrs Toast – thats time for a “letter before action” then as rutland are not fulfilling their legal duties – that will shake some action I bet.

Yeah, Rutland are really digging their heels in.

I called the local Giant dealer (who did the original repair), and it wasn’t actually logged as a warranty claim as it didn’t involve warrantable parts:

1) The dropper post just needed the internals rejigging, so didn’t need parts.

2) The diagnostic codes said the switching off issue was a problem with water ingress, so that’s what they fixed with cleaning up the contacts and waterproofing (which wasn’t covered by warranty).

Rutland are insisting that as the repair for the fault didn’t involve parts and go through warranty, it isn’t classed as a repair as it’s ‘not traceable’, and therefore they still have the right to do a second repair, which they class as the first repair, because the first repair wasn’t actually a repair in their eyes, even though:

* They told me to go to the local Giant dealer to get it repaired
* I have the receipt for the repair, which I’ve given them
* Giant’s Warranty and Aftercare team have said that not having it go through warranty shouldn’t affect my rights
* The guy from the local dealer has spoken to them and confirmed the work (and can’t believe they’re not giving the refund)

I’ve submitted a Trading Standards complaint, and I’m currently on hold on the Citizens Advice consumer line. :/

TJAGAIN is sending you in the right direction. Letter before action, small claims, thats where citizens advice will point you anyway. Sounds like Rutland being arses. Warning fro the rest of us.
FYI my sister bought a Giant E-Bike from Partridge cycles in Devon on her way to holiday last year and they fixed it under warranty remotely a few months ago. Her husband facetimed them and they went through the issues, then ordered parts from giant and sent them to him, it was a new handlebar switch controller thing. Seems like giant are pretty good if you have a good dealer.

I wouldn’t expect Rutlands to be liable for any of it, they’re the dealer,

Actually in law they are liable – your contract is with the retailer.

take the bike back to rutland, tell them you are rejecting it under consumer law as unfit for purpose and leave it with them telling them they have 7 days to get the refund to your or face court action ( all in writing)

Retailers hate consumer law as it gives buyers rights that are expensive for retailers

Actually in law they are liable – your contract is with the retailer.

take the bike back to rutland, tell them you are rejecting it under consumer law as unfit for purpose and leave it with them telling them they have 7 days to get the refund to your or face court action ( all in writing)

Retailers hate consumer law as it gives buyers rights that are expensive for retailers

I did attempt to go full Battle Karen and repeatedly mentioned the Consumer Rights Act (fault happened within 4 months, repair to sort it failed), but they’re insisting that they have the right to repair it.

The issue is that although they told me to go to the local Giant dealer for any warranty issues, the repair wasn’t logged with the warranty system (as it didn’t require parts, so wasn’t ‘Giant certified’ (despite being done at an official Giant dealer, as recommended). So, as far as they’re concerned, they still have the right to attempt a repair as the retailer, as specified in the Consumer Rights Act.

Citizens Advice said that it can be argued that the bike is not fit for purpose if there’s numerous cases of similar issues, and that they used up their repair attempt by telling me I could have any work done at a local Giant dealer.

I’ve got an open case – they recommended asking for ADR (Rutland don’t belong to any ADR scheme though), sending a letter via recorded delivery requesting the refund and highlighting the relevant parts of the Consumer Rights Acts.

Not sure that will do any good though, as I’ve already done a lot of that via email, and they keep reiterating that they have the right to repair, and they’ll send my back when it’s done (they’ve had it for two weeks). , Not sure if they have a time limit to do the repair. :/

CTRL F5 …..
Any news?

Nay! Basically, Rutland just keep repeating the same thing (first repair didn’t count as it wasn’t done by them, so they still have the right to repair). They’ve had my bike for over two weeks already, apparently there’s some parts coming in next week, so they’ll repair it then. Then I guess I’ll get the bike back, and just have to pray it doesn’t crap out on me again, unless I somehow get a refund.

Tbh I’m too knackered to fight it. My life has been an absolute ****show for the last two years – I had to watch my remaining parent die painfully from cancer, move house, sort her estate (which took over a year, getting the grant of probate took 9 months because they screwed up at the probate office). Also, pandemic.

In the last two weeks we’ve had a new bathroom fitted (which involved a comedy of errors of no sink and broken bath being sent, then two sinks being sent, etc), a maggot infestation on our street, blocked sewers, etc.

The worst was that our dog Benny had a lump tested and it was cancer. He’s had emergency surgery to have the entire mass removed, but he’s been bleeding for the last two weeks (first from his drain site, then literally the day he finally stopped draining, he popped a stitch), and me and t’husband have been taking it in turns sleeping on the living room floor with the dog, because the dog is an idiot with virtually no sense of self-preservation.

On the plus side, his cancer has come back as being the best possible cancer (it doesn’t spread to other body parts, so he doesn’t need chemo, we just need to keep an eye on the region), and with my mom’s estate finally being sorted, we’ve paid off the mortgage. All it took was me losing both parents by the age of 39. Yay.

Having Rutland’s absolute BS on top of all of the above… the camel had its back broken a while back, but people still keep shoving stuff on it.

At least I know to avoid Rutland Cycling in the future – honestly, the prospect of further sewerage overflows and maggot infestations sound positively delightful compared to having to deal with them again.

Not that it helps but a friend also had poor warranty experience with Rutland and a Giant E-Bike, eventually they credited the 2020 bike value against a 2021, so far it seems to be a bit more reliable but he definetly wouldn’t buy mail order from them again..

Not sure if they have a time limit to do the repair

IIRC its a “reasonable” time that they have

Sounds like a crap time MrsToast, hope things improve for you soon.

Not that it helps but a friend also had poor warranty experience with Rutland and a Giant E-Bike, eventually they credited the 2020 bike value against a 2021, so far it seems to be a bit more reliable but he definetly wouldn’t buy mail order from them again.

It does help, actually – makes me feel marginally less persecuted as an individual! 😛

IIRC its a “reasonable” time that they have

Why do I have the feeling that their idea of a ‘reasonable’ timeframe is probably six months, or something…

I’m always surprised by posts like these. MrsToast has been struggling with this for a month, I might be being a bit naive but I would have thought Rutland and Giant would keep an eye on the bigger forums as this comes across as very bad publicity for them. It’s also their opportunity to look good by coming into the forum to help rectify the problem quickly and efficiently and, more importantly for them, it’s good PR. Really sorry for you, MrsToast

An update!

…

There is no update. I still have no bike. There is no word of Rutland. They still have the bike. I’ve written today asking for a refund again, this time pointing out that even if I accept that they have a right to (a second) repair, they have to do it in a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience.

They’ve had my bike for over a month – not reasonable, imo (plus they said they’d have parts for it over two weeks ago), and I’m currently on holiday in Dalby, where I’m studiously having to avoid the red route because I don’t have a full-susser (don’t judge me, I need my skills compensator), so I’m inconvenienced.

One last attempt to play nice, then I guess it’s legal action. :/

I think it is time for a notice before action letter delivered registered post. Give them a reasonable time to reply with a timeline of when they will make the repair. If that doesn’t get you anywhere, I’d be making a claim via money claim online – https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim

Any chance your credit card company can help with a charge back? I know initial purchase date comes into it but there are also some clauses about when you should have been given a refund. Might be worth a check.