I like the idea of an eBike but the potential for the whole thing to pan out like this puts me off. At the very least I won’t entertain Rutland as the retailer, for normal or eBike!

Alas, I paid on my debit card (I used a bit of inheritance from my late mother – I’ll definitely be doing credit card for any big purchases in the future though!).

I’d still get in touch with the bank and ask the question, from memory there is a 120 day period where you can do a charge back on a debit card.

I’d still get in touch with the bank and ask the question, from memory there is a 120 day period where you can do a charge back on a debit card.

Unfortunately it’s been over 120 days now.

Rutland replied, saying “currently we expect standard warranties to take between 4 to 6 weeks however this does depend on the supplier and the issues experienced. Sometimes warranties can be quicker than this or take longer” and “Unfortunately 4 weeks for a warranty claim to be processed isn’t unusual or considered as an unreasonable timeframe”.

Which would arguably be fine, if it was outside of six months, but warranties have literally nothing to do with the Consumer Rights Act…

“Unfortunately 4 weeks for a warranty claim to be processed isn’t unusual or considered as an unreasonable timeframe”.

If I told one of my customers that it was 4 to 6 weeks, they wouldn’t be a customer any more. 4 to 6 weeks is completely unreasonable, we are turning round issues in hours and days, rarely does anything not get resolved inside a couple of weeks.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/9/enacted

Unfortunately it’s been over 120 days now

It may be over 120 days now but that’s not what counts, it’s when it developed the fault. Like I say, it is worth a call as I was pleasantly surprised when I had to make a charge back a few years back.

It may be over 120 days now but that’s not what counts, it’s when it developed the fault. Like I say, it is worth a call as I was pleasantly surprised when I had to make a charge back a few years back.

Oh, cheers for that – I’ve submitted a form, so fingers crossed!

I had this a few months ago with a phone-

I know my Consumer Rights! Or do I?

Rutland are in the wrong and I think you’ve given them enough time. If your debit card company won’t do anything then the time for writing letters to Rutland has passed – send a letter before action the moment the debit card company says no (hopefully they won’t) and then start the money claim online process when you head the same tripe back from Rutland.

So, a proper update!

This morning Rutland decided to refund me. I don’t know what triggered it – whether it was the bank chargeback request, the ranty Twitter thread I posted yesterday (they replied with an apology on Twitter this morning… ), or the dawning realisation that I was going to keep on at them (apparently the part that was supposed to arrive “imminently” hasn’t arrived and they don’t know when it will).

So yay! Refund! Really not impressed with how much I had to fight for it though.

A good outcome, but one they should have really done without so much prodding.

Well done. Got a result in the end

Glad to hear that, but what a battle. Lessons learnt for the next bike purchase! 🤣

So, another thanks to @hooli! It turns out that it wasn’t Rutland who directly refunded me – it was Barclays as a result of the charge back (presumably as Rutland have decided not to oppose it, as they mentioned me being refunded).

I did think that it was a bit odd that the refund last week didn’t have Rutland by name, but I got a letter this morning from Barclays saying that they were investigating and had put the money in my account in the meantime, with the reference number of the refund.

No problem MrsToast, pleased it is all sorted.

The big question is, what are you going to buy now?

No idea! It’s a bit hard finding a full suss ebike that a) fits my hobbity body, b) has a decent spec for the price, c) has a decent range, and d) doesn’t look hideous.

Not sure whether to try holding out for demo days.

Couldn’t you just buy another Giant, but from a decent dealer? Or direct? It seems you are happy with the Giant response, just not Rutland?

It’s a shame there isn’t an alloy Levo yet – I got the base model in the previous version and with a fork swap and brake swap, plus a dropper post (all done by my LBS) it worked out a great eMTB for the money. The new one has even shorter seat tubes and adjustable geometry so should fit and it’s better sealed (Albright mine’s been fine thus far). But it is rather expensive…

Amazingly poor service from Rutland – glad it’s sorted. eMTBs should be able to handle getting pretty wet though – even overseas brands should know that Britain is rather damp and many of us ride all year whatever the weather!

Couldn’t you just buy another Giant, but from a decent dealer? Or direct? It seems you are happy with the Giant response, just not Rutland?

I was actually tempted to get the same bike from the local dealer – there was a lot I liked about the bike, spec was good, and it was the first bike I’ve ever managed to lift the front wheel or jump on! I was just planning on getting a longer stem and maybe chopping the bars down a little, as I found the front end a bit twitchy. I also still have an unused Invisiframe kit for it – the bike crapped out before I had the chance to apply it! Also, it was a nice glittery purple. /priorities

I’m just worried that if I get another one, I’ll run into the same issues (albeit with it being easier to sort if it’s with the local dealer) – there do seem to be a fair few Intrigues/Trances/Emboldens, etc with similar issues.

t’s a shame there isn’t an alloy Levo yet – I got the base model in the previous version and with a fork swap and brake swap, plus a dropper post (all done by my LBS) it worked out a great eMTB for the money. The new one has even shorter seat tubes and adjustable geometry so should fit and it’s better sealed (Albright mine’s been fine thus far). But it is rather expensive…

Amazingly poor service from Rutland – glad it’s sorted. eMTBs should be able to handle getting pretty wet though – even overseas brands should know that Britain is rather damp and many of us ride all year whatever the weather!

Yeah – both the ‘acoustic’ full sussers I’ve owned have been Stumpjumpers, so I was quite open to another Specialized. That said, I tried an early Levo a fair few years back and wasn’t a fan (it felt very heavy, and a bit on the big size even in small), although I’m sure they’ll have changed since then.

But GOOD GOD THE PRICE! I felt a bit awkward spending nearly £6k of my inheritance on the Intrigue. If I go to Specialized prices, my mother would probably come back to haunt me, with the ghostly sounds of, “You could buy a car for that!”.

As for the weather, I was a bit gobsmacked that the Giants have that much problem with it. My Lapierre Overvolt has now officially clocked over 2000 miles in all weathers with frequent water crossings (both blues at Cannock Chase have water crossings!). It’s been a bit of a champ, so I’ve also been looking at the Lapierre full suss offerings. Not the eZesty (as the frame sizes start at medium), but the Overvolt TRs – they have 650b wheels and lower travel forks compared to the Overvolt AM, which is a mullet with a lot of travel up front (so is more likely to have the top tube coming up fairly sharp to accommodate a bigger fork and wheel).

I just had a quick look and you can get a Levo for under £6k, either the Levo SL or the last gen Levo (that’s the one I have – the new 2022 one is a mullet, carbon only and very adjustable). Mine was about £5k upgraded with Hope brakes and a Lyrik – it’s the S-Works ones that are silly money!

But there should be something out there for that budget and seat tubes are generally getting shorter (although reach isn’t…)

there do seem to be a fair few Intrigues/Trances/Emboldens, etc with similar issues.

I think this is due to Giant selling a huge number of bikes, I doubt the failure rate is any higher than specialized.~
According to google Giant revenue is 1.9billion a year with 27% from Ebikes
Spec is 600million a year, but their bikes are twice as expensive so…..

Ebikes can be a pain, just buy as local and from somewhere that can do in-house warranty if possible, the reality is that there’s a chance you get something that fails at some point in the first year, i had the Cube Stereo, lovely bike, but complete DOA on day and never to be fixed, 4 months later i got a refund and bought the giant ereign, through worry i put it through a lot of water/mud/etc to see if it would fail, but it’s done well so far, but again, the connectors on the wiring looms are not well protected, it’s a running theme with ebikes i see, god knows how manufacturers are still giving us this rubbish on bikes over 5k, it doesn’t cost a fortune to put on some IP67/68 waterproof connectors.

Specialized have far more failures from what i’ve seen with guys i know who have levos and kenevos, but have good support within the UK, so when a motor goes, or a frame breaks they tend to turnaround the warranty in days and use their entire network to do this, the likes of Giant and others just aren’t on the same level in the UK, and can barely cope with new build demands, let alone warranties, and their networks tend to avoid warrantying bikes bought elsewhere.

If you do end up with another Liv, it might be worth asking them if they can waterproof the connectors, a few shops do this as an aftermarket fix, basically just adding compound to the exposed areas to create a barrier, so not a permanent modification that would effect warranty.

Sooo, I ended up ordering another Intrigue, this time from my local Giant dealer (which is literally less than a 5 minute walk from my office, and a 15 minute drive from my house). The local shop felt so bad about what I went through that they’ve given me a decent discount, and they’re also waterproofing it and sticking a longer stem on for me, which I was planning to do on the previous bike. I’ve also still got my unused Invisiframe kit for it, so we’re all set! 😛

Apparently Giant have been doing ongoing tweaks even on the same year model, so fingers crossed with that and the waterproofing it’ll survive my soggy adventures (not a euphemism).If anything does go wrong, I’ll be in safe hands (and not having to box up and courier my bike, and be able to talk to an actual human…).