bikes and halfords and legal stuff

[dannyboy]

i know there are a few bike enthusiasts on here so im looking for a bit of advice. i wanted to get fit so the mrs bought me a bike for xmas. it was reduced from 450 to 200 before xmas as they were discontinuing it. i wasnt too fussed about top of the range as i havent riden a bike for years so entry level is cool . the thing is the bike was a nightmare , gears slipping (which nearly made me fall off in front of a car!!) all the time. it went back to the shop twice who only really made it worse. they have now conceded that there is something wrong with it and that they will change it. problem is now its post xmas there are no deals on so 200 quid isnt gonna get me a lot of bike.

so what do i do ? insist they give me a better bike ? take my money and run ?

do they do any good bikes or is it the people who put the things together who mess things up ?

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Tricky one - you only spend 200 sponds, so I guess legally they only have to re-imburse you to that amount. They may offer you something a bit better to stop any hassle - and it wouldn't cost them much to do so. With a big outfit like them, I would guess it can be pot luck at to the quality you get, but you would expect something of reasonable quality. I suppose for a proper personal service a smaller shop would be better.

 

[Beach Hut]

They have a right to supply you to the value of what you paid therefore £200 worth

 

[Springal]

Could try pressuring them due to the amount of problems / hassle / potential injury of selling a defected product to you for swapping for something around £250-£300 mark, but they only really have to give you what you paid for it back. Could try head office but depends how bothered you are

 

[Titus]

A sit-down protest in their main entrance usually works. Or wait for their special offers at Easter.

 

[little al]

Take the money. Lesson learned, do not buy a bike from Halfords.

 

[beorhthelm]

they have to change it for one of similar specification. the price you paid is irrelevent unless you ask for a refund.

 

[seagullwedgee]

halfords are shit for bikes. you'll get better value at a local supplier, or try evans

 

[East Staffs Gull]

they have to change it for one of similar specification. the price you paid is irrelevent unless you ask for a refund.

That's an interesting one. Do they have an obligation to replace the bike, or is their obligation simply to return the money?

 

[beorhthelm]

That's an interesting one. Do they have an obligation to replace the bike, or is their obligation simply to return the money?

repair or replace is their legal obligation and you choose which. i dont think offering a refund is covered in the sale of goods act.

 

[folkestonesgull]

take the £200 and put it towards a decent bike. It would never have been worth £450 anyway if its from halfords. As well as Evans have a look online at Wiggle - something like this is pretty good value

Felt Q220 2010 Only £349.99

 

[happypig]

That's an interesting one. Do they have an obligation to replace the bike, or is their obligation simply to return the money?

If you reject it as "goods not fit for purpose" then you are entitled to a replacement or refund but if the shop does not have a replacement available, then they can refund you. You are thus returned to the position you were in before the transaction, ie you have £200 and no bike.

However, having said that, a letter to the chief executive complaining about it might bear fruit - these blokes sit in plush offices all day with arse-lickers telling them how great they are and to get a real letter from a real person telling them they are shite, can work wonders. Don't be rude about the people, just how poor the product is, how you nearly died because of it's failure to perform; question their ethics in so far as rather than scrap a clearly defective bike, they heavily discounted it in order to fleece some poor gullible punter into buying it, that sort of thing.

 

[dannyboy]

just spoke to head office who said if they refund me will only be the £200 which makes sense. reckon i may be able to get a bike of greater value though from halfords. do they do any decent bikes at all ? looking at their website what about a gt zum? carrera subway 2?

any ideas ? remember im just a novice

 

[little al]

just spoke to head office who said if they refund me will only be the £200 which makes sense. reckon i may be able to get a bike of greater value though from halfords. do they do any decent bikes at all ? looking at their website what about a gt zum? carrera subway 2?

any ideas ? remember im just a novice

If you do go for a replacement, take it straight to a proper shop and spend a bit of cash getting it built properly.

 

[seagullwedgee]

R e a d m y f u c k i n g l i p s

dont buy a bike there. Its a car crap shop.

 

[Gazwag]

any ideas ? remember im just a novice

go to your local independent bike shop and ask them, they are usually far more experts than the big chain monkeys and they cannot afford to rip you off as they live on satisfied customers.

 

[Pantani]

i know there are a few bike enthusiasts on here so im looking for a bit of advice. i wanted to get fit so the mrs bought me a bike for xmas. it was reduced from 450 to 200 before xmas as they were discontinuing it. i wasnt too fussed about top of the range as i havent riden a bike for years so entry level is cool . the thing is the bike was a nightmare , gears slipping (which nearly made me fall off in front of a car!!) all the time. it went back to the shop twice who only really made it worse. they have now conceded that there is something wrong with it and that they will change it. problem is now its post xmas there are no deals on so 200 quid isnt gonna get me a lot of bike.

so what do i do ? insist they give me a better bike ? take my money and run ?

do they do any good bikes or is it the people who put the things together who mess things up ?

If it is just the gears slipping, I would suggest that it is repairable. Take it to a proper bike shop and get them to check it over. If it can be fixed get them to do it and halfords will probably pay for it, even if they don't you will still be better off than getting an exchange for £200 worth of bike.

Halfords do not employ proper mechanics in the main, just kids, so a skilled bike mechanic is likely to have more success. Bikes are simple machines and it can only be certain parts that are broken, replacing any of them will be cheaper than a new bike.

As Little Al said do not buy bikes from Halfords. Not even cheap ones it is not worth the risk.

 

[Pantani]

take the £200 and put it towards a decent bike. It would never have been worth £450 anyway if its from halfords. As well as Evans have a look online at Wiggle - something like this is pretty good value

Felt Q220 2010 Only £349.99

Halfords do have decent bikes though, it is just the people that put them together that is the problem. Much of the Carrera range is better value than anyone else can match. That said you still shouldn't buy from them. I am saying this as a former employee of Evans so I do know my stuff.

Dannyboy it is the law that bikes are put together by qualified mechanics. It is worth persuing the angle that this bike has not been, so therefore they are breaking the law. It should never take three months to sort out mechanical problems on a bicycle.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

If you reject it as "goods not fit for purpose" then you are entitled to a replacement or refund but if the shop does not have a replacement available, then they can refund you. You are thus returned to the position you were in before the transaction, ie you have £200 and no bike.

However, having said that, a letter to the chief executive complaining about it might bear fruit - these blokes sit in plush offices all day with arse-lickers telling them how great they are and to get a real letter from a real person telling them they are shite, can work wonders. Don't be rude about the people, just how poor the product is, how you nearly died because of it's failure to perform; question their ethics in so far as rather than scrap a clearly defective bike, they heavily discounted it in order to fleece some poor gullible punter into buying it, that sort of thing.

Nice idea in theory, but I would think the chances of anyone high-up actually seeing a letter from Joe Public is absolutely zero. A secretary or PA would open it and bouce it down to some sort of service dept.

 

[dannyboy]

cheers for the advice chaps. gonna take the cash and order from evans i think and put a bit extra in.

the original bike was a mountain bike but i think im gonna go hybrid to get a bit more speed up .

does anyone have any recommendations? £300 max

how about this? specialised are meant to be good arent they
Evans Cycles | Specialized Centrum Sport 2008 Hybrid Bike | Online Bike Shop