Worn tyres on brand new bike

[guferos]

Hi everyone,

I just bought my very first road bike. I bought it from Merlin Cycles and it arrived today. I opened the box and found tyres to look a little bit worn. There is also a little scratch on the frame. I have complained to Merlin Cycles and got that response:

Hello,
Thank you for your email.
We do like to maintain high safety standards, which means that some of our bikes are test ridden by the mechanic after being built.
Many Thanks

I have uploaded a video of how those tyres look here https://youtu.be/y8R7hv0gHaE

Could someone tell me please if this is an acceptable state of tyres for the brand new bike? I am not sure if they are genuine or just trying to get rid of me? Also what should I do about the scratch? It's not massive but the bike should be brand new and it's annoying that there is a scratch. There can more though as I didn't not event take it out of the box yet.

[tim-b]

Hi
The rims appear clean and unscratched so no major braking/extended test rides
The tyres have their moulding flash on the tread so not too many miles there, a rear particularly will lose that within maybe 100 miles
If the bike was heavily discounted then I suspect that there's no more to come, although you could ask for a discount on another component, e.g. pedals or lights
Regards
tim-b

[guferos]

Thanks for reply. I was unsure if I am not too picky. The bike was discounted but advertised as brand new so I asked them if they can offer any discount however was told in quite a rude way to either accept the scratch and tyres or send it back if I don’t like it. Not sure what to do really, it’s a small scratch, but it feels really bad the way they dealt with it so may return it back.

[Postboxer]

I don't think that is an acceptable condition so would be requesting a replacement, repair or discount, the video appears to show damage to the tyre at 11 seconds, might just be dirt though.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange/#must

If they refuse to agree that it's damaged you are still within your rights just to send it back anyway and get a refund for the bike and the postage to you, though you would have to pay postage back to them.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange/#buyingfromhome

[Brucey]

if the bike was further discounted from the normal price and described as 'shop soiled' or similar I'd expect exactly the sort of condition you have received it in.

cheers

[scottg]

Since they offered a return, send it back.
Find another vendor and ask for the bike not be assembled.
That way you have a brand new bike.

Letting others work on your bike often results in disappointment,
and lots of posts to the forum.

[geomannie]

Assuming the bike is otherwise in good condition it's up to you and how much hassle you want. Even if the bike were pristine, in a week or 2 the tyres would be a bit worn, perhaps to a similar degree to that you now perceive.

As for the scratch, you will do a lot worse damage in the coming weeks and months. If you use a bike it degrades and there is little point in worrying too much.

[Ivor Tingting]

I use Merlin form time to time although only for components. Have never bought a complete assembled bike from them. Looking at your YT vid it looks like an ex-demo bike or pre-used. I like you would definitely not be happy especially if you ordered a BRAND NEW bike and were expecting one what ever the agreed price. If however it was made clear the bike was ex-demo or pre-used then it is a little more difficult. You have 30 days to return it. If Merlin are any good they should arrange collection and refund you or failing this agree to refund your return postage costs as for a brand new bike even pre-assembled the condition in which you have received it is not acceptable. That scratch on the frame looks bad and very noticeable. I thought Merlin were ok. If you paid with credit card even if only £1 of the total purchase price which should be £100 or over, then under s.75 of the Consumer Credit Act you can enforce your statutory rights against your card provider if it comes to this. I am sure the bike cost more than £100. I would just contact Merlin by email outlining the wear and tear on the bike, the damage or faults on receipt of the bike that you consider the bike is of an unsatisfactory condition and quality given you ordered a brand new bike. The bike has clearly been used. You didn't order a second hand one did you?

Alternatively as others have suggested you could negotiate a partial refund/ further discount. I know Merlin discount heavily anyway but you still expect to get new stuff if it's advertised as new.

The CAB or Which websites are very good for your consumer rights.

Also consider Trading Standards.

Hope this helps.

[Vorpal]

I agree that the tyres don't have much wear, as they still have the mould flash, but shame on the shop for not cleaning them, nor touching up the scratch.

I think you'd be justified in sending it back. But if you don't want the hassle, maybe they would send a little bottle of touch up paint?

[guferos]

Some really good advice here. Thanks everyone.

The bike I've ordered was Sensa Trentino SL 105 it was not cheap nor super expensive, it was on sale for £725.00. It was clearly stated that bike is new, so I've decided to send it back. I will agree with some that in a week or 2 tyres will look that way anyway and the scratch is not massive but it's more how they dealt with that issue rather than anything else.

I've already ordered Orro PYRO, full carbon, 105 from Chain Reaction Cycles which was only £50 more with free one day delivery. Looks to me like much better deal! This time I mentioned in the order to not build the bike and send it in parts if possible. Fingers crossed it arrives fine. I would love to make some use of that fantastic weather we are going to have this weekend.

[horizon]

so I've decided to send it back.

It is such a shame. They could have said, used for a couple of customer test rides or sent back so not 100% perfect but a great bargain (as advertised before you bought it). You would have been fine about it, I'm sure. They could have said, oops, sorry about that, here's a £50 voucher (that's £30 to them). You would also have been fine about that, I'm sure. But instead they have a very unhappy customer, several people having been told about it on here (and making mental notes) and a blow to their reputation. In fact, they could have had a happy punter singing their praises on a cycle forum. Maybe they just don't care.

[shadwellrhino]

I would report this to Trading Standards - its what this retailer deserves.

[Samuel D]

The video is mostly out of focus but the tyres look new to me. They’d get as dusty rolling across a warehouse or a few metres over a gravel drive. A week or two of use will cause visible wear, not just dust.

The scratch is minor but of course you hope a new bike to be scratch-free. The reality with dirt-cheap mail-order shops is often otherwise, however. You get what you pay for and shops like this do not have excellent mechanics working slowly under good management; they have unvalued temp workers trying to meet impossible targets.

Giving you a £50 voucher would wipe out the whole profit of this transaction and more. These shops operate on razor-thin margins. Of course accepting a return will also cost them their whole profit. But they hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Chain Reaction is no different although you might get luckier this time.

With any of these shops I would strip the bicycle to the bare frame and rebuild the whole thing properly. I’ve now seen a few bicycles assembled by different mail-order companies and they’ve all been pretty dire, sad to say.

[horizon]

The scratch is minor but of course you hope a new bike to be scratch-free. The reality with dirt-cheap mail-order shops is often otherwise, however. You get what you pay for and shops like this do not have excellent mechanics working slowly under good management; they have unvalued temp workers trying to meet impossible targets.

I bought my folder (discounted) from Triton, an on-line supplier. It came fully boxed from the factory and therefore in perfect condition. I don't see why the bike was unpackaged unless it had been used as a showroom model, with inevitably some customer wear and tear. They just had to say.