flat tyre wrote:I've had a couple of problems with items purchased from Evans. In each case they have told me that they have to return the item to the supplier to determine if it is a warranty claim rather than refund the money to me straight away or replace the item out of stock. I didn't view this as a very satisfactory response. So my experience is similar to the OP's, though in my case the items were of lower value, but clearly defective (cycling shorts and a Lezyne GPS tracker).
It’s frustrating but a side of me has to empathise with this response. When i was fitting tyres 2-3times a month I’d have someone come in shouting that their tyre was defective. It had a bulge or had blown out or developed delamination of the sidewalls. Customers always wanted a free tyre out of me. The company had put in place a ridgid policy in this circumstance. I may send the tyre back to the manufacture for them to investigate and if the product was faulty they would be reimbursed the cost ( less the wear the tyre had already endured ). My employer appreciated I didn’t have an X-ray machine to dissect the construction on a tyre and determined the fault. Although it was usually very obvious. It needed to be passed back up the food chain.
This did leave me in the awkward position of explaining that me sending the tyre back is all well and dandy but it can take up to 6 months for a verdict. If they want their vehicle mobile in the mean time, a new tyre will need to be purchased while they wait for a verdict and a cheque.
Of course this difference being over the ten years I did that. sending a tyre or two back each month. only ONE was ever honoured. And in fact it WASNT a customer complaint but something I had noticed doing something else on his car at which point he agreed to buy a new tyre and I insisted he let me send it back for him as I knew something was faulty.
In EVERY other case the tyre was driven low pressure, had hit a pot hole or curb. Had been thrashed/spin up. Had a puncture and no attempt to pull over was made until after the tyre had detonated leaving the car immobile. The list goes on. So I had to appreciate the company’s procedure of buy a new tyre and I’ll send the old one back, see how you get on because the stinking vast majority of the time people KNEW they hit something. But wanted to try their luck at getting somthing free for their lapse in concentration.