Simple question (my apologies if it seems TOO simple!).
I'm about to buy a new bike by mail order. I'm going to be buying from a place several hundred miles away from where I live, because they offer a long interest-free payment arrangement. They've told me that any warranty issues would have to be sorted out by return of the bike to them - i.e. from south London to Cardiff!!). Since it's a Dahon, and there are Dahon dealers all over the country, this seems a bit odd.
I spoke to another mail-order seller (also geographically remote: in York) about a different model of bike, though also a Dahon, and they assured me - rather breezily, I thought - that local dealers can usually be found who are willing to deal with warranty issues, and that I therefore needn't worry about buying a bike from them even though they are miles away.
So, what's everyon's experience? Should I ignore the suggestion by the first dealer (and the one I'm intending to buy from) that I'd have to return the bike to them with any issues? Or is there a code of honour between bike shops to service warranty agreements if they deal with the make and model of bike concerned? (I'm only talking, incidentally, about the standard manufacturer's warranty - obviously, if the retailer offers anything beyond that they would have to fulfil it themselves.)
Again, sorry if this question makes me seem a bit dim. There could be a simple explanation for that... !
How do warranties work with mail order bikes... ?
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jimcrosskell
- Posts: 87
- Joined: 19 Jan 2007, 6:40pm
How about asking the local dealer if they can offer finance on the macjhine you want? If not are they prepared to honour a manufacturers warranty for a bike not bought from them?
Be prepared to either be pleasantly surprised or laughed out of the door!
It's like discount supermarkets, you get low prices but queue at the checkout. Because you can't have service without cost. Why should the LBS repair your bike for free when someone else has had the sale and not had to preassemble and check the bike?
If you want interest free credit get a new credit card and slap the bike on that.
Backwinds forever...
Be prepared to either be pleasantly surprised or laughed out of the door!
It's like discount supermarkets, you get low prices but queue at the checkout. Because you can't have service without cost. Why should the LBS repair your bike for free when someone else has had the sale and not had to preassemble and check the bike?
If you want interest free credit get a new credit card and slap the bike on that.
Backwinds forever...
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Montaillou
Thanks - that all makes perfect sense. It's what I would have assumed if the dealer in York hadn't assured me that it was a routine matter for local dealers to service warranties on bikes bought elsewhere... That just made me wonder whether special rules operated in the world of bikes (it's a few decades since I bought one).
So, just to be quite clear, as far as you're concerned, what I was told by the dealer in York has no basis in reality - beyond the random possibility of good will on the part of a local bike shop... ?
So, just to be quite clear, as far as you're concerned, what I was told by the dealer in York has no basis in reality - beyond the random possibility of good will on the part of a local bike shop... ?
It all depends on circumstances.
Many years a go I bought a second hand Specialized mountain bike. After about a year, the frame cracked. I went to the local specialized dealer (not a shop I used before) and explained to them quite clearly that I was aware that specialized frames had a lifetime warranty, and that I wasn't the original owner. I gave him the frame and kept the forks and he said he would see what he could do. A couple of weeks went past and he phoned to say he'd got a replacement. I went there and he (specilaized) replaced the frame with a better spec one and including forks. As a gesture of goodwill, I bought some kit there and then to go on the new frame.
Points to note were
1. I was open and honest - didn't try to dupe him into thinking I had bought it there (altho' I suspect the bike had originally come from there as they are the sole specialized dealer).
2. I went in with a humble attitude asking for help etc, rather than demanding.
3. Apart from the admin, there is no cost to the dealer. A big shop will regularly deal with the manufacturer/wholesaler, so the process is easy to him.
4. A streetwise dealer will look at the potential of you as future customer, rather than the work involved in getting a replacement.
Many years a go I bought a second hand Specialized mountain bike. After about a year, the frame cracked. I went to the local specialized dealer (not a shop I used before) and explained to them quite clearly that I was aware that specialized frames had a lifetime warranty, and that I wasn't the original owner. I gave him the frame and kept the forks and he said he would see what he could do. A couple of weeks went past and he phoned to say he'd got a replacement. I went there and he (specilaized) replaced the frame with a better spec one and including forks. As a gesture of goodwill, I bought some kit there and then to go on the new frame.
Points to note were
1. I was open and honest - didn't try to dupe him into thinking I had bought it there (altho' I suspect the bike had originally come from there as they are the sole specialized dealer).
2. I went in with a humble attitude asking for help etc, rather than demanding.
3. Apart from the admin, there is no cost to the dealer. A big shop will regularly deal with the manufacturer/wholesaler, so the process is easy to him.
4. A streetwise dealer will look at the potential of you as future customer, rather than the work involved in getting a replacement.
Well if you buy say a new Ford car and it needs work under the manufacturers warranty then you can take it to any Ford dealer and they will do the work.
Dealers doing work under the manufacturers warranty claim the cost back from the manufacturer and it's in the manufacturers interest to require that all their dealers will carry out warranty work regardless of where purchased.
I remember years ago a friend having warranty work refused by a Norton dealer because he hadn't bought his bike there. He complained to Norton who sent him an apology along with a copy of their letter to the dealer. The man was selling a lot of Norton Commandos at the time so I'd imagine he found it pretty unpleasant reading particularly the bit about loss of franchise if they continued to receive similar complaints.
Dealers doing work under the manufacturers warranty claim the cost back from the manufacturer and it's in the manufacturers interest to require that all their dealers will carry out warranty work regardless of where purchased.
I remember years ago a friend having warranty work refused by a Norton dealer because he hadn't bought his bike there. He complained to Norton who sent him an apology along with a copy of their letter to the dealer. The man was selling a lot of Norton Commandos at the time so I'd imagine he found it pretty unpleasant reading particularly the bit about loss of franchise if they continued to receive similar complaints.