Specialized warranty invalid on cycle to work scheme!!

madandybell

Popped into my LBS (Specialized Dealer) on Friday and mentioned I might be putting some business his way as I've ordered a Allez Sport 09 (Unfortunatley tied to Halfords cycle to work scheme) so going to get him to set it up for me.

However, he showed me a letter he had recently received through from Specialized stating Specialized warranties are invalid in bikes that are not supplied through authorized dealers!! So I don't get the lifetime frame guarantee or the 2 years on components!!

Not really sure what to do, stick with the Spesh and hope nothing goeas wrong or try for a different bike around the same price (£749.99). Bearing in mind I can't put any of my own cash towards a more expensive bike.

The swines!!

alfablue

It would appear that Specialized are ignoring their own US Dept of Commerce advice on conforming to the EU Product Warranty Directive which requires 2 year warranties (though the implementation of this directive in the UK is not clear to me). There is also the possibility of liability for products for up to 6 years in the EU.

alfablue

You may be able to get Halfords to deal with the LBS so you get it through them (Condor do this, so other LBS's could).

Finbar Saunders

I got my Gary Fisher on Halfords Cycle 2 Work from a bike store that is a Gary Fisher/Trek dealer. Certain bike stores can supply bikes via Halfords, as long as they are bikes Halfords cannot get for you themselves. That might exclude Specialized but open up the possibilities to other bikes. But the bike store has to be one that is signed up to work with Halfords.

u01akrg

My employer's cycle to work scheme is via Halfords (which I do think is fine for staff who will only ever use the bike for a 5 mile commute - mine is 24 miles each way!), and I've asked about warranty cover for bikes they don't stock but can source. The cycle to work scheme states every bike gets a 12 month warranty, so in my case Halfords will fix any "manufacturing" faults.

However, I fail to see how the manufacturers warranty can stand, as it applies to the first owner only. Any bike "purchased" through cycle to work is owned by the employer for the payment/hire period, and then may be purchased by the employee at a nominal fee. So the bike can only be considered 2nd hand from the employee's point of view.

Worse still is if Halfords source a non-stock bike, as I believe they are effectively buying from a dealer and not direct making Halfords the first owner, the employer the 2nd owner, and the employee is then owner of a 3rd hand bike!

I reckon this is where Specialized are coming from, and while I don't like it, I can understand where they're coming from.

Finbar Saunders

u01akrg wrote:

However, I fail to see how the manufacturers warranty can stand, as it applies to the first owner only. Any bike "purchased" through cycle to work is owned by the employer for the payment/hire period, and then may be purchased by the employee at a nominal fee. So the bike can only be considered 2nd hand from the employee's point of view.

In my case where I obtained my bike from a Trek/Fisher dealer directly but still in the Halford's C2W scheme I would expect it to stand. Nothing on the receipt I was given indicates that I don't own the bike outright. And when I asked about warranty repairs I was told to just bring it back to the shop and they would handle it. And that includes the lifetime frame warranty.

But I can see how this could be an issue with a bike from Halford's for which they aren't a dealer. What sort of receipt/documentation do people get when they pick up their bike from Halford's?

gkerr4

the reciept isn't really yours though is it - it's your employers whose money you bought the bike with - and they own the bike!

I wouldn't worry about it too much - especially the specialized thing - I have had amazing customer service from specialized in the UK - they replaced a 2007 S-Works frame (which I paid £900 for) with a 2008 S-Works frame (worth £1400) after I had scored a groove in the carbon by using a 13-26 campag cassette - they even threw in a carbon chainset and a new 2D S-Works helmet for 'my' trouble! - awseome customer service and this was dealing direct with specialized UK. I bought the bike from Sigma in Kingston and I didn't even contact them at all with my question!

ExeterSimon

Why should Specialized honour the warranty if Halfords have sourced the bike from somewhere other than them?

And let's face it the majority of Halfords bike mechanics aren't fit to tie my shoes...let alone put a bike together.

gkerr4

where else can they have got it from - giant?

halfords are still going to use UK distribution - we're not talking about grey imports here - it'll have come direct from speciaized UK nowhere else.

6288

regardless of any warranty the goods have to be of a certain standard and comply to all governmental guidelines on retail ...

if something breaks, get halfords to fix it ... if they have to go back to Specialized then that's not ur problem ... if something fails and you or ur bike are damaged then so long as you can prove it then u'll be fine ...

to be honest most bike warranties are invalid as soon as you change anything from 'off the peg' anyway ... unless you get your local dealer to do it and who here gets the shop to change a saddle or stem?

juankerr

My local Spesh shop said a similar thing to me re: Halfords cycle to work a couple of years ago, but it may well be spin to put you off buying the bike from Halfords.

I don't see what's in it for Spesh if you decide to get a Trek or Giant instead - I guess it's to appease the dealers who I can imagine whine at Spesh about losing out to Halfords supplying cut prices Spesh bikes.

You do get a 1 year warranty from Halfords for what it's worth.

I got my Merlin via Halfords and asked Merlin about the warranty. They said they were happy to do any warranty work themselves, and indeed did so when my disk brakes started leaking.

If you look here
http://www.mtbrider.com/mtbr/archive/in ... t-162.html
..this has been going on since 2004.

I reckon if you did have a problem with the frame and contacted Spesh directly rather than via your LBS, they would be willing to help.

doyler78

The manufacturers, I presume, would say that unauthorised dealers through possible shoddy workmanship can possibly damage their brand image and that is something they can contain with their network of authorised dealers as they will insist on certain standards which if they aren't maintained could mean that shop losing the right to sell their brands.

As to where Halfords source Specialized bikes. Well I wouldn't be so sure that it is from Specialized directly as that would displease their authorised dealers greatly. Indeed it is well known that Halfords will go to other bike shops to source cycle to work bikes so long as those shops will sell to them. That means that Halfords then becomes a customer of the local bike shop and most warranties will preclude 3rd party sales thereby effectively rendering the Organisation they sell the bike onto without any recourse other than your statutory rights as juankerr has pointed out ie tha the bike was fit for purpose and of merchantable quality but neither of those cover the extended protections which the warranties give.