Evans Cycles Refunds?

MrCraigBerry

Hi Guys,

I bought my first MTB from Evans Cycles last Wednesday, a Felt Q220.

I know that you are all probably thinking why did I buy this, but I have no education about MTB and I wanted a bike primarily for riding around town and into Uni.

Anyway, I was made up with the bike at first, however, I am now starting to hate the thing.

It has been in once for a loud creak, which turned out to be peddles, which they have replaced. However, the same creak is now back, the chain drops and lifts between the large 2nd and 3rd cog at its own will, and there is a strange noise coming from the front hub. Not to mention to brakes have gone crap aswell.

Where do I stand with this? Will I be eligible for a refund from Evans?

Thanks,

Craig.

weeksy59

based upon what grounds ?

If you take it to them and they sort it out. It's all good.

If it happens again and again and again you may have cause for refund. But currently you have a bike they've sold, fixed and has gone a little bit wrong again.

I'd be taking it in, listing ALL the issues and getting them to repair it.

fatwomble

You can reject the bike under the Sale of Goods Act if there are significant faults. I would imagine that Evans will resist though and continue to offer to rectify the problems.

You can but ask and see what their reaction is.

bomberesque

in a word. no

take it in and explain the gear frustrations, sounds like the cable tensions need adjusted (it's an ongoing process, they stretch with use, but in your case I suspect they're badly adjusted to start with). Creaks happen, learn to chase them down. Noise from the front hub also sounds like Evans should look at it, could be a maladjusted cone. TBH sounds like set-up issues, which Evans should fix, but it's not enough to return the bike, I'm surprised you even ask.

also, learn to maintain your bike. Even the most expensive bike needs spanner time to keep it running smoothly. Arguably the more expensive the bike the more maintenance it will need.

felt are a decent brand, your frustrations seem to be with creaking and mal adjusted cables, get them sorted, they're not the bike's fault. dunno what brakes you have but discs need bedding in and contaminated pads can ruin braking. for rim brakes ... well ... that's why just about everyone these days uses discs....

wordnumb

Craig - contact Consumer Direct for advice re your rights or speak to a Consumer Advisor at your local Trading Standards office (most TS offices divert callers to Consumer Direct initially though).

As per the replies above, you're not describing a faulty bike. Bike just needs tuning and settling in a little. Speak to someone senior at the Evans store, provide 'em with a list of your concerns, don't go putting yourself off the bike before it's properly set up.

supersonic

The bike is not faulty, it is bedding in and needs adjustment through that period.

And even after this, bikes need serving and maintaining.

My advice is, as above, to get Evans to service the bike, but also buy a good maintenance book and some tools and learn how to do the beasics yourself. If you don't, you are going to be very disappointed with the bike every time in needs a tweak of adjustment which is usually a 2 minute job.

MrCraigBerry

Thank you for the replies so far guys.

I know I get a free service after 6 weeks from Evans, so should I leave everything until then and in the meantime build up a list of what could be wrong?

Thanks,

Craig.

weeksy59

MrCraigBerry wrote:

Thank you for the replies so far guys.

I know I get a free service after 6 weeks from Evans, so should I leave everything until then and in the meantime build up a list of what could be wrong?

Thanks,

Craig.

No, ring them today, explain the situation, what's happend, what they did the first time and that it's happening again....

See what they say in return.

I'm fairly sure they have conversations like this a lot, you can't expect a new MTB to always just work out the crate 100%.

MrCraigBerry

Okay I will do.

I'm going in tomorrow to pick up another lock as I watched some scrote take out bolt cutters and snap my other one.

I will let you know how I get on.

I'm new to all of this, so I will take up your advice and invest in a service book and a few tools.

Thanks,

Craig.

supersonic

It can be daunting when new, especially when the bike starts making noises lol, but most is quite simple stuff and just needs a bit of patience. Once you learn the basicslike setting up gears etc, you'll be flying!

Also remember to routinely check bolts.

MrCraigBerry

It sure can be Supersonic.

As it is my first bike and I spend £350 on it, and then seeing that there are bikes out there worth £1000-£3000+ I can't help but think I have bought a crap bike and should have spent more, but I couldn't at the time.

I'm sure this one will more than do me for now, as I only want to use it mainly for road, with the occasional trip off road to see if I want to really continue this as a hobby.

Craig.

pte1643

MrCraigBerry wrote:

I can't help but think I have bought a crap bike and should have spent more

You haven't bought a crap bike. You've bought a reasonable entry level MTB.

A crap bike would have been an 80 quid ASDA special.

As the other guys have said, learn to do a little (or a lot of, up to you) tinkering to keep it all tip-top and enjoy.