Broken CAAD8 & lifetime warranty

dieselgeezer

Has anyone any real experience of Cannondale's lifetime warranty?
I bought a CAAD8 R1000 full bike back in 2006. Today the rear drive side chainstay snapped close to the drop-out. I bought the bike from Bonthrones in Fulham. I don't think they're trading anymore. I've read through Cannondale's lifetime warranty & there's enough holes to drive a bus through; even fatigue issues are not covered.
Has anyone successfully claimed & how did you go about it?

Many thanks.

navrig2

I wouldn't waste your time. You have had it 7 years, it's not the most expnsive frame on the market and you will have to prove it was a manufacturer's fault which caused the breakage.

I'd rate your chances as zero to very slim.

kentphil

got this from a Google search

http://forums.mtbr.com/cannondale/canno ... 80245.html

gabriel959

It should not matter if you have the receipt. If you do then they will replace it for free.

MisterMuncher

Navrig2 wrote:

I wouldn't waste your time. You have had it 7 years, it's not the most expnsive frame on the market and you will have to prove it was a manufacturer's fault which caused the breakage.

I'd rate your chances as zero to very slim.

Nothing to lose by trying, though, especially if he's got another bike to ride in the interim.

jordan_217

Might be worth speaking to a reputable bike shop who will be able to give you some real world advice. I'd give Westbrooks a try, they shift a lot of Cannondales and Scotts and have a good relationship with the distributors:

http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/contact-us-i3

You have nothing to lose...

joeweston3

Lifetime warranties are the expected lifetime of the frame not your life time, usually this is about 5 years, but it can depend on the manufacturer, its worth a shot but I wouldn't get your hopes up

crankycrank

After having someone I know go through this with Cannondale and seeing their warranty the "lifetime" coverage has what I'd call a very loose interpretation of what is covered. From their website.

"Damage resulting from normal wear and tear, including the results of fatigue, is not covered. Fatigue damage is a symptom of the frame being worn out through normal use. It is one kind of normal wear and tear, and it is the owner's responsibility to inspect his/her bicycle"

Basically a joke. Lifetime to me means the length of the owners life and how mfrs. can get away with claiming otherwise is beyond me. Granted a frame can't be expected to last forever and the OP's 7 years is completely unacceptable IMO, they have no right to represent this as "lifetime" coverage.

rolf_f

crankycrank wrote:

Basically a joke. Lifetime to me means the length of the owners life and how mfrs. can get away with claiming otherwise is beyond me. Granted a frame can't be expected to last forever and the OP's 7 years is completely unacceptable IMO, they have no right to represent this as "lifetime" coverage.

Not really. They've specified what is and what isn't included. It's meant to be a lifetime warranty for manufacturing defects - which isn't so brilliant as you'd expect such defects to show themselves after a reasonable but not excessive amount of use. Five years is probably plenty enough.

I imagine they do have the right to represent their warranty as 'lifetime' as they'd be getting sued left right and centre otherwise. Personally, if I was buying a bike with a lifetime warranty, I'd check what that included and I'd be very surprised if it allowed me a free new frame for the rest of my life everytime the existing one cracked.

As for the OP - I don't think we know if his 7 years is completely unacceptable. We don't know how hard it has been treated and how many miles it's done.

bobbymeister

A few years ago now, I worked in a Cannondale dealer.
We replaced several CAAD frames through warranty, at least one of which I recall being very, very old.
I would suggest it's certainly worth a try if you have original sales receipts.
Try Westbrook, seems as good a starting point as any....

crankycrank

Rolf F wrote:

crankycrank wrote:

Basically a joke. Lifetime to me means the length of the owners life and how mfrs. can get away with claiming otherwise is beyond me. Granted a frame can't be expected to last forever and the OP's 7 years is completely unacceptable IMO, they have no right to represent this as "lifetime" coverage.

Not really. They've specified what is and what isn't included. It's meant to be a lifetime warranty for manufacturing defects - which isn't so brilliant as you'd expect such defects to show themselves after a reasonable but not excessive amount of use. Five years is probably plenty enough.

I imagine they do have the right to represent their warranty as 'lifetime' as they'd be getting sued left right and centre otherwise. Personally, if I was buying a bike with a lifetime warranty, I'd check what that included and I'd be very surprised if it allowed me a free new frame for the rest of my life everytime the existing one cracked.

As for the OP - I don't think we know if his 7 years is completely unacceptable. We don't know how hard it has been treated and how many miles it's done.

Well I'm sure they've protected themselves legally but I still have a problem with them or anyone else calling it lifetime since according to Cannondale they can determine whatever amount of time a frame should last through "normal wear and tear". If your not going to replace a frame for the lifetime of the original owner then call it a 2 year, 5 year, etc., warranty but don't call it lifetime. Hopefully this will all be moot and the OP will get some satisfaction from Cannondale so please report back when you get an answer.

dieselgeezer

Thanks for all of your replies.
I've contacted Westbrook & they want a photo & copy of the receipt by e-mail. I'll send this tomorrow & let you all know how I get on.