frame repair advice

bigdavehull

ive recently sent a carbon frame back to the company i bought it from as a allen key nut had come loose on the rear of the frame causing excessive movement and play and allowing the rear wheel to move side to side, after numerous problems with collection etc it finally got collected, recieved and then had been looked at, they said they were going to send to it back to manufactuer for repair, 4 weeks later, the frame is back missing all components, forks, bars, crank,bb,stem,cables etc and the repair job isnt quite frankly up to a standard, it looks like the carbon has been cut away and a nut glued in and painted black, its not how i bought the frame and i think its a default of the frame design

frame is 14 months old, and the manufacturer offers a 5 year warranty on frames
any advice of how i can tackle this?

arran77

You're saying the frame came back still in a state of repair that was not satisfactory to you?

It came back missing all components, forks, bars, crank,bb,stem,cables etc that you sent it away with?

They painted what was a bare carbon frame black?

It was a brand new frame to you which is only 14 months old and still had 46 months manufacturers warranty left?

If all of the above is correct I suggest you you contact the company and point out that as it's still under warranty (assuming the damage is covered by it) you would like a new frame and not this botched repair and you would also like all or your components back.

bigdavehull

the frame came back the same colour it went minus the bit were the bolt screws into the nut, (the nut is internal and covered by paint or carbon, they have cut it out and put another in which you can see clearly and just painted the head black)

all components missing
yes frame still has 46 months warranty
any warranty is voided if its crash damage, dropped etc etc but this isnt, its where the frame has worked loose with general riding

i dont want to state the companys involved but i will if this isnt sorted

arran77

Well they certainly need to get you all your components back :shock:

The rest is down to you and them to sort out I guess but I imagine the warranty has some sort of wording that details when a repair would be offered and when when a replacement would be offered?

bigdavehull

ive had a quick chat with the company i bought it from and the components are missing from the manufacturers end, apparently they sent email to me and supplier an hour ago and i still havnt recieved anything, cyberspace isnt that slow

ic.

Who's the manufacturer?

arran77

IC. wrote:

Who's the manufacturer?

bigdavehull wrote:

i dont want to state the companys involved but i will if this isnt sorted

ic.

arran77 wrote:

IC. wrote:

Who's the manufacturer?

bigdavehull wrote:

i dont want to state the companys involved but i will if this isnt sorted

Ah, missed that

cougie

What bolt is it in the frame that secures the wheel ? I'm confused ?

Have you a photo of the repair ? It doesnt sound that bad from the description - but I guess it depends where it is ?

DavidJB

I really don't understand why people come onto a forum about an issue they have with a company without having contacted the companies customer services first??

imposter2.0

cougie wrote:

What bolt is it in the frame that secures the wheel ? I'm confused ?

Have you a photo of the repair ? It doesnt sound that bad from the description - but I guess it depends where it is ?

I'm presuming it's one of those frames where the stays are bolted to the dropouts, rather than bonded..

TerryCTR

DavidJB wrote:

I really don't understand why people come onto a forum about an issue they have with a company without having contacted the companies customer services first??

Because he wants to get advice on how to approach things next without it dragging on and on if he doesn't say the right thing to begin perhaps?

I really don't get why people copy others on here and say exactly what you just have. If you really don't get then simply don't comment instead of the useless reply

arran77

TerryCTR wrote:

DavidJB wrote:

I really don't understand why people come onto a forum about an issue they have with a company without having contacted the companies customer services first??

Because he wants to get advice on how to approach things next without it dragging on and on if he doesn't say the right thing to begin perhaps?

I really don't get why people copy others on here and say exactly what you just have. If you really don't get then simply don't comment instead of the useless reply

:roll:

TerryCTR

Don't worry Arran I saw that one coming the second I typed it and my response is, at least I wasnt directing a dig at the OP

arran77

TerryCTR wrote:

Don't worry Arran I saw that one coming the second I typed it and my response is, at least I wasnt directing a dig at the OP

bigdavehull

cougie wrote:

What bolt is it in the frame that secures the wheel ? I'm confused ?

Have you a photo of the repair ? It doesnt sound that bad from the description - but I guess it depends where it is ?

yes it is were the stay is bolted to the dropout

bigdavehull

TerryCTR wrote:

DavidJB wrote:

I really don't understand why people come onto a forum about an issue they have with a company without having contacted the companies customer services first??

Because he wants to get advice on how to approach things next without it dragging on and on if he doesn't say the right thing to begin perhaps?

I really don't get why people copy others on here and say exactly what you just have. If you really don't get then simply don't comment instead of the useless reply

thanks terry, ive had numberous emails with the company i bought it from to no avail and a complete mess up, there now saying the repair is good enough and they think i have tampered with it and put a longer bolt in, which i havnt, so they are saying the warranty is void, but they also said they had there workers spend several hours on it to repair it( why would a company whos priority in life is make money spend hours repairing a frame if it wasnt under warranty, if it was my company i would be charging the owner for the repair, so makes me wonder wether they just dont want to cough up)

roux_guy

Frankly, that level of warranty service is utterly shonky. Name and shame please.

davidof

IC. wrote:

Ah, missed that

if you search you can find what frame Arran is riding.

desweller

bigdavehull wrote:

cougie wrote:

What bolt is it in the frame that secures the wheel ? I'm confused ?

Have you a photo of the repair ? It doesnt sound that bad from the description - but I guess it depends where it is ?

yes it is were the stay is bolted to the dropout

There can't be many frames where the dropout is not bonded to the chainstay/seatstay. I struggle to see how it could have adequate strength.

Any photos?

bigdavehull

yeh i have a couple of images

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3896/147 ... 2d7752.jpg

it shows were the carbon has worn around it,

since the first message i put, the company i bought it from is wiggle and the frame is made by prorace in belgium, ive been in touch various times via email as they dont offer any other contact information, ive spoken to trading stnandards and they say my issue is with the retail company and not the manufacturer as wiggle should be chasing them up on my behalf, as a consumer i have rights and that allows me to either have a repair(has to be of satisfactory standard) a replacement or a full refund and i dont think they quite understand this

ive had 3 different people reply via email to me and funnily enough to no avail it dosnt have any effect, the frame arrived back to me, then a week later the components all come back off the frame, on opening of the box find that now the forks are missing aswell so even if i wanted too build it up i cant

this is very shoddy customer care and needs to be delt with, ive asked twice now for a telephone call from a manager and low and behold not a thing

bigdavehull

still no response from them, wiggle is the company, customer service is shocking, no replys, still no forks back even if i did want to build the frame up i couldnt anyway, im really stuck, missed all summer with no bike and ive got 1700 quid sat in bits which a c**p repair , trading standards told me that i have rights under act 1979 that they should either repair or replace, a repair would only make the frame worse and i think replacement is in order, i may have to get solicitors involved in this

TerryCTR

Have you opened a case against them with citizens advice I think it would be?

I had to go that route when rejecting a £30k TT with Audi after the seats sagged after a week of use. Once I got them involved it was quickly resolved and I got my money back after 6 months of fighting with Audi