Warranty Frame Replacement - Paying for the rebuild

Not sure whether I'd call it normal,but it is relatively common if you didn't buy the bike from the shop that's handling the warranty for you.

£150 seems a little steep, I paid £100 for a similar situation (not an orbea).I don't think you should have to pay a penny if it's a warranty job, but it does seem to be a bike industry thing to handle warranties Inthis way.

If you bought the bike from the same place that's handling warranty then it sounds really out of order.

It varies between companies (and I have to say my experience with shop warranties is not recent!)

In theory at least, the dealer should be looking to claim back any labour costs from the manufacturer. The warranty basically says that you need to be put back into your original position of having a fully working bike with no (or very limited) loss.

However that might vary depending on the dealer (is it where you bought the bike or is it another dealer that has agreed to "represent" you for example?). Is it a known problem or a one-off? For a known problem, you'd expect the manufacturer to have told the dealers to be ready for such issues and more or less fast-track them FOC no questions asked.

We had one with a left hand swingarm on a new-design suspension system; the manufacturer found they were prone to cracking and just sent out replacement swingarms to all their dealers. Bike came in with a cracked swingarm, we replaced it FOC at point of sale, billed the manufacturer (with photographic proof of the frame in question). Very easy.

The OP hasn't said whether or not the replacement frame is being supplied under warranty.
At 2.5 years since purchase it's unlikely (?) this is under warranty; more likely, IMO, to be a replacement as a goodwill gesture.
If warranty, rebuild should be covered as part of the settlement; if goodwill, no obligation on manufacturer.

Under warranty.

All handled via the Orbea Warranty dept as I understand it

Did you buy it from the local stockist?

Halfords charged me to build a warranty replacement - £100. This was 25 years ago, so £150 now seems reasonable in the scheme of things. Agree with frankconway though - should be part of the settlement.

If it is being done by the shop you bought it from I think you have a right to feel aggrieved.
If it’s not then I don’t think they’re being unreasonable.

It should be paid for by the manufacturer (or importer / distributor as appropriate)

If the frame hadn't cracked you wouldn't need a rebuild, no reason at all why you should be £150 out of pocket as a result of their goods being faulty. I understand nor should the shop hence why manuf should pay.

I know it's common that we're charged for this, that's not the point. We shouldn't be.

Fairly standard, and £150 isn't bad given the time a build takes.

At 2.5 years since purchase it’s unlikely (?) this is under warranty; more likely, IMO, to be a replacement as a goodwill gesture

Lifetime warranty on orbea frames

However, the local stockist is wanting to charge me £150 to rebuild the bike.

Is this normal ?

It was in all the shops I've worked in, although Trek would reimburse the shop for the labour costs if it was one of those. And we'd pass those savings on to the customer No doubt the small print in Orbeas T&C's that you agreed to when registering the warranty says something different

Did you buy it from the local stockist?

No. The original stockist had no stock at the time ( peak Covid).

And the local stockist has also changed hands in the last month.

Thanks everyone. I'll suck up the £150 and feel aggrieved.

lifetime warranty: assumes a shock bolt counts as "frame" but the shop can't get the bolt out without destroying the frame and I'd say it was.

I don't know why we stand for this. When my car was recalled because of a faulty sensor that may cause airbags to go off unexpectedly, no way was I paying for their time to strip it down to get to the faulty bit. It was never even on the table to discuss. If it's in the warranty T&C's then it might be harder to argue but even then I don't know why it should be. As said, for you to be o.o.p because of a failure of their part is just crackers.

My earlier post ignored the fact that the thread title confirmed this to be a warranty replacemebt so...silly me.
Having (carefully) read Stirling's latest post I don't see why he/she should be out of pocket for a situation which is completely out of their control - unless, as rocketdog says, there is a specific exclusion in Orbea's Ts&Cs.
That's worth checking before deciding on next steps, if any.

It was in all the shops I’ve worked in, although Trek would reimburse the shop for the labour costs if it was one of those

I had to pay £100 on a trek warranty frame replacement recently,....

So to simplify, frame was bought from a stockist, develops a fault, is replaced under warranty, new frame is built up by different shop for a (not unreasonable) cost of £150?

I'd expect the shop to invoice Orbea, not the customer. At the very least I'd be sending a copy of the invoice to them to be reimbursed; as pointed out, why should you be out of pocket for a rebuild? Orbea could've shipped the entire bike if they wanted to after all.

If the warranty is on the frame not the bike, then all they need to do is give you the new frame. What you do with it after that is your choice.

had to pay £100 on a trek warranty frame replacement recently,….

Might be different now, 2021 was my last year in the bike industry

My cracked fargo was replaced and rebuilt under warranty.

I paid nothing. I thought this was the norm.

Did you buy frame only or the whole bike? I'd be peeved if I bought the bike, the Mfr should be picking that up if I bought the frame only I'd accept the cost (well in reality I wouldn't, I'd just rebuild it myself)

The original stockist had no stock at the time ( peak Covid).

And the local stockist has also changed hands in the last month.

I'm going to assume you mean

the (local) original stockist, had no stock.

The current local stockist isn't the same?

If it is, I'd say it's your problem to argue with orbea not the shop's.
If it were the same shop I'd say the issue was theirs to fight.

When my car was recalled because of a faulty sensor that may cause airbags to go off unexpectedly, no way was I paying for their time to strip it down to get to the faulty bit. It was never even on the table to discuss. If it’s in the warranty T&C’s then it might be harder to argue but even then I don’t know why it should be. As said, for you to be o.o.p because of a failure of their part is just crackers.

With car manufacturers warranty labour rates are agreed in advance with the manufacturer, so once the manufacturer agrees to warranty work being undertaken, the dealer gets paid a set rate for that piece of work.

Can you not do it yourself?

The local stockist, had no stock.

The local stockist has also changed hands.

I am not quibbling at the £150 - it sounds very reasonable for a bike with internally routed everything  - it's the paying anything at all that i am miffed at.

If I did build it myself I have visions of Orbea dealing with any future issues by stating that it wasn't built correctly.

I’m going through this with canyon

Canyon have a 2 year warranty and a 6 year guarantee. The warranty includes labour costs the guarantee doesn’t

An aluminium insert in my carbon swing arm has broken loose. The bike is three years old.

Canyon sent a free swing arm. I’m paying a bike shop to fit it. They’ll do the pivots at the same time

I think Canyon have done well and I’m happy

Just to clarify; was the Orbea bought as a complete bike or frame only?

With car manufacturers warranty labour rates are agreed in advance with the manufacturer, so once the manufacturer agrees to warranty work being undertaken, the dealer gets paid a set rate for that piece of work.

I know but the principle is broadly the same. OP had a bike, now he has (figuratively speaking) a frame and a box of bits. He's now either got to spend half a day of his own time, or give the LBS £150 just to get back to the same position.

More complex if there isn't an agreed rate for a rebuild, or an hourly rate but that's not an excuse to just lump it on the OP.

Manufacturers warranty is with the manufacturer, and can be whatever the manufacturers terms and conditions state (without removing your consumer rights). Most cover the replacement parts, but not labour cost to fit.

Consumer rights are with the retailer you purchased from.

For shops getting warranty labour credit from distributors is very variable, some do, some dont, and the distributor often sets the reimbursement, regardless of the time taken or the shop rates. Some dealer trade agreements now stipulate you must process warranty on items you did not sell, others dont so it can be the shops choice.

Your best bet for getting free labour is the retailer you purchased it from. Thats what we always did, purchased from us we would eat the labour as we made the margin on the sale, purchased elsewhere we would process the warranty, but all labour was standard rate and you could argue it outwith the brand, distributor or original retailer if you wanted.

I'd say it depends what the warranty says. Check the small print!

If the frame broke in 5 days or even 5 months then SOGA means you have rights to a full refund and I wouldn't accept paying rebuild costs, but a lifetime warranty for a frame (only) is a different matter when it goes beyond your statutory rights.

Got a warranty replacement frame through the shop I bought the whole bike from, I got the impression they didn't really want to do the rebuild so said it would be at least two weeks before they would have workshop time to do it (on top of weeks waiting for the frame) so I could wait or do it myself. By this point I had so little faith in the bike shop I didn't really fancy riding a bike they had built anyway.

I was talking to my local Orbea Dealer who said he doesn't get paid by Orbea for labour on warranty work. Not sure how true that is but I don't think that's fair.

He has also just lost the franchise? as he isn't able to order enough bikes from them. He said he isn't ordering more as he still has stock from his last order.

This reminds me that I have a steel replacement sock bolt to fit to my Rise, really should swap it over before I find myself in the same situation!

Make sure they’re fitting the steel bolt to your new frame, not aluminium.

I assume you know this, but I’ve seen a couple of Rises in the FB group with the same issue.

Do they allow you to strip your own frame without it affecting the warranty? It's one thing to charge for labour in a shop who didn't sell the bike but if they don't offer any alternative that is foc then it's very unreasonable IMO.

I would look into the T&CS, and if not officially covered I would use the opportunity to learn to DIY. It's not complex at all and it becomes a life skill for a cyclist once you've done it once. A good chance to clean and regrease everything to.

The only issue might be the rear brake though as I assume internal routing, can be a little trickier as will need disconnecting. £20 labour perhaps.

I've been known to point out that if it's a warranty issue on a full suspension frame that's over a year old, it probably needs pivot bearings anyway, and the labour to rebuild the bike is often less than a full bearing job including bearings. Plus the value of the bike has gone up significantly if the frame is new.

It would be great if the bike industry mimicked the auto industry but it doesn't. On the flipside, it's probably not that straight forward to purchase grey-import cars for much less money than retail pricing, so it could be worse.

Orbea T&C state: "Labour costs for assembling the frame or fork on the bike are payable by the user."

Oh well, £150 for a new carbon frame isn't too bad in the scheme of things.

This reminds me that I have a steel replacement sock bolt to fit to my Rise

Yes - anyone with an Orbea should check they have the steel replacement shock bolt fitted.

It's a known problem and the lack of communication from Orbea on this issue is poor.

Got a warranty replacement frame through the shop I bought the whole bike from, I got the impression they didn’t really want to do the rebuild so said it would be at least two weeks before they would have workshop time to do it (on top of weeks waiting for the frame) so I could wait or do it myself. By this point I had so little faith in the bike shop I didn’t really fancy riding a bike they had built anyway.

FYI

Current lead times on LBS work shops are huge. I went into my LBS on 4th August and they had a chalk board that said the next bench slot was the 28th August

https://orbea.dash.app/browse/96619aca-b3fc-4ba3-b5ae-2d7be00ff644?portal=orbea-manuals

DIY. I've got the same model occam and it's mostly easy to work on. Did my frame bearings yesterday. If you don't already have a torque wrench and a set of bearing tools then a good opportunity to buy them and still save on the rebuild cost. But I like the maintenance side and appreciate not everyone does.

FYI

Current lead times on LBS work shops are huge. I went into my LBS on 4th August and they had a chalk board that said the next bench slot was the 28th August

That's pretty quiet tbf

pickleFree Member
Can you not do it yourself?

Wasn't there a thread not long back, when the manufacturer was querying the warranty as the owner had swapped part themselves?

z1ppy

Free Member

pickleFree Member

Can you not do it yourself?

Wasn’t there a thread not long back, when the manufacturer was querying the warranty as the owner had swapped part themselves?

The infamous Giant warranty thread...

This will sound harsh. But just take it back to where you bought it from and that shop would do the work for (virtually) nothing.

But buy online from another part of the country, your LBS gets nothing from your sale AND has to suck up the rebuild cost from the zero margin made by a customer buying online.

That's why it is £150 and that is why it is so helpful to buy from your LBS if you don't want to deal with warranty work in another part of the country.

Just take it back to where you bought it...

We had this with my sons Giant Fathom last year - frame snapped around the bottle bosses on the seat tube - Giant offered a no questions asked full replacement frmae but we had to pay labour to the shop (where we bought it from) - I think the rebuild was roughly the same as yours, £150 - but we then also paid for the parts (internal cabling meant new hoses, we fitted new pads and a few other bits and pieces like bearings serviced) - total cost something like £220 - my son was over the moon - it was just like a new bike but a fraction of the cost and the service from the shop was excellent (Alf Jones in Wrexham) - I'd say suck it up and see the benefits - without the warranty you'd be splashing out a ton more money -

I ended up paying £180 for the warranty rebuild of the Orbea Occam.

This was £150 for the rebuild and £30 for new shock bushings (destroyed by the shop drilling out the seized shock bolt) and a new pair of rear brake pads at trade.

The new frame came with another aluminium shock bolt and so a stainless steel one is on order.