[Closed] Warranty experiences please - Good & Bad

Still time to edit the title.

Spilling never has been my strong point...

I can see this one going well....

How do the people who don't live up to expectations get to respond?

Mclaren wouldn't give me another P1 as apparently I didn't by one - that is crap warranty in my book 😉

They don't, but that's one experience. If someone else thinks they were good they'll be on their good list and it should balance out. It's consistantly being on one list or the other which I guess people may be interested in rather than what my, or anyone else's, personal experience was.

It’s subjective but the more options the better?

Context makes for better reading though - over and above what was expected vs I had no chance and they told me that.. Why did your 5 disappoint you?

Over and above at the top of the good list, Marin, Hope in my case and down through the levels of 'good'. Whole middle ground of just doing what is required and nothing more, (I've not mentioned them) then bad, which I agree can be subjective without the full story (which could be long and dull in these cases), but trying to avoid this turning in to a ranting thread, if someone has had a good experience with one someone else thinks is bad say so. If I was pushing my luck and didn't realise, they will be on everyone else's good list and i need to accept i was probably wrong, if they are on more bad lists maybe I'm justified.

What about the companies who build products well and therefore don't need to worry about warranty reviews because they build their products properly from the off....so a company that sells you a bike for a few grand that packs in fix it for you, is that good or just plain bad in the first place....its all relative imo. Do you spend your money on a brand that fixes 100 warranties rather than the one who failed to fix one? What about a thread on brands that you have never had an issue with?  People like to complain so I feel this thread will lean towards that.

Good point, stuff which is better built, or even just less common, will be on fewer lists, but if their one or two appearances are on the good lists then great. It's not perfect by any means, but it gives an idea. 2 good experiences versus 36 good & 5 bad, which is better? We know which companies sell lots of things so if, for example, Rockshox appear on no lists then they must last well whereas if Schmolke appear on no lists it could be that or it could just be a tiny sample aize

It's just information to consider when choosing whether to buy a particular thing or a rival thing.

I know people like to complain, hence not looking for explanations, I suspect these would become far longer than the good ones too, but really just looking to see if more people think they are good or bad, rather than individual stories. My opinion counts for next to nothing to most other people, the collective opinion of the STW forum users as a whole might be more helpful.

Also, we rarely see a good warranty service thread so it's a chance to list those who do do that bit extra too

Orange - over and above - they Warrantied my ST4 frame 3 times, once via supplying shop then direct, and last two were out of warranty period. Can't say fairer than that.

Marin (more likely Rutland cycles) completely ignored two phone calls and nice email saying my BB lasted 6 weeks on new bike...

Marin

Whyte

Exposure

Hope

All very good.

Bad; Canfield.  On-One.

Commencal good. Only warranty I've used.

Although I did recently contact Winstanleys for bearings for my t130, which they sent out next day.

How do the people who don’t live up to expectations get to respond?

richiethesilverfish normally shows up to give the other side of the story...

Often there can be three companies involved, the shop, the importer and the manufacturer. The fault is the manufacturers but often the problem is with the retailer and importer.

So how does a company who has a good warranty service that you have to use a lot, compare to a company who has a crap warranty service that you never have to use?

I had very good customer service from silverfish recently. Not a bike or bike part admittedly, but a jacket purchased from them which was sorted out out in an amazing timescale. Did start a thread on it a week ago just to say thankyou.

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/huge-thank-you-to-silverfish/

This thread is faulty, can I send it back?

If the intention is to create a genuinely useful resource then this is probably the worst way to go about it

Canyon sorted my cracked frame super quickly, and rather than them collect and rebuild the replacement frame for me, repaid me the costs of LBS doing the work.

This thread is faulty, can I send it back?

No, it came with a "car-park" warranty and the OP has left the car-park.

Amazingly good:

Giant & Santa Cruz.

Good:

Trek

Shockingly bad:

Yeti.

"Over and above " should be reserved to those companies who continue to provide service and support outside the warranty.

Trek good

Cannondale bad, misselling "lifetime"

Kona awful, wouldn't even inspect

A warranty claim and exercising your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act (or older Sale of Goods Act) are two different things. The former is with the manufacturer and the latter with the retailer.

I’ve sent a month old SLX chainset back to Merlin Cycles after one of the chainbolt threads stripped itself far too easily. They have sent it back to their supplier who will send it back to Shimano. I will let you know the outcome when I know.

“Over and above ” should be reserved to those companies who continue to provide service and support outside the warranty.

Agreed. Hence the comment that Orange warrantied twice outside the warranty period. It's not just a company that meets obligations.

TBF to Ben at Orange, last call to him was asking the lines of 'look, we've been nice, we've done our best, you have had a lot of use of a bike for 5 years, but that's about your lot on this. Perhaps we could cut a deal on a demo frame replacement...?' which seemed more than reasonable.

Often there can be three companies involved, the shop, the importer and the manufacturer. The fault is the manufacturers but often the problem is with the retailer and importer.

Yep had rubbish service from Spec (Aus) and heard horror stories about Giant (Aus) both of which have good reps in the UK. Hope Aus were also fairly average compared to the UK side.

Other brands have had 3 or 4 different distributors which make much more difference.

Only world wide consistency have been SRAM/RS

Evoc. Their stuff has been faultless, but on two occasions where I've broken bits because if my own stupidity (such as slamming buckles in car doors) they have replaced them FOC.

Giant gave me a rear triangle for my Trance as a good will gesture when my axle snapped; although, it depends on the store how helpful they will be. The shop I bought from online weren’t bothered (a giant franchise store) but Giant York were really good.

Good service from Specialized UK, through Evans bikes. Shoes that had ridden through two winters were replaced 18 months in to a two year warranty, after the stitching failed.

Anybody had a cube bike replaced under warranty?

Trek, very good. No issues with offering replacement frame when mine snapped. Replacements weren't apparently due for 6 weeks but they sent me a demo frame to use in the interim. Just got it built up a week later when I got an phone call saying my new frame was on its way.

Sram Guides (sticky lever) and FiveTens (manufacture fail after one ride both sorted quickly by Evans in around 2 weeks. No worries, would by both at again from same place.

Reverb sorted by Sram quite quick via local bike shop in just over 2 weeks - As above.

For me:

* Under 2 weeks: Good
* 2-4 weeks: Expected
* 4-6 weeks: Hurry up, I'm getting a bit frustrated
* 3 Months +: No excuse and I'm never buying from you again.

The biggest problem is when the retailer, distributor and manufacturer are not lined up and communicating properly.

A 3 month wait with a reasonable explanation and loan bike / shock / seatpost / wheel etc is not that bad if you can prep for it. What is really frustrating is a 2 week expectation that turns into 4 months which has also happened to me. Clear it was not 100% one person's fault but for the sake of a loan item it has permanently damaged the reputation of a manufacturer for me and everyone I ride with. Hear similar with Yeti - they should just have loan fleet and even charge for borrowing while returns are getting sorted and run as a not for profit cost centre. I'm sure most people buying £5k bikes are perfectly happy to pay a few hundred to borrow while theirs is getting sorted.

Cannondale superb. Replaced my 18mth ol cx bike for a new model. Was even allowed to keep all parts off damaged bike.

Only warranty work was with X-lite and Pace. Both were immensely unhappy about it

X-lite said I'd done way too much riding on some bar ends which was why the welds had cracked and so they wouldn't warranty replace them.

Pace complained that I'd ridden their forks in the wet which was why they'd stopped working

I never bought anything from them ever again.

Apart from that I've either had small stuff fail where I just make a decision to replace or just chalk it up to experience.

I tend not to break things so haven't really had to do warranty claims.

Pace forks were properly shit though.

For me Turner USA

email to USA I have a crack in my rear triangle

Reply Whats your address?

New chain stay arrives in 4 days from usa

= satisfied customer

= another 4 frames bought from them

Cratoni, I broke some of their glasses, sent me out new pair within a day. Brilliant to deal with.

Hope for customer service.

Endura seem congenitally unable to accept responsibility for anything they've made. A truly horrible company to deal with on several occasions. I would rather eat my own head than buy anything made by them again.

Exposure have been great for me once I've navigated through their slightly bureaucratic direct returns procedure.

Lynskey turned out to be excellent when it came to fixing a cracked Ragley Ti frame, though only after a slightly convoluted, initially confused claim via Hotlines. Eventually went the extra mile to sort things out after an e-mail correspondence wth Mark Lynskey himself. Good people. I don't blame Hotlines for the experience, it was a confusing situation where the warranty was through them but effectively with Lynskey, the manufacturer of the frame. Once I managed to talk direct to Lynskey, it worked out well.

Marin replaced a cracked frame with minimal fuss.

Blackburn's lifetime pump warranty worked just fine via my LBS. They also, years ago, replaced a cracked rear triangle on an early Mount Vision at minimal cost despite it being well out of warranty.

I sent my revo back to exposure as the output was no longer powering the rear light. A few dats later my light reappeared all worky worky with a new rubber cap for the input and a wee note which basically said.

"Try not to plug the the power into the output"

Points off for truelly terrible design which has the same sockets for input and output! Which are really hard to see in the dark...

So, no rambling explanations, this isn’t the thread for ranting at those who’ve not met expectations, just the names.

Arf! Good how people read the 'ole fing innit.

I've had good with

Silverfish/Rocky Mountain (Twice hmm... but 10 years apart)

Hope

Pace

Er, that's all I can remember.

Bad

YT Industries

2 out of 5 bikes bought came with faulty components

Both took around 3 months to sort, no offer of loan part, no attempt to speed things up, will not extend warranty, refused to refund purchase.

Blackburn’s lifetime pump warranty worked just fine via my LBS.

And yet Blackburn's lifetime warranty didn't extend to my broken water bottle cage.  Maybe it comes down to who you are dealing with within the company??

Raleigh are atrocious, they replaced my broken titanium frame with a steel one, nothing in the small print of the warranty to say that it has to be the same material apparantly......................

Good news. The chainset I returned to Merlin cycles has been replaced with a new set, in full retail packaging, not oem. Took a couple of weeks but good stuff from Merlin and Shimano!

Out of interest, who has has crash replacement frames and what is the typical price vs retail?

Many moons ago I had crash replacement on a Santa Cruz Bullit £400 for a new front and swing arm.