Wwstd? Giant warranty content -ebike

You need to email Ian...

Me, I'd buy something else today, soon as it's back I'd sell the giant.

Did you pay with a credit card? You might be able to charge back and/or you might be able to claim on card's own insurance.

Jeez.
Giant customer service/support just seems absolutely bottom tier, this along with the last thread where they were stipulating silly rules to keep the warranty valid.

Good luck resolving it OP.

I predict 50+ pages.

Popcorn ready.

Culminating in a "We asked these brands what they would consider to be a reasonable eBike warranty turnaround period" editorial on the STW website front page.

ulminating in a “We asked these brands what they would consider to be a reasonable eBike warranty turnaround period” editorial on the STW website front page.

Dammit! Are we that predictable?

🙂

I was so sure that the warranty had been invalidated by the owner charging the battery rather than having it done by a Giant Dealer.

First fault at 3 months second at 6 months. I’d say well with looking at sale of goods act with Paul’s Cycles.

ASAP I would send a recorded delivery letter the Paul’s cycles asking for a refund and explaining why. I would then look for help on how to proceed. CAB could be helpful. Some one on hear might be more up to date than me.

Is 42 days and counting reasonable?

Or am I being difficult?

Certainly don't like being told twice it's fixed then being told it's in a queue to be looked at.

Paid with debit card sadly.

@weeksy: don't have the funds to buy another and giant ebikes are seemingly hard to pass on unless you take a big hit.

I'll try to contact ian.

Is 42 days and counting reasonable?

Or am I being difficult?

Reasonable, not really no.

You're being better than I'd be 🙂

Giant are sort of right, you can’t reject it with them.

Your contract is with Paul’s Cycles, you need to speak with them.

Sounds very much like they have no idea what they are doing and are playing parts darts/swapnostics to get the repair.

Waterproofing sounds like jamming a load of dielectric grease in all the sub standard connectors!

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/10/enacted

Me, I’d buy something else today, soon as it’s back I’d sell the giant.

You'd probably do that even if it was working 😉

So my mate had 2 Giant e-bikes from Rutland ordered online
1st had the water issue and bike was back and forth to Rutland
They returned it to him with huge paint chips and other issues he kicked up a stink and got a replacement
The 2nd bike developed major power issues and it was back and forth to Rutland and then he asked if it could go through local giant dealer
Eventually the Local shop refused due to them being liable for ALL future warranty work
It eventually went back to Rutland for Giant and Rutland to sort issue
16+ weeks it took in total between Giant,Rutland and The local shop
Eventually they replaced mOtor,battery controller and wiring loom
He punted it as soon as it was returned

Popcorn ready.

My Giant E commuter thing played up from day 1. Kept in constant contact with Paul’s, it went back to them. Came back, still probs, they had it back. I couldn’t find anything I wanted/ could afford at Paul’s. They refunded me, they were brilliant.

The first thing to understand is that this is not purely a warranty matter, we're dealing with the Consumer Rights Act.

Consumer Rights Act

The first six months
If you discover the fault within the first six months after buying the product, it is presumed to have been there since the time of purchase - unless the retailer can prove otherwise. During this time, it's up to the retailer to prove that the fault wasn't there when you bought it - it's not up to you to prove that it was.

​

If an attempt at repair or replacement has failed, you have the right to reject the goods for a full refund or price reduction - if you wish to keep the product. The retailer can't make any deductions from your refund in the first six months following an unsuccessful attempt at repair or replacement. The only exception to this rule is motor vehicles, where the retailer may make a reasonable reduction for the use you've already had of the vehicle after the first 30 days. If you'd prefer to keep the goods in question, you can request an appropriate price reduction.

So the question is whether St Paul's Cycles and, by proxy, Giant, have had a reasonable opportunity to either repair or replace the item. Most people would say that they have, and that in the absence of a working bike at this point, you should have the right to reject the goods for a full refund under the CRA.

How did you pay?

@martinhutch

I paid half deposit then took v12 finance for the rest but settled after two weeks as I put the rest on a 0% card for 24 months which I've also paid off.

Paul's website states the warranty is with the manufacturer and up until now they've not been helpful.

Hey ho.

I'll think about it tomorrow.

It's not simply a warranty issue. It's a CRA issue between you and St Paul's. You may also have some recourse via the finance company, even though it's paid off. Good luck.
You may find that asking the retailer directly whether they are denying you your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act focuses their minds. They have a reasonable right to attempt a repair. What you describe is not reasonable.

Paul’s website states the warranty is with the manufacturer and up until now they’ve not been helpful.

It is, but this is no longer just a warranty issue and so the dealer must accept responsibility. Unacceptable.

Ahh well,

I got on my high horse gone midnight and sent an email to Paul's, giant UK and Ian at giant.

Stated my case. Consumer goods act etc.

I'll update with an outcome.

Cheers.

Good luck.
Buying a new bike and having it gone for that long is not right.
Hope you get it sorted

I don't see you getting a refund... but hopefully you'll get a fixed bike to sell and buy something that serves you better this time.

Update:

Giant told me to suck it basically.
Apparently 51 days and counting is reasonable.

No ETA for the bike to be returned or repaired.
No refund.
No rejection.

No response at all from Paul's cycles in Norwich.
No response from Ian at giant.

Don't buy a giant people.

Don't buy anything from Paul's Cycles either.

Fark, that's bullocks!

Can’t you just ring Paul’s Cycles given you have a contract with them?

you need to tell the shop where you bought it that you reject it.

Your best bet is a letter to the principal of Pauls Cycles i.e the CEO/owner rejecting the bike on the grounds that it is not fit for purpose because of the water ingress/amount of time it has been unavailable for you to ride. You should give them 2 weeks to reply or comply with this and state that will take legal action if they don’t respond. Your contact is with him/her not Giant… The CEO may try and call your bluff, probably won’t want to go to court though. After that it’s how far you’re prepared to take it. I think you have a good case. Hope you get it sorted…

I think I'd be as cross about being ignored as the faulty bike TBH. If the retailer still won't engage after reasonable attempts have been made on your part I think @ruffrider is on the right track. If you do decide that approach, this may be helpful Rejection letter

Good luck.

Good shout with the letter @LimboJimbo…

Letter before action then Small Claims IMO

So my mate had a Giant Trance(I think) blueish chameleon colour
Had issues with the motor etc and was in the shop twice to be fixed suffering the same issues
He contacted the CEO of said company with regards to bike being in shop for work as much as he had it to ride
He was informed that due to it being in twice to be fixed and still had the same fault he was legally in his rights to ask for
1:Replacement
2:Refund
So he asked for refund and put extra towards his original price and bought the 2022/23 giant reign that was totally redesigned
Also he was told bh the mechanic there was meant to be a recall on Giant e-bikes due to wiring harness not being fully up to standard as the wires were not properly insulated

Just for balance I have a 22 giant reign e+1 with 2700 miles on it. It's been the most reliable bike I've owned in 25 years, bloody love the thing and it's never missed a beat.

Your contract is with the shop - nothing to do with Giant.

"which" has good guides on this but given the age of the bike the onus is on you.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-a-faulty-product-aTTEK2g0YuEy

If a defect develops after the first six months, the burden is on you to prove that the product was faulty at the time the goods were delivered to you.

In practice, this may require some form of expert report, opinion or evidence of similar problems or defects across the product range.The retailer can also make a deduction from any refund for fair use after the first six months of ownership if an attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful.
You have up to six years to take a claim to the small claims court for faulty goods in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland.<
This doesn't mean that a product has to last six years - just that you have this length of time in which to make a claim if a retailer refuses to repair or replace a faulty product.

As a couple of others have said your contract is with Paul's not Giant.

The warranty is with Giant, but that doesn't have anything to do with your contract with Paul's.
What Giant decide to do under warranty is unrelated.

Because you're over the initial 30 days period Paul's are entitled to repair or replace the item at their choice. However if the repair fails or takes too long then you are entitled to a refund.
This seems to be where you are.

What if you've taken longer to return the goods?

If you take longer than 30 days to return the item, you'll have to choose between a repair or a replacement. The retailer can veto either though if it's impossible to carry out a repair or the cost of a replacement is much higher than that of a repair.

If the item is still dodgy after just one attempt at a repair or replacement, the repair or replacement isn't possible or it hasn't been carried out quickly enough you're then entitled to ask for a refund – this could be the full amount within the first six months, or otherwise is likely to be a partial refund

All covered on Money saving expert

I would start with an email stating that Paul's have failed to repair the first time and then have not returned it to you second time. Including the links and quotes from MSE.

If they don't respond or respond in your favour then follow up with a further email explaining you will proceed to charge back or small claims court.

If you live near to Paul's having this conversation loudly, but politely on Saturday at 14:00 in the shop might also persuade them.

The key thing is that this is all with Paul's not Giant.

Had a similar issue with a sofa from Cream Cornwall. It took 8 months but we eventually got a refund

following as i have had the same issues with a 2020 reign and are now at the end of my rope with it

As I said before you need to write a letter to Paul’s Cycles ASAP asking for refund under the sale of goods act. There is good advice about this above. The letter must be recorded delivery.

You need to be able to demonstrate that you rejected the bike, why you rejected and that Paul’s cycles know this.

Ignoring you is just them trying to time you out. A recorded delivery letter proves they knew you weren’t happy and when.

A citizens advice bureau can help with this for free

its not the sale of goods act anymore and hasn't been for years

A welcome correction TJ. But the letter advice is still crucial. They’ll know they can claim they didn’t receive or read emails

Update!

Got my bike back after 8.5 weeks about 10 says ago.

New motor and a new loom dipped in plastidip that's already peeling off (good skills giant).

Didn't bother to replace the broken dropper post which they said they'd look at for me.
Eventually got them to after many emails to which they never responded to. They just randomly sent one to the lbs for me.

Worked for 4 rides and now has a speed sensor error that randomly developed as well as having randomly lost any ANT+ connectivity at the same time. Something is wrong inside. Again.

Yay.

Giant have tried to pull a fast one on me:

Turns out that they replaced the loom and sent it back to the local bike shop as they had told me.

The bike shop tested the bike and it immediately cut out repeatedly So was sent straight back to giant UK where it had a new motor as well.
The local bike shop only told me this when I picked it up.

To me that suggests they had their chance as a manufacturer to fix it themselves and failed but still wouldn't allow me to reject or have a refund. Great!

I'm told they don't test ride the bikes but only use their diagnostic tools. Good show!

But it's broken again anyway so thats that.

I've sent another letter to Giant UK. Another to Ian Beasant (never replied to my first one) and another to Paul's who also have not replied to any emails regarding refund.

I'll see what happens next.

Don't buy a giant people.

I would start by phoning Pauls if they don't reply via email. Could always record calls and send an email after to leave a record. How far are you from Paul's?

I would phone them and say you are rejecting the bike under the consumer right act and you will bring the bike to them on xxx day and will not leave the store until they have refunded your deposit and instructed v12 to refund you.

I successfully done this with a ebike at Evans cycles, though do be prepared to be in the store for a while.

Also would make your complaint knowing on social media, trust pilot, Google reviews etc.

Though be careful as looks like Giant took a hit out on the last person that complained on STW

What a tale of woe. Feel for you OP. Best of luck getting it sorted.

At this stage it's got to be small claims for all costs you've incurred trying to sort this (bike, travel, lost wages).

At this stage it’s got to be small claims for all costs you’ve incurred trying to sort this (bike, travel, lost wages).

Known as incidental costs IIRC and almost impossible to claim for

I think there is a distinction between costs associated with the trying to resolve the issue (fannying around after a company with a broken bike) and costs of taking action (legal advice, filling in court forms - unclaimable)

This doesn’t sound too dissimilar to tales of woe of other ebike owners and different brands.

People being months without a bike waiting for new motors etc.

Still smacks to me of companies selling products that as yet they still do not fully understand the technology they are selling (not just giant). Clearly they can’t afford to do the proper R&D needed but then can get away charging silly money for these bikes. Car manufacturers got it right from the start and offer decent warranty on their electric products, the fact warranty is so short on e-bikes says something.

I keep nearly pressing the button on an ebike but then keep reading stuff like this and it puts me off. Yes I know the internet only publishes the bad stories, but e-bikes do appear to be proportionally more than other products. I could splash many thousands £ on a bike with the major risk I won’t get to ride it for long periods of time and then the warranty be limited too

OP - just be aware that your warranty is being used up too. ie even if the motor is new yesterday, your warranty is only valid from the day you bought the bike not the day you got the replacement motor. That’s certainly what Orbea owners are finding, so your motor could be replaced at 23 months with a brand new one, and that new motor only being covered for 1 month

just be aware that your warranty is being used up too. ie even if the motor is new yesterday, your warranty is only valid from the day you bought the bike not the day you got the replacement motor. That’s certainly what Orbea owners are finding, so your motor could be replaced at 23 months with a brand new one, and that new motor only being covered for 1 month

that’s pretty much no different from any warranty though. If the engine falls out of my car at 4 years & 11 months old, they don’t give me a brand new 5 year warranty. The original balance remains.

Those Yamaha/Giant PWX motors do have a bit of a history of electrical gremlins & water ingress issues. I’m not sure it’s actually any worse than Specialized/Brose, but unlike the latter, they really don’t seem to have the support network when it does go wrong. At least Spesh are super fast about warranty turnaround.

Notice Before Action to Pauls ASAP with a fortnight to respond, sent recorded delivery.
Then small claims.

Update if marginally interested.

Bike sat in local dealer with a warranty request for giant to take it away.

Sat for 18th days with Giant not doing anything.
Shop manager ringing Giant with me present to ask wtf is going on. Not much.....

Paul's now requesting the bike back so they can assess it for repair????. So I've been and collected it and gone bin diving round the back of Halfords for a bike box and packed it up.

They can have it and keep it. I refuse to have it back in my life and will not accept it returned to me. Turned it on today prior to boxing it up. Bike does what it wants.

So it continues.

They can have it and keep it. I refuse to have it back in my life and will not accept it returned to me

Sounds like exactly the correct stance.
What a nightmare 😐

Beyond a joke. You have sent the Notice Before Action to Paul's haven't you?

Go in the shop at what ever is the peak time and make yourself a fhecken nuisance, until they take the bike back.
The shop is responsible as the retailer.

Just to add a little balance, I’ve had a few bikes for Paul’s cycles with only two having problems. The first was that the formula brakes leaked from the calipers out of the box. New brakes were sent & arrived within the week.

The second was a road bike that cracked at the seat tube/stay junction. No quibbles, they just asked for pics sending & they refunded me before they’d even received the bike back.

It does make me wonder whether their (lack of) response is somehow influenced by the poor response they’ve received from Giant. 🤷‍♂️

Car manufacturers got it right from the start and offer decent warranty on their electric products, the fact warranty is so short on e-bikes says something.

Aye, right - how old are you BTW?

Go back a couple of decades and cars had 12 month warranties and even within this often bloody impossible to get anywhere.

Aye, right – how old are you BTW?

Go back a couple of decades and cars had 12 month warranties and even within this often bloody impossible to get anywhere.

Even more recently than this, I had both front shock absorbers fail in my bought from new 2016 Audi A4. They failed within the warranty period and after doing less than average miles. The dealer report said this was not down to wear and tear, or accidental damage. The dealer refused to change the shock absorbers under warranty or progress with VAG. I ended up paying for the replacement with new shock absorbers from a VAG specialist. Useless!

So.....

Sent the bike back to Paul's. Bike threw errors till the very end.

I didn't have to fight. Didn't get a credit note. Didn't get the bike bike. Got a full refund including any postage.

Gone local and bought from an lbs.

I know ebikes aren't for everyone. I also ride/own non powered bikes, but to me they are great fun when they work.

Hopefully I'll have more luck this time round.

What did you go for this time ?

The right result but bloody hell it took some fighting and no doubt a good chunk of stress with it. Well done @olly2097.

I’m casually scanning for an e-bike.
Won’t even look at Giant or Paul’s.
Stupid.
Having the giant bearing tool kit they were always the first brand I looked at.

Sounds like an absolute nightmare, on the positive side at least you were successful in getting your money back and have had to deal with all this now so it will be less stressful you happen to need to go through something like this again in future, unfortunate way of learning good experience.

I bought my current and only bike from my LBS which is a Specialized dealer due to how well they looked after me with a 2nd hand specialized I owned before this one, no warranty with it being S/H but when I snapped the frame they looked after me and got me a replacement under customer care so I didn't have to pay as much and they done the work swapping things over at cost to them as they sympathized with my situation. When I did buy my current bike from them back in 2016 due to good past experience I had a few teething problems, dodgy dropper post on numerous occasions, badly built wheels, BB shat it's self 2nd ride out amongst other issues etc they took good care of me and dealt with everything asap, had been back to them probably 7 times in 2 months and despite having a workshop backlog put my bike higher on the list to fix.

Reading your experiences it's convinced me that even if I don't want another Specialized bike when I do lose some beef and go for an ebike I'd be better off getting one from my LBS or even another LBS in the area. Giant appear to be a shadow of what they used to be, still innovative but QC appears to be terrible so will be avoiding.

Gone local and bought from an lbs.

Orbea Rise ?

I've also got a warranty issue with Giant.

My Revolt Advanced gravel bike has a "paint" crack (their words) at the top of the seat tube. I've found literally hundreds of people who've posted photos of the same issue across UK / EU / America yet Giant dealers pretend they aren't aware of it and have never heard of it.

There seems to be a latent design fault with the carbon layup and design of the D-Fuse seatpost shim that Giant aren't admitting to so they will only warranty items on a goodwill basis.

In my case that means taking the really nice colour frame I wanted and giving me a disgusting turd brown frame that actually still has the same defect as a replacement. And it's a take it or leave it deal.

In 30+ years of biking I've never owned a Giant before - based on the customer experience with this one I won't be repeating the mistake.

I’m casually scanning for an e-bike.
Won’t even look at Giant or Paul’s.

Yeah, me too. I've just realised that Liv and Giant are the same too. There was a Liv e-bike I saw which was the cheapest known brand with a hub gear 🤦

weeksy
Full Member
What did you go for this time ?

FunkyDunc
Free Member
Gone local and bought from an lbs.

Orbea Rise ?

Haibike allmtn 7. (2023)
Gx eagle/magura mt7.
Yamaha pwx3.
Giant was a Yamaha pwx2 but had giant's gatekeeping all over it meaning you couldn't repair it at home, PCB board locked out etc.
Wiring loom is different this time as well.

The standard Yamaha has off the shelf parts including all the electrics readily available.
Being an open system you can use any 3rd party battery/range extender as long as the connection fits. So gives it a bit of future prodding for out of warranty.

Funkydunc: went to welshpool. Merida and orbea in Oswestry isn't it. Lovely bikes but running Shimano ep8 motors: non serviceable motors and once dead it costs. Friends Merida e160 ep8 has died with 500 odd miles on it and has no warranty so he's looking at £1000 odd to fix it. Shocking.