Dealing with Hargreaves Cycles

[stephen gibson]

Has anyone dealt with Hargreaves Cycles? I bought my xduro fullseven RC from them and nothing but problems, lies and bad service. They agreed to take the bike back, (I will buy the same bike elsewhere) but want to inspect it and replace anything at my cost to get it to new condition??? To me that is most of the bike, I've done about 150 miles in a couple of weeks so nothing is as new! Is it standard practice to then sell it on as new? What are my consumer rights? Would I have an argument that it was never Road safe in the first place because they don't fit reflectors and Bell which I thought was a legal requirement.? Thanks in advance

 

[Ann M.]

@stephen gibson don't know what went wrong with your Haibike but sorry to hear that you're having problems with the bike early on, we're big fans of their mountain bikes here . Without specifics about the issues it's hard to agree to throw in the towel at barely two weeks. Did you test ride before buying? Has the bike been back at the shop with adequate time to do diagnostics or connect with Haibike to fix issues? Occasionally, a brand new bike has an issue; however, this is part of what the warranty covers.

Many shops here have an 'All Sales Final' statement on the receipt and clarify that to a buyer at the time of purchase. If you're trying to negotiate a reversal of the sale under that condition (no, not the reflectors or bell, forget that) the shop may be asking you to compensate for the fact that the bike is not new, it's been ridden 150 miles, which is significant.

It may be an inconvenience; however, please allow the techs at the bike shop and Haibike figure out what is going on and that isn't something that can be done with conversations over a phone; they will need to have the bike in the shop to do proper diagnostics. If you're not comfortable returning to your original shop, then another ebike shop can to do diagnostics but plan to pay for that labor. After that, then contact Haibike directly but they will concur that the bike needs to be at a dealer to do service.

Also just curious, is your shop in the UK? that's where the search engines link. Sure want to see you get this resolved, better to be out riding.

 

[stephen gibson]

The bike is awesome, the dealer hargroves cycles is a nightmare... Im based in the UK and looked high and low for the best deal on the internet. It turned out I could get 10.1% cashback using topcashback.com on the bike and hargroves cycles also had a 10% off voucher code. I confirmed that both of these offers could be used in conjunction with hargroves and everything went through fine. My cashback was then declined at a later date and hargroves are now telling me that the 2 offers could not be used in conjunction and they are not prepared to honor their agreement leaving me £300 down... Also they trashed the encapsulated screw on the control by over tightening and the majority of fasteners had to be re-torqued to spec. The nobbly nick tyres disintegrated within 40 miles and hargroves told me the bike was not designed to be ridden on tarmac. One of the chain links was sticking making it jump and wouldnt free up. They offered to send me a quick link to replace, then wanted the chain back so I wouldnt be able to use my bike for a couple of weeks, then offered to send out a replacement and wanted to send me some shitty shimano chain totally unsuitable for the bike... The build quality was aweful and no reflectors and bell which are a UK requirement for selling a new bike, (thats not too much of an issue because most of them would have come straight off) the fact that they didnt know they were supposed to does not inspire me with confidence. Basically, the service is crap, the build was verging on dangerous and they are lying to me trying to weasel out of paying me my cashback...

 

[Ann M.]

I'm surprised that the shop agreed to the double discount in the first place, Stephen; that would be unusual. If someone at my shop made a mistake like that, either the customer would be informed before the deal was closed or we would eat it. Once they accepted your money then it's difficult to reverse an agreement like that. I can understand that the shop is reluctant to loose the extra 10%, there's some misconception that retail prices on electric bikes are really inflated when they are not. Nonetheless, they should honor the agreement.

Please find a close by electric bike dealer to help you with the chain and other issues. Trying to do diagnostics and warranty work via the internet and phone is not very effective so you don't really save in the long run. Hope you get a resolution soon and can focus on the fun part - Riding!

 

[EddieJ]

Did you not look over and test the bike when you collected it? Surely you would have seen many of the faults that you have detailed upon collection, including chain, reflectors and bell.

If the bike had been boxed and sent out, then it would have been up to you to carry out any final assembly and carry out a final pdi, including the fitting of any reflectors etc. These should have been supplied in a separate packet.

You state that the build quality is awful, yet rode the bike for 150 miles! That is rather confusing, as why would you ride a bike with awful build quality, rather than just rejecting it as not fit for purpose to begin with.

In any event I'm surprised that the bike was released if payment had not been received in full, be this discounted or not, which leaves an odd question mark over the discount. From the link that you supplied to the top cash back site, the agreement appears to be with the cash back company, not the dealer. No dealer is going to double discount.

Nobby Nic tyres aren't really designed for road use, but I'd certainly like to see photos of the disintegrated tyres, and what did you ride on for the remaining 110 miles?

The screw that you mention, might have been overtightened from factory and simply not spotted by the dealer, and if the bike had been sent out, rather than collected, then the same could be said of the torque settings, as you would again be responsible for the pdi. Also remember that Haibikes are renowned for suspension bolts working loose almost within seconds of being ridden, and many owners use cable ties to prevent them being lost.

As for the chain, that is hardly a big issue, and quite why you feel that Shimano is in your own words "shitty" is beyond me. It would very much be an over exaggeration to say that the bike would be unusable for two weeks, simply over the cost and fitting of a chain, be this Shimano, SRAM, KMC or whatever. If you can use a torque wrench to correctly tension bolts, then fitting a new chain is no big issue.

As I see it, you sound as though you have either changed your mind over the bike and are trying to back out of the deal, or you are simply narked because you didn't get one over the dealer on the purchase cost. There are two sides to every story, and I rather suspect that this one has another.

If you really do feel that you do have a grievance, then go to citizens advice and seek guidance, and also contact your credit company, as they might well be able to offer guidance. Don't expect an easy ride though, as comments and observations are going to be far harsher than mine.

You could also ask advice on the UK pedelcs forum, which would have more relevant advice in respect of UK consumer law. http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/

I also think that by joining the http://www.cyclinguk.org/ that you get free legal advice, but any consumer advice centre should be help to help you

Good luck with things, and hopefully all be resolved amicably, as it would be a shame to let what seems like a few minor issues get in the way of what should be a pleasurable purchase.


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[stephen gibson]

I had the bike d
telivered, and Hargroves would not send it straight from the supplier because they told me they had to build it and make sure it was UK legal, (which they didnt)

You state that the build quality is awful, yet rode the bike for 150 miles!
I had to re-torqued all of the fasteners before riding 150 miles, non of them were correct and nothing was setup correctly, I suspect it was not touched at all at Hargroves and they just sent it on or they have completely incompetent mechanics

In any event I'm surprised that the bike was released if payment hadn't not been received in full
Payment was made in full, the cashback you claim after the deal goes through. the dealer agreed to allow the double discount then refused to pay it once they knew it was not going to be feasible for me to return the bike.

The screw that you mention, might have been overtightened from factory and simply not spotted by the dealer
The control was hanging off, either they didn't touch it or did, broke it and said f*ck it

As for the chain, that is hardly a big issue, and quite why you feel that Shimano is in your own words "shitty" is beyond me
They tried to send me out a cheap shimano chain which on doing a bit of research is totally unsuitable for an electric bike due to the extra snatch forces exerted on it. 2 weeks for me to send it back to them for inspection, order a new one and get it sent out to me

As I see it, you sound as though you have either changed your mind over the bike and are trying to back out of the deal, or you are simply narked because you didn't get one over the dealer on the purchase cost. There are two sides to every story, and I rather suspect that this one has another.
I love the bike and would like to keep it or get another exactly the same. My problem with the dealer Hargroves, is that they backed out of a deal that they agreed to and dont seem to have a clue when it comes to setting up bikes or providing suitable spares and the example of them trying to save £10 on a chain is just a sympton of the main problem with them and their lying poor customer service