dissapointed with response from Focus

[daddiogreyhead]

hi i recently brought a focus Jarifa 3.9 from Spiral cycles in Ashford in july 2019. i took this pack within 2 weeks for its 1st 100km service which had a few little teething problems with gears which was rectified.
as i started love going out on my new ebike about 350 miles it started creaking badly when putting weight on the crank/pedals ie going up hills and the pads on the rear started rubbing most of the time.
i went to take back to spiral cycles on monday after a phone call that i was bringing it to them on friday into which i got there a message on the door saying closed for stock take. i was fuming as just traveled 40 miles to get there on a day off.
i then had to find another focus dealer as i thought with such a short time owning it the problem should be covered under some sort of warranty.
i then contacted energise ebikes in tunbridge wells and took my focus jarifa 3.9 for Tony to look at in which he instantly new the problem and after a couple of hours rectified the problems but came with a small bill of £25 which i still argue that motor bolts coming loose is A warranty issue he said this would of been done by spiral cycles as this is where i brought it from.i paid the bill and then contacted Focus bikes who have ignored this problem but have replied to emails but not wanting to reinburse me of this extra cost .
i have now found out that spiral cycles in ashford have gone into adminastration as was told by enegise ebikes the warranty on these problems are with them .

i have now contacted my credit card company as i have no confidence in the ebike and sure its not fit for the purpose .

has anybody else had problems with focus and brushing of warranty issues

 

[steve_sordy]

The problem is that you didn't buy the bike from Focus. They will stand behind the warranty but your legal contract is with spiral cycles. Some bike shops that sell Focus bikes (it may be all) will process a warranty claim for a bike that they did not sell. They will make a standard charge for this as they made no money from selling the bike. You will be completely safe for big stuff like frame failure, motor or bearing failure, wiring and /or software defects and so forth. But for small stuff that cannot be 100% attributed as a warranty claim it will not be worth them pursuing whoever may be at fault to get the money back. Mostly they will charge you and give you a receipt and loads of info, so that YOU can make the calls and emails to whoever you believe is at fault. Good luck with that.

You may well be able to charge back on your credit card, but you will have to provide a good case that the bike is not fit for purpose. The credit card company is also blameless as regards the actual bike, but the argument is that they have a duty of care to ensure that Spiral Cycles is financially sound. This has been tested in law. So as I said, you may be successful chasing your credit card company. You may have more success by pursuing the angle that Spiral Cycles have gone bust. I suggest that you take some advice beforehand (Google, Citizen's Advice Bureau...?.)

 

[cozzy]

I would suck it up. Things get loose. They were probably loose to start with. I didnt buy my kenevo from berskshire cycles but took it there for warranty issues. They did a proper pdi, pretty much everything was loose from the factory. It cost me a bit of money, but I have a better more reliable bike now.
If you have good local support in energise, then I dont really see a problem.

 

[Shifty]

If it was me. I would go round and check the rest of the nuts and bolts. Save all the time and energy riding and enjoying e-biking than sitting at home writing letters and emails back and forth getting wound up over £25.00... I would definitely just go and enjoy the bike !!! It’s sorted .... as in the film Frozen ‘let it go’ ‘let it go’ !
BTW my new bike came with a lose rear set bolt and the two chain links tight and jumping! The front pads rubbed but they wore in after 150 miles or so and I tighten up the bolts.

 

[Zimmerframe]

and the pads on the rear started rubbing most of the time.

I might be completely wrong (normally am) .. but mine started rubbing on a ride the other day and it was annoying as hell .. I remembered reading something on here about loosening the caliper bolts, pulling the brake lever and holding it, tightening the caliper bolts ... so tried that - viola - silent ! A lot of these problems aren't really problems, they're just things we're not familiar with when we're starting out.

Ultimately, you've bought a really nice bike, it's been looked over properly now so you should just be able to go back to enjoying it !

 

[Rusty]

The problem is that you didn't buy the bike from Focus. They will stand behind the warranty but your legal contract is with spiral cycles. Some bike shops that sell Focus bikes (it may be all) will process a warranty claim for a bike that they did not sell. They will make a standard charge for this as they made no money from selling the bike. You will be completely safe for big stuff like frame failure, motor or bearing failure, wiring and /or software defects and so forth. But for small stuff that cannot be 100% attributed as a warranty claim it will not be worth them pursuing whoever may be at fault to get the money back. Mostly they will charge you and give you a receipt and loads of info, so that YOU can make the calls and emails to whoever you believe is at fault. Good luck with that.

Sound advice