PSA: Got a Giant? Read your warranty terms VERY carefully

[Doomanic]

Have a read of this tale of woe...

Warranty denied as I stripped the bike down?

January 13, 2023 - Has anyone ever had a warranty denied on the basis of it being serviced by a non authorised dealer? Had a cracked frame, contacted the local dealer, they

singletrackworld.com

 

[Paulquattro]

Sounds like a lot of horse shit to me i would not be lying down and taking that .

 

[SquireRides]

TLDR, but I spotted the OP stating it's a 4 year old bike.

I get that he bought Giant for the lifetime frame warranty, but I also get that to offer a lifetime warranty Giant might add some conditions. Regular servicing by a Giant LBS does not sound totally unreasonable *if* you are made aware of that clause.

I think some brands have a no-questions-asked lifetime warranty. Don't assume all do.

Hopefully the OP gets this sorted because it sounds like he's kept to the spirit of the terms, if not the letter of them.

 

[super_claret]

Sounds like I'll be avoiding Giant bikes in the future. It really baffles me that they treat customers this way. How much would a frame actually cost them? It's madness to risk reputation for the sake of a frame

 

[big_scot_nanny]

It's a bit of a shocker really, makes me very nervous as the reason I just bought a Giant E+ was on strength of warranty and a good local dealer. Sheesh, fingers crossed!

The weird bit is their exclusion of bikes from warranty that have had changes carried out by anyone other than an Authorised Giant Dealer, or indeed that the bike was even not 'serviced' by the same. What, so I can't change my own chain? Replace pads? Lower oil change on forks? Different bars? shorter cranks? new brakes? Holy moly.

Hmmm.... anyone care to share a recognised 'good' warranty provider's T&Cs to see if they seem as ludicrous? Specialised for example?

Also, on the Giant forum here, it does appear that folks are generally well treated, so hopefully this is the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Shjay]

Luckily never liked Giant bikes!! But that’s shocking service by them especially as the op is a Cytech Mechanic. When I bought my Rise I had to put in an email to the online shop that I would be building the bike myself & for them not to assemble it as I am a Cytech Mechanic.
I have also done warranty work when I worked for a Distributor few years ago I would fill out a form & send pictures & proof of original receipt to the company, they would then decide if a warranty would be given & if they wanted the frame sent to me or not, usually it was between customer & shop about dismantling the bike not me or Transition bikes.

 

[Dannage]

Interesting read.

I never had any intention of getting my bike back to the dealer for a service as I'm 100% certain I would do a better job myself. They stripped the threads in the battery mount by putting the front screws in tight first, then mashed the rear ones half in. I'm sure this was causing the disconnects when the weather dropped in temps. Might get someone else next time though.
However after reading that it might be worth them getting it on the PC as serviced by them at least once. Shrug, dunno.

As for the OP in that thread, he's a cycling mechanic! More than qualified to disassemble the bike, they are taking the mick!
I would keep chasing them up.

 

[Mikerb]

Unlike cars bikes do not in my experience have a service schedule other than most LBS offering a free first service......which based on the only time I have ever taken a bike to a LBS for anything, was nothing more than a visual inspection...waste of my time. I know as far as Specialized is concerned there are constraints on the maximum travel fork that can be fitted for example and that makes some sense since it could affect the frame, specifically the stress applied to the headtube. You may get your bike serviced by an authorised dealer but that often tells you nothing a bout the a ctual mechanic that does the work........depending what day it is. Most of the latest bikes have Apps that enable the owner to update software without recourse to a dealer................is that classed as servicing by a non authorised dealer?? So those Giant terms if adhered to by Giant are ridiculous.

 

[Rando_12345]

My wife has a giant (well a liv to be accurate), and after ~2000km a little spanner lit upon her display for us to bring it back to the shop and have it checked out. I think it is more of a trick to give the shop an opportunity to sell you a new chain/brake pads and labour. That being said, if you are new to biking and are not very technical, you probably do need to bring your bike in for a checkup fairly regularly.

That story above is definitely crap, unfortunately if you hang around on biking forums enough you will find a handful of weird examples of rejected/problematic warranty claims from every brand.

 

[Doomanic]

Another on Twitter...

 

[Shjay]

It snapped on the weld 100% warranty!! Giant are bunch of ends

 

[SteveTTT]

I recently had a marketing email from Giant advertising new bikes delivered direct to your home, requiring final assembly by the customer. I don’t know if that includes e-bikes (didn’t bother looking further) but how does that fit with them declining warranty issues if you’ve worked on the bike? I guess “assembly” might only be fitting wheels and straightening bars, but nevertheless!

 

[High Rock Ruti]

Have a read of this tale of woe...

Warranty denied as I stripped the bike down?

January 13, 2023 - Has anyone ever had a warranty denied on the basis of it being serviced by a non authorised dealer? Had a cracked frame, contacted the local dealer, they

singletrackworld.com

High Rock Ruti

Sorry to hear of successful corporations acting like this. It could be that despite the letter of the warranty Giant will offer coverage as good will.

In Massachusetts we have an "implied warranty of merchantability", that supersedes written factory warranties. it says that any product sold in the State must be fit for the use it was intended, a cracked frame does not meet that standard.

Google returns this:
Section 2-314 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which is law in every state but Louisiana, covers the implied warranty of merchantability.

In addition, many States have statutes restricting "unfair and deceptive trade practices". If on the face of it, the frame has a "lifetime warranty", having fine print exceptions may constitute just such a unfair and deceptive practice.

I ran into this exact situation with a Pivot Shuttle rear seat stay, cracked in two with a twisted failure. There was absolutely no sign of impact, the warranty "man" said it was trail damage, cost $800 to the bike shop. Remember when Pivot made a splashy announcement that they were increasing the existing 5 year warranty to 10 years, wow what a company, at Pivots discretion.

I do want to give Pivot high marks for the Shuttle, it was a break through in carbon forming and although the bike is under powered by todays standards, the handling to my ass feels really good, too bad about warranty "man".

Not Sure about other countries, hard to believe the EU would be any less "pro" consumer.

Finally the world class warranty standard......Specialized bikes. I have now had 9 motors replaced and two full refunds across three turbo Levo's; fantastic "stand-behind-what-you-sell". I've given up getting upset when the utter POS Brose gives up the ghost, (this bike has averaged 250 to 300 miles) I trust the Brand Specialized and that means more to me than a crap motor. And of course my 2021 Turbo Levo Pro is an unbelievable riding bike, and also a very nice; each new motor starts the two year warranty anew.

Please let us know how this story ends

Warm Regards Ruti

 

[vince_a]

Giant turn up on stw with a totally limp and contradictory explanation, now getting a thorough kicking. Talk about self inflicted grief.

 

[big_scot_nanny]

Yeah. it's really not a good look, is it. I am 6 weeks and 600km into Reign E+ ownership, it's a bloody glorious bike. But... I swapped the bars, chainring cranks and brakes.

Yikes!

Interested to see what the shop say when I go back for anything.

 

[cappuccino34]

The LAW around warranties is the the service schedule is met, not over who does the service, otherwise it's a monopoly and monopolies are illegal in the UK (unless you're a massive rip-off utility, they're exempt).

If the OP can show that the service schedule has been met, Giant should honour the warranty. Otherwise, selling a bike with a 'lifetime frame warranty' is misrepresentation.

Giant would also have to show that a lack of serving CAUSED the frame to crack.

Stick to your guns, threaten to go legal, it's unlikely that they'll continue to fight.