Making a warranty claim against a supplier isn't always simple, as I once discovered when taking a garage to court over a faulty and substandard vehicle that I rejected after a very short period of ownership.
I had to take the supplying garage to court, the importer to court, the finance company to court, and the manufacturer to court. Each had two solicitors, plus a barrister for each company, each had their own independent assessor, and I had to have the same. The case took five years to come to court, my life and that of my family was put on hold for five years, and just my ongoing expenses pretty much ruined us.
Day one of the court case saw a complete disaster, and I'm not afraid to admit that I sat at home in tears. Day two, the judge ordered a pre court meeting, and reprimanded all in the court room, and then politely suggested that they made amends to me without going any further. I had 'kind of' won the day, but it still wasn't finished. A high court sheriff then had to become involved to get what was due to me back, and even then one of the companies was made dormant in an attempt to prevent payment. I never received any interest on the money spent, nor compensation.
The court case was in 1998, and according to my solicitor at that time, just the first day had cost the best part of £250,000.00. If I'd lost, I certainly don't believe that I would be sitting here writing this now. As it was, I had spent out 15K over the five year period. Money that I didn't have when just starting to set up a family, and I certainly wouldn't go through it again.
You imagine all of the above translated to an electric bicycle that had been modified to be used outside of it's design parameters, and it would be a very stupid person who would want to risk making that claim when or if things go wrong.
The only possible exception to the above in respect of warranty claims, could be if buying from Martin at E-Bike Shop, with his at time of writing this and prior to, apparently misleading sales pitch and advertising. I guess if your pockets are deep enough, you could screw E-Bike Shop to the wall, and rightly so. That is unless he is just paying for warranty work himself, and leaves it at that. He has been asked frequently enough about the subject, but has always refused to answer. Any claim still wouldn't wash with Bosch though, as their terms and conditions are clear enough on the subject of what they term "tuning device" meaning dongle.
If you were to be involved in an accident, and the bike was proved to be fitted with a dongle, then you might just as well potentially wave your house goodbye, or possibly watch that you don't drop the soap in the shower. In the case of buying a new bike fitted with a dongle, then unless through some exceptional circumstance of luck, then the supplying dealer might just as well wave goodbye to their house as well. Good luck with that one Martin.
Copied from E-Bike Shops web site page about dongles 03rd November 2015
"Details
Our tuning dongles remove the 15mph speed cut off point on all Bosch powered eBikes.
Works with all Bosch Model Years : 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016 on. This can only be purchased with one of of own eBikes. We will include fitting within the price. If you would like one, please add this kit and your bike to the basket together. We will then fit the wiring harness prior to the eBike leaving our workshop. We do not supply this kit for 3rd party bikes.
Please Note: This product is only available to customers who purchased their bike direct from us. This part is held in stock and is available to our customers for a quick and convenient solution. We do not supply this product to those who have bought their bikes from others.
To find out more why we don't supply parts or provide support for bikes not purchased from us please read the appropriate question on our F.A.Q page here.
The ADD TO CART button will appear to pre-approved customers when logged in. If this doesn't appear and you purchased your bike direct from us please email us with a copy of your bike purchase receipt & we will add you to our approved customer list.
Once fitted it doubles the cut off speed. It can also be used with the Bosch S pedelec motors as it works in the same way. The dongle can be easily unplugged whenever necessary to revert the bike back to normal.
The display will read the wrong mph, when the dongle is operating the speed and anything related to speed is halved, so it has to be doubled for a true reading. It's simple, if it says you are going 10mph then you are actually going 20mph. As soon as it's unplugged the speed readout will revert back to normal.
Please Note: We use reference to Bosch in the sense that this will fit our Bosch powered eBikes. This product is not manufactured, produced or endorsed by Bosch themselves.
By going over the 15mph cut off these dongles are FOR OFF ROAD (PRIVATE LAND) USE ONLY!"
There are several questionable points above, but I'd say that the last paragraph is enough to show that the dealer is intentionally misleading customers, and should be enough to make them legally accountable.
Another very questionable point is his organised e-mtb club rides. I've read mention that a percentage of the participants are using dongles. Assuming that to be true, then there is a legal minefield waiting to explode.
Comments about removing dongles for use at organised events etc, don't wash either. Who is expected to police this, and why should they. For an event organiser, a blanket ban is the only safe option. If that happens, and it will if something doesn't change, then that is the start of the end.
