Ts and Cs are an issue with many products, but with electric bikes they can be especially complicated.
This is because they are a relatively new product to the UK market.
You can read our Sales Conditions here, and warranty here.
Before accepting an order, we try hard to make sure the bike is right.
We check things like purpose (leisure? commuting? both?), rider weight, rider height and other details such as local terrain . We input the customer ' s postcode into our Clearway Predictor to check local hills and
lastly run through issues such as disabilites, age and expectations.
Just to give you an idea, we've had all of the following to deal with: a Malaysian lady who fancied a Sundowner.
I've been to Malaysia, know for a fact that 90% of ladies there are under 5ft tall...and the Sundowner is an elegant but whopping great 20 inch framed model with 28 inch wheels.
Witness too the case of the rider with bad arthritis in her right hand who probably wouldn't be able to turn the throttle easily and hadn't realised.
Not to mention retired 'Jones the Bread' from Ebbw Vale who'd had a new right knee and left hip in quick succession, couldn't pedal and weighed 24 stone.
We also try to make things as clear as possible when we send out a bike - despite how many checks we may have made at the point of order.
Before the customer opens the carton, a label on the top indicates that there is an envelope underneath the flap containing their receipt and instruction manual - a pretty comprehensive affair of 24 pages or so of which the first 5 or 6 are dedicated not to the technicalities of the bike but to consumer issues such as expectations, warranty and returns. The label - and front page of the manual - urge the customer to read everything at all costs before riding.
Our warranty is strictly 12 months - 365 days - from the date of receipt, and the reason for this is that our suppliers give us exactly the same on most parts.
Obviously some cases can be slightly contentious - we have for example a few customers who declare on the 364th day that they have noticed a 'knocking' noise, their motor is 'whining a bit' or their battery no longer seems to be charging properly - this kind of thing.
And sometimes of course we have customers reporting the same into the 13th or 14th month after they bought the bike.
We try to be fair in these circumstances by considering the merits of the case.
If we feel that the customer is trying to take advantage of a last minute warranty replacement, we explain why it just isn't possible.
If we feel that the case is borderline, we will almost certainly offer free parts and labour, for example, but ask that carriage to and fro - up to £39 - be paid by the customer.
Almost all our customers are intelligent, cooperative people and accept this without question .
Our customers want us to be flexible if at all possible - we ask of our suppliers the same.
So....depending upon individual cases, we may occasionally agree, even outside the warranty terms, to offer a free replacement part if we think that the part, or assembly, was genuinely faulty at the point of manufacture.
In these days of consumer rights, EU law and small profit margins (goodness knows, ours are), it is very hard to strike an acceptable balance.
I think the key is to be absolutely honest with our customers, point out where their expectations may be a little too high at times but be completely fair to those with a genuine problem, compromise on warranty terms if we possibly can and make sure that everyone is happy in the end.
Not easy...but that's what we try to do.
This is because they are a relatively new product to the UK market.
You can read our Sales Conditions here, and warranty here.
Before accepting an order, we try hard to make sure the bike is right.
We check things like purpose (leisure? commuting? both?), rider weight, rider height and other details such as local terrain . We input the customer ' s postcode into our Clearway Predictor to check local hills and
lastly run through issues such as disabilites, age and expectations.
Just to give you an idea, we've had all of the following to deal with: a Malaysian lady who fancied a Sundowner.
I've been to Malaysia, know for a fact that 90% of ladies there are under 5ft tall...and the Sundowner is an elegant but whopping great 20 inch framed model with 28 inch wheels.
Witness too the case of the rider with bad arthritis in her right hand who probably wouldn't be able to turn the throttle easily and hadn't realised.
Not to mention retired 'Jones the Bread' from Ebbw Vale who'd had a new right knee and left hip in quick succession, couldn't pedal and weighed 24 stone.
We also try to make things as clear as possible when we send out a bike - despite how many checks we may have made at the point of order.
Before the customer opens the carton, a label on the top indicates that there is an envelope underneath the flap containing their receipt and instruction manual - a pretty comprehensive affair of 24 pages or so of which the first 5 or 6 are dedicated not to the technicalities of the bike but to consumer issues such as expectations, warranty and returns. The label - and front page of the manual - urge the customer to read everything at all costs before riding.
Our warranty is strictly 12 months - 365 days - from the date of receipt, and the reason for this is that our suppliers give us exactly the same on most parts.
Obviously some cases can be slightly contentious - we have for example a few customers who declare on the 364th day that they have noticed a 'knocking' noise, their motor is 'whining a bit' or their battery no longer seems to be charging properly - this kind of thing.
And sometimes of course we have customers reporting the same into the 13th or 14th month after they bought the bike.
We try to be fair in these circumstances by considering the merits of the case.
If we feel that the customer is trying to take advantage of a last minute warranty replacement, we explain why it just isn't possible.
If we feel that the case is borderline, we will almost certainly offer free parts and labour, for example, but ask that carriage to and fro - up to £39 - be paid by the customer.
Almost all our customers are intelligent, cooperative people and accept this without question .
Our customers want us to be flexible if at all possible - we ask of our suppliers the same.
So....depending upon individual cases, we may occasionally agree, even outside the warranty terms, to offer a free replacement part if we think that the part, or assembly, was genuinely faulty at the point of manufacture.
In these days of consumer rights, EU law and small profit margins (goodness knows, ours are), it is very hard to strike an acceptable balance.
I think the key is to be absolutely honest with our customers, point out where their expectations may be a little too high at times but be completely fair to those with a genuine problem, compromise on warranty terms if we possibly can and make sure that everyone is happy in the end.
Not easy...but that's what we try to do.
