Unbelievably bad experience with a Haibike SDURO Trekking S RX

[chris130256]

I don't understand why they don't fix it if they're not being unhelpful/rude. There doesn't look like evidence of a fall 'cause the lever isn't damaged. A UK dealer would get this repaired as soon as possible. The importer would pay for the fix and offending item sent back to Magura for testing.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

Raleigh is Haibike importer in the UK so any Haibike warranty claims in the UK would handled by them and I presume their costs would be refunded by Haibike . However if this is a manufacturing fault then Magura needs to know and inspect the lever as they may have to issue a re-call. The OP's best course of action would be to email Magura and send the the pictures.

However I hadn't spotted it was an "S" class bike so that may change things.

This is completely the wrong course of action. The customers contract is with the shop! The shop deals with the Haibike Distributor in France, who then deal with Haibike in Germany, and Haibike deal with Magura, who themselves will deal with smaller component and raw material suppliers. You don't go further and further up the supply chain if there is a problem.

This OPs issue is with the dealer and they are using Haibike in France to play bad cop, so that the shop gets to be good cop.

Emailing Magura is pretty much a waste of time, it might make you feel better, but it'll just upset everyone else in the supply chain, including the ones that might be on your side.

Far better to go into the shop and ask them nicely if they'll upgrade your brakes to Shimano or Hope at their cost price as a good solution for eveyone.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Thank you for your response, but the part that broke is not aluminium, it's a plastic of some kind. Have you never had something plastic just break at some point in your life? Trust me, there are all kinds of defects that can occur during the manufacturing process...

Your photo shows that it was an light alloy part that broke, not plastic. why do you keep saying that its plastic?

 

[Scott Nelson]

Your photo shows that it was an light alloy part that broke, not plastic. why do you keep saying that its plastic?

Because it is not metal. (Not aluminium, and not alloy.) Also, the screws holding it to the handlebars are not bolts, they're screws, indicating that it is a softer material than metal. Plus on the Magura website they call it “Carbotecture” ®

 

[Scott Nelson]

Far better to go into the shop and ask them nicely if they'll upgrade your brakes to Shimano or Hope at their cost price as a good solution for eveyone.

Agreed, but Hope dose not make a brake lever that will actuate the brake light, and it seems Shimano doesn't either...

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

Agreed, but Hope dose not make a brake lever that will actuate the brake light, and it seems Shimano doesn't either...

ah, you've got one of the sPedelecs then. Not legally able to be used in the UK. Its a class of moped, so the bicycle brands won't make anything.

They also have to have ball ended levers so again a cycle brake won't work.

You do realise you can't use that bike in the UK don't you?

 

[Danidl]

Hi

Yes, I was so hopeful that one of the members here would come over and mend my brake. And I especially wanted to warn current owners not to buy the bike they already have. That makes a lot of sense.

Hi Scott, my understanding is that your contract is with the retail shop and they are required to sell goods suitable for the purpose. If there was a manufacturing defect , whether it occurred in the factory, or in the showroom, is irrelevant. . The process normally is that the customer brings the product back to the shop, along with the bill of sale, states that it is not of merchantability quality and the shop then agrees or dispute s . The shop can then make claims with the wholesale r and there are processes for this , which need not concern the retail customer. They will all however require that the serial number of the defective product be proven , so inspection by the retailer is necessary.
There are a variety of reasons why an item fails. There may be misassembly putting pressure on parts not intended , there may be latent voids in a plastic fill or they may have been abused.
Please excuse some of the response s by other members of this forum. Only last week we were subject to a similar posting which when investigated didhad been economic with the truth. . And some of this panel are still feeling raw about it. Fellow posters , please read the entire thread before responding, some of us are guilty of just responding to the last comment and making assumptions.
In my opinion there is some hyperbole in your inital posting . The failure of a small part in an expensive product is annoying but not catastrophic. The behaviour of the shop could and should be more sympathetic. But if this has been the most unbelievable bad experience , you have led a charmed life.

, But if you brought only a photograph of the defect what where they to conclude.? Were you dealing with the same person from phone you bought the items nearly a month previously? Was the shop busy. I understand that you went there on Saturday . Did you present the bill of sale? There is no need to answer these questions on the forum
My experience of French retailers, and I do have extensive experience , is that they are very clued up on customer rights and extremely courteous , if one is courteous back to them . (Perhaps it is different in Paris). I have also found that they operate very much within limits and systems. If you went to the person who was not allocated to SAV that day they will ignore you.
. So in summary, you will need to bring the bike back in, you are normally entitled to this six week service, and demand politely and firmly that the defect be replaced.

 

[RobF]

I agree the contract is with the retailer.

In my experience, the bike shop will ask the supplier and if they agree to pay, the bike shop will fix it.

If the supplier says no, the bike shop will not fix it.

Strictly speaking, that's a flawed approach.

The part is either faulty or it isn't.

So the bike shop saying 'we will fix it if someone else pays' is missing the point.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

I agree the contract is with the retailer.

In my experience, the bike shop will ask the supplier and if they agree to pay, the bike shop will fix it.

If the supplier says no, the bike shop will not fix it.

Strictly speaking, that's a flawed approach.

The part is either faulty or it isn't.

So the bike shop saying 'we will fix it if someone else pays' is missing the point.

That's not really how it works in reality though. Bike brands like to keep bike shops happy, so we generally do things they ask.

So its actually the other way round normally.

Bike brand will just do what the shop asks.

In this case I suspect the bike shop might not even have wasted their time asking the Haibike Distributor. they've probably decided this lever was cracked by the bike falling over, or being loaded into a car or some other issue. clearly brake levers don't fail like this in normal use or it would be a news story. So they've decided its not a manufacturing fault, and therefore its not a warranty. They are probably just blaming the distributor so they don't have to have an argument with the customer.

 

[Scott Nelson]

You do realise you can't use that bike in the UK don't you?

I thought I could with a licence, number plates and insurance. Not the case?

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

I thought I could with a licence, number plates and insurance. Not the case?

sorry... not the case. There is no category to put it into really. You have to turn it into a full moped and register it in that class, which will need type approval. What you have is currently illegal to use in the UK.

 

[RobF]

That's not really how it works in reality though. Bike brands like to keep bike shops happy, so we generally do things they ask.

So its actually the other way round normally.

Bike brand will just do what the shop asks.

In this case I suspect the bike shop might not even have wasted their time asking the Haibike Distributor. they've probably decided this lever was cracked by the bike falling over, or being loaded into a car or some other issue. clearly brake levers don't fail like this in normal use or it would be a news story. So they've decided its not a manufacturing fault, and therefore its not a warranty. They are probably just blaming the distributor so they don't have to have an argument with the customer.

Col,

It is how it works, but as you say it can work in the customer's favour.

My local bike shop enjoys a long and good relationship with the Cannondale distributor.

Chris the manager there tells me they can get warranty claims paid on Cannondales which arguably shouldn't be, and certainly wouldn't be paid on other brands.

But the fact remains the decision to the customer is based on if the brand will pay, which is not quite right.

Whether the customer gets his claim paid should be solely down to whether, on a reasonable view, it's a fair claim.

But it isn't based on that, the decision is solely based on whether the supplier will pay, which is not the same thing.

 

[Scott Nelson]

Hi

In my opinion there is some hyperbole in your inital posting . The failure of a small part in an expensive product is annoying but not catastrophic. The behaviour of the shop could and should be more sympathetic. But if this has been the most unbelievable bad experience , you have led a charmed life.

Sorry, I guess I was upset when I wrote it. But it is not the part breaking that made me upset. Parts break all the time. No, it was the fact that after spending over £5,000 on these bikes just three weeks earlier, that Haibike would refuse to fix a broken off brake lever... That is what was unbelievably bad to me.

However, as I wrote earlier, it could have been catastophic had the failure happened as I was approaching an intersection or some other danger.

I also appreciate your comments concerning the other posters on here. I must say I was taken aback by the in some cases vitriolic responses to my first post...

 

[Scott Nelson]

sorry... not the case. There is no category to put it into really. You have to turn it into a full moped and register it in that class, which will need type approval. What you have is currently illegal to use in the UK.

Wow, good to know. But it is legal in all other EU countries... How did that happen?

So you're saying that even if I register it as a moped here in France, have French plates, insurance, etc., it will still be illegal to ride it in the U.K.?

 

[RobF]

Sorry, I guess I was upset when I wrote it. But it is not the part breaking that made me upset. Parts break all the time. No, it was the fact that after spending over £5,000 on these bikes just three weeks earlier, that Haibike would refuse to fix a broken off brake lever... That is what was unbelievably bad to me.

However, as I wrote earlier, it could have been catastophic had the failure happened as I was approaching an intersection or some other danger.

I also appreciate your comments concerning the other posters on here. I must say I was taken aback by the in some cases vitriolic responses to my first post...

The cynic in me says the decision in your case may partly be based on the cost of the part.

Most Magura levers are relatively expensive - fifty quid or so.

A brake light actuator lever could be double that.

If the broken bit was available as a separate assembly for a few euros, you might not have had this difficulty.

 

[Scott Nelson]

The cynic in me says the decision in your case may partly be based on the cost of the part.

Most Magura levers are relatively expensive - fifty quid or so.

A brake light actuator lever could be double that.

If the broken bit was available as a separate assembly for a few euros, you might not have had this difficulty.

Could be. But the lever is fine. It's the master cylinder part that broke. And their cost on these is really a few pence...

 

[RobF]

Could be. But the lever is fine. It's the master cylinder part that broke. And their cost on these is really a few pence...

If the cost of the part is low, then I would be looking to strike a deal with the shop along the lines of 'I will pay for it, you fit it.'

 

[Deleted member 4366]

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

Col,

It is how it works, but as you say it can work in the customer's favour.

My local bike shop enjoys a long and good relationship with the Cannondale distributor.

Chris the manager there tells me they can get warranty claims paid on Cannondales which arguably shouldn't be, and certainly wouldn't be paid on other brands.

But the fact remains the decision to the customer is based on if the brand will pay, which is not quite right.

Whether the customer gets his claim paid should be solely down to whether, on a reasonable view, it's a fair claim.

But it isn't based on that, the decision is solely based on whether the supplier will pay, which is not the same thing.

You've just highlighted exactly what I'm saying. Its not about the brand its about the shop.

Their relationship with Cannondale ensure things happen when they want it to. Just as if they don't think its a warranty they won't ask Cannondale. Its exactly how we work with our good dealers.

Its all about the shop, not the decision of the brand really. Its about what the shop wants to happen. Your example backs that up.

The shop is the one who knows the customer, knows the bike, and its them who decide if its reasonable. The brand is just blamed when the decision doesn't go the way the customer wants.

 

[Scott Nelson]

If the cost of the part is low, then I would be looking to strike a deal with the shop along the lines of 'I will pay for it, you fit it.'

Their cost is low. Retail price is high. So I'd rather get the part for free and fix it myself! (Although now I'm thinking about adding a magnetic switch to my awesome Hope brakes to activate the brake light...)