Warranty Question/Problem

Edwardbooze

Pedelecer
Sep 16, 2020
31
6
Hi All:

I'm back, and this time I have a question about ebike warranties, and when the conditions warrant (pun not necessarily intended) an exchange for another bike. When can I actually demand an exchange of an ebike when the electrics go wrong?

I bought an ebike last September on Ebay. I live in Italy, and I bought the ebike from a vendor in Italy that sells all kinds of stuff, e.g. garden equipment, furniture, ebikes, etc. The bike was made in Turkey, and performed well until out of the blue it stopped charging, and then eventually the display went out. I'm not a mechanic of anything, so when the folks in Turkey sent me this video on how to test batteries and controllers, I told them that this thing should have a warranty or something, and that if something like electrics go wrong after only 10 months of use, those problems don't necessarily go away - they can get worse or never be fully solved.

At the time of purchase with my paypal account on Ebay, I was not offered a chance to buy insurance, however there must be some buyer protection assigned to my purchase. But my question is - since I'm not a mechanic and don't want to have to deal with this stuff (fixing, paying for fixing electrical problems, etc). Can I expect to get a replacement under these conditions?

Has anyone here had to use their warranty, and did it result in another ebike?
 

StuartsProjects

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 9, 2021
1,787
1,010
I suspect you will need someone with knowledge of consumer law in Italy to answer your question.

In the UK to position is fairly clear, you would not be entitled to a replacement after 10 months of use, see link below;

UK Consumer Rights
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,993
Basildon
I would say that it's quite unreasonable to expect the supplier to bear any responsibility after 10 months of use when you don't know what's wrong with the bike and haven't made any attempt to find out. The problem could be as simple as a blown fuse caused by yourself not using the correct charging procedure.

All bikes, electric or not, need maintenence/servicing from time to time. If you buy a bike on Ebay to save money, you should expect to arrange that yourself. If you're not capable, you should buy from a local dealer or an online dealer who has shipping arrangement for returns and a returns policy.

If I were you, I'd find a friend, who has a bit of technical nouse, and bribe them to use the video or our advice to find out what's wrong and fix it.
 

sjpt

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 8, 2018
3,836
2,759
Winchester
I suspect you will need someone with knowledge of consumer law in Italy to answer your question.

In the UK to position is fairly clear, you would not be entitled to a replacement after 10 months of use, see link below;

UK Consumer Rights
I suspect the rules are pretty similar in Italy. Most rules like this were the same over the EU pre-Brexit, and have not yet had time significantly to diverge.