Why can't we have courtesy bikes?

[Phil Dryden]

A post borne out frustration and not a little irritation. My bike is just short of a year old and has had to go into the dealers for some warranty work as I had an electrical issue and found some burned phase wiring when I took the controller compartment cover off. It has now been in the dealers for approaching 4 weeks. I am told it needs a new controller, torque sensor, and some replacement wiring. There has been to-ing and fro-ing between the dealer and manufacturer, and trying to pin down exactly what is happening and where responsibility lies for the delay is like nailing jelly to a wall. I know that there are industry shortages at present, but that is not the problem here. Just poor communication, non-communication, and general inefficiency. My point is simply this; why can a dealer not supply a courtesy bike for the duration of the repair? It need only be a fairly basic model but it keeps the customer mobile, and is an incentive for the dealer to progress the job quickly. Many shops will allow customers to test ride bikes prior to purchase, but such goodwill appears to evaporate once the bike is purchased. Garages will happily do it when a car is in for service/repair. I am sure most bike customers would not object to a nominal sum for deposit and insurance.

 

[richtea99]

Good idea. However, it means having spare bikes. There aren't any right now.
In say 5 years time, when ebikes are more common, maybe the courtesy bike will be a little extra that retailers will use to get you to come to them. That would be sweet.

The normal trick (well, for motorbikes) is to loan you the next model up, in an attempt to convince you to part-ex. I don't think we're at that stage yet...

 

[cyclebuddy]

If ever there was an argument for owning more than one e-bike...