I recently purchased a brand new motorbike from a dealer. I waited 3 weeks for a delivery date as I wanted a sissy bar fitted and a stage one upgrade done to the exhaust system. The motorcycle was on the shop floor and not having to come from the manufacturers. I took delivery and the sissy bar was not fitted due to the parts not being available. I returned to the dealership 5 days later as I was told all the parts were in for the sissy bar. They weren’t, I ended up accepting second hand parts from another identical machine just brought into the dealership that day. 3 days later I returned the bike as I was unable to select first gear every time and more worryingly, the motorcycle deciding randomly after selecting first gear, to ‘jump’ out causing me to take emergency steps to rectify the situation as invariably I would be pulling out of a T junction or worse still, onto a roundabout.
The chief technician was unavailable to check out the bike on the day I returned it. Two days later I received a telephone call from the Service Manager stating that the bike had indeed a faulty gear box which the Chief technician stated was ‘an inherent fault’ with these models and would require investigating. Unfortunately no work could be undertaken on the bike until at least 14 days later due to a back log in the service bay.
I asked to speak with the dealer principal that day and after no return call I drove to the dealership and waited to talk with him. After calling through the Chief technician to explain exactly what the problem was. The technician stated that he was in fact unable to select neutral gear and had experienced this before on other similar models, he maintained that it could take up to 1500 – 2000 miles to ‘bed’ in and was an ‘inherent problem’ on this particular model.
I explained I was dissatisfied with the explanation and asked him (and the dealer principal) where in all the literature, including the manufactures website it stated this. They could give me no explanation. I then told the dealer principal what the service manager had told me and he said that would not be the case as they have an obligation to fix the problem. I told him that I was not happy with that and that according to the Sales of Goods Act I know that the bike should be of satisfactory quality, as described and fit for purpose not to mention it lasting a reasonable length of time. I paid nearly £13,000 for this motorcycle and it is currently the top of the range model for this manufacturer.
The dealer principal asked me to agree that he take the bike back and repair it, I said that I was not agreeing to that but understood he had to do something. At this point I told him I was totally unhappy with what I guessed the outcome would be, namely the clutch fixed and returned to me. The dealer principal noted my comments and asked me to wait until the bike was fixed before I made any further decisions.
The following day I made a telephone call to the main head office of the manufactures and spoke with a service customer advisor who when I explained what had happened stated that this was not an inherent problem with these models, indeed he had just come off the phone with talking to the technician at the dealership and was familiar with my case and asked him (the technician) why he needed a new clutch.
I explained that I was unhappy and did not want the motorcycle returning to me as I had lost confidence not to mention my partner who for the first time of riding with me (due to no sissy bar being fitted when I picked it up) was totally scared of what may happen again. She very nearly decided to take a cab home rather than ride again with me, this was after the gear jumped into neutral when I pulled out onto a busy main roundabout.
The clutch has now been repaired and I received a telephone call from the dealer to call him two days ago. I decided to go up to the dealership and talk with him face to face. He told me that the bike was now 100% roadworthy and that the technician had tested it by taking it home with him. There is over 300 miles now on the clock, nearly 200 more than when I took the motorcycle back. On top of that it has had (another) new clutch fitted, assuming the first was also new.
I told the dealer principal where I stood with regards to my rights under the Sales of Goods Act 1979, he disagreed and told me he was not obliged to give me a replacement (I asked for a replacement instead of a refund) instead he pointed out that the bike was now fully fit to ride and wanted me to take it out for a test ride myself.
It has taken me a while to get to the question but I wanted everybody to hear exactly what happened the circumstances etc.
Am I right with my rights as a consumer or are they?
The chief technician was unavailable to check out the bike on the day I returned it. Two days later I received a telephone call from the Service Manager stating that the bike had indeed a faulty gear box which the Chief technician stated was ‘an inherent fault’ with these models and would require investigating. Unfortunately no work could be undertaken on the bike until at least 14 days later due to a back log in the service bay.
I asked to speak with the dealer principal that day and after no return call I drove to the dealership and waited to talk with him. After calling through the Chief technician to explain exactly what the problem was. The technician stated that he was in fact unable to select neutral gear and had experienced this before on other similar models, he maintained that it could take up to 1500 – 2000 miles to ‘bed’ in and was an ‘inherent problem’ on this particular model.
I explained I was dissatisfied with the explanation and asked him (and the dealer principal) where in all the literature, including the manufactures website it stated this. They could give me no explanation. I then told the dealer principal what the service manager had told me and he said that would not be the case as they have an obligation to fix the problem. I told him that I was not happy with that and that according to the Sales of Goods Act I know that the bike should be of satisfactory quality, as described and fit for purpose not to mention it lasting a reasonable length of time. I paid nearly £13,000 for this motorcycle and it is currently the top of the range model for this manufacturer.
The dealer principal asked me to agree that he take the bike back and repair it, I said that I was not agreeing to that but understood he had to do something. At this point I told him I was totally unhappy with what I guessed the outcome would be, namely the clutch fixed and returned to me. The dealer principal noted my comments and asked me to wait until the bike was fixed before I made any further decisions.
The following day I made a telephone call to the main head office of the manufactures and spoke with a service customer advisor who when I explained what had happened stated that this was not an inherent problem with these models, indeed he had just come off the phone with talking to the technician at the dealership and was familiar with my case and asked him (the technician) why he needed a new clutch.
I explained that I was unhappy and did not want the motorcycle returning to me as I had lost confidence not to mention my partner who for the first time of riding with me (due to no sissy bar being fitted when I picked it up) was totally scared of what may happen again. She very nearly decided to take a cab home rather than ride again with me, this was after the gear jumped into neutral when I pulled out onto a busy main roundabout.
The clutch has now been repaired and I received a telephone call from the dealer to call him two days ago. I decided to go up to the dealership and talk with him face to face. He told me that the bike was now 100% roadworthy and that the technician had tested it by taking it home with him. There is over 300 miles now on the clock, nearly 200 more than when I took the motorcycle back. On top of that it has had (another) new clutch fitted, assuming the first was also new.
I told the dealer principal where I stood with regards to my rights under the Sales of Goods Act 1979, he disagreed and told me he was not obliged to give me a replacement (I asked for a replacement instead of a refund) instead he pointed out that the bike was now fully fit to ride and wanted me to take it out for a test ride myself.
It has taken me a while to get to the question but I wanted everybody to hear exactly what happened the circumstances etc.
Am I right with my rights as a consumer or are they?
