Halfords Cycle to Work Scheme - Grrr

[NeilC]

So I'm having a bit of an issue with Halfords and I am not sure where I stand - just wondering if anyone knows from a legalese perspective what I should do here... I'll try and keep this as brief as possible...

So I took delivery of a new Canandale Synapse 2011 105 last week and it turns out it was damaged in transit. Basically rear derailer screwed, rear wheel buckled, and who knows what else. Halfords do not stock Canondale's so they ordered it through a supplier (LeisureLake bikes) in Lancashire... I live in London :-/

I took it to Halfords and the guy said that they would return the bike and ask them to send a new one boxed up that Halfords would build on delivery so it wouldn't get damaged again in transit. He also said that he would not be happy with just replacing the parts as there could be structural damage - I agreed with this and was happy about the resolution.

However, Halfords then turned around a few days later and said LeisureLake bikes would only replace the broken components. I asked them about potential structural damage and they were like, Oh yeah that's a point, and are now sending the bike back up to Lancashire from London to be assessed, repaired and then sent back. So it didn't make it down safely once, and their solution is to send it on another 2 journeys up north and back?!

My solution to this would be to return the bike to LeisureLakes, return the voucher, and get one of their London suppliers to supply a new bike I will go and collect. This way there is zero risk of the bike being damaged.

Halfords are basically saying to me that I do not have the same rights as a consumer and cannot return a faulty product to the store I bought it from - they are insisting that the bike goes on another 2 journeys, and is assessed by the store who supplied it. I do not believe it is in LeisureLakes best interest to supply a new bike as a replacement and expect the same bike returned. The bike obviously was crushed on the way down to me so I don't particularly want this one now.

Is there anything I can do about this? I work for a pretty cool company and most of us are already unhappy with Halfords so will be getting them to change CTW provider asap, but really looking for a short term solution here :-)

Thanks in advance

Neil

 

[lejogger]

Wow, sounds like a bit of a pickle.

How willing would your company be to get involved and throw some weight behind this on the basis that they're considering a change of provider if Halfords don't pull their finger out. It is in their best interest when you consider that the bike is their property/asset until they choose to transfer ownership to you at the end of the hire agreement, so they're not going to want to be purchasing damaged goods.

Get your C2W rep to speak to the scheme implementation manager - I am the rep for our company and it's what I'd do. Even though it shouldn't be the case, your company's complaint may carry more weight than yours.

Phil

 

[Norm]

I'd just tell them you are not going to accept that bike. However, the intricacies of C2W legislation may actually mean that Halfords may be correct that you don't have the same protection as a consumer as it's a business-to-business transaction.

Developing on Lejog's comments, it's your company's bike (warm cup of deja vu, anyone? ) so they should be the one who gets all heavy on Halfords' ass.

However, I'd reject the bike anyway.

 

[NeilC]

Thanks for the replies guys. It's uber frustrating as I was quite excited to be getting a nice shiny new bike and now I have no bike and lots of hassle at the mo...
I'm going to speak to HR tomorrow as they are the reps for us - I also have a call scheduled with Halfords implementation manager tomorrow morning (just going through the usual escalations at the mo).

The guy I spoke to this afternoon alluded to the fact that I was 'hiring' the bike rather than buying it. I stopped him there as I am aware that Halfords (or their supplier) are not renting it out - they are selling it (albeit to my company) so in theory my company has the standard consumer rights that say you are entitled to return faulty goods for a full refund. The guy from Halfords also said that I couldn't get the voucher back or even choose another bike as it says so in their T&Cs. I've looked at their T&C's and can find no such statement, but I did find this from another scheme's T&Cs (http://www.bike2workscheme.co.uk/terms.php):

"2.4.2 in relation to all Bike Equipment supplied to an Employee, the Bike Shop shall carry out any repairs or provide any replacements which the Bike Shop would be under a legal obligation to carry out or otherwise provide if the Employee had purchased the relevant items directly from the Bike Shop."

Shame I can't find an equivalent on Halfords. I guess I'll see what happens tomorrow - it seems like they are going to insist on me taking the "repaired" bike and I am going to insist on a new one. I have a sinking feeling that I'm not going to be riding this new bike anytime soon though :-(

 

[davefb]

err so 2.4.2 says 'as if you were a normal person'

so you are totally entitled to a new bike and it's halfords problem to sort it....

and if that means they have to go and get from a different supplier , then so be it... they took the money, they failed to deliver...

and +1 for what norm said.... 'i do not accept this bike'...

 

[Norm]

... so in theory my company has the standard consumer rights that say you are entitled to return faulty goods for a full refund.

I don't know the answer to this, as I haven't seen the Halfords C2W terms & conditions which your employer would have signed up to, but the above is not legally correct.

As I said above, your employer does not have "consumer" rights, as your employer is not a consumer.

You might have recourse through the Halfords terms, though, as the C2W section of their site says that "Your bike will then be built and inspected by a qualified bike mechanic, ready for you to ride away". If, as seems likely, your bike was not inspected and "ready for you to ride away", then that would play into your hands.

When did you realise that there was a problem? Was it at the store? How was delivery arranged?

 

[NeilC]

You might have recourse through the Halfords terms, though, as the C2W section of their site says that "Your bike will then be built and inspected by a qualified bike mechanic, ready for you to ride away". If, as seems likely, your bike was not inspected and "ready for you to ride away", then that would play into your hands.

The thing is that it's not a Halfords bike. One of the reasons that they persuaded my company to sign up with them was that they had the ability to source "Virtually any" bike (Yeah right - they couldn't get any of my first 3 choices of bike, Focus Cayo, Planet-X carbon, and even the 2010 Boardman team carbon were all unavailable). So the bike had to be delivered from one of their suppliers (another bike store) as Halfords do not supply it directly. I am not sure why they chose LeisureLake bikes in Lancashire when I live in London - they have plenty of Suppliers in London. But the problem here was the bike was built and inspected at LeisureLake and sent directly to me through a courier. So if I'd gone up to Lancashire I'm sure it would have been fine.

When did you realise that there was a problem? Was it at the store? How was delivery arranged?

I didn't realise there was a problem until I rode the bike for the first time (I'm sure someone more familiar with bikes would have spotted the bent out of shape derailer). I attempted to ride it home from work and discovered that I had about 3 usable gears (which were all noisy) and the chain derailed twice on my way home. Not a pleasant journey. The bike basically was in a big cardboard box, pre-built, and without much protection. The lorry it came on was full of other boxes of stuff so it more than likely got bashed around on it's long journey south.

 

[Norm]

The thing is that it's not a Halfords bike.
<<snip>>
So the bike had to be delivered from one of their suppliers (another bike store) as Halfords do not supply it directly. I am not sure why they chose LeisureLake bikes in Lancashire when I live in London - they have plenty of Suppliers in London. But the problem here was the bike was built and inspected at LeisureLake and sent directly to me through a courier. So if I'd gone up to Lancashire I'm sure it would have been fine.

Whilst it is not a Halfords bike, the contract for the purchase is between your employer and Halfords. If Halfords choose to outsource the supply, that's not your problem.

I didn't realise there was a problem until I rode the bike for the first time (I'm sure someone more familiar with bikes would have spotted the bent out of shape derailer).

That's unfortunate but it doesn't change the issue.

Is the bike with Halfords at the moment?

 

[NeilC]

Yes the bike is still with Halfords at the moment - they are getting it couriered back tonight to LeisureLakes.

Spoke to the Implementation manager earlier and they are refusing to budge. They are insisting that the bike is assessed and returned to me as per their policy etc. However, it turns out the law may well be in my favour. Got some legal advice and apparently I'm covered under the Distance Selling Regulations that give significantly more rights than buying from a shop face to face. I have a 7 day cooling off period that allows me to cancel regardless of the condition of the bike.

Been onto the LeisureLakes site and there own Cycle to work scheme confirm this (http://www.leisure-lakes-c2w.com/files/Scheme_Guidelines.pdf):

Para 9.4:

"An employee may also have the benefit of additional cancellation rights provided by the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (the Distance Selling Regulations). If the contract for the hire of the cycle or cyclists’ safety equipment makes use of distance communication up to and including the moment at which the contract is concluded, then the Distance Selling Regulations may apply, for instance, if the contract is sent to the employee by post for execution or information about the scheme is relayed by telephone or electronic means and there is no face to face contact between the parties – see OFT guidance for details."

So just tried ringing Halfords again(!) to drop this bombshell but they are out at lunch. I'll try again in 30 mins.

 

[abo]

Good luck with that one, business to busness transactions can be very different from busines to consumer...

Hope you manage to get it sorted in your favour though!

 

[davefb]

actually thats a hell of a point.... you might not have been experienced to notice a damaged bike immediately, but it's pretty unimpressive for them not to have..

think i'd be shouting at someone after that... what else wasnt seen ?

 

[Stu669]

Halfords in a nutshell no interest in the customer only taking their money

 

[NeilC]

actually thats a hell of a point.... you might not have been experienced to notice a damaged bike immediately, but it's pretty unimpressive for them not to have..

think i'd be shouting at someone after that... what else wasnt seen ?

To be fair to Halfords - at least on this point - the bike was delivered fully built directly to me. Halfords only 1st saw the bike when I took it to them after experiencing problems.

I think I'm making progress. Email was sent to them yesterday asking for them to return the bike and refund my voucher under the Distance Selling Regs. That's been escalated to their management so I'll be on the phone to them again in a bit. Just as well it's quiet where I work at the mo so I can devote lot's of time to ringing Halfords :-)

 

[davefb]

To be fair to Halfords - at least on this point - the bike was delivered fully built directly to me. Halfords only 1st saw the bike when I took it to them after experiencing problems.

I think I'm making progress. Email was sent to them yesterday asking for them to return the bike and refund my voucher under the Distance Selling Regs. That's been escalated to their management so I'll be on the phone to them again in a bit. Just as well it's quiet where I work at the mo so I can devote lot's of time to ringing Halfords :-)

ahh.. didnt realise delivered direct... (should have read properly ).


still think ( like the other poster with the immediately broken bike) that they should be apologising prostrate on the floor rather than messing you about...

 

[NeilC]

Okay so have success at last!

After much deliberation, and a lot of phone calls they have agreed to cancel the order of the bike that was damaged.

They have also agreed that I can source the bike from a local store in London (one of their partners) and can go and collect it myself, so all should be good now. Not sure what swung it in the end but the Benefits provider we use have a good relationship with Halfords so possibly that.

Anyway, the guys at Halfords CTW scheme were actually pretty good. They were always available to speak to, and the manager there did not shy away from my calls.

Just phoned the bike store in London and they actually have the bike I want in stock - in 3 different sizes - so should be able to get exactly what I want now :-)

Happy days!