New bike - stem clamp not tightened resulting in catastrophic failure

[amaferanga]

I'd suspect that the guy messed around with it, didn't put it back together again properly and now doesn't want to admit to being inept so is blaming someone else.

 

[ianrauk]

So the guy is not happy with an apology and a fix or perhaps a like for like replacement. (If any of this is warranted as I also suspect not is all it seems. Stems do not fall off suddenly.. one would know if was going to fall off anytime soon.), he want's to scam £600 out of the company. And people wonder why this country is going to the bloody dogs.

 

[Alien8]

I advised that when he takes it back - the bike is now quite damaged - he should be after some serious goodwill. An upgrade to a £1000 bike wouldn't be unreasonable IMHO. If not, a letter to the Chief Exec, naming the manager on duty at the point of sale.

Are you Max Clifford?

 

[mickle]

I sold a very nice Kona Killuea to a lad C.1997, a thousand quid steel hardtail. He brought it back in a few days later demanding a refund and 'compensation'. The rear wheel had half its spokes ripped out, the rim was toast and the flange had gone on the hub - so nothing to save there. One of the rear V brake arms was bent all out of whack, trashed, but worst of all the rear canti' boss had been bent almost at a right angle, twisting the seat stay to shoot in the process. Frame was a gonner basically - replacing a stay on a tig welded frame isn't something most framebuiders will tackle.

He was absolutely livid - insisting on getting what he thought he had coming to him and making a big cerfuffle in the shop. He got sweet Fanny Adams out of me - except sympathy.

Why? Because he'd taken it dirt jumping and had cack-landed the rear wheel rendering it so tacoed that it wouldn't pass through the brakes. So he'd unhooked the rear brake to get it home, allowing the V brake to swing down into the spokes. I felt for him I really did but he got nowt out of me.

A couple of years later - in a different shop - the guy who had a Syncros carbon seatpost fail over a woop and send shards up his ass. He settled for a team strip and an apology.

I wouldn't have...

 

[gb155]

I sold a very nice Kona Killuea to a lad C.1997, a thousand quid steel hardtail. He brought it back in a few days later demanding a refund and 'compensation'. The rear wheel had half its spokes ripped out, the rim was toast and the flange had gone on the hub - so nothing to save there. One of the rear V brake arms was bent all out of whack, trashed, but worst of all the rear canti' boss had been bent almost at a right angle, twisting the seat stay to shoot in the process. Frame was a gonner basically - replacing a stay on a tig welded frame isn't something most framebuiders will tackle.

He was absolutely livid - insisting on getting what he thought he had coming to him and making a big cerfuffle in the shop. He got sweet Fanny Adams out of me - except sympathy.

Why? Because he'd taken it dirt jumping and had cack-landed the rear wheel rendering it so tacoed that it wouldn't pass through the brakes. So he'd unhooked the rear brake to get it home, allowing the V brake to swing down into the spokes. I felt for him I really did but he got nowt out of me.

A couple of years later - in a different shop - the guy who had a Syncros carbon seatpost fail over a woop and send shards up his ass. He settled for a team strip and an apology.

I wouldn't have...

Flip side, just for balance , nothing else, is I get a trek 6300 (or 6700) and on the way to work (Was a commuter only, with slicks too) 7 of the spokes popped, the rim bucked etc etc

I was around 23 stone at the time, but it was just road riding, not fast, not hard, no jumps etc etc

Took it to the shop, they accused me of abusing it (Bike was a week old and didnt have a mark on it)

In the end they replaced it BUT when they gave it back they had set the limit screws wrong (I asked them to check the gears as there was issues)

and 5 mins later the rear mech went into the spokes taking about 3 out

took it back, waited a week, the boss phoned me, accused me of all sorts, agreed to do it for "Good will"

but when I picked it up was told that I was too fat for slicks and I should be riding on 2.3 knobbly's

Now I REALLY should have kicked off but I was belittled in a shop fully of skinny cyclists

The shop in question ISNT a chain of stores and is a famous Manchester Shop

 

[abo]

Not forgetting that we all contribute in terms of increased prices in today's liability culture. That said I would certainly be writing to the chairman of the company personally, find the name on Google and write chairman's complaint on the envelope and letter, if the company is a PLC this seems to have the desired affect.

Found this the other day:

http://www.ceoemail.com/

Sent a formally written, polite email to Halfords CE on Thursday and got a response back from his PA later that morning, promising my complaint would be investigated.

If you're complaining to a large company then you'll find that with people being more savvy about writing directly to the man in charge these days the company will have an executive complaints department. Doubtless my complaint will have been redirected there. But (from experience with a former employer) these people aren't just regular customer service staff just sat at a seperate desk, so we'll see. Plus the PA's email signature had a phone number on so if I don't hear back soon I cold give her a bell

Sorry, bit of a thread hijack there! But try the website I linked, it looks useful.

 

[abo]

Reading more of the thread I've gotta admit this sounds a bit hmm...

Never go into the shop all guns blazing, you just look like a twat to all the other customers and it just gets the staff's backs up often making them less likely to be helpful
Don't go in demanding a frankly unreasonable level of compensation, it just looks like a scam
Don't write to the CEO as first option. I went front line staff -> store manager -> customer 'service' phone number -> CEO

 

[GrumpyGregry]

What would I do? Learn how to do an M check before riding a bike. As I maintain my own bikes I know full well that even a perfectly torqued up fastening can come undone with use.

 

[Bensbikespares]

What would I do? Learn how to do an M check before riding a bike. As I maintain my own bikes I know full well that even a perfectly torqued up fastening can come undone with use.

+1 and even i have had a few bits go wrong but its just bikes (and me )

If you paid £400 and want £1000 componsation somthing there smells abit

 

[youngoldbloke]

Just cannot understand how the bolts would be tight enough for the bars to feel OK, and then undo themselves to the extent of the plate and bars falling off? How could this happen without the rider noticing something was amiss? OP please clarify.

 

[Graham1]

So the guy is not happy with an apology and a fix or perhaps a like for like replacement. (If any of this is warranted as I also suspect not is all it seems. Stems do not fall off suddenly.. one would know if was going to fall off anytime soon.), he want's to scam £600 out of the company. And people wonder why this country is going to the bloody dogs.

couldnt agree more, all people think about now is trying to get something for nothing. Whats wrong with a good old fashioned apology and yes sir we will put that right .

 

[Howard]

Just cannot understand how the bolts would be tight enough for the bars to feel OK, and then undo themselves to the extent of the plate and bars falling off? How could this happen without the rider noticing something was amiss? OP please clarify.

I suspect they didn't feel OK, but as the chap in question is no expert on cycling at all, I'm assuming he didn't know what / if anything was wrong until the bars were sliding around in the stem. From what I can gather from him, the bars felt loose towards the end of his ride, then the bars came away with the stem face plate falling off. Speculating, I'd imagine bolts could have been incorrectly fitted, came loose, probably dropped out loosening the bars and the remaining bolts sheared under stress. This chap is big, with a lot of upper body strength - to me it didn't seem implausible that he could shear a stem bolt or two.

Now, you can say that when the bars started to feel loose he should have stopped, and we all know this is what all of us would have done, as we know a thing or two about bikes. But this chap doesn't. Like a great deal of the people who buy bikes these days. Not unreasonably in the first week after purchasing the bike he just wants to ride it, not spend his time checking every nut and bolt on the off-chance that the intern who was working that day didn't notice the torque wrench calibration was off. After all, cycling is supposed to be fun, right?

You are right though, he could be lying, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. If events are accurately described, to me it seems it could well have been negligence on the shop's part, and could have caused a very nasty accident. To me, for an establishment to not take responsibility for that negligence and not going a country mile to put things right is a sign of that establishment going to the dogs, if anything. And in having to compensate their customer for this, I'd hope the knock on effect would mean more stringent checks before bikes left the store, which is good for everyone IMHO.

 

[mickle]

Like I said Howard - stem front caps simply do not fail in this way. Your friend is lying. Pure and simple.

 

[4F]

sorry but your friend's ignorance in this cannot be soley down to the shop. if he felt something was wrong he should of stopped, much like you would if a warning light came on whilst driving a car

 

[Chris.IOW]

If events are accurately described, to me it seems it could well have been negligence on the shop's part, and could have caused a very nasty accident.

Fortunately compensation is designed to compensate for what DID happen not what COULD have happened. Otherwise everytime I parked my car I would have to start compensating people for the fact that I could have caused a nasty accident.

Your friend has a duty of care to themselves and should ensure their bike was in a road worthy condition, yes we expect things to be okay for the first few weeks of riding, but my new bikes front brake calipers came loose on my third ride, I felt it was a bit loose, I stopped I tightened it and I was new to riding!

Other peoples failings do not remove the requirement to have some common sense.

Rant over!!