Specialized labour charges

[Swissrider]

Does anybody know the definitive situation regarding labour charges when a motor is replaced under guarantee by Specialized? Also, if this applies world wide. I bought my 2018 Kenevo in Chamonix, France (because I work there from time to time and have a good relationship with Zero Gravity shop) although I live over the border in Switzerland. A few weeks ago my motor started making clicking and grunching noises when under load and hot. I posted a video of this on the forum and it was confirmed that this was a sign of fairly imminent motor failure. Because the border is closed and shops in France were closed I took the bike to a local Specialized dealer (Crossroad cycles in Martigny) who were helpful and efficient, sending my video to Specialized who agreed there was a problem and told the shop to instigate a guarantee claim, which they did. Unfortunately, Specialized “lost” the claim and nothing happened until a few days ago when the shop chased it up and a replacement motor arrived today. However, the shop said they would have to charge for labour, which surprised me because I understood that at least in the UK normally shops don’t charge for labour. They certainly shouldn’t. If you buy a car which goes wrong under guarantee, or even a washing machine, they don’t charge labour to fix it. It’s not my fault that the motor on my Kenevo has gone wrong. I’ve never washed it (I just use a damp rag) or even ride in the wet, so I don’t see why I should be out of pocket for what boils down to a manufacturing fault. Specialized should reimburse the shop for labour costs. I did write to Specialized when the problem occurred and got a reply a few days ago (it took them over three weeks to reply), basically telling me to go to local shop in Switzerland since I can’t go to France. One reads a lot on this forum about motor failures and now it has happened to me. One also reads about impressive after sales from Specialized dealing with these failures. Since the shop can’t change the motor until the end of the month ( because of volume of work) it will have taken over a month to sort out something which should have taken days and, as things stand, I’ll be out of pocket. Not so impressive.

 

[Doomanic]

Have you checked the Spesh website and read the warranty policy document?

 

[Swissrider]

Yes, I have read this. To me it’s ambiguous. “Labour charges processing the Warranty”. Is changing a motor “processing”? if it’s clear, then why does a Specialized dealer tell me they have always charged for doing this work under warranty?

 

[dasurpha]

Yes, I have read this. To me it’s ambiguous. “Labour charges processing the Warranty”. Is changing a motor “processing”? if it’s clear, then why does a Specialized dealer tell me they have always charged for doing this work under warranty?

I guess the point is ”Specialized reserves the right to limit the warranty service to the country where the Product was purchased.”

The reasoning must be related to pricing and protecting resellers. Specialized can choose not to limit the warranty service of any individual case.

I doubt such a limitation of consumer rights would even fly in EU if someone challenged it in court - as Switzerland is no longer in EEA this might not work for you. It’s not much different from not providing warranty service in Florida for a bike bought in California. Bad customer service.

 

[Swissrider]

Specialized have accepted the warranty claim in Switzerland, although the bike was bought in France. I would have taken the bike back to the shop I bought it from in France if I could, but the border is closed because of the Coronavirus situation. However, I believe that Specialized would have accepted the claim anyway. The issue is the labour charge, which I don't think should be charged whatever the country one is in. There is also the question of how long one should expect an ebike motor to last. A top quality washing machine electric motor, used every day, should last fifteen years at least and even in a cheap one, more than five years. My feeling is that an ebike motor should last at least five years or at least 10,000 kilometres, although some motors have done a lot more than this. A motorbike, which is a lot more complex, will usually last at least ten years before any major problems. Ebikes are expensive and if their lifetime is short before the major expense of buying a new motor, it will limit their use to those with deep pockets. If a manufacturer were able to claim that the vast majority of their motors lasted at least five years (and guaranteed for two) they would get my vote.

 

[DTZ]

Although all in the UK I purchased my bike from one Specialized dealer and had a warranty claim processed by another more local to home. The local dealer charged me £10 for "Processing" the claim for me, they said this was a charge because they weren't the original supplying dealer and the charge was to cover their time in submitting and managing the claim. When the parts were replaced they fitted them for free.

Admittedly it wasn't a full motor swap, but it was a set of forks that were replaced so not a quick 2 minute job.

 

[Norange]

In the UK, your legal rights default to the retailer being responsible. Which does mean the original retailer, so I would never expect to pay labour for a warranty repair if the bike was returned to the shop I bought it from.
A manufacturer may choose to give you additional rights - such as being able to return the bike for repair to any one of the dealer network. I'd expect this to be a part of a dealer contract with Spesh. As I understand it, Spesh do not pay labour harges for this. So again - it would seem to depend on the dealer contract, but I suspect it is dealer discretion as to whether they charge labour for a bike they didn't sell. In simple terms, I see that as fair as they've made no margin, but maybe they'll sell bikes that they don't have to warranty. I see it working in favour of mail order over LBS, so I'm OK with charging.
Having said that - the current scenario means you can't return your bike to the original retailer - so that's an opportunity for Spesh to step up and cover the shop labour so you don't have to.