Wiggle Advice Please - new bike problem

[RBadger]

Hi All,

first post and in need of some advice please...

After years of riding a mountain bikes I recently purchased a Mekk road bike from Wiggle. The bike arrived beautifully packaged just 4 days after placing the order. Great service I thought.

The bike came with some nasty cheap pedals, but as I had still to order some decent pedals I decided to put the cheap pedals on and go for quick ride. I installed the pedals using my fingers only to engage the thread, and only used a spanner to gently tighten them once the thread was fully engaged. I am 100% certain I did not cross thread the pedals.

After covering only 5 miles on my ride I noticed that the right pedal suddenly felt loose. I stopped the bike to find the pedal came away in my hand having completely stripped the thread on the right crank arm. I have no idea how this happened, it was as if the pedal had seized and stripped the thread, although the pedal did now rotate freely.

I contacted wiggle and explained what had happened. After 24 hours they replied say that the warranty did not cover this and I would need to buy a new chainset, which they would sell to me at cost. (£70)
I wrote back saying that given the bike was brand new and only covered 5 miles before a catastrophic failure of the pedal/crank they should surely pay for the component.

That was 2 days ago and I've head nothing other that the part will be available next week. Can't seem to find a phone number anywhere.

Where do I stand? Can anyone offer advice please? Surely the bike was not fit for purpose. Should I invoke my consumer rights and ask for a full refund?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Richard,

 

[Raging Squirrel]

In my opinion it isnt normal for said component to fail like that in such a short time. Although I really like Wiggle, I'd be asking for a replacement part or bike or id be heading to trading standards.

 

[Ern1e]

Hi just checked on their web site indeed no telephone contact so how did you pay for the bike ? if you have used a credit card they may be able to offer some leverage to your case for you, plus the chainset not covered by the warranty ?

 

[Dave 123]

You could send them a link to this thread....... they might like to do the decent thing in front of a lot of existing customers.

 

[Ozzrahog]

As above contact trading standards then they shop again and if no joy and relevant your credit card company

 

[smokeysmoo]

I've never had a problem with Wiggle sorting warranty issues. In fact I've had 2 new frames under warranty on two different cf bikes with them, however, I've never had to claim for a failure such as this following self installation of a component.

I can see their point of view as they can't be held responsible for a part potentially being fitted incorrectly, sorry Rbadger but you don't state that you are a qualified bike mech.

Do they supply fitting instructions for the cheapo pedals? I can't remember from the 3 bikes I've bought from them as the supplied pedals have always gone straight in the bin TBH.

If there are instructions though just point out that you fitted them in accordance to the instructions given. If they get arsey though they could want to see the calibration certificate of the torque wrench you used during installation, but, if there are instructions and they don't specify a torque setting then they couldn't use that against you.

I'm not justifying their initial correspondence in anyway, I'm just pointing out what they could do if they stick their heels in.

However, I also agree with the above comments and therefore I'm sure you should get a satisfactory outcome.

Good luck with it

 

[RWright]

I like Wiggle but I would send the whole bike back.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

If I was wiggle I'd be wanting proof that the bike wasn't fit for purpose. All we know is that you(the customer) fitted pedals that rapidly stripped the crank thread.

 

[derrick]

sounds like pedals were not fitted correctly, if the thread was damaged you would have felt that when tightening them up, to me it sounds like you did not tighten the peddle enough, i could be wrong i was not there when the job was done.

 

[Cycleops]

This is a very difficult one. I have thought about this and I really cannot see any other way the thread stripped but from initial cross threading. The only other possibility is that the thread on the pedal was somehow under size. What would you think if you were in Wiggles's shoes? It does seem they have tried to meet you half way. Maybe you could send the offending items back for them to examine.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

... Can't seem to find a phone number anywhere

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

The advise would be to buy your bike from the local bike shop and get customer service, you pay a little more, but get a lot more for your money.

wiggles details are :
3 Optima
Northarbour Spur
Portsmouth
PO6 3TU
+44 2392314816

information publicly available on a whois lookup on the domain wiggle.co.uk

 

[biggs682]

get on the phone and talk straight first

 

[RBadger]

Thanks all for advice.

I'm not a qualified bike mechanic, but I do possess common sense and am certain I did not cross thread the pedal. I followed the supplied instructions. Pedals are threaded deliberately to make the tighten with use not loosen. Confess I do not know how this happened. Can only assume a faulty pedal or crank arm.

If pedal fitting should be done by qualified mechanic, then the company should fit the pedals themselves and ship the bike in a bigger box.

Very frustrated. I will call tomorrow to see if we can make headway. ( thanks Vengedetta for contact details )

Any further advice gratefully received.

Thanks all. Brilliant forum.

Rich

 

[festival]

In all my years of working in the cycle biz I would expect any retailer to take the same view as Wiggle.
I have seen this problem before if a rarity, I would bet my house that it was the fitters error, sorry, therefore accept any gesture and move on.
The cheap nasty pedals they provide could have threads that are not as highly engineered as a quality product but that is no excuse for blaming it.
To be honest the other opinions about it being a product failure are in fact just opinions and have no weight in this issue.

 

[doog]

In all my years of working in the cycle biz I would expect any retailer to take the same view as Wiggle.
I have seen this problem before if a rarity, I would bet my house that it was the fitters error, sorry, therefore accept any gesture and move on.
The cheap nasty pedals they provide could have threads that are not as highly engineered as a quality product but that is no excuse for blaming it.
To be honest the other opinions about it being a product failure are in fact just opinions and have no weight in this issue.

I would say that should go in the customers favour. If they didnt want the cheap nasty under- engineered pedals fitted they shouldn't take the risk and stick them in the box.

This event is such a rarity I would hope they would sort it out in good faith which Im sure they will .