Help!! What are my consumer rights??

Lanzarote81

I recently got a bike from halfords for my birthday present lucky enough I decided to wear a helmet because as I decided to pull up onto the path from cycling on the road the handle bars turned but the tyre seemed to just keep in line with the kerb resulting in me falling off in a bad way. Ended up with cuts, grazes bruises all over me even all on my face and a sprained knee. The people who helped me said it about the handlebars that they are loose. After spending 8hrs in A&E, with X-rays and bandaged up and paying my medical bill I wonder what my rights are? Can I demand a refund on this poorly assembled bike as it nearly cost me my life. I have to attend physo and don't think I will ever get on a bike again because of this.

wmpdd3

Write the store, include copies of your bills etc.

Tell them what you want to happen, ie a refund etc.

Your letter will probably be passed on to their legal dept, so a reply will probably take longer than 2 weeks.

slimjimmc

Was the specific bike on display ready assembled? If the bike was not already assembled and you availed of Halford's free bike build service then, assuming there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the bike itself, it could be argued that only the build service was defective so your right to redress would be limited to that service.

If your specific bike was already assembled before you selected it then you could argue the bike itself was defective. Even then you may not be entitled to refund if the loose handlebars is deemed a minor defect which can be easily rectified.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2003/en/si/0011.html

(8) The consumer is not entitled to have the contract rescinded if the lack of conformity is minor.

They'll probably offer to pay the medical bill but I don't think you have any statutory rights to your medical bills, if they resist you may have to sue to force them.

the groutch

May I ask why you were pulling up onto the footpath?
It is against the law to cycle on a footpath, so even though it is the bike that caused the accident your right to claim might be greatly diminished.

ThisRegard

the groutch wrote: »

so even though it is the bike that caused the accident your right to claim might be greatly diminished.

You're making things up.

Crow92

the groutch wrote: »

May I ask why you were pulling up onto the footpath?
It is against the law to cycle on a footpath, so even though it is the bike that caused the accident your right to claim might be greatly diminished.

In fairness could of been coming into their front garden on the way home.

Anyways. All halfords bikes come boxed. Regardless of it being a display bike or not. There is a check list of procedures carried out by the mechanic which you should of received with the bike, just a docket.
I've heard of this happening and it could of be a defective part or someone didn't tighten the bolts attaching the handlebars to the stem correctly.

Either way I think you could easily get a refund for the bike, and tbh it would be the least of their worries if found the part was not defective but rather an oversight of the mechanic.

How long since it's purchase did this occur and did you avail of the 6 week tune up they offer for free? This is to tweet the bike as it's 'breaking in'

Coles

Lanzarote81 wrote: »

Ended up with cuts, grazes bruises all over me even all on my face and a sprained knee. The people who helped me said it about the handlebars that they are loose. After spending 8hrs in A&E, with X-rays and bandaged up and paying my medical bill I wonder what my rights are? Can I demand a refund on this poorly assembled bike as it nearly cost me my life. I have to attend physo and don't think I will ever get on a bike again because of this.

:eek: Compo culture has a new champion!

Five Lamps

Sounds like you had a nasty fall.

I think you'll need to check who assembled the bike that you received. Also if there's a requirement for the owner to check that everything is adjusted/tightened correctly before using the bike.

michael999999

Did you not do a check of the bike before you started cycling it, I know if it was mine I would have!

PLUG71

the groutch wrote: »

May I ask why you were pulling up onto the footpath?
It is against the law to cycle on a footpath, so even though it is the bike that caused the accident your right to claim might be greatly diminished.

corkmans1

Be very carefull what you are saying to halfords because you have received the bike as a gift and have not bought the bike yourself you actually have a lot less rights as a consumer when it comes to refunds. Also they might tell you that it was upto the person that gave you the gift to ensure the bike was ready to be used... not saying they will but it could be possible they will use it as an excuse.

You put the bike together yourself, didn't you?

the groutch

ThisRegard wrote: »

You're making things up.

PLUG71 wrote: »

Think I might have phrased that wrong.
I'm sure he'll get sorted with the bike, but if he was to look for compensation for his injuries, the fact he was likely cycling (or at least attempting to) where he shouldn't be won't exactly help his case.

davo10

OP in your opening post you said you turned the bike into the curb. Assuming you were cycling close to the curb then turning the handlebars where the wheel has little room to move while you are moving means forces are applied in a number of directions but inertia applies primarily in one when you changed direction, wheel - curb. Think of it this way, if you want to straighten the handlebars of a bike, you put your feet both sides of the front wheel and apply a sideword force to the handle bars to straighten, in this case the curb acts as the equivalent of your feet.

endacl

the groutch wrote: »

May I ask why you were pulling up onto the footpath?
It is against the law to cycle on a footpath, so even though it is the bike that caused the accident your right to claim might be greatly diminished.

Didn't even pay road tax? You forgot that one....

:rolleyes:

dudara

Posters - stay on topic please

dudara

Cabaal

Anytime I';ve purchased a bike over the years the bike show has said it must be brought back to them in x amounts of weeks/months for a re-tune, things to be tightened up etc. To be honest this is normal enough as as things need to be maintained and most people don't bother maintaining things.

So in short op, how long was it between when you got the bike and when the incident happened? In the time in-between did you get the bike serviced?

Cerco

If you are seriously going to pursue this with Halfords I suggest you contact a solicitor . They will probably ask you to have the bike assessed to determine if it was defective or poorly assembled or some othe cause.the assessment would have to be conducted by a mechanical engineer who could testify to the cause.

slimjimmc

Crow92 wrote: »

Either way I think you could easily get a refund for the bike, and tbh it would be the least of their worries if found the part was not defective but rather an oversight of the mechanic.

It might not be so easy. I get the impression the OP will want medical bills, and possibly other compensation (loss of earnings, etc) in addition to a refund for the bike. If there was an oversight then giving a refund could be seen as an admission of liability and opens all sorts of potential risks for the company. Regardless of injuries I don't think the OP would be entitled under consumer law to a refund for the bike if the defect/oversight was minor and easily repaired or replaced.

Bepolite

OPS recourse would be through be through the LFDP Act. Note the limitations.

The person who mentioned going up on to the foot-path and a diminished claim is talking about contributory-negligence. I doubt it applies it's fairly common for people to bump up and down things on bikes.

Has the OP clarified who put this thing together yet? I may have missed it amongst the usual 'compo culture' brigade who as usual have no idea what they're talking about.

Cabaal

Bepolite wrote: »

The person who mentioned going up on to the foot-path and a diminished claim is talking about contributory-negligence. I doubt it applies it's fairly common for people to bump up and down things on bikes.

Depends on the bike to be honest,
I've hopped kerbs in mountain bikes and its fine, did it twice with a hybrid and it resulted in the tyre basically exploding on one of those occasions.

You'd be an idiot to hop kerbs with a roadbike, so if for example you did this sort of use with a road bike it could be considered misuse by either the shop or the bike manufacturer

Just because people commonly do it, doesn't mean its correct usage and all is ok.
not to mention the legality of cycling on a footpath, would the op be as quick to pay out if they had collided with a pedestrian on the foothpath?

Bepolite

Cabaal wrote: »

Depends on the bike to be honest,
I've hopped kerbs in mountain bikes and its fine, did it twice with a hybrid and it resulted in the tyre basically exploding on one of those occasions.

You'd be an idiot to hop kerbs with a roadbike, so if for example you did this sort of use with a road bike it could be considered misuse by either the shop or the bike manufacturer

Just because people commonly do it, doesn't mean its correct usage and all is ok.
not to mention the legality of cycling on a footpath, would the op be as quick to pay out if they had collided with a pedestrian on the foothpath?

To be fair what the manufacturer considers misuse won't impact a decision if the item is defective. That said you're absolutely right that a road bike would be different to a mountain bike in capability etc.

In relation to people commonly doing things - that would be taken into consideration. Take, for example, people doing stupid things at festivals and getting compensation for climbing gates and hurting themselves, albeit with claims reduced for contributory negligence.

In relation tot he OP paying out if he hit someone on a foot path, that won't be a consideration, as to be fair it didn't happen.

Cabaal

Bepolite wrote: »

In relation tot he OP paying out if he hit someone on a foot path, that won't be a consideration, as to be fair it didn't happen.

I know,
Was just an example about how quick people would be to pay out if they were in the wrong

Anyway, nobody here can really make any sort of guess at the likely outcome without such information as:

- what type of bike
- when was it purchased
- was it serviced since purchased if over a x amount of time
- who assembled the bike
etc

imho for example the op would have no case if they assembled the bike as they very easily could have done so incorrectly which in turn could have caused the incident

Bepolite

Cabaal wrote: »

I know,
Was just an example about how quick people would be to pay out if they were in the wrong

To be fair although it doesn't come into the legal argument I'm not sure a DC Judge would be best impressed! So it might factor in that way.