ATTENTION - Do not do Business with <Removed> regarding their 27 KG Flywheel Bike

[jimmydouglas2011]

ATTENTION -

just would like to warn people and express my frustration with <Removed> and their product 'NEW 27KG COMMERCIAL SPIN FLYWHEEL EXERCISE BIKE HOME FITNESS GYM PULSE MONITOR' .

I purchased this bike half way through last year after i had knee reconstruction surgery, to use to help rebuild the quad muscle which suffered major muscle atrophy.

I spent 5 months back in New Zealand so i used the bike maybe 4 times at most before i went back, came back this year and have used it for a month and the bike broke.

First one pedal broke, then the heart monitor broke, then the right pedal broke, the chain kept coming off and then i heard a massive crack and all the internal aspects of bike broke, including the part where pedal attaches too snapped off.

This is unacceptable, paying $250 + $100 shipping, and for it to last a couple of months.

I then contacted them and they continued to tell me it was my fault, and they have never had any problems with the bikes and that they sold over 1500 and that usually stuff happens from wear and tear - which is simply lies as a few months using it twice a week is not reasonable time for this to occur.

I then looked at their feedback and they have had multiple issues with this product, the only difference as i have studied some law as part of my degrees i know my rights as a consumer.

I sent them pictures to ask them to help and they in return said they cant see a fault, and after some persistence on my end they said they could help only to tell me that i had to pay for bike to be sent back to them so they can decide what they think, again explaining that it hasn't happened before so it cant have happened now.

this is a warning for everybody looking to buy off them:

below is the part of the Aus consumer law and consumer guarantees act that relates to my situation and probably many others -

Always Be Aware Of Who You Are Buying from!

Under the Australian Consumer Law products must be of acceptable quality which is -

safe, lasting, with no faults

look acceptable

do all the things someone would normally expect them to do.

- your bike is not safe, nor lasting and it comes with faults in use that were not foreseen.

- the bike does not do what it is normally expected to do.

products sold must also:

be fit for the purpose the business told you it would be fit for and for any purpose that you made known to the business before purchasing

As you know this bike is not fit for purpose.

I am eligible for a full refund, Full replacement or repair under the Consumer guarantees Act if:

there is a Major problem with a product or service .

A major problem under the Consumer Guarantees Act is:

A product or good has a major problem when:

it has a problem that would have stopped someone from buying it if they’d known about it

it is unsafe

it is significantly different from the sample or description

it doesn’t do what the business said it would, or what you asked for and can’t easily be fixed.

As you can see - due to the bike constantly breaking and now fully broken the above comes in to play -

1 - if i had known about the bike going to break after minimal use i would not have purchased the product - a few hundred dollars to their company may be nothing, but to someone who is studying and working like me it is heaps of money, so i expect it to work.

2- It does cause unsafe environment for myself, as if I’m riding and the bike pedal - 1 falls off or 2 (now the right side also has problems) stops spinning and stops immediately i could injur myself- it is an unsafe environment for me especially as the purpose of the bike was to strengthen my quads after a knee reconstruction.

3- It doesn’t fit the purpose that i asked for or which the business said it would do - it is a bike, it is reasonable to assume that it would work and pedal so i can get the most out of my money. - the bike they sent does not do this.

It is also against the law for a business to tell me that you do not give refunds. My rights under the consumer guarantees Act allow me to ask for a refund if the product is faulty (above).

As you can see, there is multiple problems with this bike, and a problem saying to me that they will not offer a replacement or refund.

[davidc4430]

i think you bought a rubbish excersise bike. ive just done a quick look at a couple of the big bricks and mortar sports stores and they are pricing their similar bikes from $400. so at $250 your buying real cheap.

trying to get after sales service from ebay sellers like this mob will be very difficult.

there are just some items buying on ebay is not wise.

with a BM store you can take the thing back and show them the problem you cant online.

[audio-spot]

I think the lower priced bikes are similar to all those exercise machines sold on late night tv... in that they are made to be used only a few times, people get bored and they get pushed under the bed.

Probably they have had few complaints because of this.

With the Aust consumer guarantee, you would expect your bike to have a life of at least 3 years, but how you get an eBay store to honour that is beyond me?

[lyndal1838]

Did you get a written guarantee with your bike?

I can not see any mention of a guarantee in the seller's listing for those bikes and many items sold on ebay don't have enforcable warranties.

If the item came from China there is a good chance that Autralian Consumer Laws don't apply anyway.  Did it take a fair while to arrive by any chance?   That may indicate it was drop shipped from China.

[digital*ghost]

Some general comments, although I know you're probably aware of this stuff already, I just want to add to what you have posted here...

The bike is being advertised as commercial quality, the word durable is used 3 times in 12 bullet points, alongside phrases such as "heavy duty", "strong steel" etc, and they are advertising it with an RRP of $1299.... 

All of this kind of advertising only makes any case you could bring against them that much more viable, because the sale price itself is only one factor taken into consideration when determining whether it's reasonable to expect the bike to last for a certain amount of time, and whether you have a right to remedy (commercial quality, for a start, implies that it could sustain heavy duty usage in something like a gym).

They mention they have a warehouse where pick-up is available, I would be looking them up, because there's a fair chance they are a registered Australian business, which should make it very easy to raise a consumer complaint.