Ok, so as I’ve posted elsewhere, my Elite developed a fault just before Xmas (horrible noise). A warranty replacement was agreed in the first week of the new year. Long story short - nothing has turned up.
The LBS (from whom I bought it), Elite, and the distributor are all blaming each other, basically, and there has clearly been a mess-up by someone (as a batch of trainers came and went) but I don’t have any timescale for a replacement.
FYI, UK consumer law is pretty clear on this point: if a replacement, repair, or satisfactory substitute cannot be provided in a reasonable timeframe (usually defined as 28 days for non-essential items), then you are entitled to a refund.
I politely mentioned this to them last week, and was greeted with some mutterings about how bad the supply chain was, not their fault, can’t refund on a warranty issue, etc etc, but they promised to chase it again and have news by today at the latest. Nothing.
Now I do realise that the supply chain is snafu’d at the moment, and I am not unsympathetic, but on the other hand, this has now been going on pretty much 7 weeks, and I don’t get any sense of an impending resolution.
If I’d bought from a large chain, I would now be citing the relevant law and demanding a refund. In fact, on another forum there is someone who did exactly this; the large chain initially said no, but capitulated when a solicitor’s letter arrived. However, this LBS is by and large a pretty good one, and I quite like them, so I would rather not go down that route if at all possible. On the other hand, I am £700 out of pocket with no obvious replacement in sight, and they have the money, and no obvious incentive to push the matter.
How do I play this? My gut is to go in tomorrow and say I need a date by the end of the week, and if one can’t be provided, or the date is more than a few weeks away, then I would very much like a refund, and go from there.
Any thoughts or alternative suggestions welcome.