Author Topic: Warranty / approved dealer oil change etc ..really?  (Read 2092 times)

willywombat

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Warranty / approved dealer oil change etc ..really?
« on: January 17, 2021, 10:07:51 am »
Having owned a speedhub for  15  yrs I recommended my maintenance averse brother acquire a hub as his retirement present around a year ago .A. New hub was duly purchased from SJSC's.  I built the bike up and look after all things mechanical for him .
It's due it's 1st annual service / oil change so in the process of ordering some fresh oils I noted that on the warranty card that came  with the hub there's a load of blurb which seems to insist  that this  "service" has to be carried out by an "authorized service centre" for the warranty to be honoured in case of problems incurred in the first 2 yrs.
We don't really have the time or inclination to send the wheel away or drive a considerable distance to have an oil change performed together with cursory glance over the components which are all functioning well .
Can anyone confirm whether (in reality ) I can do the " service " myself and then ..if the hub  self destructs  in a few months the remaining warranty would still be honoured?
Thanks for your help
Bill
« Last Edit: January 17, 2021, 10:23:06 am by willywombat »

PH

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Re: Warranty / approved dealer oil change etc ..really?
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2021, 11:01:07 am »
If you're concerned I'd get SJS to confirm.
I think I read the same thing on the documentation that came with my latest hub.  I ignored it, it seems a bit ambiguous anyway, the way I've understood it is that warranty could be denied if the cause can be linked to the lack of service, which seems no more than the minimum legal obligation anyway.  It's hard to see how they could say it should have been done by a service centre when the instructions are in the owners manual!
EDIT
I've just looked up the wording, the first relevant part says
Quote
The service check is to be documented on the service card by this professional bike workshop. In case the owner does not take much care with it, any claims for replacement extinguish, which can be traced back to a neglected service check.
My interpretation is as above.

It goes on to say
Quote
The regular service check in accordance with our instructions secures the warranty entitlement and keeps the high value of your Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 in future.
Which I take to mean that the service centre completed card ensures the warranty, rather than the lack of it invalidates.
Again I'd suggest if you have any doubts, get SJS to clarify.  My direct experience is that they go beyond what Rohloff offer.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2021, 11:14:29 am by PH »

willywombat

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Re: Warranty / approved dealer oil change etc ..really?
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2021, 10:25:44 pm »
Thanks for your efforts PH .
I've found the orange card where I saw the info talked about.
It seems different your quotes and I'll take an image and upload tomorrow.
I think you're right ..best thing to do is to contact SJSC  for confirmation one way or the other. You may remember my thread from a year ago about incorrect information in the manual and Andy Blance's article "living with a Rohloff"
Seems Rohloff specialize in making ambiguous statements and often leave the customer needing to seek clarification. Maybe it's an issue with translation rather than wording.
Last year when I pointed out issues / mistakes in the manual they showed initial interest but then stopped communicating with me .Presumably they didn't see it as important enough to deal with it or simply realized their errors might leave then open to claims do preferred to ignore both the issue and my emails.


 

UKTony

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Re: Warranty / approved dealer oil change etc ..really?
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2021, 09:22:24 am »
As well as filling in the orange service record, I keep purchase receipts for materials for oil changes and a cumulative diary record of mileage, oil changes and greasing of the ex box (which correct me if I’m wrong, is only other recommended regular service item) and would likely produce this contemporaneous record IF necessary.

Andre Jute

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Re: Warranty / approved dealer oil change etc ..really?
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2021, 11:50:11 am »
In Germany when Rohloff boxes were first fitted to touring bikes, the idea was that the bike would be returned once a year to a factory-trained mechanic at the dealer who supplied it for its annual service. It wasn't indicated who would take the EXT box off (one thumbscrew) every 500km, clean it out and fit it back up (one thumbscrew while jiggling the rotary gear control). Such a hardship! You can find elsewhere on this forum my logic for and experiment in greasing the EXT box every time the oil is changed (or, theoretically in my case, when the bike has been beyond hub-deep in water).

Since I live in Ireland where there are no dealers for the German baukasten, I made an arrangement with the maker of my bike that the local blacksmith who calls himself a bike mechanic would do the job and, this being the most important part, sign the tangerine record. Since the LBS had a talent for breaking things that were expensive to source from Germany, the arrangement worked out that I would do the work, and take the piece of paper along for him to sign, something I soon got bored with. That was about twelve years ago, and I haven't had a warranty claim but the box and the frame is now out of the ten year warranty the manufacturer of the bike gives on top of Herr Rolloff's warranty. I can't say I've been overly worried that anyone won't do the right thing in all this time.

If the box you bought new, it is worth filling in the service document and keeping a record of the dates and mileages of services, as Tiberious outlines above, because Herr Rohloff gives, within his goodwill, what is essentially a free extended warranty to first owners of his gearboxes who haven't abused them, though recently there have been some rumblings about some people abusing his goodwill.

willywombat

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Re: Warranty / approved dealer oil change etc ..really?
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2021, 06:51:05 pm »
OK I've received confirmation from SJSC's who contacted Rohloff on this issue.
Yes the customer can do the oil change themselves and keep the warranty cover by (as  previously suggested) ideally one should keep receipts of the appropriate oils  being purchased for the job.