Cracked Frame

[spoon boy]

Quite a few did not know the lifetime warranty on the frame was not extended beyond the first owner

I personally felt to offer a lifetime warranty on the frame it should be just that..on the frame and not the owner

That said I would buy a thorn everyday of the week in preference to many others as it is an excellent touring bike but because of this thread I would now buy another a bit better informed

[stutho]

I have to say I would much prefer a manufacture give a lifetime warranty based on the first owners lifetime as it is easy defined - when your dead your dead :-)   I have personally had problems with a manufacture that offered a lifetime warranty based on the lifetime of the product (NOT a bike by the way).  The problem is who is to say how long the product 'lives' for.  In my case the product was about 12 years old and the manufacture said that this was longer that the 'average lifespan' of the product and therefore didn't qualify for warranty.  Weedy words if you ask me

One other point, even products offered with a 'lifetime of the product warranty' often (if not always) have a original owner restriction

[spoon boy]

I think my question over it stutho , and we were talking about thorns lifetime guaranty, that it doesn't seem to be that well disclosed.

The advertising makes it look like the frame has a lifetime warranty but if I was the original owner and had a thorn some 40 years later I would imagine I would not be the norm and judging by thorns when they come up for sale most sellers seem to be under the missunderstanding the bike frame is warrantied for life as it's quite often quoted in adds

difficult one really to word it correctly you may lose sales..I just hate quotes on the front pages all singing all dancing in bright lights...then the fullest accurate description is hidden away in the small print..just me

[rualexander]

I have a Cannondale st600 touring bike bought new in 1991, and last year the weld at the seatpost binder bolt developed a crack. I took it back to the dealer I bought it from to see if there was any chance of claiming under Cannondale's lifetime warranty, but as I was unable to produce my original receipt from 17 years ago they were unable to take it further. So hang on to your receipts!

[pdamm]

I had an experience with this a few years back.  The first bike I bought when I started back into cycling since leaving school way too many years ago was a hybrid from a well known brand that shall remain nameless (except to say it was not Thorn).  I slowly started riding more and more and became hooked.  After ~ 22,000 km the aluminium frame cracked around the bottom bracket and I was devastated.  As it happened I did have the original receipt, the frame had a lifetime warrantee so I took the broken frame back to the original shop.  The shop was pessimistic about my chances of satisfaction, largely because bike styles had moved on in the 7 years since I bought my old steed.  However we tried and I also commenced researching what other bikes were out there to see what replacement I could get.

After a several months and a number of phone calls, in various “tones”, to the manufacturer’s local rep, the original manufacturer eventually provided a replacement frame.  However it was from the current model.  Almost none of the parts of my old bike would fit.  The old canti brakes wouldn’t fit so I would need V-brakes instead, threadless headsets had come in so the old forks wouldn’t fit and the list went on.  I think I could keep the pedals.  The local rep said that was the best that they would do and I was lucky to even get that since the bike was so old.  We weren’t getting on real well at that stage. 

I asked the shop how much it would cost to get a bike going for me using the new frame and as many of the old parts that would fit.  The price came out as ~$1,000.

I wrote a letter to original manufacturer that included the following paraphrased line of argument.

“I had bought a bike with a lifetime warrantee on the frame and now the frame had cracked.  They (the original manufacturer) had tired and failed to provide a replacement frame.  Because of their failure to provide a replacement frame it was now going to cost me $1,000 to be in the same position I would be if they had provide a replacement frame.  See attached quote.  Please send me $1,000.”

For effect I also quoted relevant sections of the Trade Practices Act, our local legislation that covers companies selling to the public.  It basically says that if you sell something to the public and make a claim about your product then you have to follow through.

I faxed the letter off one night and by 10am the next day had a phone call from their head office saying that they would give me a brand new current model bike as a replacement and asking nicely which of their local dealers would be the most convenient for me to pick up the new bike.  They also said this incident would change their warrantee claims policy.  A few days later I picked up the new bike.

In the mean time my research concluded that a Thorn Raven Tour was the bike for me and I was by that time a proud new owner of said Thorn bicycle.  I ended up selling the replacement hybrid to a friend as I am a one bike man.  My new Thorn has now done almost 25,000 km and still rides like new only quieter 

Peter

[spoon boy]

I think pdamm that's another reason why I will buy something because I want it.. not because it has a lifetime warranty

you cannot guarranty the company will be in existance if you keep it for your lifetime, losing the reciept is another one many fall foul of

Also I have yet to walk into a company with a long warranty and walked straight back out with it 100% resolved as implied at the time of purchase

if the warranty only applies to the first owner it is a useles piece of paper you have at time of resale

Me personally and I will use thorn as an example, If I was looking for a NEW bike then I would buy it because it's the bike I want, will do what I expect of it and give me the confidence to use it, the "for the lifetime of my ownership warranty" would be an added bonus during my ownership but would not see me pay extra nor would it influence my purchase