# Did BMC warranty just fail?



## Aakoo (Apr 22, 2012)

This is a (long and boring) story/rant about what I see as a total customer service failure from BMC and one of their dealers. Sorry about the language, I'm not a native speaker. I'm also rather pissed off.

I bought a BMC CX02 cross machine cyclocross bike in September 2010 from a well known dealer in the central Europe through their webshop. Got it for commuting, set it up with full fenders etc. Never did any cyclocross racing with it, I rode it only on paved roads from home to work and back and occasional road rides. Light use for a cyclocross frame in my opinion.

I noticed a loud clicking sound from the BB area in July. When inspecting the frame, the frame had cracked on the welding where the chainstay is attached to the bottom bracket. No crash or nothing, it just failed. As BMC advertises their 3 year frame warranty, I decided to make the claim. 

I emailed the dealer immediately and sent them the pictures. I had to send 3 emails, and got a response after a one week that they will forward my claim to BMC Europe/Switzerland. After that, nothing for two weeks. I contacted them again, and asked is there an answer from BMC. BMC had accepted the warranty claim and offered them a 48cm Streetracer (a roadbike!) frame as a replacement. I'm 6'2", I thought it was a joke! At least, the dealer had the decency not to offer that frame to me. Obviously BMC wasn't interested in the whole process, they left the dealer to take care of the warranty after this. I emailed them about it twice, and never got a response, not even a "Thank you for your email, but contact the dealer where you bought the bike from". 

The dealer no longer sells BMC (and I'm beginning to understand why...), so they offered me a discount on a 2011 Scott carbon cyclocross frame for 500€ or an 2012 alloy one for 400€. Since in my opinion warranty is usually free of charge for the consumer, I turned down the offers, and insisted that they either fix the frame or give me a similar frame for the warranty. I told them that a repaired or used frame is ok, as long as it is safe to ride. I stated that's how warranty usually works, and I'd settle for the Scott alloy frame as a replacement even though according to BMC's warranty I should have got a BMC as a replacement. The dealer declined and ended the discussion and told me that my next contact will be with their lawyers. Great. So that's the end of that. 

I'm kind of surprised about how this turned out. I always thought that BMC was amongst the bike companies that honored their own (voluntary) warranty and stood behind their products. Obviously not, this is the worst warranty case I've ever encountered, from my point of view the whole BMC warranty is just a marketing scheme. Never had any problems with Shimano when the wheels or the shifter levers broke or any other warranty cases (laptops, tv’s etc..). The thing that also bothers me is the fact that have carbon BMC roadbike bought from the same dealer, just waiting that thing to assplode and go through this crap again...The good thing about it is that in the future may get a good deal on some other brand bike...

So what I've learnt from this:
1. Never buy a BMC product again
2. Always buy from LBS/the country you live in to avoid this. Don't buy a BMC. 
3. When a bike manufacturer accepts your warranty claim, the fine print on a warranty provisions: _"Repair or replacement with equivalent parts/components at the discretion of BMC, provided that the model and/or colour of the replacement may deviate from that of the replaced part;"_ might actually mean that the manufacturer can offer the dealer a totally different frame of a wrong size and the dealer can offer the customer the chance to purchase a frame from another bike brand for 4/5 of rsp. WTF?
4. You guys living in USA are lucky to have bikeshops and manufacturer reps that actually give a sh*t about their customers. Apparently warranty issues are handled differently there?

The next thing I'll have to do is make a formal complaint against the dealer and BMC Switzerland. Kinda hard to accomplish since I'm in Finland and probably utterly useless too, but I'll give it a go anyhow.
I will also be purchasing a new cross frame as well as a 29er MTB. I'm dead sure neither of those will have BMC stickers on them.


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

Little consolation, but that's better English than the large majority of native English speakers. It's hard to know if the problem is with BMC or just with the dealer since all communication has been with or through the dealer. FWIW, I've never gotten a direct response from BMC either, but good dealers have expeditiously handled any issues.


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## Aakoo (Apr 22, 2012)

Yeah, it's hard to tell what is the truth in this case, since the dealer doesn't want to have anything to do with BMC anymore. It would be rather easy to find that out _if BMC would answer my emails._


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

This is why those crafty Swiss stay out of the EU.

EU consumer laws wouldn't/shouldn't let them get away with this. Offering you a 48cm frame? That's just insulting.


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## uncrx2003 (Jul 17, 2010)

I can't say for sure but I think this is an issue with the dealer. I have dealt with BMC warranty before through Competitive Cyclist. No problem whatsoever. My buddy who also bought a BMC MTB from CC. His frame recently cracked and got it replace under warranty without any issue. This is anecdotal evidence for sure but I've been very happy with both BMC and CC. There use to be a BMC rep on this forum but he has since left.


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## Aakoo (Apr 22, 2012)

Cinelli 82220 said:


> This is why those crafty Swiss stay out of the EU.
> 
> EU consumer laws wouldn't/shouldn't let them get away with this. Offering you a 48cm frame? That's just insulting.


I'll think I'm going to make a complaint to European Consumer Centre, since the store I bought the bike from is in a EU country. I think there's some bad blood between the dealer and BMC (they sold a lot of BMC's a few years ago and since dropped BMC totally) and I'm the one who pays for that now.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Since the dealer doesn't rep BMC anymore, why not go to a different dealer who sells BMC?


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

tlg said:


> Since the dealer doesn't rep BMC anymore, why not go to a different dealer who sells BMC?


Agree. This is the route I would suggest.


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## Aakoo (Apr 22, 2012)

tlg said:


> Since the dealer doesn't rep BMC anymore, why not go to a different dealer who sells BMC?


BMC doesn't have a dealer in my country (well they actually do have now, but that guy charges by the hour on warranty cases of bikes not bought from him...), and I doubt that any other dealer from another country would want to take care of a warranty case for a bike not bought from them. There's nothing in it for them. I actually asked BMC if it is possible to have this taken care of by another dealer (if BMC could contact a dealer for me), but as mentioned, they didn't bother to answer.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Aakoo said:


> BMC doesn't have a dealer in my country (well they actually do have now, but that guy charges by the hour on warranty cases of bikes not bought from him...), and I doubt that any other dealer from another country would want to take care of a warranty case for a bike not bought from them. There's nothing in it for them. I actually asked BMC if it is possible to have this taken care of by another dealer (if BMC could contact a dealer for me), but as mentioned, they didn't bother to answer.


I understand going to a dealer from a different country could be problematic.
But in general, there should be no issue going to a dealer where you didn't buy the bike, for a warranty. 
What's in it for them? That's the deal they agree upon when becoming a dealer. Plus, if there's any labor involved, they'd be paid by BMC or the owner depending on the situation.


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## Aakoo (Apr 22, 2012)

Usually these cases are handled nicely, I've had the shifters replaced and wheels repaired here (they were Shimano parts) by a local bike shop. The frame unfortunately is another matter. 

You are right, some bike dealers are that nice that they handle these cases even on products not bought from them.


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## uncrx2003 (Jul 17, 2010)

Here is what I would suggest. Go to facebook and like the BMC page. Once you do that, send them a direct private message with your situation. Since you don't have too many options here, I think this route might surprise you. Just don't post a rant on their facebook page.


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## Aakoo (Apr 22, 2012)

Thanks for the suggestions all of you. I'll try to contact BMC directly once more (maybe give them a call to Switzerland if nothing else helps...) before going to the "consumer rights officials". I just don't understand that why they have customer service contact that doesn't reply?

I know a shop here that does repairs on alloy frames,(if that is cheaper than getting a new frame), but I have to wait for an official response from BMC before getting the frame repaired.


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## reality_V2 (Jul 20, 2010)

I'm going to try and defuse a few things here, and hopefully give some context on maybe why something has happened.

In the interest of full disclosure, I work for an un-named bike shop as a mechanic, own a BMC and went through a little bit of my own warranty nightmare, not once but twice within the first 4 months of owning my bike. Long story short, BMC took care of me, got me a brand new bike that was two model years newer, a full free kit, as well as a pair of free shoes.

The first thing as it'll probably come back through and through is that your lbs is your advocate for a warranty claim, buy them beer, be nice to them etc, and you're probably going to be able to get them fighting on your side, and trust me, they can get a lot done for you. 

As for cycling companies, they don't usually like anyone contacting them directly, I personally have also used the BMC contact form, I suspect they get sent off to some black hole somewhere, it's not particularly useful. 

As for the dealer not carrying BMC, it could be for a multitude of reasons why, it's also a two way street where a company can cut a dealer out due to poor service, etc etc. As for being offered a 48 cm bike (I have no idea what size your frame was originally) seems like it would be a little bit weird/off. 

Warranty's are not usually completely free, the part that is warrantied is free. For example, if you need to get a frame replaced, the bike shop could do you a solid and essentially absorb the cost for the build, or you would get charged, because as far as the bike company is concerned, the part that is faulty is the frame. So you are correct in that the frame should be free, labor associated is not. 

As an aside, your dealer, whoever you got your bike from sounds a little bit abrasive. If they worked hard to get you your bike, you would probably buy from them again, regardless of whether it was a BMC or not. 

BMC does stand behind their product, and I'm not saying that they are blame free here because I think they have kinda given you the ring around, but I believe that your dealer is equally at fault here for not advocating harder on your part. I have seen all sorts of warranty claims with a variety of companies go through just as difficult circumstances, but I have also seen warranties with those same companies go sailing through super easily. 

As for our closing points, there isn't anything inherently wrong with BMC, you probably loved the bike right up to when you found it cracked, which is probably the same reason why you also bought another carbon Road bike from them. Buying bikes from the same country that you live in goes a long ways, unless you have dealers such as CC who straight up say they will take care of warranty, period, full stop. The clause there gives them the ability to replace your bike with something else, and it will actually usually work out in your favor because they won't carry old stock and therefore will be subsequently upgraded. Biggest thing this entire post has come down to is your LBS is your friend, go buy them some beer and they will be more than happy to help you if that time ever comes (or you could spend tons of money, beer is cheaper). 

As for what can you do now? I know you're frustrated, and maybe the venting helped to make you slightly less angry, but moving forward, a few suggestions. If you're going to keep buying online and not local, then see if you can convince someone who has a big enough of a BMC account (CC, Evans, etc.) to take on your case. You will likely have to pay them for it, because it's a not insignificant amount of work to go back and forth with reps and companies on warranty. Yes they signed on to do and handle warranty work when they became a dealer, but part of the price you pay in the purchase of a bicycle with them is them taking care of your warranty claim. If that doesn't work, try facebook and send them a nice message, explaining your situation and frustration, don't lay any blame with anyone, and ask them for what they best way to handle a warranty issue would be. Barring none of those items work, send me a PM I still have contacts of some people that should still be in the warranty department that should be able to give you a hand.


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## Aakoo (Apr 22, 2012)

It's all about the dealer and how well they take care of you, and I can say that this dealer failed big time. You got taken care of really well by your dealer/BMC. 

But the point here is that this is a manufacturer warranty, not the dealer. If in some case the dealer refuses to take care of a warranty case properly, or goes out of business etc. it's the manufacturer who should take care of the customer. Not answering numerous emails etc. is not taking care of your customer.

I maid the complaint to the customer right officials in the EU. If anything ever comes out of that, it will take months/years. I also contacted the local BMC dealer, he refused to take the case. Or actually said he will take and charge 75€/hour (or something like that) for the job. A alloy canti cross framesets are about 200-300€ on sale, so I thought this was not something I wanted to invest in.

Anyway, I need a cross bike since the road season is coming to an end for this year. I ordered a new Cube Cross frameset + parts needed and will build the bike next week. The frameset was a lot cheaper than what was offered to me for the warranty, didn't get it from a lbs because here they basically sell complete bikes only.

I really don't know if I was expecting too much. I just wanted new/repaired frame that was safe to ride, or maybe a some sort of deal on a new bike.


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## reality_V2 (Jul 20, 2010)

you're a hundred percent right in saying that it was the dealer and how well they take care of you, I actually didn't get any help because my original place of purchase no longer sold BMC's and the dealer in town essentially told me to piss off. The problem with BMC is they only know as much as the dealer is telling them, they're not clairvoyance. Not dealing with warranty directly with individuals is pretty standard process (not saying it's right in every case), because otherwise they would get inundated with petty emails which is what the LBS will usually help to filter out. The other thing is, I'm not sure off all the fine print, but a lot of times, the warranty is good for the country that it was purchased on. Sounds like he is just charging standard shop rate for that, to be fair time he spends working on your case can be spent on other stuff. 

I think in your case specifically it was especially tough because manufacturers seldom repair stuff, and usually will just replace it. Tough part is they haven't made a cross bike in quite some time and therefore are at a bit of a loss as to what to replace it with.

I wish you all the best on your new bike.


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## Aakoo (Apr 22, 2012)

This case is closed. I had to make the official complaint to the European Consumer Centre, but it worked out ok. Got a cash settlement. The whole process took about 4 months, never got a response from BMC to my numerous emails.


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## RedViola (Aug 15, 2012)

Aakoo said:


> This case is closed. I had to make the official complaint to the European Consumer Centre, but it worked out ok. Got a cash settlement. The whole process took about 4 months, never got a response from BMC to my numerous emails.


While I am sure you are pleased to see this matter come to an end, I'm curious, what did the official complaint process entail?

Did it take a lot of time/effort on your part over those 4 months? Thanks.


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## Aakoo (Apr 22, 2012)

RedViola said:


> While I am sure you are pleased to see this matter come to an end, I'm curious, what did the official complaint process entail?
> 
> Did it take a lot of time/effort on your part over those 4 months? Thanks.


The ECC complaint was the easy part. I filed the complaint, and after that sent a few emails as they did the negotiating with the shop and BMC.


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