sale of goods act

[bigB]

I bought a new bike from Sportzone in the Las Palmeras, Correlejo shopping centre at Christmas, it was fine for a while but now the chain keeps coming off, it has been back to the shop 3 times now but the problem is still there the girl said it is fault with the frame. Are they bound by the consumer goods act to give me a refund? 

[emmi]

There is a Sale of Goods Act ( in fact I think there is more than one) however, from my experiences and those of others I know, it does not appear to worth the paper it is printed on.  As for full refunds, never had one, only a credit note which has to be used within a shortish period of time.
But you can ask!!! See what happens.  Otherwise you can go down the route of making a formal complaint in the book.  Has to be done in Spanish.  Sorry cannot be more helpful, but maybe others here can be more informative.

[Chris1965]

Might be worth going into Scott's to see if he can repair, could just be the chain is to long, the the gears are set wrong - Very good there

[gattaca66]

Chris1965 is right, it is very unlikely to be anything to do with the frame. Most bikes these days have 'derailleur' gears, where the spring lever on the rear set both lines up the chain to the correct sprocket, and keeps the chain under tension. If the chain appears loose, it is probably too long. Otherwise, the bike's front and rear sprocket sets could be mismatched or misaligned. Rear sets are fixed, but the front set is aligned with the centre of the rear set using spacers if necessary, and assuming it is the correct part. A good bike shop should be able to see if it is aligned, but if the problem IS the frame (ie bent) then it's probably terminal.

The seller SHOULD be responsible, but if they are a rubbish seller I'd not trust them with any repair either! Good luck!

[erik_tonny]

Ask for an hoja de reclamación.
Usually this is often enough to persuade them to give the service you asked for (if within reason).
You may fill in the form in english.
If they refuse to give you the book, call the local police (if your spanish is fluent).

[emmi]

Here's a good explanation of Spanish Consumer Rights, although in reality it does not seem to work!

http://www.janetanscombe.com/complaining-about-poor-service

[waggy]

Chris1965 is right, it is very unlikely to be anything to do with the frame. Most bikes these days have 'derailleur' gears, where the spring lever on the rear set both lines up the chain to the correct sprocket, and keeps the chain under tension. If the chain appears loose, it is probably too long. Otherwise, the bike's front and rear sprocket sets could be mismatched or misaligned. Rear sets are fixed, but the front set is aligned with the centre of the rear set using spacers if necessary, and assuming it is the correct part. A good bike shop should be able to see if it is aligned, but if the problem IS the frame (ie bent) then it's probably terminal.

The seller SHOULD be responsible, but if they are a rubbish seller I'd not trust them with any repair either! Good luck!

As above, plus, since you said it worked OK when you got it, you maybe now need to adjust the gears alignment using the small screws on each set because the changer cables and the chain may have stretched a bit in 'settling down'. I'm assuming you have Shimano gears of course - they can be very temperamental if not fine-tuned properly, and don't assume a bike shop can always do this very well. Also check that there isn't a gear tooth bent or damaged anywhere and that the chain joining link is OK. Also check that the front gear set 'mover' is still aligned on the frame properly.