Halfrauds brought to book for poor servicing

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

See

http://www.bikebiz.com/newsitem.php?id=24396

"09:30, Sep 20th by Carlton Reid

Halfords has paid £12,500 to a boy who had his spleen removed after he
JRAed into a tree when the brakes on his Apollo bike failed. The crash
happened six years ago. The bike was bought in a box, assembled at home
and later serviced by Halfords. The company does not admit liability.

According to IC Wales, Berwyn Pearce, of Pontypridd, was aged 11 when he
lost control of the bike. Pearce, now 18, suffered two broken ribs and a
ruptured spleen.

Halfords, which sold and serviced Pearce's Apollo Guru bike, has now
agreed to pay him £12,500 in compensation. The company has not accepted
liability for the accident.

Does the Father not bear any responsibility here? It seems a little odd to
me to buy a bike in a box, then go to Halfords...

Graham

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

See

http://www.bikebiz.com/newsitem.php?id=24396

"09:30, Sep 20th by Carlton Reid

Halfords has paid £12,500 to a boy who had his spleen removed after he
JRAed into a tree when the brakes on his Apollo bike failed. The crash
happened six years ago. The bike was bought in a box, assembled at home
and later serviced by Halfords. The company does not admit liability.

According to IC Wales, Berwyn Pearce, of Pontypridd, was aged 11 when he
lost control of the bike. Pearce, now 18, suffered two broken ribs and a
ruptured spleen.

Halfords, which sold and serviced Pearce's Apollo Guru bike, has now
agreed to pay him £12,500 in compensation. The company has not accepted
liability for the accident.

Ah - I've mis-read this, Halfords sold the bike originally??

Graham

Slark wrote on 21/09/2006 16:06 +0100:

Quoted message said:

It seems a little odd to
me to buy a bike in a box, then go to Halfords...

If its anything like Ikea self assembly stuff it was probably to find
out where all the left over bits were supposed to have gone.

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

"Slark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

See

http://www.bikebiz.com/newsitem.php?id=24396

"09:30, Sep 20th by Carlton Reid

Halfords has paid £12,500 to a boy who had his spleen removed after he
JRAed into a tree when the brakes on his Apollo bike failed. The crash
happened six years ago. The bike was bought in a box, assembled at home
and later serviced by Halfords. The company does not admit liability.

According to IC Wales, Berwyn Pearce, of Pontypridd, was aged 11 when he
lost control of the bike. Pearce, now 18, suffered two broken ribs and a
ruptured spleen.

Halfords, which sold and serviced Pearce's Apollo Guru bike, has now
agreed to pay him £12,500 in compensation. The company has not accepted
liability for the accident.

Ah - I've mis-read this, Halfords sold the bike originally??

Graham

What the full text at the link says is this:-

"Halfords has paid £12,500 to a boy who had his spleen removed after he
JRAed into a tree when the brakes on his Apollo bike failed. The crash
happened six years ago. The bike was bought in a box, assembled at home and
later serviced by Halfords. The company does not admit liability.According
to IC Wales, Berwyn Pearce, of Pontypridd, was aged 11 when he lost control
of the bike. Pearce, now 18, suffered two broken ribs and a ruptured spleen.

Halfords, which sold and serviced Pearce's Apollo Guru bike, has now agreed
to pay him £12,500 in compensation. The company has not accepted liability
for the accident.

Pearce said:

"The bike was a present from my mum and dad. It came in a box and my dad put
it together but before the crash we took it down to Halfords to get it
serviced. I'd taken it out three times before the brakes failed.

"The steering went as well and that's when I hit the tree."

Pearce's lawyer, Clare Griffiths of Russell Jones and Walker in Cardiff,
said:

"When you take something to be serviced you expect someone to do a good job.
It's particularly important with cars and bikes because, as this case show,
you can be seriously injured." "

It seems clear that before the crash, the bike was taken to H* for
servicing. It would seem that perhaps it was not serviced competently.

Cheers, helen s

wafflycat' w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com said:

Halfords has paid £12,500 to a boy who had his spleen removed after
he JRAed into a tree when the brakes on his Apollo bike failed.

More at
<http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/printable_version.cfm?objectid=17780508&siteid=50082>

| the brakes and steering on Berwyn's failed completely

| the steering column broke off

| The brakes were worn very quickly and very unevenly

Do we believe everything we read in the press about what lawyers are
quoted as saying?

What *really* happened?

--
Alan J. Wylie http://www.wylie.me.uk/
"Perfection [in design] is achieved not when there is nothing left to add,
but rather when there is nothing left to take away."
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Slark wrote on 21/09/2006 16:06 +0100:

Quoted message said:

It seems a little odd to me to buy a bike in a box, then go to
Halfords...

If its anything like Ikea self assembly stuff it was probably to find out
where all the left over bits were supposed to have gone.

Yes, quite!

Graham

In article said:

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

http://www.bikebiz.com/newsitem.php?id=24396
Halfords, which sold and serviced Pearce's Apollo Guru bike

Quoted message said:

Ah - I've mis-read this, Halfords sold the bike originally??

So the report says. If the problem was incorrect assembly by the father
it might have been reasonable for them to say "you have assembled this
wrong, we sell them cheap in boxes precisely to save the assembly costs,
we will have to charge you lots more than a standard service to put it
right", but they didn't, so I think they have at least some responsibility
for not finding the problems during the service. (If the problem was
faulty parts, then it's clearly their problem for supplying it in the
first place.)

Alan J. Wylie said:

| the brakes and steering on Berwyn's failed completely

| the steering column broke off

| The brakes were worn very quickly and very unevenly

Do we believe everything we read in the press about what lawyers are
quoted as saying?

What *really* happened?

Interesting. I wonder if the steerer broke before or after hitting the
tree? Sitting in the comfort of our living rooms it's impossible for us
to know whether the brakes and steering failed causing the poor lad to
hit a tree, or whether he crashed into a tree destroying the brakes and
steering.

--
Dave...

"Alan Braggins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article said:

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

http://www.bikebiz.com/newsitem.php?id=24396
Halfords, which sold and serviced Pearce's Apollo Guru bike

Quoted message said:

Ah - I've mis-read this, Halfords sold the bike originally??

So the report says. If the problem was incorrect assembly by the father
it might have been reasonable for them to say "you have assembled this
wrong, we sell them cheap in boxes precisely to save the assembly costs,
we will have to charge you lots more than a standard service to put it
right", but they didn't, so I think they have at least some responsibility
for not finding the problems during the service. (If the problem was
faulty parts, then it's clearly their problem for supplying it in the
first place.)

Yep - agree.

Graham

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 19:01:23 +0100, [email hidden] (Alan J. Wylie)

Quoted message said:

wafflycat' w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com said:

Halfords has paid £12,500 to a boy who had his spleen removed after
he JRAed into a tree when the brakes on his Apollo bike failed.

More at
<http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/printable_version.cfm?objectid=17780508&siteid=50082>

Which contains the unfortunate line:

"He said: 'It was awful, really scary. I was gutted.'"

Well, having had a splenectomy I suppose he was.

Tim

In article <[email hidden]>

Alan Braggins said:

In article said:

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

http://www.bikebiz.com/newsitem.php?id=24396
Halfords, which sold and serviced Pearce's Apollo Guru bike

Quoted message said:

Ah - I've mis-read this, Halfords sold the bike originally??

So the report says. If the problem was incorrect assembly by the father
it might have been reasonable for them to say "you have assembled this
wrong, we sell them cheap in boxes precisely to save the assembly costs,
we will have to charge you lots more than a standard service to put it
right", but they didn't, so I think they have at least some responsibility
for not finding the problems during the service. (If the problem was
faulty parts, then it's clearly their problem for supplying it in the
first place.)

I'm not sure if the legal position has been clarified, but it used to be
presumed that people selling bikes in boxes were skating on thin ice if
anything went wrong - it was illegal to sell a bike that didn't conform
to BS6102 part 1, a standard which prescribes things like brake
performance, and if the brakes weren't properly set up when the bike was
sold then it may not have complied with the standard.

In article <[email hidden]>

Alan J. Wylie said:

wafflycat' w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com said:

Halfords has paid £12,500 to a boy who had his spleen removed after
he JRAed into a tree when the brakes on his Apollo bike failed.

More at
<http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/printable_version.cfm?objectid=17780508&siteid=50082>

| the brakes and steering on Berwyn's failed completely

| the steering column broke off

| The brakes were worn very quickly and very unevenly

Do we believe everything we read in the press about what lawyers are
quoted as saying?

What *really* happened?

"The youngster broke a rib and had his spleen removed."

"He said: 'I was gutted.'"

:-)

Rob Morley said:

I'm not sure if the legal position has been clarified, but it used to be
presumed that people selling bikes in boxes were skating on thin ice if
anything went wrong - it was illegal to sell a bike that didn't conform
to BS6102 part 1, a standard which prescribes things like brake
performance, and if the brakes weren't properly set up when the bike was
sold then it may not have complied with the standard.

UTAPLC

It must be sold either in a condition complying with BS6102 or with
clear instructions on assembly to meet BS6102. Selling a boxed bike
without assembly instructions to an end consumer is illegal.

...d

In article <[email hidden]>

David Martin said:

Rob Morley said:

I'm not sure if the legal position has been clarified, but it used to be
presumed that people selling bikes in boxes were skating on thin ice if
anything went wrong - it was illegal to sell a bike that didn't conform
to BS6102 part 1, a standard which prescribes things like brake
performance, and if the brakes weren't properly set up when the bike was
sold then it may not have complied with the standard.

UTAPLC

It must be sold either in a condition complying with BS6102 or with
clear instructions on assembly to meet BS6102. Selling a boxed bike
without assembly instructions to an end consumer is illegal.

Thanks for the clarification.

"Slark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Does the Father not bear any responsibility here? It seems a little odd to
me to buy a bike in a box, then go to Halfords...

Graham

My bike suffered major trauma and needed instant replacement. Otherwise I
wasn't going to get to work in the morning.
Went to Halfords (nearest purveyor of bicycles)
They had bike in stock (in a box)

"Yes sir, you can pay for it now. It will be assembled and ready for
collection in six days time."
"Six days?"
"Yes sir, one of our mechanics is on holiday and we have a backlog of bikes
waiting to be assembled"
"Can I just take it, in the box?"
"If you are confident that you can assemble it yourself sir, certainly,
would you like to book it in for it's initial free service? We are taking
bookings now for two months time"

So I bought the box from Halfords, was entitled to a free checkup, but never
bothered. I had changed so many parts by then that it wasn't their bike
anymore it was mine.

I assumed I had accepted full responsibility for the bike, legally though?
Perhaps I hadn't.