I trundled about 500 yards up the road and thought something didn’t feel right. I got off, spotted it and took it back. As you can imagine, I did my nut and threw some effs into them and threatened to give the owner a slap. I could have been killed.
The owner apologised, tightened up the wheel and offered to give me a full refund of the servicing costs. I told him he could shove it. My mate reckons I should push for compensation and said I should accept no less than £10,000 or a new bike. I reckon that will make the owner take this seriously.
What do you think? I’ve got a wife and kids and wondered if they also have a claim in case they now start to worry about me riding my bike.
Answer
Whilst it was a serious mistake, the owner apologised, fixed the issue and offered to refund the servicing costs.
He sounds like he took it seriously and has been reasonable. He couldn’t have done any more to rectify the mistake. I appreciate you could have been killed, but the fact is you weren’t. End of.
£10,000 or a new bike. Are you on crack? To be absolutely crystal clear, there is no huge compensation paid out for what could have happened. As for your wife and kids, behave.
My advice is calm down and go speak to the dealer. If he is still offering a full refund for the service, take that and move on. The reality is that if Judge were to deal with this, s/he could order that if the garage has rectified their error, the most they should pay you in compensation is a partial refund of the servicing costs due to shoddy work. That is probably about it.
I certainly would not suggest involving solicitors but instead have a chat with the dealer. We are all humans. We all make mistakes, and from what you have said they are trying to rectify their mistake in a reasonable fashion. You need to manage your expectations.
Andrew Prendergast
More Bikes January 2021
Read the article in More Bikes, laughed as much this time as reading it then. Sorry for bike owner, serious implications from not tightening said nuts, but love the straight talking advice as always. Thanks Chef.
Love it, “are you on crack”