Exercise bike dispute worth sweating over 

Why Powerhouse Fitness didn’t deserve an easy ride

Shortly after receiving his new exercise bike from Powerhouse Fitness, Peter Ludlow, from Northamptonshire, set about assembling it. Once it was ready, he tested it out, only to discover that the resistance knob was faulty and provided no resistance whatsoever. 

Peter contacted the Powerhouse Fitness customer service team and was told it would deal with his concerns as soon as possible. After waiting a few days with no response, Peter contacted Which? for advice on his legal rights. 

The Law

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods should be of satisfactory quality and free from fault or defect. Since there was clearly an issue with a central function of the exercise bike, the item was not of satisfactory quality. It had been less than 30 days since delivery, so Peter was entitled to reject the item and obtain a full refund. 

Our advice

We recommended Peter set out this position of rejection to Powerhouse Fitness. In response, it offered a more detailed instruction booklet and troubleshooting suggestions, which Peter attempted to no avail. 

Powerhouse Fitness then asked Peter for video footage as evidence of his attempts to resolve the issue and the resistance function not working. 

We advised Peter to inform Powerhouse Fitness that he would be disassembling the product, placing it back in its packaging ready for collection and requesting a full refund. A few days later, Powerhouse Fitness confirmed collection of the exercise bike had been arranged and a full refund would be provided. 

Powerhouse Fitness told Which?: ‘We are truly sorry to hear of Mr Ludlow’s frustrating experience. Our aim is to deliver a high standard of customer care and regretfully on this occasion we have missed the mark and let Mr Ludlow down. We take this feedback very seriously and have put measures in place to make sure this does not happen again.’