Do-it-yourself bikes
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Car sales are down but scooter sales are on the up. Price-conscious consumers have been looking to save on both time and money - particularly when petrol prices were on the rise. When it comes to buying your stylish new motor you would think going with the "UK's Largest Direct Scooter Manufacturer" would be a pretty safe bet. Well, Direct Bikes claim to be just that but if you buy from them you may find that your bike is delivered with a few surprises.
Self assembly
Louise Brown wanted something nippy to whisk her across town to her new job, so she decided to get herself a scooter. She stumbled onto the Direct Bikes website where the price really clinched it for her. She ordered a scooter from the website for £649 plus £135 for next day delivery. The bike took five days to arrive and, when it finally did, Louise was shocked to find a large metal crate being craned onto her street, with her scooter in pieces. Only this wasn't a shipping error - this was how the bike was meant to arrive and Louise would have to assemble it herself.
The Direct Bikes website gives few clues that the scooters are self-assembly jobs. That key fact is hidden away in the small print. If you do stumble across the information, the site says that only 'minimal assembly is required and that you don't need mechanical experience'... Louise wouldn't agree.
Nicky Campbell had a go at putting Louise's bike together but was stumped by the instructions that came with the bike and decided to call in an old friend, presenter Matt Allwright.
Matt's thoughts? Well he believes the issue is that the bikes arrive at people's homes unassembled and when they go to ride them, they can't be 100 per cent sure they've assembled it properly.
Despite the website suggesting that Direct Bikes manufacture the bikes it would appear that they are actually imported from China and shipped straight out to customers - ready for them to put the pieces together.
Bike breakdowns
We met a few Direct Bike customers who had managed to put their bikes together and get them running, but it seems they didn't stay working for long.
Emma Bunt's scooter clocked only 192 miles before it gave way. She has spent £700 on the bike, £85 on delivery and a further £50 on registration with upwards of £100 in repairs just to get it started. With the amount of miles it has done she may as well have hired a limousine - it might have even been cheaper. The bike is now a shed ornament as it currently doesn't run at all.
Robert Pocock's bike has managed 5,500 miles but not without serious problems. Having been stopped by the police on a routine check, Robert was surprised to be told that his speedometer was illegal - showing only kilometres per hour and not miles. He was told to get it changed immediately, which he duly did. His most recent problem is more serious still. While riding his bike he heard a loud snapping sound and stopped immediately to inspect. Robert found that his rear swing arm was cracked - something our expert, Steve Jones, deemed 'exceedingly dangerous'.
Contacting Direct Bikes
If you wanted to complain about your bike, it may be more difficult than you think. Over the past year Direct Bikes has given three different addresses on its website, with customers all being directed to complain via letter to one of these addresses. But if you visited its premises you'd find that no one from Direct Bikes actually works there. They are in fact only mailing addresses. It's almost as though the company doesn't want any of its unhappy customers to find them.
Watchdog tracked down the actual offices to a west London address above a pub. Not quite what you would expect from the "UK's Largest Direct Scooter Manufacturer", is it? Then again, many of its customers didn't get what they expected either.
When Watchdog spoke to Direct Bikes it said: "We appreciate these issues being brought to our attention and we are sorry that some customers have not been completely satisfied. At Direct Bikes each and every customer matters and we will deal with queries on a case by case basis to resolve them. We also take mechanical issues incredibly seriously and will work with independent mechanics to rectify any isolated cases."
"Direct Bikes has sold thousands of scooters since we launched two years ago and the majority of our customers are delighted with the service they receive. We are taking this opportunity to review our customer service policies. Direct Bikes is now employing additional staff to deal with post-sales queries, ensuring that we provide the best possible service to our valued customers at all times."
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~39~RS~)
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I own and run a motorcycle business in Bournemouth and have come across this company whilst dealing with customers. The problem we have found is that people are expecting a top class product for a budget price, unfortunatly, this does not work. Quite a few customers of theres have been put onto us for advice and work to get the problems sorted which has been quite successful but in the first instance has to be paid for buy the customer. If you are having problems, [Personal details removed by Moderator]or your local small friendly bike shop. We are mostly in this business to give a great service so please dont dispair at the 1st hurdle, we enjoy bikes and want you too as well. Pete
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I own and run a motorcycle business in Bournemouth and have come across this company whilst dealing with customers. The problem we have found is that people are expecting a top class product for a budget price, unfortunatly, this does not work. Quite a few customers of theres have been put onto us for advice and work to get the problems sorted which has been quite successful but in the first instance has to be paid for buy the customer. If you are having problems, Please contact your local small friendly bike shop. We are mostly in this business to give a great service so please dont dispair at the 1st hurdle, we enjoy bikes and want you too as well. Pete
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hello
i bought a scooter in febuary this year from direct bikes and when i got it delivered (6 days late) i had to assemble it together or in my case i failed,so i got a mechanic to do the job for me which cost me £50.
the scooter was running well for the first few months then problems started to occure on scooter
-petrol gage faulty and still not working
-xhaust faulty and fell off while driving due to faulty carbilator and loose fittings.
i fell that i have been let done by direct bikes as i complained about my exhaust and they said that they do not sell the parts that i needed to fix my scooter.
derek [Personal details removed by Moderator]
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As a person who works in retail in a proper shop, i have little sympathy for the people who have chosen to buy the bikes online. Like most retailers we are losing money due to cheap foreign imports and internet shoppers. I hope this situation has proven that it is easier and better and often cheaper to leave the house and shop properly.
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Direct Bikes.
My son bought one of there "Sports Scooters last year. Yes we, or should I say, I put it together and everything was OK. The first problem was the failure of the starter motor. While we waited for a replacement the kick start failed. The replacement starter motor arrived, replaced under the warranty, and I fitted it Ok. During the owner ship time of th scooter my son made two return visits to Driffield and York, not bad from the Telford area. Despite delays with correspondance there have been no big problems. I do though agree that the quality of the scooter and some of it's componants were not the highest, the assembly instructions and owners manual were a lot to be desired. This scooter has since been stolen but then recovered but beyond ecconomical repair. My son has since invested in a car.
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I just turned on the tv when I cam home this evening and was very surprised to hear a report on Direct bikes. My experience of the company has been very positive. I purchased a bike a few months ago. I found the bike simple to assembleand following a quick call to Direct bikes I was able to register the bike without difficulty. Apart from the badge I don't understand the advantage of buying from one of the more well known brands - my bikes rides really well an is so much cheaper than the other brands. I would certainly recommend the bikes and the company. Danny
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My scooter lasted about 22 miles before the engine failed and I ended up in accident and emergency with a suspected fractured elbow. I was lucky it wasn't much worse. They are sending a mechanic round but given the comments on the show I just want my money back - in case next time it kills me. I MUST be covered under the law?
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Had my Direct Bikes scooter for 9 months, no problems what so ever. Assembly was quite straight forward and customer services was ok.
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I work for a reputable importer of scooters within the UK. We are on a secure registration system which is closely monitored by the Vehicle Certification Agency to ensure the machines we register are legal for the UK and the rest of the European community.With non secure registrations such as the machines in this programme it has brought to the forefront that a tightening up of the whole system is needed to reduce the large numbers of potentially non compliant,illegal and even dangerous machines currently being registered within the UK.
Some of the footage contained within the programme would suggest that there may be cause for concern where possible life threatening failures could lead to recalls being required. The danger here is if an independent importer cannot be contacted, has insufficient customer data, minimal factory support,and insufficient structure in place to deal with a recall,then who is going to be out there to support the end user. The answer is no-one. What may seem a bargain on the face of it may turn out to be something totally different in reality. To coin an old phrase:Let the buyer beware.
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Saw the tv last night about direct bikes. I have owned a Direct Bikes scooter for 14 months. I have not had any problems so far with the scooter. Assembly was simple, I am not sure what scooter watchdog were featuring, I only had to put the front wheel on. Saved me a fortune compared with the other brands! :)
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I had to send my scooter to a garage to assemble which was annoying. The garage vouched for me that it was definately not easy to assemble. Even if you assemble it yourself, how can you be so sure its safe and legal?? After getting it on the road (registration fees, assemble fees...) it has been fine. I have had the bike 15 months now and had one problem - the teeth from my kickstart broke so in cold weather it wouldn't start easily. Took me about 6 months to track the part down (luckily over the summer so could still run) and is now up and running again. Since then I have peeled off the DirectBikes stickers and sprayed over as I don't like to associate myself with them!
Happy Scooting!
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I think this article was particularly poor from the Watchdog team. The people who bought these bikes did so because they were CHEAP. Surely they looked at the mainstream brands and wondered why these bikes were 1/3rd of the price?!! I have owned several chinese brand bikes,and have previous main dealer experience,I have never had a problem and that is because I build them correctly and fastidiously AND put decent oil in from day 1. The reason why people have problems is they bodge them together, leap on them and thrash them without checking oil or tyres - they are accidents looking for somewhere to happen and should have to bear the liability for any costs if they have assembled a machine with no qualifications.I would love to have been on the programme answering them!! It seems bizarre that MOT's are so rigidly enforced yet you can leap on a 60 mph machine potentially assembled by someone with zero mechanical knowledge.
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Reading the blog. I also have a scooter from Direct Bikes. No real problems. It was a little tricky to assemble, but i expected it as read the website. Seems a little one side story watchdog have done. Similar to the ryan air story last week.
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Further to my previous post a great example is the post from greatinfo on 17th November quote "i bought a scooter in febuary this year from direct bikes and when i got it delivered (6 days late) i had to assemble it together or in my case i failed,so i got a mechanic to do the job for me which cost me ?50.
the scooter was running well for the first few months then problems started to occure on scooter
-petrol gage faulty and still not working
-xhaust faulty and fell off while driving due to faulty carbilator and loose fittings."
Plainly this person is totally unqualified to touch this machine as they admitted, plus an exhaust cannot fall off due to a faulty carburetor (I assume this is what is meant by carbilator) - it was obviously loose!!Did they actually get it checked after the running in period, if indeed this was even observed? In my humble opinion this person was a danger to themself and other road users, all to save a few £££'s. There really needs to be some legislation here to protect these people AND US from themselves.
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Seems that the women who had watchdog build her scooter had no real complaint apart from not wanting to build the scooter herself. I have looked at db website and it does say assembly is required. I can't see how db is to be blamed. I understand that they say the instructions are not great, but without any element of doubt watchdog managed to build it. I have so many items which I have dificulty in building, including an Ikea table. Maybe if I inform watchdog they will build it for me too.
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I bought a scooter from direct bikes in August this year, we managed to assemble it and found a deep scratch on it (not done by us), there were missing screws and a broken screw on accelerator handlebar. I informed Direct bikes by email immediately. I rode the bike to work and back (approx 20 miles. When I came home, I lifted up the seat to retrieve an item I had put inside, to find that all round the seat and down side of body large cracks had appeared with fine cracks spreading downwards. The following day pictures I had taken of all the problems I emailed across to Direct Bikes. No-one got back to me. For several weeks I made phone calls and had to send the same photos 3 times. I was not treated well with no headway at all, with being told that they do not provide spare parts etc, and that I should have sent it back with the courier after checking the bike on delivery. This was ridiculous as has been mentioned before, the bike arrives in a bolted metal crate. I told them I was going to take it further, then contacted Consumer Direct who promptly passed it on to Trading Standards. They eventually phoned me but the information although expressing Direct Bikes was acting illegally, did not help apart from advising me to send a specific letter to Direct Bikes making my demands, for money back, parts and repairs or new scooter, and to send the bike back to them. To do that would have meant me without the scooter AND my money. A month ago I managed to speak to the (manager ??) who was going to send all the e-mails and photos to the manufacturers and would give me the results 48 hours later. Needless to say I have had no response and now 4 weeks later and after more phone calls, I cannot get to speak to him and ' no-one' seems to be able to give me any information at all except constant promises that someone will ring me. And to date, I am still with a scooter that would never pass its mot, and more importantly, dangerous to ride.
I just do not know what to do, I am disgusted, that customers can be treated this way.
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I have a Cruiser 125cc scooter from Direct Bikes. Couldn't agree more. They are supplied at a very low price. The quality isn't bad at all. I got my brother-in law to put it together for me. He didn't have any major problems. Been running the bike for around 8 months.
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Midland Scooter Centre is a long established and reputable dedicated scooter dealer with many decades of experience within the scooter trade. Our web-site is scooters.co.uk. We are not connected in any way to Direct Bikes- "Britains Largest Scooter Manufacturer"; their web-site address is quite similar to our own. We get dozens of emails mistakenly addressed to us and complaining about the poor product and service that Direct Bikes provides.
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I bought a retro scooter 125cc, could not assemble it and had to pay £240 to a mechanic to have it assembled and MOT +registered in UK. A part was damaged and I had to wait 5 months for a replacement despite several calls and e-mails and asking for my money to be refunded. It broke down twice on my CBT. eventually took out a, which county court judgement which they failed to repond to and contacted watchdog. I have since had to pay a further £150 to repair the bike, which is of such poor quality it is rusting. Due to the mechanical failures I no longer have confidence in the bike. I will not be recommending this company to anyone and in my opinion they should not be allowed to continue to trade.
Jill
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I BOUGHT A SCOOTER FROM DIRECT BIKESIN OCTOBER 2007,AND HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS PUTTING IT TOGETHER,AND I HAD TO TAKE IT TO THE GARAGE TO FINISH IT FOR ME IT COST £50.3 WEEKS LATER IT PACKED UP ON ME.I KEPT GETTING FOBBED OFF OVER THE PHONE,SO IN THE END I PAID ANOTHER £100 POUNDS TO GET IT BACK ON THE ROAD ONLY FOR IT TO PACK UP AGAIN,BY THIS TIME I WAS REALLY PEED OFF AND MOTHBALLED IT IN MY GARAGE,WHERE IT STAYED UNTI APRIL THIS YEAR WHEN WITH THE HELP OF A FRIEND WE GOT IT GOING.IT WAS RUNNING GREAT UNTIL LAST WEEK WHEN IT JUST PACKED IN AGAIN,SO IT IS NOW MOTHBALLED AGAIN,PROBABLY UNTIL NEXT APRIL!!
WITH THE HELP OF TRADING STANDARDS I GOT A REFUND OF £50 AND TOLD BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN WORKED ON MY 12MONTH GUARENTEE WAS NO LONGER VALID,
THIS IS A SHORTENED VERSION OF THE HASSLE THAT I HAVE HAD WITH THIS COMPANY,IT HELPS,BUT NOT TOO MUCH TO KNOW THAT I AM NOT ALONE OUT THERE!
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I bought my direct bike back in April I also never knew that it would come requiring assembly. I rang around to four different bike shops to see if they would assemble it for me not one of them would touch it. I had to get my partner to put it together for me who is a carpenter not a mechanic! I then waited 2 weeks for the paper work to come through to register it which I was also not aware of when it finally came, it took another month to register it as the DVLA told me that the bike was not British Roadworthy as it only had a KPH speedo on it. Trying to find insurance was impossible ten companies that I phoned wouldn't take the bike on the one that finally did was at a very high price. When it finally got on the road the speedometer broke after 9 miles, then the bike wouldn't start sent it to a mechanics I needed a new speedo cable and the carborator adjusted at a cost of £80. I rang Direct bike demanding to speak to a manager i was informed that I had to write a letter of complaint to their email address which I did and i informed them that I would take it to trading standards a supervisor rang me 3 days later and informed me that they did not give refunds!
A few weeks later the lights blew I drove home late at night with no lights this time I needed a Regulator Rectifer at yet another additional cost. I rang Direct bikes again and sent them an email I rang them 3 time thereafter to ask if they would have the common curtsy to reply to my email they still haven't replied. The bike has ongoing problems difficult to start and cutting out half ways through a journey I would not recommend this company to anyone and as I informed they need to make their website a lot clearer.
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I'm delighted with my bike. It looks great around town and gets me from A to B quickly and safely. Don't agree with the fuss - I'm very pleased, although I didn't get any rice with the bike haha! JTibbs
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After watching this I am sorry I haven't contacted Watchdog before - To cut a very long story short I bought a scooter off Direct Bikes a couple of years ago whilst they were trading through Ebay and it turned up about 6 months after I'd paid for it - I refused delivery as I had tried to get my money back on numerous occasions and eventually got it back when I sued them and won! I am happy to share my experience to help those in similar situations with them!
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Got a 50cc Retro Scooter from the website, I can't complain. Works all as it should. Takes me around town beating the conjestion charge. Done now 8,500kms. I have no trouble with the company. They have helped me with parts. I look after my scooter, often servicing it as the instruction manual tells me, judging by some of the complaints not sure if the other have bothered. Like all mechanical products they need tlc.
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I bought a bike off direct bikes in September we had to assemble it ourselves even though we are not mechanically minded which was tough.
The first problem we had was it wouldn't start we put the acid in the battery like it told us to but it would not keep it's charge. So we phoned direct bikes and they sent a new battery mean while we phoned their mechanic and he asked us if we had added water which we had not as the instructions never told us to. Then the petrol gauge wouldn't work so they told us to phone there mechanic as it was easy to fix, so we did and he asked if we were mechanically minded we said no so he said we would not be able to fix it ourselves it cost £70 to have it fixed then we found out it had a petrol leak with an un-sealed tank!!!! We are still waiting!!!
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I bought a bike from dircet bikes as it was CHEAP. You I did not expect perfect quality but was suprised. Took 45 minutes to assemble. I use it to zip around London and have had no problems for the last 5 months.
You cannot to pay lada prices and get a rolls royce!
Enjoy cheap motoring.
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A number of people on this page have alluded to the ‘self assembly’ and the ‘quality vs cost’ arguments; however there may be a bigger picture being missed here. Even if you are not mechanically minded and would prefer to pay less for a product, the product is still to conform to the requirements as stipulated under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
When entering into a contract under the Sale of Goods Act 1979, the law gives all of us the following rights under the contract. The goods are to be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose.
If you purchased a scooter from D/B on credit card, it breaches any of the above, and you cannot get a refund, I would suggest you try implementing section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
This section states that the provider of credit is equally liable with the merchant (for goods or services) where there is a breach of contract or misrepresentation. This only applies to credit card purchases between £100 and £ 30 000.
In my case, the scooter purchased was none of the above. It did not work from day one (satisfactory quality), was not UK compliant (European parts, not for UK market ie: not fit for purpose) and was not as described when I purchased it (Chinese not UK manufactured).
DVLA refused to register the scooter based on D/B history for importing non UK compliant motorcycles, such as mine.
In short D/B failed to repair or replace the scooter in a timely manner (8 months), continuously broke promises and agreements and in my case, was in breach of the sale of goods act and misrepresentation.
How they have not been prosecuted yet, I don’t know? What does it take - a death on one of their products for any civil or criminal action to be taken?
I believe the watchdog report to be a fair and accurate reflection of my experiences with this organisation.
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Hello everyone, I am a trainee solicitor and the comment above is incorrect. He clearly cannot read the website and jumps in with his consumer rights. Vespa is a Italian scooter manufacturer. But their mopeds are assembled in China. Furthermore I think watchdog have put over the wrong points here, maybe in a hurry to get a story out. Every business will have a few complaints, it is only natural. To be highlighted on watchdog is down to luck (or the lack of it!) Watchdog is their for entertainment, which we all often forget.
My own experience with direct bikes is not bad at all. Moped arrived one day early, I unlike others have actually read the website and knew assembly was needed. Moped came nearly all assembled. Had to put on wing mirrors and handlebars. i was surprised as was expecting more. Using the moped in and around the city for about 7 months. I am the first type of person to complain but do not have anything really bad to say.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I wholeheartedly agree with scottienews. It may be of interest to know that quite often the DVLA only call a vehicle in to check its validity if something wrong is spotted on the Certificate of Conformity or the other documentation.Having had bikes checked in the past,the speedometer reading in mph and the frame number on the type approval plate are about the only things checked.whether it is because of goverment targets or lack of manpower, only a slack handful are called in for checking. If EVERY machine registered on a non secure document and with what appears to have a valid COC were checked for correct speedometer,correct dipping headlights,and all the required type approval markings (known in the trade as checkable items)It would put out of business almost overnight all the importers who are blatantly infringing the rules. As in many other sectors it appears that the reputable distributors such as ourselves are being constantly monitored as they are easy to police. But the ones who are actually in more need of keeping control of are left to run free.
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Lets get a couple of things straight.
Chinese bikes are cheap....
Direct Bikes have awful customer service relationships.
Please note, I speak from expieriance as I'm a Main Dealer of Chinese Motorcycles.
Over the past 2 years I've had a large number of scooters through my doors which have been supplied by DB.
Some of these were DEATH TRAPS. Wheel spindles, brake calipers, handlebars loose. All because the average person who purcahses one of these scooters have no or little mechanical knowledge, and also lack the tools to build these properly.
They also neglet the use of grease, lock-tight, copper-slip.
Even if they manage to build the scooter there is then the problem of registering with DVLA. My local DVLA office refuses to register any scooter from DB due to the large number of problems that have arisen with their scooters.
Then you have the problem of regular servicing. DB have no agents.
If you require parts for your scooter DB don't hold any stock. Although the majority of parts are interchangable on Chinese scooters, ones from DB have subtle diferences.
DB supply scooters in diferent colour schemes to other suppliers. Therefore if you require a new panel you can't get one the right colour. The electrical conectors are also diferent causing more problems.
Also, if you total up the cost of a scooter from DB, including Delivery, Registration, PDI, etc it costs more than what I can supply a similar model On The Road.
If you are in the market for a scooter then by all means consider a Chinese one. However, DON'T buy from a Back-Street internet company. Go to a dealer where you can see what you are purchasing.
The prices may seem dearer at first, but if you weigh up all the factors you'll save in the long run.
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To the trainee solicitor whose comments appear under note 29.
I am not particularly interested in whether others perceive me to be right or not, however the basis of my note above was from advice from my own solicitors which did enable me to obtain a refund from my Credit Card Company. Whether this was then redirected to D/B, I don’t know and don’t particularly care.
I did read their website comprehensively and my decision to buy from D/B was not a spur of the moment one. I spent weeks comparing their product to a number of other companies, and at face value and cost, they appeared to be the best. I was well aware of the assembly required, and this was not the basis of my argument. My brother and I assembled the scooter in less than 2 hours, and were happy to do so. In fact, it was a very simple process.
My comments noted that I, like a number of individuals seem to have received a product not wholly operable, not UK compliant and from a company whose after sales service is less than satisfactory. It had nothing to do with the assembly requirements, cost or not reading a website correctly, but everything to do with the Sale of Goods Act and companies importing non UK compliant products. As a trainee solicitor, I suggest you invest more effort in understanding arguments, and less effort in answering incorrectly what you think they are about.
Since a number of individuals have also had a less than satisfactory experience, I was simply stating there may be other options available to those who have not had the same pleasurable experience with D/B that you obviously have.
Additionally, I don’t particularly see what Vespa or Italy have to do with a company who imports scooters from China, and then advertises them as being ‘manufactured’ in the UK. This is clear misrepresentation.
All information regarding consumer rights, section 75 and the Sale of Goods Act were provided to me by my (practicing) solicitor whose advice ultimately secured me a refund, albeit not from D/B. How can any of the information I noted in my earlier post therefore be ‘incorrect’.
Please REFER: http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/guides_to/credit_liability.shtml
Again, I believe the watchdog report to be a fair and accurate reflection of my experiences with this organisation.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
All the short smug comments
unreservedly support Direct Bikes and the long
explanatory painful episodes are victims of Direct Bikes. Funny isn't it?
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I paid £763 to get my bike up and running, taking 5 months, and it broke down with only 28 miles on the clock. I would like my money back, but obviously I won't. I'd also like to ask why the DVLA still allow these scooters on the roads with faults?
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I don't think people understand that you need to service these scooters. From what I have read in my service book. It is carried out in the first 2 months or 300 kms. I have had my scooter from Direct Bikes since February and done 4964km. The mirrors arrived broken and Direct Bikes replaced straight away. Nothing else went wrong. Runs well.
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Susanbritts.
Just a query, why are you referring to travel distance in kilometer’s and not Miles? Does your gauge on your scooter refer to the distance in kilometres as opposed to Miles? If so, you have pretty much just proved the point raised by many individuals on this page, notably Scottienews, chinesemotorcycles and darkwind 59.
No matter how many times you service a vehicle, if its not UK compliant, its NOT UK complaint and should not have been sold to you in the first place. Your scooter has obviously not caused you any problems, but if you were to be in an accident and it was found to be non UK compliant, your insurance would not cover you.
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Just a quick note to put the record straight on bubbling scootermans first paragraph. It is perfectly legal and compliant to have the odometer read distance only in kilometers. It is however illegal in The UK if the speedometer reads only in kmh or only in mph.
It must read in both mph and kmh to be legal. Basically distance is irrelative however speed is not as whether here or abroad we have legal speed limits which we are obliged to keep. As far as the second paragraph goes you are totally correct.
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what do people expect for peanuts....when i first read this blog i thought it was about mountain bikes....i cant believe any one would consider spending so little on such a item..why not get a good second hand one...to put it in comparison a good full suspension mountain bike cost at least £1500... ..if somethings to good to be true it is...dont buy this junk..if all u got is £700 buy a mountain bike..u can get a ok one for that price..but pleas make sure u get it a ur friendly local independent bike shop....ovoid the chain stores because they are terrible....
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I think Watchdog did'nt go far enough with this. They didnt track down the owner of this company and question him/her face to face. They could'nt even find a Head Office - good indication that this is not a good company. They came up against a brick wall - as have the customers buying from DB. Any company worth its salt would defend themselves.
I am also suspicious about those supporting this company on this site. I suspect the majority of positive comments have been posted by DB themselves.
No one can buy a bike from this company and be 100% satisfied. I agree they are cheap compared to other suppliers but £700 for a bike that doesnt work is not cheap - its money thrown away.
I bought a bike 6 months ago. Arrived damaged, and took 3 months to fix/register with DVLA. Had to take it to them on 2 occasions before they would register it. Impossible to insure unless you use the DB associate Rampdale Insurance who cost 3 times as much as you would expect to pay. No other insurance company will accept you.
DB do not reply to emails or letters. When you phone them, the person you need to contact is never available and never returns your call.
Bike broke down after 2 miles and has broken down over 40 times (only done 200 miles). My sons electric car is built of better quality plastic then these bikes. Fuel guage has never worked.
Did start court proceedings but as there was no guarantee of getting my money back and the cost of court proceedings I have stopped my appication. Can't afford to throw more money away.
Trading Standards should start to do their job proberly and close this company down before someone is killed on one of these bikes. Unfortunately it will take a death before anyone takes his matter seriously.
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I also have a direct bikes scooter. Had problems with arranging the delivery date. Direct Bikes advised me Thursday, but the scooter came Friday. It looks though that it was the couriers fault and not direct bikes. I know what a nightmare these couriers can be.
Since owning a scooter from them I also have been ok with the service. The scooter is reliable and runs ok. Cost me next to nothing to run. My scooter arrived fully assembled too. The speedo was in the correct readings and was ok getting insurance at several insurance companies.
I am in agreement, the programme seemed again to be a little biased if you ask me. I would like to know more about the customers in the programme. I think some of them seem a little odd. One side of the story seemed to be put over.
Thought I would just put my story out there.
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I bought a Ninja 500cc scooter 6 months ago from DB. At first it would cut the power in the middle of a junction when power was most needed and then the other day it got stuck on full acceleration on a busy and icy road! I had to switch the bike off in the middle of the road and hope not to get run over! The RAC told me that the accelerator cable has worn through due to the design of the bike and the inner cable was now stuck! Having looked at other forums on this company, this is a common fault with this model. DB's solution was to send another cable and I have to install it myself by taking the WHOLE bike apart and trusting my memory to put it back together again! I am now pursuing court action under the Sales of Goods Act 1979 as the bike is faulty.
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Also, the Borehamwood address on the website is registered as Alpha Properties. Interestingly the address on the website last week was in Central London. Also the same Australian girl answers the phone every time! Where are they?
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I purched a 50cc scooter from Direct bikes in October. I have done 288km on it and yesterday had 2 accidents on it and discovered this was due to the petrol pipe leaking onto the back wheel. I have spoken to direct bike who have agreed to supply part but not to fix it, as per the warentee. I view this as a serious problem withj the bike and one which shouldn't occur so early into the bikes history, i am also lucky not to have been seriously injured. Can anyone give me any further advice on how best to persue this?
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To address Yipeekayay, I own a vespa, an accelerator
cable is wear and tear item and has broken on my new vespa a couple of times. It is not a court action or sales of goods act situation.
This is the joys of owning a scooter not just a db scooter. The fact db have offered a replacement under
there parts warranty is what is expected.
The comments by lostneison regarding a petrol pipe leaking could have been caused by a number of reasons. With all scooters it is always recommended to check the scooter before use. A petrol pipe leaking would have be evident.
I have read thoroughly through the comments on this posting and it appears that the negative comments regarding db are coming either from customers who do not have experience of running scooters or are db's competitors. A little unfair I think.
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I have a 50cc Sports Scooter which was bought for me by my husband back in July. I have done around 2000 miles and no problems yet :) They do supply from what i have experienced a reliable machine at a good price. My top box rattled a bit but they sent me a replacement swiftly with no cost to me.
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I bought a scooter from Direct bikes last September. A friend of mine who knew a thing about bikes assembled it but said that he was not happy because the steering was lose. I took it to a specialist bike place and they said it was unsafe to drive because the bearings did not fit and could slip, this could cause the bike,s throttle to open and be extremely dangerous. Further more they said that they did not want anything to do with it, as they had had experience with these Chinese bikes and they were so badly made that when you tried to mend them the bikes just fell apart. Direct bikes have not answered any of our calls or letters. This is obviously not of merchantable quality and we feel so helpless. It was a lot of money to pay out for something that is not fit for purpose.
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I own a d bikes scooter since August 2008. I love it. Had no real problems at all. Suprisingly quick delivery and has lasted me well. I am close to one of their service agents here in bristol who maintain the scooter every 6 months or so. There was absolutley no assembly required apart from wacking on the wing mirrors and top box, so I am not sure what watchdog are talkng about here. I have rang them a few times and again they are quite helpful to me.
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I rejected a bike from DB in writing in Aug 08 and did not receive a reply from them. Letter was sent recorded delivery and was returned to me today (6 Feb 09)as post office could not deliver letter. How can anyone expect customers to trust this company who clearly have no intention of being located. They change their address regularly to put people off the scent. I hope this watchdog report has put people off buying from DB.
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Great little scooter. Had my 50cc Ninja for a year. My experience with them is good. For the price is a good deal. I ordered a replacement back box as I hit mine off with a car. The back box arrived within a week.
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With regards to indiajane900's comment, I owned a Peugeot scooter previous to this one so I am experienced and had absolutely no problems whatsoever with it!
Is an accelerator cable supposed to break 170km into the life of a bike? Is a petrol pipe supposed to leak onto other parts of the bike? Are exhausts supposed to fall off?
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I purchased a 50cc scooter from this company and paid for next day delivery. It came, but without the paperwork. I had to wait over a week for the documents to arrive.
Then the scooter would not start. I phoned Direct Bikes and they gave me the mobile number of a mechanic who told me to adjust a screw in the carburretor. it was very difficult to get to but after taking this advice, it did not work. I tried to call the mechanic back but the phone rang then went dead as if it had been switched off.
Eventually, I pushed the scooter to a local repair shop to ask them to try to start it. After lots of investigation, it was found to be a faulty carburretor.
I was charged one hundred and five pounds and asked Direct Bikes for a refund of the costs. They stated the bike had a parts warranty only - not labour and the shop was not an authorised repair centre by them.
I explained warranty was not the issue and it was simply a Sale of goods Act problem - receiving faulty goods from new.
I also explained of another fault on the right side break with throttle which was loose.
They did not respond to this and I had to take up the matter with Trading Standards. I found I was not alone and there had been many other complaints about this company.
I am now attempting to get my money back via my credit card company on advice from trading Standards. It's slow and an absolute nightmare.
I would certainly not recommend this company to any one and don't just take my word for it. Please contact Chelsea and Kensington trading Standards before you consider purchasing a motorbike from this company!
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TheKnighUk is on another planet. I have looked at db website and it clearly states that their scooters need to be taken to authorised dealers and clearly states they offer a parts warranty. Surely any normal person would have got authority BEFORE taking their scooter for repair. Clearly this has NOT happened. If you had a faulty scooter like you are claiming then you could have returned it or sought further advice on how you could get your scooter repaired. Instead you have clearly not done so. This does not sound right. A company cannot be held responsible for YOUR actions. I am not surprised they refused to assist any further if you have taken it upon yourself to take the scooter to John down the road who has fiddled around with the scooter. It really drives me mad when I read reviews by consumers who do not know what they are talking about.
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[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]I bought and got exactly what i expected was very happy with the bike until i had to deal with the aftersales, I followed everything i was advised when my bike broke down within the 1st yr I phoned numerous times and delt with their mechanic [personal details removed] as advised to no avail, in the end I had to put bike in a garage to be fixed and was told I must buy the parts from their supplier which again i did, am now told as they did not advise me which garage i could use they will not reimburse cost of parts, im not asking for labour costs, total bill was 200 pound. Finally for all those owners that will be advised certain parts may need replacing as i was, if it won't work just please check the wiring underneath cause thats all that stopped mine it does NOT work in the rain, they will say needs all sorts parts replacing dont waste your money you wont get it back even when you follow their advice
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I bought a retro 50CC scooter in September 08 and it has been a disaster from day one.
The girls on the phone at the office are lovely but they are simply a mouthpiece for the company and unable to help with any issues other than spout processes at you. They do not know the name of the boss or who owns the company so escalating is out of the question too.
I have had pieces missing, the wrong parts sent out, the phone mechanic confused on how to fix problems despite his being the EXPERT. The bodywork is cracked, the petrol guage doesn't work, the indicators work intermittantly, the brakes are not very good, more recently, the handlebars actually fell off whilst I was ridingf and I very narrowly missed falling under a bus and being killed. Last week the accelorator cable snapped for no apparent reason. DB will not assist despite my following every letter of their warrantee and terms and conditions.
I have decided to run it into the ground and when it has had it (I anticipate not too long now), I will go to a proper reputable dealer and put this whole sorry saga behind me.
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