Helderberg

I am thinking about buying a Giant Escape 1 but have read less than glowing reviews on the internet about their warranty service. Can anyone here give me some real world feed back as I am more than aware that most of the time people with good things to say do not go on the internet. I realize that 90% of the interface would be with the dealer but how good they are backed up is a huge factor. I hang in the Hybrid forum so I am going to post this there also.
Thanks in advance, Frank.

Helderberg

I have read less than glowing reviews on the internet about Giant bike warranty service. Can anyone here give me some real world feed back as I am more than aware that most of the time people with good things to say do not go on the internet. I realize that 90% of the interface would be with the dealer but how good they are backed up is a huge factor. I posted this question in the General forum also.
Thanks in advance, Frank.

DowneasTTer

Hi Frank,

I actually do have a live outside of replying to your posts But, it seems I'm available today and have some. knowledge of the questions you have been posting. In the past 8 years my wife and I have lived in FL we have purchased 6 Giant hybrids ( Escape RX O's, Escape RX ;composites, and Fastroad CoMax 1's). All from the same LBS here in Dunnellon, FL In all that time I have only had one warranty claim and it was on my Escape RX Compostie. There Fram developed or was delivered with a small crack on the head tube that took me a while to find. Giant replaced the frame without any ? and my LBS did a part exchange and set up for nothing. Well above the norm. You can read about it and see a pic of the crack here on post # 31 If interested: https://www.bikeforums.net/hybrid-bi...owner-s-2.html:

badger1

You will find "less than glowing reviews" about warranty backup/service on any bicycle manufacturer. We live in the 'interwebz' age: garbage in, garbage out.

If you look closely enough, you will realize that almost all of these "less than glowing reviews" involve something that turns out to be nothing to do with a defect in work/materials on the part of the frame manufacturer, and everything to do with 'user error'.

Giant, like any other of the major manufacturers, warrants its frames, with certain conditions/limitations. I own a Giant bike, and have not had any problems, but I understand from my LBS that Giant honours the warranties on their frames where the claims in question are genuine, e.g. @DowneasTTer above.

If you were to purchase a Giant bicycle through an authorized Giant dealer, I doubt very much that you would have any problem having a legitimate warranty claim honoured in the unlikely event you needed to make one.

mtbikerinpa

I haven't had to personally deal with their warranty service even though I own and run two Giants from the 90s(both over 30kmiles). A friend had a suspension frame crack in the 2000s and they warrantied him up a model for a very small fee. Was pleased at the time. The small, non-corporate dealers should be a source for information too.

veganbikes

Having been a Giant dealer I can say their performance is less than stellar and the Giant Escape's were frequently in the shop a lot more than other cheap hybrids with similar components. Trying to get them to warranty stuff was difficult and we rarely saw the reps (Specialized and Jamis are around a lot or have been). Plus their online ordering to shops was a real pain in the arse, a lot of really cheap bikes that needed quite a bit of work out of the box and we got less than what the build was worth for it. We got screwed out of the deal because it was a lost sale and it was difficult to get the little money they owed for the build and harder to talk accessories when we weren't part of the sale. I could go on but some of my issue with Giant is not service wise and wouldn't be relevant to that specific bike.

What other bikes have you ridden? What are you looking for in the bike? Maybe you are looking for something that might exist from another company.

Helderberg

Thank you both for your time and replies and DowneasTTer, if you would like I could pm you and save the web space?
Seriously, thank you both, Frank.

hokiefyd 

Frank, I gave you some feedback on this in one of your other threads. I had two warranty claims with the local bike shop with my Giant Roam. Pedal clicking was addressed by re-torquing the bottom bracket. A loud/gritty freehub was replaced with an entirely new rear wheel assembly. It came as a wheel with brake disc and freehub attached. The local bike shop swapped over my tube and cassette. The new one sounds about the same as the factory one originally did, so I'm not confident that won't continue to get louder...

Your local bike shop makes the difference, here. We had a freewheel that went back on my daughter's Raleigh Alysa, and I bought it in and the shop said that Raleigh wouldn't cover a drivetrain part like this, but they ate the cost and put a new Shimano freewheel on it for me.

BirdsBikeBinocs

What years did your struggle with Giant take place.??

fietsbob

Warranty service is through the retail local "giant" dealer, not the factory ...

save your sales receipts?

Trek hires Giant as an OEM builder, sub contracting..
executing Trek's designs and specs..
but your Trek dealer handles all the Warranty claims..





....

TiHabanero

On the flip side, my former shop has carried Giant bikes since 1994. Ben Green, our sales rep, was in the shop every month. Specialized, every 6-8 months. Giant was always a pleasure to work with, so was Specialized corporate, just not the sales rep. We never warrantied any Giant Escape in the years I was there and that model was being sold. Any warranty claims are handled by the dealer, and the results will vary depending upon the dealer relationship with the company. This is the case with every bike company I know of and have had experience with.
Always remember that people complain on the internet more than they celebrate. Only take seriously 1% of what you see out there. Ask around your community about the experiences people have had with certain bike shops. Much more reliable judge of what after sales service will be like.

As a foot note, our shop is located 1 mile from a Trek store. We get folks in on a weekly basis complaining about Trek, the dealer and warranty problems. We just take it in stride and still like the guys at the shop down the road. In fact we often ride with them.

TiHabanero

As indicated above, the dealer is the interface between the customer and company. Shop the dealer, not the bike marketing company (most bike companies do not manufacture their products, but contract them out to have made. Giant is an exception, as they really are the manufacturer). How you and the dealer get along is where the difference will be experienced.

Note: "Clicking pedals" is a common complaint and usually comes from a bottom bracket that has loosened up in the frame. Cassette or freewheel noises are also common, and almost always mean nothing other than they are mechanical items. Get a little dirt into the mechanism and they make noises that were not there before. They are not sealed and are subject to contamination, however this rarely causes any serious issues. I am to guess this is why Raleigh refused a warranty claim on the freewheel, as there was nothing mechanically wrong with it.

cb400bill

Duplicate threads merged.

hokiefyd 

The clicking when pedaling was a loose bottom bracket. The dealer torqued it, which helped some, but didn't completely eliminate it. This is a newer Shimano BB-100 bottom bracket, with plastic threads and a plastic shell. I removed the bottom bracket and replaced it with a different one that I had in my parts bin, and that solved the problem entirely. I eventually put the plastic BB-100 back in to see if it would be right, and it is so far. It must have been something during installation of the BB or the cranks somewhere along the line. Regarding the freewheel on the Raleigh, it failed internally and stopped freewheeling correctly (it would want to continue rotating forward with the hub), but the shop said that drivetrain parts like those really aren't covered by Raleigh, but they put a new one on for me out of hide, and because I'm a frequent customer of theirs. The original freewheel was a DNP Epoch, which seem to be both expensive and failure prone (!).

It's good to know your bike shop well and for them to know you by name. I can't say that I don't ever buy parts off the internet, but I do try to regularly patronize both of my local shops.

RonE

For what it is worth... In 2008, I bought a Giant Rapid 2, which was an aluminum hybrid road bike with straight handle bars. About 1.5 years and 5000 miles later, the LBS noticed a crack in the seat tube. Giant replaced the frame and the LBS swapped the "parts", which required about two weeks total. The bike now has over 23,000 miles and is doing well.

veganbikes

2014-2017 though my company has dealt with them much longer than I have worked there.

BirdsBikeBinocs

Thank you for that vegan.

Delmarva

My two Giant bicycles went through the warranty period with no problems. To date the only repairs have been related to normal wear. I think your chances of a quality related problem are low. That said you should choose the dealer based on reputation not price. My local dealer has been in business over 30 years and I have no doubt they would have worked to resolve any warranty related problem.

veganbikes

Anytime, always happy to help.

fifty150

Saw this thread and thought I would ask here regarding a Giant warranty claim question. I recently bought a 2021 Giant Fastroad SL3 online thru the Giant website. I picked up the bike at my LBS (Giant dealer). The next day I noticed there are several blemishes in the finish on the frame. I'm a newbie here so can't post a pic but the blemish is like 3" long x 1" wide in one spot and several dime size spots in several other places. I called the LBS and they seemed like I was bothering them and should just accept the bike as is. I paid $960 for the bike and would expect a new bike free of any defects/blemishes. Its cosmetic but still a factory blemish imo. Its looks like the clear coat is rubbed off in one spot and on another spot there is a blemish under the clear coat near the seat post. The LBS seemed like they didn't want to be bothered filing a warrant claim with Giant and said "these bikes are hard to come by and it will take a long time." I brought the bike back to the LBS and they took the bike into the back and told me "we will call you." I understand there is a claim process and they probably need to take photos and submit the claim online thru Giant, but just felt like the LBS didn't want to be bothered and I should just keep the bike as is. Has anyone had any experience with warranty claim with Giant? The LBS kept the bike so no idea how long they need to keep it or how long it should take to hear something back.

hokiefyd 

I think many have posted positive experiences with Giant regarding things like frame warranties. I have only one experience with them, but it was also good. A Giant Roam I used to own had a freehub that sounded dry and crunchy after a few hundred miles. The local bike shop agreed and said that Giant would probably just replace the whole wheel assembly, which they did. My bike shop swapped over my tire, tube, cassette, and brake rotor and it was done in a few days (this was pre-COVID). I don't know what Giant's policy is regarding cosmetic blemishes. That may be covered in the warranty materials you received with the bike (you should have an owner's manual and some sort of warranty card/information). Your shop is probably right that a remedy is going to take a long time. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a bike that's reasonably free of defects when new.

jskash

Giant warrantied my 2016 Giant Escape when it developed a cracked frame. You can read the thread here.
https://www.bikeforums.net/hybrid-bi...ked-frame.html

travbikeman

I didn't think it would be covered, but looking at Giants Warranty details, they have a whole paragraph on this:

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/termsconditions

1. Limited Warranty. Paint finish and all other original components, and all repair parts, replace*ment parts, and accessories, are warranted to be free from defects in material or workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the original date of purchase. Any repaired or replaced part will remain subject to the warranty for the remaining portion of the original warranty term, but will have no warranty coverage whatsoever beyond expiration of such original warranty term. This limited warranty shall automatically expire on the one (1) year anniversary of the date of purchase.

Going to assume the bike shop is overwhelmed with other repairs, that some may think a paint or overcoat finish is not a high enough issue. But if it's really noticeable and your uncomfortable with it, well it looks warranted.

fifty150

As a follow-up. Giant offered either a small refund and keep the bike or just a total refund/return. I decided just to return the bike. I will buy a new Giant once things open up again in January. I’m satisfied with how they took care of the issue so kudos to Giant in my case.

jomi

Let me tell you the story of my experience with Giant.
I have a Giant TCR Advanced SL that I bought in November 2019.In August 2020, I noticed a crack in the left chainstay. I never had a fall or any kind of accident with the bike.
I contacted my dealer directly and they were very helpful, they sent my frameset to GIANT Deutschland promptly to analyze the problem.
Almost a month later, I received the reply where I was told that the chainstay fracture happened because of an external impact without ever justifying or presenting any plausible evidence and without even being interested in guaranteeing the customer a viable solution to the problem.
With that said, what I can tell you is that Giant customer service is very unsatisfactory and I don’t recommend it at all. Run away from this brand