Am I being unreasonable?

Hi all

My wife has a 2004 Marin Attack Trail (the Whyte designed one with the multi pivot swingarm). When sold this came with a lifetime warranty on the bearings.

The bearings in my wife's bike have all failed. I emailed Marin UK and the response I got back was this:

Thank you for reaching out to Marin Bikes unfortunately we no longer offer a lifetime warranty on the bearings. This is something that was changed around 2012. Bearings are considered wear items and we had to adjust the policy as a lifetime warranty on bearings is just not realistic. The best thing to do would be to work with your local bearing distributor to get the correct size. The size of the bearing should be printed on the bearing seal. Enduro bearings make great bearings and have worldwide distribution.

Now, a set of bearings for this is around £40. However, am I right in my thinking that a warranty is a warranty - it cannot be retrospectively removed or changed. I can understand why Marin don't warranty for life the bearings NOW - but that doesn't change the fact that the bike I have WAS sold with that warranty.

£40 is not the end of the world however it is more an issue of trust - if Marin (or anyone) is willing to disregard a previously given warranty then where does it leave trust in the manufacturer?

Re:

I'm with you on this. If sold at the time with a lifetime warranty, then that can't be changed retrospectively. However, the definition of lifetime is what may have changed. I read a thread on here about a frame with lifetime warranty which when failed, the owner tried to use. However, the definition of lifetime was 15 years and not how you or I would use the term. The way they market it makes you think lifetime of you or I, but they way they warrant it is lifetime of the product, and this has a finite period attached to it.

I think its wrong, if lifetime means 10 years, its a 10 year guarantee, but hey, they got to pull you in to make the sale, once you've paid for it, they don't care so much.

I’m not sure if I would be claiming warranty on a product I bought sixteen years ago, regardless of warranty statement that time. Especially if the items concerned are bearings that require regular maintenance and even with normal wear and tear need regular servicing or changing. But hey, if you want to go into a semantic discussion about this, no problem.

Yes, maybe their policy has changed regarding warranties on consumables, which is fair enough, though some companies like Chris King still offer them on theirs. However, your product was covered under the policy at the time of purchase, which still applies.

Personally i would chase it up out of principal.

Check your warranty, lifetime is often the lifetime of the product, i.e. until they discontinue making it and then some time after that as set out in your document.
It should be set out and any get our clauses might be in there.
I don't believe they can change it on you unless they notified you and you agreed sort of thing.

Like above, you need to check the terms of the warranty, things like bearings are often not covered for things like normal wear and tear, only manufacturing faults. Some warranties need to be agreed by both parties, so you may have needed to opt in or activate it at time of purchase.

For customer satisfaction reasons Marin should cover the bearings .

Re:

Did you buy it new in 2004 as the first owner ? And do you have the warranty card ?

I think any change will be retrospective and you'll likely find is says such in the original contract - 'change anything at any time' im sure theres something there to cover themselves on any changes to the contract.

16 years for a £40 set of bearings is a bit of a stretch to be asking.

Re:

As Bill Clinton once so famously said - "It all depends on what your definition of 'is' is" ...

or something to that effect