Just to put closure to this and for anyone still reading this matter is now resolved. Since my last post I did start to look into making a case with the small claims court after having getting in touch with the people on the Consumer Rights hotline. That was put on the back burner as other life stresses got in the way at that time and only recently did I start thinking about it again. 2 Fridays ago on the 23rd Sept I just happened to get an email from Amazon advertising exercise bikes from a company called JLL. The bikes looked incredibly similar to mine so thought I would email JLL and ask how much it would be for the same parts, of course I was expecting them to quote the same price as Sports & Leisure (the company that I got mine from) so kept my expectations low. 10 minutes later an email arrives with a price of £9.99 including P+P. Feelings of fury, shock and rage ensued as I thought where did S&L pull this £45 figure from? :mad2: After calming down I proceeded to call JJL as advised in the email to make the order. The new parts arrived today, had to remove a small piece of plastic collar from my bike as the new rod was a thicker diameter than the original but other than that all exactly the same for £9.99!

tape didn't work

Hi DX again, I did ask the seller that and this their reply:- I rang Amazon last night and they have opened an A-Z Claim as I refuse to pay 25% of the bikes cost every year on a faulty product. I didn't actually use the bike for the first 3 months due to back problems so it just about lasted 12 months before failing.

I agree with you and it seems total madness, do they just keep expecting me to cough up £45 every 16 months???... rediculous I live in Bolton, Lancashire, is there a list of companies you know of that would be able to help me with testing/analysis? Proving the part is not up to its job should be relatively simple as it does seem, like you say, designed to fail in a very short amount of time.

Hi DX, I did send them an email similar to that this morning saying:- They then replied with:- been searching for about an hour now online to try to find some independant testing company but am not having any luck as I'm not entirely sure what type of company I should be looking for nut and bolt testers?

Yes I was just exploring that option now trying to find a local 1 on Google. I have also just a few minutes ago put some brown tape around the bolt, tried with black electrical tape first although was too thick. The brown tape seems to have worked and is keeping the nut in its position although I will need to test by having a 30 minute session on the bike this afternoon. I was also just looking at Loctite Threadlock Blue so that may be worth me ordering as it sounds like it could do the job. Not paying £35 for a cheap crappy bolt thats for sure and that will probably break again in another 16 months.

so a quarter of the price of the full bike to replace a nut and bolt!!!

Well this is still ongoing and after waiting a week here is the latest reply from them:- I have asked them how much it will be for a replacement but not too happy about having to pay for it myself. I guess I can take the old and new part to an engineers shop to have it tested for quality or what I don't know? The metal used though I can tell is not that great and seems to be designed to fail after some time. Definitely not the quality of a nut and bolt you would find on a car for example holding the wheels on...

Ok so I have recieved a reply from the company saying the following:- can't say I'm happy about it as I believe metal parts like this should not fail in only 16 months of light usage Well just been in contact with Amazon chat and they have sent the seller a nice email:-

Hi DX, thanks for the reply. As I will be directing this thread to Amazon and the 3rd party seller could you explain a little further or even perhaps provide a link showing the relevant laws that are in place to protect me as a consumer. Cheers

Hi all, I bought an exercise bike last April online from Amazon using a 3rd party seller. The braking system has developed a fault which means now the bike is useless as pressure can no longer be applied to the spinning wheel using the friction pad. I have unscrewed the braking system today, it is an extremely simple mechanism using a bolt and a nut and a couple of springs. I have discovered that the nut that screws onto the bolt which you turn to control the tension is slipping which means that no pressure can be put upon the brake pad. Here is a vid I have made today showing the nut slipping along the bolt which clearly shouldn't be the case:- sendvid.com/d459adnc And a pic showing the nut and bolt:- I am currently awaiting reply from the comapany after sending them the video this morning. So the question is am I protected by any consumer law? as I believe this to be a manufacturing defect as in my eyes a metal nut and bolt should not become loose like that in such a short amount of time with. Thanks

Hi Margeret, well after a(nother) sleepless night, guess what, they never phoned me back before 9:30 this morning, or at any time today, as they promised:evil: I waited until 12ish today before I rang up the new ESA claims line and started a new claim dated from this Monday the 4th as the decision about my last claim, before I made the appeal, was made on the 4th November last year. I hope that is correct as from what I've read it's 6 months from the date that the original decision was made before you can claim again??? Ongoing story if you wish to read. After my tribunal on the 18th Feb I was advised by my Appeal Rep to try to claim JSA which I did on the 19th by ringing them up and was obviously told that as I wasn't fit for work I couldn't claim JSA, I then phoned up the ESA on the 25th after visiting this forum and being advised that I could re-claim ESA due to my condition worsening. When making the claim I made it very clear several times to the guy I spoke to that my condition had worsened and he said after a bit of uncertainty that I should make a new claim which we did. I also attended the appointment with my neurosurgeon a few day later on the 28th Feb. Got the diagnosis through the post on the 10th March stating I have Degenerative Lumbar Spine Disease and the back pain and sciatica that goes with it. Then on the 16th March I recieved a letter back from the ESA saying 'Following the work capability Assessment medical it has been decided you are fit for work bla bla bla." Migraine ensues... I then on the 21st March wrote a letter and sent it recorded delivey back to the person who had sent me the 1 above, with a copy of the report from the neurosurgeon and another sicknote from my doctor. My letter basically explained my situation that I had been to tribunal and it hadn't gone in my favour and that I had been advised that because my condition had worsened I believed I could carry on claiming ESA. Anyway fast-forward to yesterday, and after 6 weeks Im wondering what the delay is, perhaps they were waiting to hear back from my Doctor? I thought, or if they had even received my letter, which according to Royal Mail tracking and a signature they had on the 27th March. So yesterday when speaking to the chap I told him I had sent a letter to them and I had proof of delivery and a signature of the person who had recieved it but according to them they hadn't got a letter from me and then arranged for someone to call me back today... So thats where I'm upto and yes I agree the Jobcentre/ESA call-staff you ring up to make a claim with or discuss a current claim with are absolutely clueless, and that's being polite! *just seen your reply Speedfreak as I was typing the above yes very confusing yep as soon as I got the evidence back from the neurosurgen was when I wrote the letter they are claiming not to have recieved. I am OK for now moneywise but it is the annoyance of losing out 11 weeks worth of payments that I really would like if I am entitled to it and not being called back today is even more annoying

The nightmare continues... After speaking today with the ESA department it seems that because I told them that my condition had worsened after my tribunal hearing in February I can not continue to claim ESA as that claim has been closed. My condition got worse in January which was inbetween the period of making the appeal (November) and my appeal hearing in February, so am I screwed for not telling them in January? I have requested a call-back from the ESA dept. in the morning and really need to know if I have a case or not, I was not told by my appointed advisor in January that I needed to notify the DWP that my condition had worsened and (obviously) the DWP wernt kind enough to let me know to tell them if my condition had worsened whilst awaiting my appeal. 3 month migraine this has turned out to be be and lost 11 weeks worth of ESA payements lost. Thanks for any advice.

Monday it is then. Cheers

Thanks, will do that first thing in the morning, and thanks for the quick replies!