Thank Evans

I am not a great fan of cycle helmets. I took one on my Pennine Cycleway trip but rarely wore it. I found it uncomfortably hot over long periods and ended up with sweat running into my eyes - not pleasant or safe. My wife thinks helmets make all the difference and would rather I wear one despite my reluctance. For the sake of marital harmony I decided to get one with big vents to avoid the heat/sweat issue and so at the end of July I bought a Specialized Propero from Evans on Deansgate, Manchester.

All was happy with my purchase until yesterday when I pulled it from my pannier and in doing so slightly depressed the adjustable retaining band with my thumb and it broke in two! I was very surprised by how little force caused this to happen and was dismayed because it cost £70.00, had never been dropped and was well looked after. 

I attempted to source a new retaining clip from Specialized but was told they do not provide parts for helmets as "... it's a safety item and any tampering could lead to the helmet not working correctly and to serious injury". Fair enough I suppose but was a little put out by their offer to replace the helmet via their crash replacement service for the princely sum of £32.00. It hadn't been crashed and I felt there must have been a fault in the manufacture of this helmet at the very least and maybe in the design of the retaining band. 

I contacted Evans to see if they would exchange it. It was 3 months old and I no longer had the receipt so after a phone call and confirmation they would accept my CC statement as proof of purchase I made my way to the store to plead my case. I was ready with quotes from the Sale of Goods Act (1979) about satisfactory quality but these were not needed. They couldn't have been more courteous and I left the store with a brand new helmet within five minutes. The guy had never come across the problem before but was happy to exchange it.

Great service that will result in further business from me. Thanks Evans.