Dealers Question Recall Reimbursement

Last week’s recall of 125,000 bicycles for defective forks was bad news for everyone involved.

But the solution has been energetic and purposeful, as bike shops nationwide leap into action to notify the public, fix the recalled bikes, and file the paperwork.

All this is necessary and even heroic, but many shop owners are expressing dismay at what they say is inadequate reimbursement being offered by the manufacturers for this huge and important effort. One compay has offered to reimburse dealers either $5 or $15 per repair, depending on the fork model ($5 for replacing skewer with washers, and $15 for fork or fork leg replacement).

Many dealers are saying their hard costs are much higher than that, and that the recall is a significant financial burden as they venture forth to solve a problem they did not cause.

The overall financial impact on an individual dealer goes way beyond the time a recalled bike spends in the repair stand, they point out. One Texas dealer estimated it takes about 45 minutes of dedicated shop time to process and repair a recalled bike needing the simpler “washer/skewer” repair, and maybe 70 minutes for fork or fork leg replacement.

Even if the time estimate is a little high or a little low, the fact remains