Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

Fox refusing to warranty shock - does this seem reasonable?

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
F

Flowy

· Registered
Joined
·
121 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
I bought a 2016 Stumpjumper FSR Comp new on June 19th of 2017. The bike came with a FOX FLOAT Evolution CTD shock. In November of 2016 the rebound on the shock stopped working (the dial would turn but the rebound remained in the fastest setting). The shock was sent to Fox under warranty in November and took about 4 weeks to get back.

Fast forward to July 29th of this year and I start noticing the same issue, rebound dial doesn't seem to have any effect, rebound seems fast no matter where the dial is turned. I go to the bike shop where the bike was purchased and the again send it in for warranty. This time Fox says that they won't cover it because:

A) I rode it too many hours between having it serviced (they asked for an estimated hours per week of riding, I provided a number based on howmany hours I ride in season, not in the winter not realizing they would be using this to try to void the warranty).
B) The issue according to the Fox tech is supposedly totally different than the one in November despite identical symptoms and was caused by the lack of a service. I'm no expert but I'm not sure how servicing the air seals would prevent the rebound from breaking. Maybe I'm missing something.

Fox is willing to "discount" the service and do the work for $71. I'm not sure if a used Evolution CTD is worth much more than $71.

Does Fox's position seem reasonable to you? If I can't get them to do the warranty is it even worth the $71 to have it done. I'm thinking of replacing the Fox with a Monarch RT3 and trying to fix the Fox myself and then sell it or keep it as an emergency backup.
 
#2 ·
Flowy said:
Does Fox's position seem reasonable to you?
Click to expand...
Not really. The warranty covers a period of time. The number of uses in that period has nothing to do with anything. Neither does whether or not the issue is caused by the same fault or a different one.

Either the product is still within the warranty period or it is not. The warranty is a legal obligation, they cannot just decide not to honour it. Talk to a consumer rights adviser and do what they say.
 
#3 ·
If you went past the service due time, it's your responsibility to do the service.

Warranty doesn't cover maintenance, and it sounds like your damper oil needs servicing. How many hours did you put on it anyway?
 
#4 ·
Welcome to the brah-nation that is FOX mtbing. Had a similar experience with them on my 2014 Thumper (Stumpy FSR Clone) promptly fixed the issue myself and sold on eBay for what they were asking for service (they wanted full price from me, not willing to discount).

Went with a Manitou McLeod and have had flawless usage for almost 3 seasons of riding in that time with multiple calls from Manitou looking for tuning advice. I personally believe that FOX has become the SONY of mtb products, you buy for the name and unless you spend top dollar on their uber highend products they dont want to talk with you.
 
#7 ·
What was the issue they fixed? I understand that the rebound stopped working but what was the cause? If it was lack of maintenance, it doesn't matter how long you had it *if* you overheated the unit riding dh runs or something. I've cooked a few-day-old Fox inline damper in two 10-minute runs at Snowshoe, pinned top to bottom. Not a warranty issue.

If, however, your face shim broke off on the rebound side, which we've seen with Spec'd-mounted Fox inline units, they won't fix that under warranty. We had a few of those in the last few months. The Fox tech I spoke with blamed Spec'd for specifying too light of a rebound tune which *caused* the shock failure. I was dumb-founded that Fox would blame an issue on a huge OEM account for them. If Fox *knew* that a light rebound tune would cause the rear shock to fail, they are either complicit to the failure or they didn't know and just decided to blame Spec'd instead of taking responsibility.

We have done a ton of Fox work in the past few years. It can be very frustrating as a shop so I can only imagine how you feel as a consumer. Based on our experience with service centers, warranty work, sales, we cannot recommend Fox to anyone. We still service their product but they are turning off a lot of customers with their policies, warranty support and sales support.

Stick with your local shop. We've been able to make a lot of things happen for our customers who choose Fox products including keeping spare rear shocks around so people can ride while we send the occasional shock back for service.

Good luck.

mk
 
#8 ·
:mad::madmax::madman::incazzato::prft::rant:Been having serious problems with rusted out FOX shims in BRAND NEW FOX SHOX...anyone else? 3 different rear shocks this past year, piston ports fully rusted into the shims etc.:skep:


EDIT* Two of these were cracked open fresh/when new (before even riding) to check the tune
 
#10 ·
One Pivot said:
If you went past the service due time, it's your responsibility to do the service.

Warranty doesn't cover maintenance, and it sounds like your damper oil needs servicing. How many hours did you put on it anyway?
Click to expand...
Taking advantage of a customer that does not know/understand exactly what's happening inside the shock is wrong...the shock sounds like it could've failed or is defective in its current configuration from the factory...in any case, the unit/s sent back to the customer still don't work correctly
 
#11 ·
trailbildr said:
What was the issue they fixed? I understand that the rebound stopped working but what was the cause? If it was lack of maintenance, it doesn't matter how long you had it *if* you overheated the unit riding dh runs or something. I've cooked a few-day-old Fox inline damper in two 10-minute runs at Snowshoe, pinned top to bottom. Not a warranty issue.

If, however, your face shim broke off on the rebound side, which we've seen with Spec'd-mounted Fox inline units, they won't fix that under warranty. We had a few of those in the last few months. The Fox tech I spoke with blamed Spec'd for specifying too light of a rebound tune which *caused* the shock failure. I was dumb-founded that Fox would blame an issue on a huge OEM account for them. If Fox *knew* that a light rebound tune would cause the rear shock to fail, they are either complicit to the failure or they didn't know and just decided to blame Spec'd instead of taking responsibility.

We have done a ton of Fox work in the past few years. It can be very frustrating as a shop so I can only imagine how you feel as a consumer. Based on our experience with service centers, warranty work, sales, we cannot recommend Fox to anyone. We still service their product but they are turning off a lot of customers with their policies, warranty support and sales support.

Stick with your local shop. We've been able to make a lot of things happen for our customers who choose Fox products including keeping spare rear shocks around so people can ride while we send the occasional shock back for service.

Good luck.

mk
Click to expand...
Go on you MK for actually taking it upon yourselves (shop) to still work with a product that you know is inferior to help support your customer.

However, something above bothers me. You stated "I've cooked a few-day-old Fox inline damper in two 10-minute runs at Snowshoe, pinned top to bottom. Not a warranty issue." this seems odd to me. How can you not consider this a warranty issue unless you are willfully disregarding the intended usage of said shock and using it OUTSIDE its initial parameters. Even when you purchase a brand new vehicle you are told by the dealer, normally, that the engine has a specific break-in period and during that period you should avoid doing X,Y,Z. IF you should do those items it will void your warranty. However you dont see anything like that with a new fork or shock do you? Is there some sort of implied break-in period that we all are supposed to know about on our new gear that we should not go bombing down our normal trails for X amount of hours to ensure the product breaks in properly.

To me, this sounds like a piss poor job on FOX's product development and knowledge transfer. I have had my own bad experiences with FOX which has lead me to personally NEVER purchase one of their products, regardless of type (this include clothing, parts, etc.). The other kicker is that there are plenty of other companies that are bucking for your business out there; MRP, Suntour, Manitou, etc., that you can really find a great product for just as much if not cheaper, that has better Customer Service, and may fit your needs better. Especially when you are talking about companies that really strive to contact the customer within a short period of time.

Couple Examples...
Last year, prior to my injury my fork, an old 2011 RS Revelation Dual Air, gave up the ghost on me. So I was in the market for a new fork, 29er trail with 34mm stanchions, but was on a limited budget (this happened right after taxes were due). So I started calling around to companies and sending emails to see if anyone offered a trade-up program similar to SR Suntours. Manitou does but they ask that you send the "being replaced" fork to them and only if it is a Manitou product, but most did not. However I did get a couple calls from MRP that they had some clearance, factory blem items that were 100% warrantied as new AND were at a discount price. Chatted with these guys and a couple others and ultimately went with the SR Suntour Auron LO_RC. So far I have been happy with the fork but this is just an example of a company really doing something to keep customers loyal. I had another Manitou fork that was on my old HT that was just collecting dust so I was literally $100 from just going with the Manitou but ended needing a new wheel so that extra money ended up going to a new wheel.

Anyways, when you get something odd like this happening from a BIG NAME company I would say ditch the product and company and go with a littler guy that is going to appreciate the fact that you spent money with them.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
Thanks for the responses. I pulled up my Strava stats which has average weekly ride time and includes the slow winter months and I am just under the 125 hour limit that Fox said was the service limit. LBS is going to contact Fox again and clear up the hours of use so we'll see what they say. The Fox warranty does mention that not adhering to the service intervals does void the warranty. Of course some of those intervals are comically short. Either way I put on a Monarch RT3 and it feels way better than the stock Fox shock.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
trailbildr said:
What was the issue they fixed? I understand that the rebound stopped working but what was the cause? If it was lack of maintenance, it doesn't matter how long you had it *if* you overheated the unit riding dh runs or something. I've cooked a few-day-old Fox inline damper in two 10-minute runs at Snowshoe, pinned top to bottom. Not a warranty issue.

If, however, your face shim broke off on the rebound side, which we've seen with Spec'd-mounted Fox inline units, they won't fix that under warranty. We had a few of those in the last few months. The Fox tech I spoke with blamed Spec'd for specifying too light of a rebound tune which *caused* the shock failure. I was dumb-founded that Fox would blame an issue on a huge OEM account for them. If Fox *knew* that a light rebound tune would cause the rear shock to fail, they are either complicit to the failure or they didn't know and just decided to blame Spec'd instead of taking responsibility.

mk
Click to expand...
Thanks, unfortunately I don't know what caused the original failure last November or this current one, only that the symptoms are the same. I don't expect much help from Fox in clearing that up, according to the LBS they only said that this time is not the same issue.

As I commented a few minutes ago I checked my Strava history and my hours on the shock look like they are under the 125 limit that Fox stated. That's the reason they gave for not covering it so we'll see what they say once that information is corrected (I originally gave my average ride time per week for in-season only, not the winter months when I might only get out once in a month).
 
#15 ·
I think this is utter horse $hite, according to them I'd have to get the dampening serviced every 6 months or sooner with the amount of riding I do, how could that be even remotely reasonable, especially for someone like me who doesn't live within the continental US or Canada and would have to ship the shock out and in. A suspension damper that is sealed with good quality oil should be able to handle much more hours than that and them trying to blame SpecialED for a product they ultimately would have had the final say on it being viable, is crap.
 
#16 ·
I didn't complain about the damper I cooked because I knew it was an inline unit that was not designed to handle 10-minute pinned dh runs at Snowshoe on a trail bike. A warranty is not based on use which is why you don't get a free Reverb from RockShox (anymore) if you get air in the IFP within the first year. They used to just send new ones but that stopped after two years (silver collar then A2). Now they ask about the life and service history before they do anything.

I don't Fox for having policies that sometimes have a negative effect on riders. I think your case is one of the few that don't get resolved in a positive way. I don't think the product is worse, per se, but we have less luck getting resolution for issues that we, as riders, try to raise for our customers. Generally, we have better than average luck getting things taken care of but that is primarily because I have spent a lot of time trying to keep up with our relationship with Fox. And RockShox. And MRP. And Push. An DVO. And Ohlins. And Specialized... You can imagine I spend a few hours a week on the phone. And a lot of these guys drink out of TrailWerks pint glasses and have TrailWerks t-shirts in their drawers...

I think it all comes down to the shop. It's unfortunate but we regularly get resolution to issues that fall in favor of our customers that other shops can't.

And believe me, there are companies out there doing some really special things for some bike shops that they don't want anyone to know about. And we aren't one of them... The bike industry is nuts.

mk
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#17 ·
The bike industry is nuts...as end users the best you can do, is use a reputable credit card company...be informed about the products you use, including how they function...with this you need to talk to someone on the phone that handles warranty for the exact model, I have found that there's an initial attempt to jerk around the end user/rider, they play dumb at first...call them out and be as detailed as possible
 
#18 ·
Not saying you got cruddy shims, but here's what I've been getting from FOX lately (3 different shocks)...this is brand new, flipped it over and dried off for a pic...good chance this might be how your shock is failing so quickly. Fortunately I haven't seen this on any new forks
 

Attachments

#19 ·
I didn't complain about the damper I cooked because I knew it was an inline unit that was not designed to handle 10-minute pinned dh runs at Snowshoe on a trail bike.
Click to expand...
There is no disclaimer on Fox shocks that says that if you are a good rider and you ride over X number of bumps in a row, then the warranty is voided. The fact that you even try to claim that is absurd. You may think the following gibberish backs up your claim:

This limited warranty does not apply to normal wear and tear, malfunctions or failures that result from abuse, neglect, improper assembly, alteration or modification, improper or unauthorized repair or maintenance, crash, accident or collision, or other abnormal, excessive or improper use.
Click to expand...
However, that is just legal mumbo jumbo, which can be quoted by a business owner to deny warranty claims of any sort in an attempt to deflect consumers, but which is not determinative in a court of law.

Of course some of those [service] intervals are comically short.
Click to expand...
I take great care of my shocks and forks. I clean the stanchions off before every ride, and when I do a dust wiper service on a shock or I do a bath oil service on a fork, it is apparent that the service isn't needed that often. Based on my riding, I am able to extend the service intervals.

The damper service interval, which requires sending a shock or fork to a professional suspension shop, is comically short. I would have to do the damper service every 2 months if I stuck to Fox's schedule. Servicing the damper that often would make shocks and forks unaffordable for most people, not to mention the 3-4 week turnaround time that you would be without the shock and fork.

It sounds like we consumers need to file a class action lawsuit against Fox.
 
#20 ·
Mr Pig said:
Not really. The warranty covers a period of time. The number of uses in that period has nothing to do with anything. Neither does whether or not the issue is caused by the same fault or a different one.

Either the product is still within the warranty period or it is not. The warranty is a legal obligation, they cannot just decide not to honour it. Talk to a consumer rights adviser and do what they say.
Click to expand...
And you have an obligation to service an item on their schedule if you want to maintain the warranty.

Stop changing the oil in you car and see if they honor the warranty when it locks up.

Mr Pig said:
He's had the thing two-months and it has packed in twice!!!
Click to expand...
While he had a typo, paying attention you'd notice he's had for over a year. Can't buy something June of 2017 and have a failure in Nov of 2016.
 
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
About this Discussion
25 Replies
13 Participants
Last post:
EatsDirt
Mountain Bike Reviews Forum
posts
16M
members
534K
Since
1990
A forum community dedicated to Mountain Bike owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about bike parts, components, deals, performance, modifications, classifieds, trails, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General Discussion Downhill - Freeride California - Norcal Shocks and Suspension Passion