Where do I stand? (consumer rights etc - motorbike gear!)

[Lord Percy]

I have a pair of G-Mac 'Pilot Pants'. I have no idea if they're a particularly well known brand or what, but they're bloody good at blocking out the wind cold, and are apparently '100% waterproof'.

However...

Going home today, 2 hour journey, several patches of rain, then a LOT of rain for the last half hour or so. Water leaked in the crotch, soaked my arse, gathered under my thighs, then leaked down the rest of my legs when I stopped and had to put my feet down.

I've had them since September I think. There's no obvious user damage. I know where I got them from (a shop 200 miles away...), but I don't have the receipt and I'm pretty sure I paid in cash.

I emailed G-Mac and told them about it.

What can I expect to happen next? To be honest I think I'm deserving of a working replacement, but where do I stand? I'm in possession of the faulty leaky trousers, but don't have any proof of purchase.

Pictures attached for the sympathy vote.

[barrkel]

All non-goretex trousers I've ever worn eventually leaked at the crotch; shell-type, within 8 hours worth of wear on a bike, cheap textiles, maybe 30 hours. The tape on the seam comes undone as the fabric is stretched over the seat and twisted with moving your legs around etc.

If anything, I've found an inverse relationship between price and longevity. Hi-vis motorway overtrousers are cheap (<£10 each) and although bulky and a bit slippery on the seat, they stand up to more wear and tear. Ugly of course, but hi-vis can be reassuring on the motorway in a downpour. Only positive thing I have to say about non-goretex shell-type motorcycle waterproof overtrousers is they pack light, and I wouldn't buy goretex overtrousers either for fear of ripping them on a pointy bit of the bike.

I ended up spending £350 on some goretex pro-shell textile trousers to match my jacket. If you had gotten goretex trousers (£££), I'll bet they wouldn't have leaked, and if they had, you'd have had a guarantee program you could moan to. I toured the west coast of Ireland for 8 days a week ago, thousands of miles through rain, didn't let in a drop.

All doesn't really help you with your consumer rights struggle, but may be perspective on what to expect out of the average product in the store, in my experience. I could have bought two sets of goretex stuff for the money I spent being cheap.
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Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[stinkwheel]

Par for the course. No such thing as waterproof motorcycle gear in my oppinion. If I want waterproof. I wear waterproofs designed to be nothng but waterproof over my bike gear.

That said, what you should do is take them back to the person you bought them from.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Amnesty]

[Lord Percy]

Meh, well I'm scuppered then. I leave the country tomorrow and am not back until January, and then I'll be pushing it for the '6 months from purchase' rights malarkey, plus I'd need to get back to the shop, 200 miles away, and prove I'd bought them there. It's all too much pissing around. I just thought I could bypass the 'proof of purchase' thing because in the end I am the one in possession, and it's a manufacturer defect so really the seller shouldn't necessarily be the one to deal with it. I guess I'll wait for a reply email from G-Mac and see what the say. If they fob me off, it's just bad press for them.

I have some nice, thick, highly luminous orange construction over-trousers that I used in Australia in the winter. They're waterproof . I decided to not use them so much when I came home because my fashion-conscious brain kicked in, now that I'm back on home turf. Hah. I'll go back to using them, methinks. Only problem is they're only waterproof so I dunno how they'll fair against the cold or wind.

[mysterious_rider]

Some very smart person on here said, they are exactly what they say on the tin.

Waterproof,
extremely strong
cheap.
etc

And they of course can be, but not all of them in one product! My textiles are fugly, but a bit better keeping rain out than my leathers, but you HAVE to wear waterproofs. Get yourself a suit to go over the top, I got kitted out in a camping shop for trousers, £10, and 100% waterproof, tested in an hour of torrential rain.

[barrkel]

I mean, if you go into the shop and argue your case, you may get a store credit or something. Don't necessarily give up, most people I think are just setting your level of expectations on the product, rather than rights / customer service.
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Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[smegballs]