Irrespective of Gareth's 'what if', I think that in the EU it would be quite difficult for Segway to limit its liability to one year on an electrical product of this value- there are rules about reasonably expected lifetime of high value goods. If you spend £5000.00 on something it is reasonable to expect it to be of sufficient quality to run for a lot longer than just 12 months. The difficulty comes with how you define the battery, is it a 'consumable part'? I would argue that for what Segway batteries cost they are definitely not a consumable part, you practically have to take out a second mortgage! In the end there will have to be a test case which if it goes in the consumer's favour will mean a hike in Segway prices to cover the extra insurance they will have to carry. The battery costs are the real elephant in the room of Segway running costs. I had a battery fail just inside the warranty also. Had it been outside the warranty, it would have made a complete nonsense of my running costs per mile! If Segs are to break into the mainstream this really is an issue that needs to be addressed- Would you buy a car that did 200 miles/ gallon but whose fuel tank needed to be replaced avery 18 months at a cost of $1500?? Just to be totally clear, I am not accusing Inc of making a substandard product, just that the technology does not seem to be fully mature and from a marketing point of view, this needs to be recognised.
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Regards Isidore
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