I recently bought three Apollo bicycles for my children from Halfords in Wells, which cost a total of £369.97. Back home my youngest daughter went for a short ride whereupon the rear brake completely seized. I had a quick look and it was evident that the bike had been set up in such a way that had caused the brake cable to become snagged around the front of the bike, and upon turning the handlebar the rear brakes had suddenly been applied.

I looked at the other two bikes and found that these too had been set up in a potentially dangerous manner. I contacted Halfords and asked that it send a competent mechanic to my house in order to safely set the bikes up, but it refused, asking me instead to return the bikes to the same store – where they had been incompetently and dangerously set up in the first place – for the mechanics there to investigate.

I also sent an email to the Halfords chief executive setting out the same claims of incompetence, but have to date received no reply. JJ, Somerset

First let’s look at your statutory consumer rights. You have the right to reject the items and get a refund within 30 days of purchase, and you were of course within this timescale. You could also ask the retailer to repair or replace your item within six months of purchase, or use your warranty (two years on the frame, 12 months on components) to correct what you claim is a fault.

But you are understandably angry at the risk at which your children were put, and Halfords’ initial response. After we contacted the retailer it swung into action. It has offered to cover the cost of getting the bikes checked by an independent mechanic and will pay for the mechanic to visit you at home.

A Halfords spokesperson said: “Halfords has been building and selling bikes for well over 100 years and we take the safety of our customers very seriously. We have tried making contact with JJ on several occasions to check the bikes and offered him a number of options to resolve this matter, including an in-store inspection, for our Bike Hut colleagues to visit him at his home, or to have the bikes checked by an independent mechanic at our own cost. We will of course aim to fully resolve this matter at his convenience.”

As presumably your children cannot use their bikes, we are surprised that you have not jumped at the offer.

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