To refuse a buggy repair - Silver Cross Pop and Toys R Us

[silververycross]

Our Silver Cross Pop stroller was falling apart within 3 months of purchase.

It's proving very difficult to get a refund. I spoke to Trading Standards who said that under the circumstances I would be entitled to refund but Toys R Us are trying to force me to accept a repair.

Silver Cross says that the frame is poking through the material because we use the foot-rest, which seems to me a bit of a design flaw.

I think the Pop is a poorly made piece of rubbish and I can't face going through all this palaver again the next time it breaks.

Has anyone successfully faced down Big Management? They don't seem to give a damn for statutory rights.

[MrsMangelFanciedPaulRobinson]

Have you written directly to the chief executive of Toys R Us? I'd imagine that might have a bit of a result.

Do they expect a child not to put their feet on the foot rest?

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

I did with Tesco over a Smart Trike "stroller", my DS was 6 months though and it tipped over with him in it as well as having other problems and it was returned within a week of buying it.

I also did with Cosatto over a design flaw (and Tesco yet again) and failed because I had bought it over a month earlier and a lot of crap being fed to me by Tesco.

I think you might run into problems because you have had it so long but you could keep fighting it especially as they have admitted there is an actual problem with it.

[silververycross]

Good thinking; I will try and get an email address for the Toys R Us Chief Exec.

[Trapper]

You were misinformed. They are legally entitled to offer a repair under the terms of the sale of goods act.

[silververycross]

I don't think I've been misinformed. I am apparently entitled to a repair, a replacement or a refund. Even Toys R Us admitted that they could offer a refund on a discretionary basis - but then the store manager decided not to.

[DoJo]

You are entitled to request your preference of refund, repair or replacement, but they are entitled to refuse and offer their choice if the cost to them is disproportionate. So, you have made your request, and they have refused and offered an alternative remedy as allowed by the SOGA. They may offer you more as a gesture of goodwill, but you aren't actually entitled to more than a repair if that's the solution they choose to offer.

[silververycross]

OK, thanks for the further info.
I'm actually really surprised at Silver Cross. I have a lovely old vintage coach-built pram which is a fantastic piece of equipment so when choosing a pushchair I went with Silver Cross, assuming that they were a high-quality brand. I guess there's just a huge gulf between their high-end and cheapo products. A bit of googling has brought up lots of complaints about the Silver Cross Pop.
What do people think of MacLaren? I'm going to do my research properly this time.

[IHeartKingThistle]

I hated our Pop. Hope you manage to get a refund.

[Nervousfirsttimer]

Did you pay on credit card? You can try and claim through them if it cost over £100

[jacks365]

I have a maclaren quest and used it frequently love it and i've had no problems at all. I am slightly concerned that my 97th centile dd may grow out of it before i'd want to stop using it.

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

I've just got an old Maclaren Triumph, it's a great wee stroller and I have never heard anything bad about their newer models.

I had a Silvercross (It's at PILS), it's utter shit and I hate it.

[orangepudding]

I bought one for my son and it was awful, the wheels were wonky and squeaked. Was hard to push too. Took it back about 2 weeks after buying it and paid a bit extra to get a maclarn which was perfect.

[silververycross]

I think I'd like to get a MacLaren.
I have emailed the head office of Toys R Us, asking for a credit note to be spent in my local branch, so at least the money will stay with Toys R Us.
I also pointed out that since my daughter was born 2 years ago I have spend hundreds of pounds at Toys R Us, (car seat, changing table, baby bath, toys, travel cot etc.) and I have years of child-related spending ahead of me. Right now I don't feel like a valued customer, and I can easily take my custom elsewhere. It's not as if they lack competitors....

[madwomanacrosstheroad]

Silvercross went bust around 14 years ago. The name and logo were sold on to another company that makes cheap buggys in china. It has nothing to do with the old silvercross. They continue to produce some dolls and baby prams that resemble the old coach type ones but at least the dolls ones are not as well made as the old ones. They obviously bank on the fact that people know of the reputation silvercross used to have and assume they are the same as the logo is the same.

[silververycross]

Ah, that explains it.

[Kat101]

Maclaren are brilliant, build quality is amazing, light, easy to fold, comfy, just fab.

Write to the Chief Executive's office of Toys R Us and complain.

[silververycross]

I've emailed the Managing Director's office. They've phoned back and insisted that they won't offer a refund or credit note (having already admitted that the store manager has the discretion to offer a credit note).

[snuffaluffagus]

That's highly annoying.. I'd go back and argue that!

[silververycross]

I just spoke to the Toys R Us store manager. He says he can't authorise a refund unless Silver Cross admits that there's a problem with the buggy.
(I'm not sure that's right, as I was told that he has the discretion to issue a credit note.)
But what are the chances of Silver Cross saying "Yes, our product is rubbish" to a major buyer like Toys R Us?

[silververycross]

Oh dear - I was thinking of getting a MacLaren to replace the Silver Cross Pop stroller but having looked on the Mumsnet pushchair review page, it seems that MacLaren are actually worse than Silver Cross for customer service when the pushchair breaks. At least Silver Cross are doing a free repair.
Before I buy a new buggy, has anyone actually felt well-treated by the manufacturer/retailer when their buggy needs to be fixed?

[ilovemountains]

But how often do maclarens break? Mine's gone on for years and years!

[madwomanacrosstheroad]

Your complaint has nothing to do with silver cross as your contract is with toys rus and not silvercross. They can offer to repair, replace or refund the item to put thi gs right, however they are not particularly clever to refuse the requested refund or credit note as this way they are both loosing a customer and getting considerable negative publicity. The maclarens are quite hardwearing usually. I had a few that did break but never on the child they were bought for. So they always saw at least one child past the heavy toddler stage and a second one halfway through.

[madwomanacrosstheroad]

Oh and after five kids over twenty years i have finally decided i dont like lightweight umbrella buggys. I have now got a simple emmaljunga pushchair that has a huge seat unit, a decent basket, no swivel wheels and i have piled two kids and school bags and shopping into it. It is a emmaljunga scooter or spider and truly indestructable.

[mumofweeboys]

I brought maclaren xlr and it broke after 6 months. Have to say maclaren were pretty good. They arranged for it to be collected from store we brought it from, repaired it and returned it to the store all fixed. The store even loaned us a replacement whilst being repaired (smyths toys). I still pref my maclaren over our more expensive phil and ted.