Before I begin, hello all :)
First time Father to be in the next 10 days or so... Exciting times!
We have been out and stocking up on essentials/furniture/baby proofing the house as well as draught proofing and making it as comfortable as possible.
We made a decision a few weeks ago to buy a Stokke Bounce'N'Day Bed. Extravagant yes but we were given the hard sell on how they are reassuringly expensive etc.. We opted for this as many friends and families babies have rejected the Moses baskets and the Daybed gives you more.
We purchased it from Mothercare and got a great deal. We had a problem obtaining spare sheets/bouncer covers but found a great website for them and got them the next day.
Mothercare, like many other retailers do not stock Stokke, it comes direct.
The Daybed is simple yet brilliant in it's design, however after waiting 10 days to receive it (was told 10-15) I struggled to put it together.
Eventually I got there but then realised that one of the ringlets for the mattress base to fix to was facing outward/the wrong way! There is only 4 pieces to the frame and each ringlet has to face inwards!
It is not something that can be corrected either, it is riveted in place.
This is potentially dangerous as I cannot secure the mattress base in place.
So my first action was to email Stokke on Saturday evening. Still today I have not received anything but an automated response. I refuse to call them as the UK Customer Support number is a German number!
I then called my local Mothercare where we ordered the item. They in turn referred us to head office customer support.
Head office got in touch right away, and I replied. Here is the first problem.. Every time I replied I then got another response from someone else! Not one person took ownership of the matter and still have not.
To communicate what I want from Stokke/Mothercare - I simply want a new frame part with the ringlet in the correct place.
Mothercare seem to think that I should do one of the following from different people:
- Advise them of a day/time they can pick up the current one. They will then send it to HQ, who will look at it and send it to Stokke. After Stokke evaluate it then they will send another one out with a lead time of 10-15 days.
- Take it to the store as I did order it in store, who in turn will send it to HQ, who will look at it and send it to Stokke. After Stokke evaluate it then they will send another one out with a lead time of 10-15 days.
Can anyone see a problem with the above... Either way I am going to be without the Daybed for potentially 15+ days!
What am I meant to do until then? Sleep the baby on the cold floor during the day?
Again, Stokke have made a massive error here and you would expect that when a newborn baby is concerned that they would go out of their way to resolve the issue asap and with no stress to us.
If this was something for an Adult then fine. They have provided a solution and as an Adult you could wait. The circumstances are very different here and Stokke specialise in baby products.
The last email from Mothercare was: We have given you two options, take one or leave it...
I gave them time to resolve the issue but they have not. I felt it was only right to express my disappointment and concern of both companies involved here so that others can be vigilant.
It is not as simple as us returning the products and buying an alternative. As stated we have also invested in sheets/covers which were expensive and we have now opened/washed and therefore cannot return.
Thanks for reading this far!
