Have just had shaking-with-rage argument with Maxi-Cosi about a potentially lethal car seat. Please tell me, am I being unreasonable to think they should fix it, even if it is a few months out of warranty?
Thought DS's car seat (Maxi Cosi priorifix) was basically ok until he wet the seat while potty training. We took the cover off to wash it and discovered a part of the seatbelt strap was practically frayed through.
The worst thing is that the damaged part of the belt is hidden down inside the back of the seat, under the cover, which means any damage is invisible in normal use. You have to take the seat out and completely dismantle it in order to see the damage. (my husband likes to do things properly...)
The thought of the strap giving way in an accident gave me palpitations so we called Dorel, who deal with maxi cosi products in the UK. They were quite dismissive and told us we would have to courier the seat (at our expense- at least £15) to their service centre in Norfolk and then pay them £50 to replace the seat belt. We would also - obviously - be without a car seat for the 3/4 weeks it would take to repair it. So no car journeys for us for a month. Either that, or buy another one for the duration.
For a seat which is less than three years old, which is designed and expected to be used for at least four years, this seems pretty outrageous behaviour to me. Am I being unreasonable?? Would a manufacturer think it was ok for the seatbelts on a three year old car to be frayed through?
More importantly, if our seat is like this after less than 3 years of perfectly reasonable use, how many other potentially dangerous seats are there out there that other parents don't know about? Has anyone else checked down the back of their maxi cosi recently?
I got absolutely nowhere with Dorel, who gave me the distinct impression they couldn't give a flying fig. I can't work out whether I've got unrealistically high expectations or whether they really are in the wrong...?