to expect TJ Hughes to care that the buggy they sold me is unusable?!

[lowrib]

I know TJ Hughes is a discount store, but I did expect the buggy they sold me to last a little longer than 6 weeks! The worst bit is that the wheel has fallen off, but there are lots of other things going wrong with it too.

I also expected the rain cover they sold me with it to actually, y'know, keep out the rain. It doesn't stay on. I tried to take DS to his CM in the rain the other day, I only made it as far as the end of my road before DS was cold, wet and hysterical. I had to turn back.

I would also have really liked it if the sales assistant had told us that it's only designed for children up to 15kg! DS (22 months and already over 15kg) was with us when we bought it, and they didn't mention a weight restriction - if they had, we wouldn't have bought it!

DP tried to take it back yesterday. They have taken it away to repair or replace it. But when we get it back we'll still have a buggy we can't use in the rain!

Also as we've since found out that it's not even suitable for children DS's age, shouldn't they now give us our money back as they mis-sold it to us?

At no point did they mention that there was a weight restriction. I didn't see anything on the buggy that said this either - how were we supposed to know?! Surely they should have told us this?

I now have no buggy, and they're repairing something I can't use, which seems ridiculous to me!

AIBU unreasonable to expect more from a discount store?

But you don't get the instruction manual until you've bought the thing. Surely the shop have some duty to give you this kind of info at the point of sale?

Like saffy85 points out her shop displayed this info about all the buggies. Even if she couldn't be arsed to didn't tell customers this, they could at least find it out if they wanted to, but we couldn't.

I would have been very happy with a sign telling us this, but there wasn't one.

They don't have a duty to, lowrib. Do you expect to be told not to put shampoo in your mince pies when washing your hair by the staff in Boots? Do you expect to be told not to try and fit into a size 8 dress when you are a size 12 by the staff in M&S? Where do shops draw the line at telling customers valid information and letting customers figure it out for themselves?

Casserole - they've got the buggy so I couldn't tell you if there's a sticker. Certainly not an obvious one though.

I don't have the box here so can't check that either. However the box was brought to us at the till, once we were already buying it.

Next time I will of course check these things very thoroughly indeed but I didn't realise I had to.

Actually next time I will probably buy quality second hand, and then go to John Lewis when we can afford it.

But shampoo in mince pies is common sense, and dresses have labels on them.

lowrib i don't think you have a leg to stand on with regard to the weight issue. it IS up to you to read the manual etc etc or to ask in the shop.

i don't think that it will bear up, but do ask consumer direct about it, they may have a different view.

the other problems are relevant tho as you couldn't really have found out about them beforehand

We still wouldn't be able to use it anyway as you can't use it in the rain.

Lol it's not a case of couldn't be arsed but not everyone needs to be told this stuff. As one lady snapped at another collegue once "I can read you know. Go and help someone who needs it!" As she picked out a Maclaren for her DS.

never had anyone come back and complain I never told them the upper weight limit on the buggies. Did have someone come back and whinge I hadn't told them a baby bouncer vibrated. Even though it had the word "vibration" in the title.

Bottom line is: if you want someone to follow you round reeling off information about pushchairs go to John Lewis. One of the downsides of discount stores is having the bare minimum of staff at any one time. Have you never stood in a looooong queue in Primark while there's like 2 people on the till?

But some people might think that checking the weight restriction of a buggy they're about to buy is common sense. You'd be surprised at some people's realms of common sense. If you'd asked I'm sure they'd have found out for you. It seems a touch unreasonable to get it to the till and expect them to point out the weight restriction out to you. There's probably a million and one things that they could point out to you about any given item. It's just not feasible to do so.

In the 6 weeks since we got this chair:

• the wheel has fallen off
• the rain cover doesn't fit / work
• the "adjustable" handle for pushing gets stuck, which is annoying as DP is quite a bit taller than me and we need to change it
• the basket is coming apart

That's not OK, surely?

They didn't happily take it back for fixing, it took a lot of argument on DPs part to get there.

But saffy85 as you said in your shop the information was displayed.

It wasn't here.

I too can read - but not if there's nothing there to read!

That's not OK, no. Your DH would have been well within his rights to demand a refund on those grounds and should have done so. Now he has accepted a repair/replacement, he has effectively entered a contract with the retailer to say that he is happy with a replacement/repair.

But isn't there a difference between features and restrictions?

For example, all toys not for under 3s clearly have that labelled, it's a legal requirement.

If there is a health and safety restriction on something, I'd be really very surprised indeed if the shop isn't bound by legal requirements to inform the customer.

There are health and safety restrictions on most goods. The shop is not obliged to point them out to customers.

I'm going to look it up anyway.

Do you know that for sure? Have you a legal background?

Now he has accepted a repair/replacement, he has effectively entered a contract with the retailer to say that he is happy with a replacement/repair."

I suspect you're right on that. It still doesn't deal with the raincover issue though.

you will probably find, when it's returned to you, a big white label on the back of the seat unit where it says about meeting aprticular requirements. It will probably also have the information about the weight as well.

Think about it, lowrib.

For instance, you buy a toy geared towards 3+ children. Do you expect to be told not to give it to a one year old? You buy a plastic bag from the supermarket. Do you expect to be told not to let your DS play with it? Shops are not obliged to point out every minutae of health and safety of every product they sell.

I don't have a legal background as such but I spent 6 years dealing with morons in a customer complaints department who seemed to think it was the shop's fault when they'd machine washed a dress that said "dry clean only" because the assistant didn't point it out to them.

If it wasn't on the box, how would the staff know this either? It is a discount store and I highly doubt they would automatically know this stuff off the top of their heads. (I'm guessing this as DP for a laugh once asked an assistant in Primark if the top I was buying was "real polyester, or the cheap knock off kind". Yes he is a pisstaking bastard quite funny though watching him run off to check).

If it had no information on the box whatsoever, I'd not have bought it personally.

Hate to say it, lowrib, but you do get what you pay for and in this instance it's bad service :(

Sorry to stick the knife in Lowrib but if you have used a pushchair that is for a UNDER 15kg child for a child who is OVER 15kg you have no legal rights re the pushchair breaking. It's been tested to carry a maximum of 15kg in the seat and if that weight is exceeded the manufacturer has no responsibility for anything that then happens.

Same with a under seat basket - most have a limit like 1kg/3kg/5kg and if you put a 5kg bag of potatoes and 4 pints of milk in it then it's your look out if it rips.

Sorry I know that's not what you wanted to hear.

How much was it out of interest?

It was £79.99 apparently reduced from £179.99 and with "free" rain cover allegedly worth £26.

Incidentally I notice they've taken it off their website today. It was there this morning but now it's gone.

The only pushchairs I know of that take over 15kg in the seat are the Phil and Teds and some models of Maclaren. I do think it is your responsibility to make sure you know the specifications of what you are buying before you buy it - even if you bought it from a baby shop. I also think that you would have invalidated any warranty by using the pushchair for a child over the weight limit.
I think they should replace the raincover though. If they do that and fix the faults I would just sell the pushchair if I was in your position.