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Original poster

To want to name and shame Britax and Halfords....Grrrrrr

73 replies

purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 21:21

Bought a car seat from Halfords online, the seat belt keeps slipping out of the clamp and the seat will not recline without you taking it out of the car, reclining it and then reinstalling. It did not say this online, what use is a seat you can't recline when bb falls asleep? The belts get stuck in the back of the seat every time you tighten them.
We drive 40 miles to Halfords this morning - they say its not their problem, phone Britax who say we can't exchange it, they will only repair it. We say its not fit for purpose as sold and we want another one, we are happy to pay extra. Halfords refuse, Britax say its not their problem how we get DS (20 months) home again without a seat.
We leave as manager refuses to budge (despite looking at seat and saying its not safe and that a lot of people have complained about it not reclining like it says). Manager says he will speak to his boss and call us. Nothing as yet.
I am livid at the manager and his very rude assistant and britax. Grr.

OP posts:
SecretNutellaFix · 10/05/2011 21:38

no, I've worked it out.

Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 21:41

omg halfords website so slow.....

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 10/05/2011 21:41

in that case you are right, the seat is faulty and you are entitled to a refund.

it might be worth ringing consumer direct and then telling halfords you've done so- take the seat back again and insist on a replacement

Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 21:44

yes its the prince

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thisisyesterday · 10/05/2011 21:44

and when you go back don't take any of their "britax say no"

point out that your contract is with THEM as the retailer. your seat is faulty and you will be sitting in front of their till with your baby until they give you a new one

Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 21:45

This seat offers 3 recline positions and can be adjusted easily without disturbing your child.

Oh really.....?

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thisisyesterday · 10/05/2011 21:46

oooh and... from their website

"The seat adjusts without disturbing your child and has a slim base for a better fit in cars with sculptured seats"

so it does imply that you can recline it or adjust it without taking it out... so i would point that out too. ,mis-sold

thisisyesterday · 10/05/2011 21:46

of course, they could argue that it won't disturb your child because you have to do it while your child is off playing inside Grin

icooksocks · 10/05/2011 21:47

If its the one I think it is-its a crap seat. But IME Britax are cack anyway, they just don't fit as well, I have a first class, and it works loose too quickly. I also had a maxi cosi tobi and its a much beteer seat imo.
If I were you I'd keep fighting, ifthe seat is faulty they are at fault not you

Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 21:48

Nutella, the seat belt slips out of the red clamp on the side of the seat

OP posts:
trixymalixy · 10/05/2011 21:50

Go back and don't take any of their "britax says no" crap. It sounds like the seat is blatantly faulty.

Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 21:50

lol thisisyesterday, I can just imagine them saying that. I will print this bit out and show it to the manager/read it to britax

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Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 21:53

might print out this thread too lol
we have a really good seat in my car from mothercare, in hindsight i should have gone in my car and taken the other seat along but i thought they'd want to see it in situ in Dh's car so they could judge.
In fact I should have just bought another of the good seat and not taken a punt on an online deal...(you get what you pay for)

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Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 21:54

oh but I don't have a sculpture in my car....so maybe thats why it didn't offer a 'better fit'

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Choufleur · 10/05/2011 21:55

the contract you have when you purchase something is with the company you buy it from, not the manufacturer.

Report halfords to trading standards.

SecretNutellaFix · 10/05/2011 21:56

I hope you get it sorted.

Mutt · 10/05/2011 21:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bronze · 10/05/2011 21:58

Sounds liek the recline is faulty too then rather than it not being as described. I've had various britax seats and they've all reclined when in situ as you would assume

sazm · 10/05/2011 21:58

can you not contact them through the website? as thats where you bought it from?
we had an issue with something we wanted online,but the store said the website was run through a different company and thats why their online offers differ from their instore ones!

Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 21:59

turkeyburgerthing, i am taking you shopping with me next time!

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SecretNutellaFix · 10/05/2011 22:00

bronze, the prince doesn't recline the same way. It is a much older design- when I began in the industry, selling, they had been about for some time.

Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 22:00

Hi bronze, no the manager told me you have to take it out of the car to recline it, thats how it works. I said, what, on the motorway when DS is asleep? Oh right, very handy.

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300DisneyDollars · 10/05/2011 22:02

Have to admit that the car seat guy in my local Halfords doesn't know one end of a child seat from another. I was in looking at new infant seats when I was pg with DD2 and I overheard him giving totally incorrect info about the weight ranges of the seats (it is written on the tags FFS so I don't know how he could have gotten it wrong!) and when they asked him about buckle crunch he couldn't tell them what it was.

They seemed like a lovely couple and were really asking good questions, obviously wanting to get the best seat for them and their car, in the end I went over to explain what buckle crunch was and about the difference with the infant seats and the combi seats that start RF then FF. I was worried they would just think I was interfering but they looked so relieved!

You've got to wonder what training they have actually had (as opposed to what the signs say their staff have had).

Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 22:02

Indeed choufleur, thats what hubby told the manager but he just wasn't budging. DS by this time was screaming as so tired and so I had to sit in the car while DH tried to sort. Might have made more progress if DS was screaming in the shop lol

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Original poster
purplehonesty · 10/05/2011 22:04

Yeah Disney, when we bought ours from mothercare the manager there was brilliant, I don't know what made me deviate from there. I suppose halfords isn't baby focused like mothercare but they do advertise free fitting and safety advice so you woud think they'd be trained

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