Toys R Us Complaints

[Katsayce]

Wondering what are people's thoughts, any similar experiences/advise?? This is a copy of a letter sent to Toys R Us with the complaint re. an unsafe pram

Re: Faulty Pram

I wish to bring your attention to a serious complaint regarding a faulty Silver Cross 3D Pram system purchased from the Swansea branch of Toys R Us. The Pram System was purchased on 26th January 2011 when I was 3 months pregnant. I began to use the Pram after the birth of my son in August 2011, however after just 8 weeks of use the Pram developed faults, including:

A faulty opening & closing mechanism so that the Pram does not fold as appears to be buckling on one side, and when opens does not fully engage into the locking position making it unsafe for my baby.
The Pram also pulls to one side when pushing my baby.

These faults have been demonstrated as common during an internet search which revealed hundreds of complaints of the same nature with this make and model of Pram.

I returned the Pram to the Swansea branch today (Sunday 9th October 2011) to resolve the problem. Initially I was greeted by a member of staff from the Baby Section named Claire, I explained the problem and was immediately informed that in all likelihood the pram would need to be sent for repair. I explained that I could not be without a Pram since I have 4 children at home, including my newborn, and that it would be impractical to cope without one. Claire shrugged her shoulders stating she could ?only state store policy? and then took the Pram ?out back? to examine returning a short while later stating that the Pram was indeed faulty and would need to be sent away. Again I explained that this was not practical and pointed out that as I had the receipt I would like to have an exchange or refund, I even stated that I would be willing to pay extra the difference if they only had a more expensive Pram in stock. Again I was robotically informed that ?it was store policy? not to exchange or refund goods over 28 days old and so asked to speak with the manager.

After waiting a further 10 minutes, I was greeted by ?Emma? who introduced herself as the manager (when asked for her surname was informed by Claire that the surname was ?not important? as ?there is only one Emma in the store?). Again I was informed that the store policy was to send the Pram away, especially as I had it ?so long? disregarding my concerns, especially stating the fault ?was not common?. Emma was provided with the internet research we had printed demonstrating the ?common nature? of the complaint and also highlighted the fact that they could clearly see my son (who was present) was newborn and that clearly I had purchased the Pram whilst pregnant and had only recently began to use it! Emma and Claire left us standing in the store for a further 20 minutes whilst they went to speak with ?another manager? before returning with, what can only be described as clearly an old, dirty, well-used and scratched pram, again stating that they would only send my Pram away and refused an exchange or refund. I informed them that I was appalled at the condition of the ?loan? Pram offered to my newborn son and asked both Claire and Emma if they would be prepared to put their own children in it ? the response was again to shrug and re-state ?it is store policy?.

Since I was left faced with either having to put my son in an unclean Pram or one unfit for the purpose for which it was sold to me by Toys r Us, the result was to ask for my Pram to be returned (which has still been ?left out back?) and informed Emma that I would be taking my complaint elsewhere, again I was met with a shrug and informed that she herself would speak to head office about the incident.

On return home, my mother telephoned the Swansea store to speak with Emma since she too was angered by the lack of customer care and complete disregard for my concerns. Emma reiterated the ?store policy?, despite the Pram being unfit for purpose and despite seeing my newborn son, demonstrating that the Pram had only just been put to use. Emma attempted to imply that I was at fault not accepting the ?loan Pram? offered stating ?well it wasn?t top of the range?. With 4 children I could never afford to buy ?top of the range? and Emma was advised that a ?top of the range pram? had never been requested, simply one that was clean, safe and fit for purpose. Emma replied that the Pram offered was ?manufacturely sound? although went on to state that she was in the process of ?getting in touch with head office for better replacement prams?, acknowledging that the one currently offered in store was ?grubby?. When asked if the store often has to supply replacement prams Emma replied ?oh yes quite a lot?, clearly acknowledging that this is not the first time a faulty pram had to be returned! Emma did not seem at all interested in gaining negative feedback for the store and continued to state ?store policy? despite having acknowledged that the Pram offered to me was ?grubby? ? and since so keen to reiterate ?store policy?, I can only imply from this that it is ?store policy? to completely disregard the health and safety of the babies expected to sit in these prams which could have been exposed to any pets at homes, cigarette smoke, illness etc since there was clearly no effort to have cleaned the Pram after its previous user.

In summary:

I returned the Pram to the store which was faulty and clearly unfit for purpose and provided internet evidence that the fault was common place.
I provided a receipt for proof of purchase and had with me my newborn son as evidence for how long I had been using the Pram.
I explained that I could not be without a Pram as a mother of 4 children and explained that I would like an exchange, offering to pay extra if there was a difference, or a refund.
The store was unable to provide a suitable replacement pram offering only a dirty one, yet still refused an exchange or refund leaving me with no option but to take the unsafe Pram back home, that I now cannot use, rather than risk exposing my newborn baby to whatever germs lay present in the unclean replacement offered.

The situation is simply unacceptable. Toys R Us has taken £300 of my money for goods unfit for purpose; they failed to provide me with a suitable alternative, exchange or refund. With my large family I have been shopping at Toys R Us for 14 years, over which time have spent hundreds of pounds at your stores, however after the appalling customer service received at your Swansea store I will not be shopping at Toys R Us in the future. As previously stated, I had offered in store to pay any extra difference if an exchange was offered, however after witnessing the disregard for customer satisfaction, health or safety I now simply want my money back so that I can buy a safe Pram elsewhere.

I await your swift response, since my newborn baby is now without a Pram.

Brace yourself. TRU customer service is notoriously pants. I don't shop there any more because of it.

I have heard they are pants too with their CS. It's a good letter though so send it.

Great!! I will let you know if I get any joy... although not expecting much then

Bear in mind the Sale of Goods Act is on your side. If no joy with that letter (and it is very good) go to Consumer Direct.

I would be tempted to go direct to Silver Cross. All Toys R Pants will do is send the pram off to be tested and repaired. More information is here. Paragraph 3 would be good to quote to Toys R Us.

I don't shop at TRU as they charge extra to deliver to me as I'm in a remote area (I'm in Aberdeenshire). 65 miles away from one of their stores. Fuckers.

I agree, go straight to SilverCross, they were fab when my sleepover pram broke, even though it was out of warantee, or should that me gurantee?

Have emailed Silver Cross and waiting for a response. Not the first time TRU have irritated me, I bought a baby rocker a while ago and when I received it there were parts missing.. should have learned my lesson then!

Ohhh... and i was about to buy a double pram from that very branch - i thnk i'll give it a miss if their CS is that bad.

Glad that I have saved someone the ordeal that I have had! Mothercare are more expensive but the prams I have bought from them in the past have had much better aftercare service

TRU are evil.

I would never buy anything of value from them because they are so absolutely shit with their customer service.

I was in there once returning a faulty torch and the two women in front of me were returning a dressing up costume ordered on-lie (she had been sent the wrong size and since they were out of stock on the one she had ordered, she had been sent the wrong costume too) and a woman returning a Nintendo DS she had bought an hour ago and discovered it had a cracked screen when she opened it.

The woman with the costume was asked if she could save the wrong costume as the size was large, and her child would grow into it and might like it by then.

The woman with the broken DS was told that she would have to deal with Nintendo directly because once electrical items have left the store they are no longer the responsibility of TRU.

My faulty torch was eventually replaced but only after they had tried every single battery in the store to get it working and then banged the torch against the palm of their hand a few times.

You will have to send the letter, just so you can say you gave the customer abuse service team a chance to sort the problem out and went through the proper procedures.

But be prepared for your call to Consumer Direct too, because you are almost certainly going to need to get them to sort it out in the end.

Unfortunately, I do believe that according to the law you're not actually entitled to a refund or exchange and tru are within their rights to insist on a repair.

Tru have shit customer service. I avoid them like the plague. They always do the bare minimum they have to. Shop elsewhere next time.

www.uklawreview.com/tag/products-liability/

This might help.

I'm just about to have a similar discussion with Blue Banana, who think that it's acceptable and legal to state that they will only refund faulty goods if they are returned witin 21 days of purchase.

Well sorry mateys but a rucksack which has been used lightly and with care 5 or 6 times by a near-15 yo girl over the space of 23 days, which has gone to holes in 3 places on the seams and upon which the strap has broken at one those seams is about to come back to you!

Just think yourselves lucky, Blue Banana, that you don't sell prams and I'm not the OP!

If I were you Kats I'd search out the email address for the CEO of TRU and send the letter to him.

TRU are crap ime. DD had a very serious accident due to falling on one of their buggies. They refunded the cost of the buggy and sent a £20 voucher. They never said sorry.

www.uklawreview.com/tag/products-liability/ really helpful thank you. Products sold that are unfit for purpose should be refunded or exchanged

Found this on whatconsumer.gov.uk

It states that they are entitled to only offer you a repair, but if they do they must offer you a replacement during that time and it must be like for like.

"The retailer?s obligations

If there is an obvious fault with the item at any time within the first 6 months and it has not been caused by wear and tear or misuse, your first port of call must be the shop you bought it from. They have the responsibility to put the matter right, and should not evade this responsibility by referring you to the manufacturer in the context of a guarantee or warranty.

In the first instance and if considered appropriate, the seller must offer to at least repair the goods. They must do this within reasonable time, at no additional cost to you and without causing any significant inconvenience. If any inconvenience is caused you should be given a replacement item on a ?like for like? basis (and not simply the cheapest and most basic model). Many consumer complaints relate to the length of time the item is away being repaired ? and although you must allow reasonable time for repair, the law does not say what ?reasonable time? is. It very much depends on the item itself and the nature of the problem. For most things, shops would usually allow you to exchange the item or give you your money back straight away. However, if the damage is minor and can be repaired easily, then the shop can insist on this as a first option, although this will not stop you from taking it back if the repair is unsatisfactory or there is something else wrong with it.

If a repair is impossible or unfeasible, you must then be offered a replacement. Due to the emphasis on proportionality in this legislation, you must give the seller reasonable time to repair or replace before demanding your money back and you should be aware that any refund given may well take account of any use you have had of the goods since you took possession of them. If you do not want the seller to repair or replace, or they have told you they are unable to, you can then request they reduce the purchase price to an appropriate amount, although this does not affect your ability to take return the item if something else goes wrong"

HTh

Here's the link to the site:

whatconsumer.co.uk/returning-damaged-or-faulty-goods/

Pmsl @ had my son with me to prove how long I'd been using it for

Also, this is from the citizen's advice bureau.

Because you've had the item for more than 6 months, you may have to accept the repair I'm afraid.

Your rights when things go wrong

If you buy goods from a trader and they are not of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose or don't match their description, the trader will probably have to put things right. It is the trader who is responsible for this, and not the manufacturer. If a trader tells you the manufacturer is responsible, or that you have to make a claim on a manufacturers' guarantee, you do not have to accept this.

Depending on the circumstances, you may have one or more of the following rights:

to get all of your money back
to get some of your money back
to get the goods repaired
to get the goods replaced
to get compensation.

You will not have these rights if:

there is nothing wrong with the goods ? you have just changed your mind about wanting them
you examined the goods, or a sample of the goods, when you were buying them, and the fault you want to complain about was so obvious that you should have noticed it
the trader pointed out the defect that you now want to complain about
you have damaged the goods yourself
the problem is the result of normal wear and tear
the goods have lasted for as long as could reasonably be expected.
In some situations, you only have limited rights when things go wrong with your goods. These include where you have bought them:
from a private individual - see under heading Buying goods from a private seller
at some auctions - see under heading Auctions
in the course of carrying out a business - see under heading Business to business sales
where goods have been given to you - see under heading The goods were a gift.

Getting a full refund
If things go wrong with goods you have bought, you have the right to return them and get all your money back (a full refund). However, this right only lasts for a very short time after you buy the goods. You are allowed a short time to examine the goods and try them out, but you must tell the trader about the fault as soon as you discover it. It will be up to you to prove that there is something wrong with the goods if the trader doesn't accept this.
You will not be able to get a full refund if you have:
continued to use the goods after you realized something was wrong
tried to repair the goods in any way
kept the goods for too long without telling the trader there is something wrong with them, or noticing the fault.
If you aren't entitled to a full refund for one of these reasons, you may be entitled to get some of your money back, or to a repair or replacement instead ? see below.

If you think you are entitled to a full refund but the trader offers you one of these alternatives instead, you may want to think about accepting it, but you don't have to. To find out what you can do if a trader refuses to offer you what you're entitled to, see under heading How to negotiate with a trader about a problem with goods.

Getting your goods repaired or replaced
If there is something wrong with your goods and you aren't entitled to, or don't want to get a full refund, you can ask the trader to either repair or replace them for free instead. You might not be able to get a full refund if, perhaps, you had the goods for too long before realising there was a problem, or before the problem became obvious.
If you take the goods back within six months of buying them, the trader must accept that they were faulty at the time of sale and offer to repair or replace them. If the trader doesn't accept that the goods were faulty, they will have to prove this.
If you have had your goods for more than six months when they go wrong, you can still ask the trader to repair or replace them, but you may have to prove that they were faulty when you bought them if the trader doesn't agree. You can ask for a repair or replacement at any time up to six years after you bought the goods (five years in Scotland), as long as it is reasonable for them to have lasted this long. If the goods go wrong after six years (or five in Scotland), you no longer have the right to ask for a repair or replacement.

If the trader agrees to carry out a repair or provide a replacement, they must do this within a reasonable period of time, and without causing you any significant inconvenience. If you ask the trader for a repair but this turns out to be impractical or to be too expensive, the trader doesn't have to repair your goods, but you can choose to have a replacement instead. In the same way, if you have asked the trader to replace your goods and this turns out to be impractical or too expensive, the trader doesn't have to replace them, but you can choose to have a repair instead.

If neither repair or replacement is practical, you can ask to get some or all of your money back. You can also ask to get some or all of your money back if:
replacing or repairing the goods would cost more than giving you some or all of your money back, or
the trader did not replace or repair the goods within a reasonable period of time, or
the trader was not able to repair or replace the goods without causing you significant inconvenience.
How much money you can get back will depend on how much use you have had out of the goods. You will probably only be able to get some of your money back if:-
the goods had worked for some time before they went wrong, or
they still work but their appearance has got worse, or
only one of their functions has failed.

However, if you have been able to get no, or little use out of the goods, and/or repairs have been unsuccessful, then you will probably be able to give back the goods and get all of your money back.

www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/buying_goods_your_rights.htm#additional_rights_when_you_buy_goods

Another one with bad experiences of their Customer Service I'm afraid.

They tried to say that the faulty item we wanted to return was:
-not bought at ToysRUs (it was)
-a child had deliberately damaged it (they hadn't)
-the batteries we had put in were faulty (they weren't)

Luckily for us my SIL was not taking no for an answer and was able to quote various consumer law to them

Can't help wondering- how did you get your son to the shop if your pram is too faulty to use and you don't have another one?!

Good lukc with TRU :)

saintmerryweather I obviously have a car seat that I can carry my son in! And even if I didn't have a car seat a newborn baby can easily be carried!

MowlemB TRU did not offer me a like for like pram, as I stated in the letter they offered me a very dirty, marked and used old pram that was unacceptable and certainly unfit for a newborn

Toys R Us have the most appaling customer service I've ever come across. I had to take them to the small claims court to get a refund for goods they hadn't delivered, and then send bailifffs in to head office to get the court-ordered payment.
Hope you get it sorted out OP.

WAAAAY TOO LONG

bought a pram on xx
developed xx faults on this date
i want a replacement OR refund as is law, not to lose my pram and have a shitty replacement

either the law is their replace, or to repair

shit luck

concise and bullet points

what are the actual terms on this?????

anyone interested in airing their TRU complaints to as wider audience as possible go to the Facebook Page "Toys R Us Have Shit Customer Service Avoid Avoid Avoid