About customer service and our broken pushchair??

[jester68]

So.
We brought the babystyle oyster pushchair 18 months ago.

Yesterday as I was crossing the road with my 17 month old in the pushchair it suddenly started to fold up on itself. Someone came and helped get it across the road. I then had to remove my toddler from there and luckily the lady held on to her (she is barely walking) while I tried to get the frame to go up but it would not click into position.
Had to get a taxi home as we are a 45 mins walk from my house.

Got in and rang babystyle direct. They got us to try a couple of things. Then asked us to take it back to where we brought it which I explained was not possible as it was brought from a local baby shop retailer which has since closed down.

They said I would have to pay for it to go to them and also for them to look at it which is at least £50. On top of that I will have to pay for any repairs to be done. I could be looking in excess of £100 to have it fixed.

Looking online this is not an uncommon problem and others with the oyster have had similar problems, sometimes within weeks of first using it. Mine has probably lasted longer as it is not used daily, sometimes only a couple of times a week.

Is this classed as normal wear and tear? I am so upset as my baby was screaming because I could not get the pushchair to stop closing on her. If it was not for the lady who helped I would have been stuck in the middle of a road.

I am now left with a pushchair I cannot use, looking at paying a bomb to have it fixed and wondering if IABU to keep complaining until THEY sort it out? Perhaps it is normal to have to pay for any repairs after this length of time?

Ahhh I am so annoyed. Have written an email to the service manager as I found them on the phone to be rude and patronising. Not sure If I should have done this?

So I am now housebound unless I carry her, or have to wait for evenings when OH is home so he can drive me.

Sorry I dont know to much in the way of legalaties in this case, but I think it is a terrible way for a company to behave.

Hopefully someone will be able to help.

Have you tried searching online to see if you have any rights, could trading standards give you any info?

As your DD is 17 months I think I would just get a cheap and cheerful buggy such as a Maclaren (or something own brand) at least that way you're not without a buggy and it'll be less than repairing the old one. Or you can pick something up secondhand on Ebay - I've got my double this way and was a bargain.

Failing that can you find a buggy repair shop near you? They will probably do a cheaper repair than sending it back to the manufacturer.

Did you have a warranty on the pushchair? I do think it's a bit rubbish that it has broken like this and 2/3 times per week usage is normal (if not quite light). But I'm not sure you'll persuade them to do a repair at their cost. Probably worth another phone call though.

Unless you have a warranty on the pushchair, then, unfortunately, you don't actually have a contract with the manufacturer. Anything they are willing to do is at their discretion. But if you paid by credit card then you have s75 consumer credit act rights against the credit card company. So you can pursue them instead of the, now closed, retailer. It'd be worth giving them a ring. It sounds like you'd be arguing breach of contract as the pushchair wasn't durable or sat qual. You would have to prove it hasn't failed due to wear and tear or accidental damage.

I think the crux of the issue is that your contract is not with the manufacturer, but the now-closed-down shop you bought it from, so the manufacturer has absolutely no obligation to you whatsoever.

Under those circumstances I would expect to have to pay for a repair, but there's no harm in you calling them to try again.

The exact same thing happened to mine 4 weeks ago...went down a pavement and the pushchair collapsed with baby in it, we've only had it 9 months tho but from reviews I've read people are having problems, we've sent it back once already due to the wheels buckling and the place we bought it from sent it to Oyster who replaced the frame, it was this new frame that collapsed with us, this time I rung Babystyle who didn't want to know and basically said take it back to the shop, luckily the shop were fuming and have sent it to Babystyle even though apparently there's only a 6 month warranty. You should keep complaining and emphasise the fact the baby was in it at the time!

No no no no no.

Sale of Goods Act 1979 protects you against this kind of ridiculousness.

Call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 and they will talk you through what to do.

Please call them, they will clarify all the issues mentioned above.

SGA 1979 (as amended) only protects where there is a contract. There isn't a contract with the manufacturer, unless there is a valid guarantee/warranty. The manufacturer is under no obligation whatsoever to assist. If you pay on credit card you can hold the credit card co jointly and severally liable. Sometimes if you pay on visa debit you can use the chargeback scheme to get assistance, but that's voluntary so not really enforceable.
Consumer Direct should ask for the make and model of the pushchair - as this might need to be referred to Trading Standards as being a breach of Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regs on the grounds of the item not being safe. This doesn't alter your stat rights though, which it seems are limited (unless paid on credit card in which case you're fine)
iluvsummer you should report the trader you purchased from to Consumer Direct so they can tell their local TS about this. The trader appears to have tried to limit your statutory rights there, which is an offence. They are not in a position to 'fume' about anything, you have a contract with them.