or should I be kicking up a fuss about this

[ncforthe1000thtime]

DS fell off his balance bike recently and got a huge, deep cut on his face that was stitched up but will leave a scar.

It turned out he had sliced his face when he landed on an exposed metal edge on the bike handle. I hadn't noticed this sharp edge prior to the incident, but closer inspection revealed there was maybe 1mm 'shrinkage' revealing the metal tubing

I contacted the company and advised them of this exposed edge and it's potential danger and they said it was down to wear and tear and I should have replaced the grips.

AIBU to push back on this or does everyone replace their bike grips every couple of years even if they are not obviously worn?

When you bought it did they inform you of thus or is it anywhere on the bike literature? If not i would be taking it further...

Sorry for spelling..on phone!

No, no mention of replacing handles in original literature or online. Would have replaced them if they were obviously damaged but these weren't. The bike is only a couple of years old and has not been used that much or left out.

A balance bike is for pretty young children surely, so there should be no exposed metal edges anywhere near them for goodness sake!

(Unless this is a 20 yr old bike, passed down through many siblings/cousins etc)

My thoughts exactly AGB. I'm not sure why the end tubing is not completely encased like pretty much every other handle I've since looked at.

You're right there, fully enclosed handles are the norm, so surely even more important in a little'uns bike.

Think the legal phrase you need here is 'not fit for purpose'

Go get 'em!

Thanks for the thoughts so far. I'm going to approach them today, any thoughts for how best to proceed?

YANBU

How best to proceed depends on the outcome you want.
I assume anything that looks like you are about to sue them will be met with a robust denial of responsibility. Something that looks like you are about to start a publicity campaign to warn other parents might get a more constructive response. Perhaps see if you can involve your local paper or a politician?

Interested in what others with more experience than me have to say.

Maybe you should go to trading standards? as they may be best placed to determine whether it's a design fault or not.