Unsafe car seats could someone help?

[Notsafeoracceptable]

I know this isn’t the right place but posting here for traffic, hopefully I do this correctly as this is my first thread. I wonder if anyone could offer any advice but also to get the word out there how dangerous these car seats are!

I purchased the ickle bubba rotator seats from online4baby in May this year and two days ago the harness that holds my child in came free from the seat so my 19 month old wasn’t secure in his seat! This happened when I was driving and I’m still so angry!

I have attached a photo showing the metal bracket that is supposed to anchor the straps through the seat is the same size as the hole it goes through! No way to turn the bracket so it’s horizontal once through so that it doesn’t line up with the hole making it harder to come out so to speak! I have sent videos to the retailer showing I only have to slightly tug on the straps and the whole thing comes away in my hand! I’m being bounced from manufacturer to retailer both of whom claim it’s not the others ones problem!

I will be phoning trading standards today (are they the right people?) as I strongly believe these seats need to be recalled! But I’m getting no where with anyone and can’t believe I’m having to fight so much when we’re talking about a child’s safety!

I have twins so I have 2 of these car seats and both are the same so it’s not just the 1 defective seat!

Any help or advice on how I can get someone to listen would be greatly appreciated!

Or if anyone knows of a way to get an email from someone higher up in online4baby could they let me know?

Also if you happen to have these seats please check the straps they come away so easily!

Just an update I did contact trading standards who referred me to the consumer helpline and they are escalating this to the relevant people as a safety issue

Did you get any resolution with the buckle and either manufacturer or trading standards?

@Polly2023 sorry I’ve only just seen your reply. They agreed to collect the car seats and carry out their own safety reports however despite chasing I never received this! They did agree after a lot of arguing to issue me with 2 new different car seats from their website - I wasn’t overly happy with this as I had it choose a brand I wasn’t familiar with! Although they have been good car seats so not all bad in the end! They categorically refused to give me a refund - this is within their rights so I didn’t have much choice.

Hey, the same thing happened to us this afternoon! I was using the carseat fine yesterday and when I tried to put my toddler in, one if the straps just stayed in my hand… I’m fuming that this has not been recalled yet! Who do you recommend contacting?

@Kshrimps I can’t believe these seats haven’t been recalled! They’re so so dangerous! It’s like no one will listen until something awful happens! Who did you purchase the seats through? We contacted online4baby and Ickle bubba direct. I did also contact trading standards through citizens advice. I’m so angry this has happened to you!

I really hope they’ll recall before anything happens. Will post around on mum forums too to make others aware. So sorry that it happened to you and with twins!! Awful… I’ve contacted them both yesterday(same retailer). Will reach out to trading standards too tomorrow. Were they any usr though?!

@Kshrimps It really is awful! I knew it was a massive design issue as I had two of them that did the same thing! The stupid thing was Ickle bubba admitted the seats shouldn’t do that and it was a fault but wouldn’t listen when I explained it was on both! They waived any responsibility as they said although it is their name on the seat it was actually manufactured by online4baby! They weren’t much help but they did say they’d investigate - I guess the more people who complain they more seriously they’ll take it? It’s scary that people can have these experiences with BABY CAR SEATS and nothing be done!

It’s just unbelievable! I’ll do everything I can to escalate this to someone who has the power to recall these! I just cannot believe they’re still out there to buy and put little lives at risk! We’re better off using the cars’ seatbelt than a carseat which has straps that come off.. (not that I’d do that but it’s safer I mean).

@Kshrimps Hey just thought I’d see how you got on? Did online4baby take the car seat back?

No, so far I got them to get in touch with the manufacturer. They refuse refund. They want to fix the car seat.. I noticed they sell car seats thst have officially recalled by the government… a very dodgy company. Trading standards is on the case I believe with the manufacturer. So I’ll run further rounds in terms of refund and leave comments everywhere about online4baby in the hope that ppl will stop buying from them.

Which exact car seat was it that this happened to? The Ickle Bubba rotator 360 spin isofix? Or a different one? Any updates at all?

I recently purchased the above car seat and only now have found this thread. I was so worried about my car seat I contacted online4baby about it this morning stating that multiple people online had found this fault and no action had been taken and I wanted to know whether the car seat was actually fit for purpose and safe to use. They have replied to me saying they are not aware of any such fault being reported and have asked me for more information about these reports so they can investigate further?? Do you have a complaints reference number or anything?

Also I can't tell from your picture but where on the car seat is the buckle which has detached?

So a while ago I helped to publicise this when it was sent to a friend. Within hours we had millions of views and it got picked up by national papers. Kiddu no longer exist (they lied and lied)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3100338/amp/Manufacturer-removes-car-seat-sale-toddler-injured-head-sent-flying-gear-stick-buckle-opened-without-warning.html

Contact good egg safety and national papers.

@purpleandstripes the Ickle bubble 360 rotator car seats yes. They definitely are aware as they accepted 2 of mine back for a return! I even contacted the ceo of the company via email although she just forwarded it to the customer service manager and said she essentially wasn’t interested! It comes away at the bottom of seat, so under the fabric where the buckle goes through the plastic part of the seat. If you take the fabric cover off of your car seat and tug/wiggle on the straps see if they come away from the seat - both of mine did!

@Kshrimps have you had any more luck? So frustrating!

Online4baby refused to do anything however, trading standards got in contact with Ickle Bubba who agreed to collect and refund me (the latter has not happened yet of course). They claim that the straps are designed to come off for when it transforms to a high back seat.. They are carrying out a full inspection on mine atm and hopefully it will be recalled.
@purpleandstripes Online4baby sells another car seat that has officially been recalled by the government so I wouldn’t be surprised that they pretend they never heard of the failure before. Worst company I had ever dealt with. Who sells unsafe car seats on purpose???

How ridiculous! There are loads of car seats on the market where the straps can be removed to use as the next stage up car seat but this requires effort and a lot of fiddling to ensure they can be pulled through - normally by twisting the buckle the other way! They shouldn’t just come away with with no force!

I agree with you in regards to being the worst company I’ve ever dealt with! The ceo I emailed couldn’t have been less bothered - which makes you laugh as they pride them self on being a company thought up by parents for parents! I could never as a parent knowingly sell something that could put a baby/child at risk! Makes me so angry!

Well tbh this is what comes from a lack of research and picking a company with minimal safety testing.

You should be looking at ERF seats if you want the safest seats on the market.

100%!

Is ERF not up to 4 years? Because we picked the ickle bubba rotator because it allowed us to rear face until then? But regardless I don’t think it’s fair to blame the customer when they believe they’re buying from a trusted baby brand as I thought both online4baby and ickle bubba were. I’ve learnt a very valuable lesson but I genuinely would’ve thought prior to this that well known brands and shops would only be selling properly tested baby products.

@TheBarbieEffect Thank you for your constructive comment, glad you had the time to find this thread to spread your wisdom as well as doing your research. Happy for you!

ERF is up to 6/7 years, which can be achieved by a Swedish plus tested ERF seat.

The ickle bubba rotator is not rear facing until 4, it’s rear facing until 18kg which most children hit well before age 4. It’s also a multistage seat that can forward face; it has minimal safety testing. No car seat can safely or effectively cover 0-12.

There are lots of products on the market that are not safe to be sold for babies and yet still are - cot bumpers, sleep nests etc.

@BertieBotts have you seen this! You are my go to car seat expert

So I think I have the same car seats but I bought mine from them direct. Are these the same ones/has anyone had a problem with them?

this is shocking. They wouldn’t be so complacent if it was their child.