To return a toy we bought 2 days ago just because it's AWFUL!

[heyhey11]

What the title says really,

Bought DC a toy from smyths he'd been saving up for, for ages.. it was £50 so not cheap for a toy and it's just shocking. He's been so looking forward to it and even he's saying I don't want it anymore, it's broken etc which isn't like him.

It transforms into a few different things and it's just awful, held on by latches and keeps coming open so when he's playing with it in a certain mode it just falls apart! Plus it's not user friendly at all. All the characters have like holes in feet and back so they can sit on the chairs etc (like Lego characters do) but the chairs and stuff don't have any connectors. In turn the toys just go everywhere and fall off. He's trying to carefully play with it bless him but as you can imagine one slight move and they all fling off. Meltdown central 🙃

Anyway I'm kind of pissed off, 1. He was so looking forward to it and it's awful, 2. It was £50! And now it's sat in the corner of my room. Should I take it back and explain? Or will they just tell me to bugger off because it's not actually faulty I guess. Just poorly designed?

Try to Return?
Or sketch it down to a waste of money and hope he plays with it again

What's the toy, it would help lots of people if you actually said! Of course you can return an item not fit for purpose.

I’d take it back, as not fit to be played with by the intended age group.

It may be worth, another time, checking Amazon reviews. When Gds was still only around 2 1/2 but already dinosaur mad, he wanted a particular dinosaur, having seen an older child’s - it roared and had ferocious light-up red eyes. So I was planning to buy it for 🎄.

However one of the first Amazon reviews said it hadn’t even lasted until the turkey was out of the oven! So since Gds was still at the chuck-and-bash stage…..

Just say the latches don't stay shut and you want a refund, they should honour it.

How big/complicated was it for £50? Sadly £50 buys less and less but you should absolutely return it, its not fit for purpose.

I have found that generally the large plastic character themed sets were generally poor - on the spot appeal but the kids didn't end up playing with them that much and they broke easily.

The toys we got the most value from were:

• duplo and lego
• brio/wooden train track
• magnatiles
• playmobil (but not all kids like it)
• the vtech marble rush sets
• playdo
• books
• toy kitchen (ikea do one or similar)

I'd take it back and say it's faulty because the latches don't work and keep falling open so it can't be played with in the intended way.

It's for them to decide whether that's a fault or if it was designed to be useless.

Just here because I'm intrigued what toy it was

As others have said, no need to go in with a sob story or ready to argue, those are more likely to put you on the back foot. Go in and say you brought this 2/3 days ago and it's not fit for purpose, it doesn't work properly and you'd like to return it.

It's a bit cheap to return a toy where the packaging has already been opened and all the components played with. There is no chance the product will be in a resellable state once you've returned it so it's just going to end up on a landfill. Toy packaging in particular is impossible to reseal once the plastic bits have been taken apart so it's obvious they will just chuck it in the bin. If you keep it, gift it or resell it privately, at least another child might get some pleasure out of playing with it.

At the end of the day it wasn't a broken or dangerous product. It just didn't live up to what you imagined the quality should have been but the functional bits still work from the sounds of it. I think you should just suck it up and keep it. It also teaches a good lesson that sometimes in life something you really wanted may not live up to expectations and you need to make the best out of that.

Also, children play with toys in different ways. Virtually no dollhouse or plastic environment sets have slots in furniture that ensure a character doesn't fall off or tip over. If this triggers a meltdown in your son then you need to teach him to be more resilient rather than blaming the manufacturers. DD always spent hours balancing dollhouse figures so they can stay in place and quite enjoyed it, though girls are probably more patient than boys.

From the description, is it something from Playmobil? Those are notorious for being absolute shit quality and having pieces that never fit together. We got a smaller set at one point and I hated it, have never bought from there again.

I hope you get a refund; if you don't, at least your son will know you tried. Poor little chap; he must be so disappointed.

I don't know which toy you've got but I don't think this is necessarily a unique flaw.

Whoever designed barbies furniture deserves a swift reality check because my barbies were forever falling off chairs, couldn't get their legs under the table, falling over in her shoes and so on.

The amount of stuff I had to make myself just because the manufactured stuff was bobbins was insane.

YANBU to be disappointed about the quality of toys these days as so many are overpriced and poor quality. I think you should take it back and focus your complaint on its lack of functionality. I took a toy back to The Entertainer because the quality was horrendous to the point of being hazardous. I actually cut my finger on the edge of the razor sharp tweezers that were part of the game. The focus of my complaint was the tweezers as I didn't think they were safe for children but honestly the game was just rubbish in every way: you had to put it together yourself, the pieces didn't fit properly in the slots, the wires were exposed and the main base was flimsy like the interior of a box of chocolates. I was glad to get my money back.

> it’s them, not the shop, who are actually at fault
No, the shop sold goods that were 'not of merchantable quality'
They are responsible foe ensuring the safety and quality of everything they sell

Take it back. It doesn't matter that it's opened - how else would you know it doesn't functionnas it should. In my experience Smyths are excellent in these situations. Stick to the facts and don't appear apologetic.

YABU to not tell us what the toy is 🤣 I'm on the edge of my seat here.

When you take it back to the shop, ask politely to speak to a manager

Tell them it is unsafe for a 5 year old due to small pieces coming loose

The phrase to use is that "This is not of merchantable quality"

I'm assuming it was bought with cash? If not, and if the shop (unwisely) do not refund you, speak to your bank or cc company and ask for a refund for the same reason - it's dangerous for a small child

100% return it and tell us what it is

@User9784754 - you may want to familiarise yourself with the law surrounding this topic.

What you’ve said is not just wrong, but illogical. If something is not fit for purpose there should be no question of the seller wanting to re-sell it. Nor of the buyer re-selling it to someone else who is also likely to find the thing unusable.

I wonder if you’re perhaps more familiar with some other, non-UK jurisdiction where just suck it up is the rule for consumer purchases?

3 years and under is where small pieces are hazardous.

I don't think it's right that the customer has to contact the manufacturer, consumer advice is always that it's the shops responsibility

Take it back, factually explain the problem (don't over explain or mention any background) and ask for a refund. Is be surprised if it's an issue at all

Correct

Your contract is with the retailer, not the manufacturer.

Don't be daft, if course you can take back something you've already opened. How would you ever know if sow thing worked or was damaged or dangerous by looking at the unopened package ?

I'm guessing you haven't worked in that kind of retail, of course they aren't going to resell it

Who would just shrug off an expensive thing that isn't fit for purpose? Do people usually walk all over you?

I agree with this list of best-value toys, though I would also add vtech toot-toot tracks! They are tough, fairly easy to use/clean and my son has had several years of play from his first hand-me-down set. He still plays with them.
Plus I've seen multiple bundles of add-ons in charity shops so clearly have longevity!

He also loves Hot Wheels, but I've found the (expensive!) track sets to be quite flimsy, easily damaged, and working parts don't last long.

Thanks - though I'd lost the plot

Absolutely return it and explain how your son has been saving up for months for this toy and you are incredibly disappointed for the reasons you said. £50 is not a small amount. They should let you exchange it or refund it if you have the receipt and purchased within the last month.

Of course I know the law but I'm using common sense. What's illogical is the entitlement of some people who think they deserve their money back for making a poor purchasing decision and everyone else and the environment needs to pay the price.

The reality of returning a bulky opened, plastic toy is that all those pieces will end up in a bin. No other child will get any enjoyment out of playing with it, which at least justifies the purchase of most non-recyclable toys. A retailer like Smyths would absolutely not repackage an opened toy or contact the manufacturer with feedback. They will just refund the money and dump it straight in the bin.

I would of course (and have) returned unopened toys. Things like duplicate birthday presents with a receipt is absolutely obvious. However once a toy has been opened, I don't expect a poor toy store staff to attempt to fit all the pieces back and reseal it, and neither do I feel comfortable with the entire thing going in the trash just so I can get my "consumer rights" in.

The more realistic solution here would be to resell the toy second hand so you can recoup some of the costs. This also means another child gets to play with it. It's also assuming the son hates it and wants to get rid of it as well, and not just a parental decision. Considering it came out of his pocket money, if he genuinely hates the toy, I would offer a "fake return" in the sense he's allowed the pick out a replacement toy, but I still keep the old one and just gift it or sell it.

@heyhey11 you have to tell us the toy!