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

Hi, if you still have the packaging and receipt they should take it back with no issue.

I returned a toy a few weeks ago which had been opened but was very similar to one already owned.

I said the birthday boy already had one and I'd like a refund so he can choose his own gift.

No issue.

It does say unused, unopened and in their original packaging so hopefully you can parcel it up as it was...?

Sorry I don't get your logic.

The toy is going to be dumped regardless, it doesn't do what it says on the tin.

Ops as well to try and get the money back from Smyths which also alerts them to the fact its rubbish. If they get a lot of them coming back they'll be discouraged from selling that item.

If people just keep them then Smyths have no clue that they are rubbish

@User9784754 - if you know the law here, the problem must be that you haven’t understood its purpose - the wrong it is supposed to protect us from.

The toy doesn’t work - no one else would want it. Resale is not the issue.

Goodness me …

I returned a cheaper version of the barbie camper van to Smyths for similar reasons. It felt cheap and flimsy, doors didn't shut properly. They refunded it with no issues. Take it back.

unused, unopened etc is relevant where the buyer changes their mind.

It has nothing to do with an item proving unsatisfactory in use - which obviously cannot be discovered until the buyer has opened the packaging and tried to use the thing.

Return it and buy age appropriate Lego/Duplo

@heyhey11
I work in retail and you should absolutely return this for a full refund. It is not fit for purpose if it doesn't do things as described in the blurb/adverts.
This is £50 not a tenner and you should absolutely expect it work properly and not break in the first month.
Go in (without your DC if possible) and tell them how disappointed you are at buying a toy that's not fit for it's purpose and give a general idea of the problem - doesn't work well, doesn't fit together well, doesn't stay together, falls apart when being played with (a toy's actual purpose).

Tell them that you would like a full refund as the toy is not as described - do not ask if it's possible
Do not accept a credit note or gift card unless that's how you paid originally. If you paid cash then you should get a cash refund & if you paid by card then it should be refunded back to the card you paid with (this required by HMRC under money laundering rules).
If you get knocked back then ask to speak to the manager in charge and if they knock you back then ask for their customer services number.
Remember to be confident - YOU are the customer and YOU have been sold goods not fit for purpose. Take names of people that you speak to at the store.
Remember "not of satisfactory quality", "unusable", "it isn't fit for purpose, I have the right to a remedy under the Consumer Rights Act 2015".
You have a right to reject the goods (within 30 days of purchase) for a full refund. If you've passed that period or choose to have the product repaired or replaced, you can still reject it if the issue persists.

If you have the original packaging then take it back too but if you don't then it shouldn't make any difference because the receipt show identify what the item is by words or a stock number and you will obviously need the receipt. Chances are you are not the first person to return this item if it's that awful.
Be brave and confident! They are not doing you a favour selling you stuff but hopefully a big name store like this should comply with your request immediately if it is reasonable and complies with the law. If they try using their own T&C's to reject your refund then point out that their T&C's do not trump the law.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

If the OP thinks the toy is badly designed, as opposed to just not what her DC hoped for, she might not feel comfortable trying to sell it to someone else. Her wee boy saved for 10 weeks to buy this, he's shown perseverance and focus. His parents are now going to show him that you don't always just have to accept disappointment, that you can challenge things you think are wrong. They may not get a refund or credit note but they're right to try.

If people just keep them then Smyths have no clue that they are rubbish

I don't think you have any experience with retail. Smyths is a giant conglomerate and their buying department is entirely separate from individual stores. They may have a list of returned products but realistically, there is no way they analyse the reasons for each one. The most common reason people return things to Smyths is due to wrong presents rather than quality. Even if there are complaints about one product, they will not stop buying everything from that brand (Playmobil, Lego whatever) because the scale at which they operate is far too big. A family-run indie toy store might take things like that into account but definitely not Smyths.

Yes, all toys eventually get dumped but in an ideal world, children get to play with and it forms a valuable part of their childhood memory. The OP didn't actually specify if her son genuinely hates the toy or if he's just a bit frustrated at clasps coming open. I find it hard to imagine any child would voluntarily insist on taking a big toy they really wanted back to the shop and get their pocket money back.

Play Mobil by any chance ? Quality is gone to hell

I would try to return it.

If that fails, I would hit social media to the manufacturer about their 'not fit for purpose' toy.

The toy does work. Did you read the thread? The clasps don't stay shut for very long but that may also depend on how the toy is being played. By default, anything that "transforms" to different things is going to be a bit fiddly and tricky to handle. Another child might not have issues with the same toy. It's not that it was delivered with missing components or that some part was entirely broken.

OP's other complaint is that figures don't stay seated on the furniture and this triggers a meltdown in her child. The manufacturer never promised that all the pieces would be firmly attachable. It's perfectly normal not to have slots and pins in furniture to keep the characters on.

And I think you don't have any experience with the number crunching/analysis that goes on in the background for big stores. They absolutely can and do analyse what gets returned, they don't need the reasons, a high number of returns of a toy obviously shows there's an issue with the toy which can be either fed back to the manufacturer if there's a good relationship between the retail company (Smyth's in this case) and the supplier, or Smyth's can just decide not to sell it anymore. The reasons are irrelevant by and large.

Big retail stores that don't do this sort of background work are fairly precarious and have a tendency to go under and customers are quite surprised but often it's that their business processes in the background weren't robust enough.
Smyth's has shown since its inception when it undercut ToysRUs that their business model is solid, there is no reason to think that they wouldn't be keeping an eye on returns.

And having worked in retail on the shop floor before going upwards, no, they don't just put returns in a rubbish bin in the shop (in any sane business model); we had to always send them back to head office. It's a loss prevention (anti theft) measure as much as anything. If you're working in a shop that just bins returns, you've got a major loss prevention risk because there's nothing to stop staff from just buying stock, putting stock through as a return, then keeping it themselves.

@heyhey11 you can always return something that’s faulty for a refund. Proving fitness for purpose is a bit more subjective but I would say worth asking Smyths who might give you a credit note rather than a refund. Definitely worth asking.

see Money saving expert:
blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2012/12/return-rights-is-a-shop-telling-you-lies/

Smyth's have always been so helpful when I've had issues with. Toys. My daughter got the crawling baby Annabelle a couple of years ago & it barely worked even with new batteries in. Was dreadful. Took it back, they allowed her to pick a different toy for the same price. Hopefully you get a similar experience x

Yeah I'm leaning towards Playmobil too. The quality is one step above Kinder Eggs where you have to slot the cheapest plastic pieces together and hope nothing snaps. It took us over an hour to build a Gingerbread house and I vowed never to buy anything from them again.

So for instance, I buy a dress online. I unwrap it carefully and try it on. It doesn’t fit, or I don’t like the colour - I put it back in the packaging, with all its tags intact, and return it unworn. Full refund, no questions asked.

But say I try the dress on and like it and wear it that weekend - and it brings me out in a terrible rash, or loses all its colour in the first wash (after following all the laundry instructions), or I discover some other fault that can only be revealed through use - then I can return it because it’s not fit for purpose. Again, I’m entitled to a full refund (not just a partial refund, or a credit note).

Obviously we use our own experience and judgement to guide our expectations. This year I’ve bought two jumpers, one expensive, one cheap. The cheap one, after three washes is now unwearable outside the house - it’s faded in patches, lost its shape and the fabric is sort of smudged. It’s a shame, but it was £22 so its performance is rather in line with my expectations. If the expensive item had only lasted three washes I would definitely have complained.

You're wrong about them having no way to analyse returns, I worked for somewhere tiny in comparison to Smyths and when something was returned the reason had to be recorded as part of the transaction and reports could be run

If a huge chain like Smyth's doesn't do the same id be amazed, it's key information for the buyers

Certain lines where I worked could also be returned to the supplier for refunds.

Hopefully you'll get your money back no questions, but if not I'd cultivate a dead pan 'It's broken' attitude.

Like if they say 'but it doesn't say these holes prevent collapse/ falling off' just keep saying 'He can't play with it. It keeps falling apart. It's broken - I want my money back. It can't be played with. It keeps breaking when he touches it...' ad nauseum. Convey that you're almost too simple to understand it being anything other than broken; a la 'Computer says no...'

Please tell us the name of the toy? so we don't waste any money on a pile of crap 😏

I used to work at Argos and customers did used to bring toys back if they were faulty . You would be surprised what people bring back when they’ve spent money …
I remember someone bringing a sex toy back once (we sold lovehoney things for a while)
if the toy isn’t working like it should you’ve spent £50 which is a lot of money , if you spent £50 on a kettle you would take it back wouldn’t ya ?!
if you have no luck try the manufacturer .

You don’t have to take it up with the manufacturer. You have rights against the seller (who can in turn take it up with the manufacturer). It sounds like the toy is not fit for purpose or of satisfactory quality.

Return it. In my experience Smyths are pretty good, they gave DH store credit which he didn’t mind but if you pushed it you could probably get the actual money back.

I have always found Playmobil great quality. Has it been taken over, changed?