BabyBeau Bags have asked us to post up the following on their behalf:
'Reading the above post from Victoria is very disheartening. Being a mum, who runs a business herself, she should know how challenging it is to start a business as a mother and to keep it going. I have always acted within the law and have never received negative feedback nor denied a customer of their consumer rights.'
'Victoria purchased the Coco changing bag, which was on sale, back in March 2014. In her statement she claims the item fell apart very quickly; however the fault was only brought to our attention in August 2014. We repaired the item and returned the changing bag to Victoria - granted it took 7 weeks to repair but we do make our customers aware that repairs can take 4-8 weeks.'
'When Victoria contacted us to say she was unhappy with the state the repaired changing bag had been returned in, we immediately offered her a credit refund, but never stated this would be credited back to her card: instead it was to be issued as a credit note. However, this was subject to receiving the changing bag and inspecting it - as we are all aware, in the UK, you must return an item to receive a refund.'
'On the 17th of October Victoria accepted the credit note and requested to purchase the Sophia changing bag: stating she loved the brand - so obviously she must have been happy with the quality of our changing bag to ask to purchase another bag and pay the difference. Again we said this would be fine; however we did not have the Sophia in stock and was prepared to source the changing bag for her.'
'Victoria then demanded a refund on the 20th October stating she would buy the bag from John Lewis. At this point we refused to give her a refund as we had never agreed to a monetary refund and she had already accepted the credit note plus we still had not received the Coco changing bag back or had any opportunity to investigate her claims.'
'Victoria decided to take this case to Consumer Advice Line and Trading Standards, but since they both confirmed we had acted within the law, she then decided to take this to the BBC, who have also agreed that Victoria needed to return the changing bag to us in order to receive a refund.'
'For Victoria to state that we refused to refund her or replace the changing bag is a false statement and is a defamation of character against BabyBeau. As all correspondence between BabyBeau & Victoria show this was not the case.'
'We appreciate an item must be fit for purpose, must be of a satisfactory quality and must be free from fault. If the item does not meet these requirements the customer is entitled to a free repair…' which we carried out.'
'Our terms and conditions state - If the repair is not satisfactory the customer is entitled to a like for like replacement - which was offered. However, Victoria requested a more expensive changing bag at a much higher value of what she had paid. We told her we could only offer a like for like replacement, unless she was willing to pay the difference.'
'The last option is a refund which the retailer deems fit - this could be a partial refund. As we told Victoria, if we were to offer her a partial refund and she felt she was entitled to a full refund then the burden of proof would be on herself to prove the faults of the changing bag as it had been purchased over 6 months ago. She must prove the faults were not down to any customer misuse or wear and tear.'
'This issue has been escalated inappropriately. If Victoria had returned the changing bag in the first instance we could have evaluated the faults and acted immediately, but she decided to hold onto the bag and demand a refund without returning it.'
'Victoria emailed us on 19th of November to say she had returned the changing bag and it will arrive in 2-4 days. It is now upsetting to see that she decided to make a false statement on Mumsnet on the 17th of November, stating that the owner is 'fighting to give her a refund.' She also states she knows many people this has happened to - which again is a false statement.'
'On the 25th of November we replied and stated we would offer her a refund and all of this could have been avoided if the bag was returned as soon as possible. BabyBeau does not have to issue a refund to any customer if the faulty item in question has not been returned and this is standard practice in the United Kingdom. If an item is faulty you return it to the store for a refund you do not demand a refund and hold onto the item.'
'I started BabyBeau as a brand to fulfil the needs of mothers who wanted a stylish changing bag. We are all aware that every product is not perfect and you may experience faults. However we always try to find a solution to keep our customers happy.'
'Running the business has been challenging, as a mum, a wife and business woman - there are so many demands that sometimes you just want to crawl under a rock!'
'I speak to mums in business frequently about the stresses and joys of running a business - I never would have imagined customers taking to BabyBeau as they have. I applaud all Mums who run their own businesses, including Victoria, and wish them every success - as I know it is not easy, but can be very rewarding.'