Car seat problem. Your advice please?

[Ceolas]

I have a Bebeconfort Creatis fix car seat which we bought from Mothercare just before DD (8 months) was born. Today I went to visit my sister and when I was putting DD back into the car a bit broke off the car seat. It's a plastic 'feeder' for the seat belt at the back of the seat.

Rang Mothercare immediately who advised thet normally they would offer a loan of a seat whilst the faulty one was away at manufacturer. There was however no Mothercare locally and I had to get back home through busy motorway traffic. I felt I had no option but to buy another car seat from Argos which is less than 5 mins away from my sister's house. I ended up with a Britax First Class costing £130. Didn't want to get another infant seat as DD will be out of it soon but she's too light to forward face.

Anyway, I have to take the seat back to Mothercare tomorrow. What should I expect and to what am I entitled? I'd really like them to stump up the £130 to compensate me for the new seat, but I can't quite see it...

Think the best you can expect is a refund for the Creatis(which I suspect is less than £130),as faulty, or they may go for a partial one since you've had 8 months use or to pay for a repair. According to this the onus of proof that it was faulty (rather than damaged by your use) is on you since 6 months have passed and "acceptance" could eb argued . Insist your contract is with them as retailer not Bebeconfort though so they cannot plead that they have to send it back before dealing with it. If you have a chance ring Consumer Direct to clarify your rights.

I would suggest them giving you a credit towards the next stage car seat - given that you did not have the option to have their loan seat.

you can haggle over what you think that credit should be - but I guess at most the value of the original seat. Presumably you could have got a perfectly adequate replacement for less than £130 (unless they have gone up a lot since I last bought one a few years ago!).

I could have bought an infant seat or stage 1 for less, but she's too light to forward face yet.

I have not mis-treated the seat at all and have had 4 children and lots of car seats but never a broken one yet!

And the original seat was £100, so not a huge difference.

what did they offer ?

Full refund. No quibbles

I was geared up for a fight but not at all necessary.

Excellent

well done mothercare.

hey - result. why is is so surprising when you get good customer service ? Something similar happened to me recently I was sort of deflated - had psyched myself up for a fight and got great service straight out.