Bambino Direct - has anyone bought from them?

[hallett]

I'm interested in one of the package deals that they have on buggies at the mo, and just wondered if anyone had bought from them recently

good/bad experiences?

There was a thread about them a while ago, maybe do a search? Seems some people have had bad experiences and a few good.

I posted my experiences on the other thread and will repeat them here.

I ordered a graco quattro deluxe travel system and raincover because they were the cheapest (£220 for the Gracco and £15 for raincover). I ordered on a friday and is said on their site that most things were sent next day on overnight delivery but sometimes things take 5-7working days. when my 5 working days was up, i saw the thread on here with people saying they'd had incomplete orders, broken items, poor customer service etc so i rang them. The man was very very very rude to me and just told me (without even taking my name or order number) "it will be delivered tuesday". i told him this was no good as i was going on holiday and wouldn't be at home so he said he'd see if he could arrange delivery for the saturday and ring me back in 20mins. After 45mins i rung them as i'd heard nothing and kept getting "number unavailable" . i eventually got through and Mr Rude told me that he'd never said he'd ring me back. i told him i wanted to cancel my order so he said "send an email" - which i did and it bounced back so he gave me a diferent email address. He told me the order had been cancelled and money would be back within 5-7working days.

On the following Wednesday (5working days) i was on holiday and noticed the money had no gone back into my account so on the thursday i rung them. after 20mins of getting "number unavailable" i got through. Mr Rude came to the phone again and assured me (again having not taken an order number or name) that it had been cancelled and i would have my refund by Friday. when i gave him my details, he assured me again that i'd have it by friday as he'd personally processed it that day!

I checked my bank on friday and nothing!! So i checked their website and it said "order complete" i was LIVID!!! I got home and discovered on the same day he had told me i had been refunded, they had delivered it!! I rang up and spoke to a helpful and nice lady who apologised immensely and arranged for it to be collected the following day - at their cost!! i rung again on monday this week to be told the buggy had been received back and i would have my refund by wednesday. Guess what, yesterday - no refund!! SO i rung again!! After about 11 attempts to ring them and getting the "number unavailable" thing i got through and spoke to a different lady who was rather abrupt but more helpful than mr rude. she said she would process my refund immediately and i should have the money by friday! i explained that i need that £250 in my account by saturday for my mortgage and she said "make sure you have some other money in there just in case" which i find really really annoying (i'll just pick some off the tree in my garden shall i?). i explained that i cancelled the order BEFORE they had dispatched it and had been assured several times it had been refunded and i STILL have no money!!! GRRR

I cancelled my order on 19th June in writing via email which i know they got as i made the guy read it back to me!!

STAY AWAY they are bandits!!!!

I've seen a thread on Mumsnet that was chock-full of horror stories. Just as well, as my own Mum was planning to get me something from them as a gift - I thanked her very much but directed her towards Lullabys, also cheap but with a very good rep. I'd be really, REALLY cautious with BD - try a search on their name? Two Left Feet get a lot of grumbles too. But I've never seen anyone say anything bad about Lullabys.

have just bought a new car seat from them, it arrived today {I was blissfully unaware of the thread on here...) and apart from the fact that it took two weeks from placing my order to receiving the product, when i was under the impression that things were dispatched immediately, I had no problem with them.

I've ordered from Bambino Direct, stupidly not looking at the reviews before buying from there. After my car seat did not arrive after a week, and after checking the worrying reviews, I decided to ring them up. They told me that they had a problem with Silver Cross not sending an order to them, so that they had a delay. As I needed the car seat soon, just in case my little one was born early, I decided to cancel the car seat but was told I had to e-mail them as I could not do it over the phone.

Thinking that everything was cancelled, I ordered the car seat from Baby's Mart, which was only a pound cheaper, and if I added other items to my order I was able to receive free delivery. My Order from Baby's Mart came within 2 working days for the car seat, and 4 working days for my other items. They even sent an e-mail to tell me that the items had been sent to the couriers (and what couriers they sent the items from).

Regarding my order from Bambino Direct, it is still not cancelled. I waited 2 working days, and received not e-mail telling me that the order was cancelled, and the website told me my order was still processing. I phoned up, did have trouble getting through, so I kept ringing the two numbers on the website. I was told that they would look into it. The next day, I saw that it had still not been cancelled, so I rang again. It took me about 15 minutes of constant ringing to get through, but finally the phone was answered. They said that they would cancel it now, so i'm going to wait another day, if not ring up again.

I would definately not order anything else with Bambino Direct. Their service is terrible, and they do not notify you if the order is going to be delayed. As it is, I've had to pay for 2 car seats, and don't know when i'm going to be refunded.

From my experience Bambino direct is NOT a good company to buy from. As with so many others on this website, I ordered a car seat over a month ago and after several calls and emails and no car seat, I have been forced to cancel the order and demand a refund. Like others I have experienced very poor customer service, rudeness, inefficiency, false claims of dispatch and promises of delivery, saying that return call would be made and not happening, difficulty getting through on the phone... need I go on!? Overall an absolutely appalling way to conduct a business.
We are now waiting for a refund and may have to take legal action. I would advise anyone with similar difficulties to talk to trading standards.

Has anyone here thought of contacting watchdog? there are so many terrible stories on here about them (on other threads, not just this one). i'm sure if we all contact watchdog they will investigate and highlight the problem to a wider audience - not all pregnant mums come on here and some will get ripped off and think they are alone!!

I have had nothing but bad service from this company. i would echo the experiences of other contributors. They are unresponsive, rude and seem not to care. From ordering with them in May, it has taken until today to get a refund. they are absolutely awful. Please please please do not use this company.

Bambino Direct - Pushchairs , Prams, Baby Products etc.

STAY away from this company, and if you have the time, register your anger at BBC Watchdog site - I have and if they get enough complaints they'll get involved. I ordered back in March and still don't have my pushchair - in essence I'm a couple of hundred quid out of pocket as they take your money the minute you place the order. Do not use this company, they are complete liars and completely incompetent. I also found out from friends that they sell damaged / rejected goods and this is how they can undercut everyone. Obviously, this is lethal when mixed with a company selling products for child safety and well being. Use this company at your peril and also be aware of Bambino employees posting positive messages on forums like this to make out that some transactions do go smoothly - they will soon be shut down so don't even take the risk, pay a few extra quid and get your products from genuine suppliers.

Thanks for this thread - was close to ordering a Bloom highchair from them for £240 as they were offering free seatpad (like kiddicare until they ran out)... SO glad this mumsnet thread rang a bell and I searched for it before I did.
Hope those of you with ongoing problems get sorted - good luck. Start threatening.

Hi slinkiemalinkie, saw this on my email today and thought of your post.....
here

Avoid Bambino Direct like the plague. Ordered a car seat on 23rd June and still haven't had delivery. I've lost count of the number of phone calls I've made over the past couple of months. During various calls I've been told that the car seat had been delivered and signed for, that the item was out of stock and on three different occasions I was told that it had been dispatched and was with the courier company. Not once did anyone at Bambino Direct return my calls on the occasions when I had to leave a message. I phoned yesterday to ask for my money back and was told that I would have to e-mail them with a request for a refund! Demanded to speak to the manager (a guy called Paul) who gauranteed that he'd send it out there and then. I now have a tracking number from the courier company and it appears to be en route. What a nightmare.

We bought a lot of equipment via Bambino Direct in June ie travel system and nursery furniture (2 separate orders) BEFORE reading the comments on this website. Started to panic after reading some of the reviews. I then started to ring them up. I was promised delivery of the travel system within a week or so but it took 6 weeks plus to get delivered. I rang on a daily basis sometimes twice daily and was assured in every call that it would be delivered the next day which it never was, which was a nightmare re taking days off work etc. It was only after I called them every day and told them i would keep calling them and harassing them and also i would come down to the depot and stay there until I received all my equipment that I finally got them delivered. The nursery furniture came after approx 2 months. Impression I got was that there was only one or two people working in the warehouse and they simply could not cope with the demand of the orders. I was incredibly stressed out which is not good when you are pregnant. Also heard nightmare stories re Two Left Feet. Although these companies are cheaper, it is much better to buy direct from a store and get it there and then. Hope this helps others.

Damn - I wish I'd checked this before ordering with them. Absolute nightmare ... how are they still trading??? I ordered a BabyBjorn Active, which arrived, wrong colour and clearly had been used. No one ever answers the phone, and you get lots of conflicting info. I have no confidence if I send the item back I'll get my money back - and as no one ever answers the phone, how can I harass them?
MUMS - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED - STAY CLEAR!

Had a large order with Bambino that never arrived, took a lot of follow up to try and get products and finally had to get a refund after 21 days. The picture on web site was of a different product and I was very very unhappy with the lack of customer service. Finally bought all the products elsewhere and wish I had never gor involved with this company.
BEWARE OF BAMBINO DIRECT

Hi

I have just contacted Watchdog after reading all these stories. Bambino Direct still owe me £155 for a Silver Cross Dazzle I returned in July (it was the model shown on the website but old stock). I rang them before I returned it to complain they had featured the newer model on the website but then delivered the old model. I have sent countless emails requesting a response to why they haven't credited. Phoned yesterday and today only to be told Mandy would ring me back and hasn't. Think I may visit them in person next so they cannot escape sorting it out. The attitude of their staff stinks quite frankly. PLEASE BEWARE -BETTER TO PAY A FEW POUNDS MORE & BE HAPPY WITH YOUR PURCHASE NOT WORTH THE STRESS.

Angie

HI,
This is really strange because i recieved excellent service. It was slightly frustrating that my money was taken before it was dispatched but they told me they were having a new system put in place so i let them off (so to speak) and i recieved my goods 3 days after ordering. The staff were very polite, helpful and i found them very efficent. I was quite suprised when i read these reviews. If id of read this before ordering i prob wouldn't of ordered im glad i just went ahead because i managed to get the pushchair for the price i was looking for. I originally ordered form two left feet but they had a shocking service, they told me i would have my stokke xplory in 3-5 days and after a week or so i phoned regarding the status and i was told i wouldnt have my xplory for a further 7 days. I though this wasnt too bad as long as it was 7 days but as you can probably guess a further 7 days went and still no contact or xplory! When i phoned again they told me a further 7 days and so i cancelled, the lady i spoke to was snotty and didnt care about why i was frustrated so my advise would be to not deal with them!!!!!!!!

Katherine

Hey,

Im surprised at all these posts about Bambino, im just about to have my first baby and i had to order my things really quick as i had been let down by a rival company..... i ordered the most adorable pram its a stokke xplory... yes i want to be charlotte from sex and the city lol, i was so surprised as it came straight away, like the next day, so i thought right im gunna order my bedding etc, so i ordered the full set of the lullaby bedding... much to my dismay i had a cot bed ordered ages ago from a different company and they suddenly turned around and said they didnt have the correct materials for the cot bed i required, so... i rang bambino and said could i also have a cotbed i ordered the sleigh cot bed i think its called louis ( its lovely it looks fit for a princess or a prince), they said this would be 5 days and after 3 days it arrived, thank goodness i was at home, next on my list is a car seat which i will definately be purchasing from bambino.

I would like to state on mumsnet I am very happy with Bambino Direct I placed an order valued at over £700.00 with another nursery retailer for the stokke xplory on a 5-7 day delivery. After 4 weeks they told me they were unable to deliver for another 2 weeks !! I did read the reviews posted on B.D on mumsnet and also some positive ones on B.D website.. however telephoned them to enquire if the xplory package was available, they told me they are one of UK's biggest Stokke retailers and that all items were in stock for immediate delivery. I went ahead and placed my order by telephone on Thursday and my order arrived today (Monday) I found my experience with Bambino Direct and would certainly order again and recommend them.

...

Gosh, what a coincidence! Three posters who all have a similar posting style, all posting together, and all saying how fabulous Bambino Direct is.

They must feel especially strongly, given none have ever posted on any other topic - especially Helenxx, who has posted to praise BD 4 times now, but never had anything else to contribute to MN.

...

I ordered a Bugaboo package from bambinodirect and was very very dissapointed. It took almost 10 days for me to get in touch with anyone after placing my order. I didnt even get a verification email or anything. They took the money (OVER £700) from my account 2 days after ordering so someone must have got my order. I emailed them 4 times and never got a response, I then called 5 times and on the 5th got an answer for someone to tell me I was having a security check and my order would take another week. I called back the next day to double check and they said no, no checks are being done its because the footmuff was out of stock. So again I waited a week and nothing. I called again and they said they needed to verify what colour car seat I wanted and the rest could be sent out but would have to wait for the footmuff. I got half the order the next day but the car seat was in a plain brown box that had obviousley been squashed and it had been opened. I was very angry at this as it looked like it was 2nd hand or something. I am still waiting for the footmuff 3 weeks later and the maintanence kit was missing for the bugaboo pack. I called to tell them and the man got very stroppy and said it was a problem i'm to take up with bugaboo. STAY WELL CLEAR IF ITS A POPULAR BRAND. ID RATHER SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY AND BE ASSURED ID HAVE THE GREAT SERVICE AND GUARANTEED THE GOODS.

DO NOT ORDER FROM THESE COWBOYS!! I've had the worst experience over the past 2 weeks with this company and wish I had read these comments before ordering with them, their customer services is shocking and they clearly have no Service Levels as they never respond to phone calls, emails etc. They are shcoking, stick with Kiddicare I will in future.

Thank you for a great service. I ordered a car seat and 48 hours it was delivered to the door and was £30 cheaper that the high street stores. Well done. I will definitely use your service again.