Bambino Direct Complaints Thread Directory

[Qally]

In the two years I've been a member of Mumsnet, there have been a loooot of threads complaining about Bambino Direct, so I thought I'd collate them. Plenty of pregnant women here, to be swayed into buying their big ticket items by the promises on that site of great service at low prices.

Thread One

Thread Two

Thread Three

Thread Four

Thread Five

Thread Six

Thread Seven

I know there have been more, as some requests for recommendations have turned into rant threads, and others were split between the (thankfully now departed) Two Left Feet and BD, but I only really had time to run a search on those with BD in the thread title.

You may notice that amongst the near-universal horror stories are the odd glowing review... always from people who have never posted on Mumsnet, before or since, and often with mysteriously similar posting styles. The owner also threatened one person who left a negative review, saying she wouldn't get her money/items until she posted a good review. Oh, and when she posted right back to tell people about this experience, one of the mysteriously positive reviewers immediately posted "your not that special your just pregnant" and said people complaining were sad.

Just thought this info might be useful in reaching buying decisions. A buggy, cot and change table can easily top a grand. Be nice to actually get them all.

Some good companies, judging from feedback here and my own experience:

www.backinaction.co.uk
www.johnlewis.co.uk
www.kiddicare.com
www.lullabys.co.uk

• any more companies that actually keep their promises, people want to recommend?

First time posting but here goes...
I wish I'd done more research into BD before placing even a small order with them. I placed an order for some car seat adaptors on 22nd Dec 2010 and got my e-mail saying they had been despatched and were going to be delivered Fri 24th Dec. Waited in all day and no delivery. Checked the "tracking website" and that had been updated Card Left! I sent BD an e-message and despite waiting until after the Bank Holidays never got a response. I phoned them on Thurs 30th Dec and the first girl I got through to kept putting me on hold. As I was calling from my mobile I hung up and called back. This time I eventually got through to someone named Tracy Williams who was just plain rude from the start. She told me I should have contacted the courier company as they had updated their website that another card had been left the previous day. I explained that I couldn't contact a courier company who hadn't left a card and she said she would call them for me, although they don't usually do that
To cut a long story short she told me that they I didn't pay for a next day delivery, despite what my e-mail from them said. I asked if they could re-deliver to a different address where I was staying and she refused telling me that if the original parcel that had been despatched was returned to them that they would charge me a restocking fee!
I told her to call back the courier company, cancel my order and refund my money. She told me she that she would do that but wouldn't guarantee they would refund all my money
I would have to wait until they received the money back and then they would decide how much to refund to me ??!!!
I asked her to confirm how much would be refunded and she told me the person who worked that out was not in the office until the following week so she couldn't tell me
I asked for details of how to put in a complaint and was eventually given the name Claire Fox, who I was told was the Managing Director! I will be e-mailing her directly thanks to the contact details in an earlier post, however not on that post that she is the "Customer Service Team Leader"!
I will repost and let you know how I get on.... so much hassle for £25.49 and with baby due in just 3 weeks I could really do without this
Will repost and update with any further development.....
And for those who haven't worked it out yet,,, AVOID BAMBINO DIRECT AT ALL COSTS!!!!

Im glad now i didn't order from them but i did wonder, as they had a sale on a pram and then a few days later put the price up but it still said it was on offer so then i found a price match and they refused to do it as they said they already had a discount on the pram and that they would be at loss. so so much for 'price match' and they like to keep there prices low.

Don't be fooled by there price! Worst company ever! The staff are rude and I'm yet to speak to a manager as there always in meetings.... Do they think I'm stupid?!
They sold me a pram. The wheel fell off with my new born inside, I've only been using it a month and like many other women you buy a pram when your expecting not after the baby is born. I'm told it's under warrenty and I'm not entitled to a refund even tho they have sold me a dangerous and faulty item. I'm told the manufacture will repair it. It too them 4 days to contact them, so I'm pramless for another 2 weeks. I have a grumpy newborn who needs a push in a pram and I can't. Seems like they have my money and they don't care!
BEWARE OF THEM
I wish I'd read this before I ordered :(

Bambino Direct are the worst company I have ever traded with. Incompetent. Unhelpful. Send out goods and then make it impossible to return them. The staff are fabulously ill-trained. Everyone should report any issues with this company to Trading Standards. They may be cheap but they are terrible value. Again, I wish I had read this before ordering a car seat which they have made impossible to return.

If mothercare has same item get then to price match it with bambinodirect.

Is Bambino Direct linked to Mumsnet in any way? I called Bambino Direct today and they answered the phone by saying "Hello, Mumsnet"?????

I had my pushchair and carseat base through bambino direct. Ordered on the Friday and Saturday (2 separate orders) and delivered on the Monday and Tuesday the following week. I was really worried about taking the risk but thankfully it worked okay for me but my sister (who ordered the pushchair for us as a gift) rang them up to double check that everything was in stock before placing the order and I did the same with the car seat base order. I read somewhere that they'd changed hands in recent years but not sure when. However, given the vast amount of horror stories on MN I still wouldn't recommend them even though my experience was good.