iCandy cherry, a word of warning......

[littleducks]

As the pramaholics on here are aware i bought an iCandy cherry immediately upon release in March after much deliberation over spending that much money on a pram.

It is a lovely buggy but i have had some issues, when it arrived new the shopping basket was broken from one side and it tooks several weeks for a replacement to arrive (with the shop i bought it from phoning icandy more than once). This didnt trouble me at the time but was an indicator of icandy customer service standard that i had missed.

In May i had problems with the front two wheel locking sideways suddenly making the buggy impossible to push and leaving me to scramble aronund on my hands and knees to sort it out. I took it back to the shop i bought it from and it was repaired in house.

The next time i used the buggy the seat would not stay in a upright position resulting in dd hurting her head and making it unusuable. I took it back to the shop again, where the man who had previously fixed it took a catch apart and they believe that the mechanism was forced by someone unfamiliar with the buggy and say that a replacement part will not be covered by the manufactures warranty.

I know that nobody else used the buggy, i have a smaller and simpler maclaren which everybody else including dh uses, and dd is always with me (so the buggy is too).

I went into the shop expecting an immediate refund as the buggy obviously isnt up to scratch and for £200 i would expect more longevity than a £15 buggy. I am extremly unhappy ( i actually cried on leaving the shop) but am left without much choice, i am considering all options of what to do but thought i should warn others, as i know had i bought from mothercare (impossible as icandy only sell through independents) i would not be in this position as i would have been offered my money back not told to pay for repairs for damage i did not cause.

littleducks it is up to the retailer/manufacturer to PROVE that the fault was not there at the time of manufacture- give em hell! Do you want me to speak to my icandy regional contact? i may be able to get some more sense as a retailer (who they are quite scared of at the moment as they charged my account with 14!!! invoices for a delivery of three prams!)

im going to try to explain to shop man one last time and may then take you up on it, i think he feels he has proved it.... the gauge is worn and was "definately forced" to make it break, but the last person to have the thing working was him when he repaired the wheels

I thought perhaps we had been using the pram with the seat too upright, the lines on the chassis werent parellel, wehich i thought nothing of at the time as it isnt in reclined position either, the girl who sold it to me said it went properly upright and instructions very brief on that point, so i sent dh in to collect the broken seat unit today and put forward that as a possible reason for the damage but shop man said it was "impossible" for the seat unit to go upright to the position i have used it in since march. Even though i know it did as i used it!

your legal contract is with the shop not Icandy, regardless of their customer service. I suspect technically the store could argue that you have accepted the goods by continuing to use it over time, despite the problems, and by having had one repair are not entitled to a refund. However it is worth speaking to your local Trading Standards as to your rights now since it obviously should last lonegr than 3 months without hitch and there have been a number of different problems. Don't assume Mothercare would have acted any differently , the law is the same big retailer or small but there is room for discretion out of goodwill.

agree with liz- it is up to the shop however icandy is very good with goowill gestures etc (some companies are, stokke, silver cross and icandy tend to be very helpful and want to get things sorted out!)

At the end of the day any faults that are returned to me as a shop are then in turn either sent back to icandy or repaired in-house if thats appropriate.

Give it another go, if it doesn't work then i'll get hold of my reg. contact, and see what they want to do- at the end of the day it wasn't a cheapo buggy!

Little Ducks- don't panic, i hope the shop have loaned you a pram to use!

Thanks, i am feeling more positive now with the advice, i havent yet agreed to have repair or replacement, just said i would think about it, i felt the basket was a simple thing and left buggy in shop for him to have alook at the wheels when i went back it had been repaired so i wasnt given much choice. To be fair though if the seat hadnt then immediately broken i wouldnt have worried about the choice aspect just have been happy it was done.

Now I am more worried. I too rushed out and bought the cherry when first released. Great until the front wheel fell off- told it was the bolt. Been waiting since Easter for replacement back wheel bec bent in packaging and now is steering funny.Told that icandy had to send spares back to the far east because they were bent too!! My front wheels have also been jamming. So not so happy.

oh guys! i'm so sorry, i haven't had any problems with any that we've sold, but having said that we take two days to put them together and actually check them over- nothing EVER goes out flat packed in its box- if there's even a slight whiff of something not being right the customer is informed and a loan pram is arranged if nescessary until the pram is totally right!

I do know of other shops who fling the wheels on and expect that it will all be ok!!!

if anyone wants me to help in any way with icandy just let me know- i am a dedicated retailer and i will be willing to help anyone who can't get through with the person they bought it from (unless you somehow!! bought it online, then unfortunatly you have no warranty!)

Thanks for that. Will bare that in mind when I go back to the shop. I got mine in the box and it obviously had not been opened.

i hate shops that send them out in boxes- you spend so long looking and researching into prams, find the one you want see it in the flesh in a shop then they dump a big brown box of bits into your arms! ooooh!

Thats just lazyness!

Hi nearlythere. I bought an iCandy Apple back last July. Baby was born towards end of August. We also bought a buggy board which the retailer helped make sure would fit correctly. Stopped using the buggy board after about 4 months. We have always had a big problem with the front wheels (the 2 separate wheels) in that they often swivel sideways and have to do a bit of jiggery-pokery to get them sorted - it's got worse as dd has got heavier. Using it in the other wheel mode is a bit better but I've got pain now in my right wrist which I'm sure is from using it. It is soooo difficult to steer. Have to have the handle pulled totally out and have DD in forward facing mode (which is annoying as I bought it to have her rear facing) otherwise it's a nightmare to steer.

I called icandy and they told me it could be due to overloading or hitting the kerb too hard. Hmmm. But would have to take it to the shop and they'd send it back but if it's our fault we'd have to pay. There's a year warranty but I think the shop says only 6 months with them. DH says we'll just have to lump it and it's just not designed very well. Do you know anyone else with these problems? Could the buggy board've pushed it out of alignment? In which case what do I do? The shop helped me with that ...

Any advice appreciated!

first of all- where did you buy it- i need the shop name- we do tend to know each other so it may be that i can have a word and see what they can do! i also need the area you are in so that if need be i can contact your regional rep!

if it is hurting you then its not right!

email me on littlejackhorneraber at btinternet dot com

i'll get on the case then! also do you have a spare buggy that you could use? sounds like it will need to be looked at by an engineer!

Oh dear, I've bought one too - on paper look so great! Our baby due this week so not used it yet - woman in shop did say only untested thing was durability. Anyone out there report GOOD experiences with nothing breaking or jamming? I'm worried as I'm not sure I have a warrantee as such with mine - is that just the shop receipt or do I need to send something off?

you need to get in touch with trading standards as your pushchair should still be covered by manufacturers warrenty etc so you should be able to get refund as it is not up to the standadrd you was led to believe in!
also call icandy tell them you will be forced to go trading standards watch dog if they do not refund/replace

Just to cheer anyone up, I have one and I love it. I did get it already made by the shop though and it has been back to the manufacturers to mend the push buttons, which only took a week, over a Bank Holiday weekend...
Hope you get yours fixed