pushchair... faulty or just stupid?

[starlover]

argh!
I have a big 3 in 1 pram for DS. It cost us over £500 and I LOVE it... well.. I love the pram bit which is nice and big.
However, I recently wanted to use the pushchair bit instead of having the pram body on it when I discovered a long list of really stupid design faults which make it totally impractical (if not impossible) to use.
These include:
If ytou have the hood on you can't recline the back because the hood is too tight (once reclined u can't get it back up again)

The bumper bar doesn't come off (though instructuions say it doe)

Cosytoes don't fit UNDER the bumper bar

Cosytoes can only be used if footrest is up, otherwise it is too tight

The straps are in a fixed position on the back of the seat, so although you can lengthen them or shorten them, at the moment they rub down DS's face as they are so high!

There are several other issues I am having with it. I went into the shop I got it from and they basically said that there wasn't a specific "fault" so they would contact babystyle 9manufacturer) and see what they say.
Otherwise I can part-exchange it for something else.

Do you think this sounds ok? As I say I LOVE the pram.. but DS won't be in it for that much longer. If we part exchange then we are going to end up with something cheaper. They won't refund as I have used the pram. Most of the things are not things that I would have noticed when I tried the pram out in the shop.
Would you be satisfied with the shops response that basically it is nothing to do with them?

At £500 it should be bloody perfect in every way!!

It is their responsibility, they sold you the pos....

moondog... that's what I said! I spent a lot because it was exactly what I wanted, and the pram is lovely and big... and I figured that I was paying for a quality item that would last until DS was out of the pushchair....

What about telling us the manufacturer and model and maybe other MNers can let you know whether they've had similar probs if they bought the same pram ?

It is a babystyle arrue elegante

Your contract is with the shop as you bought it from them.

You can quote sale of goods act at them - may depend when you bought it, etc.

Product should be fit for the purpose - the cosytoe doesn't sound right if it won't fit under the bumper bar, for instance.

it's here

Here are some pics

Starlover

I don't think you can have a claim with the shop, as it is a case of poor design rather than anything actually wrong with the pushchair. Unless you stated at the time that you wanted it to be able to do the things you've raised at the time, they have done nothing wrong. The contract was fulfiled.
If the pushchair really is unfit for it's purpose you would probably be better claiming against the manufacturer of the product. From what you are saying though, I'm not sure you would have a strong case, but it might be worth contacting them to try.

tried contacting babystyle... no luck...

note, in the pics the pushchair is never showed with its hood and apron on... because they don't bloody fit!

have just looked up the sale of goods act (thank you hunkermunker!)

am going to print it off and take it in and show them i think!

It sounds bad but I think part exchange is probably the best offer you are going to get. Mind you, the sale of goods act does state that goods have to be of reasonable fitness for their purpose and that doesn't sound reasonable to me.

It sounds like there are design faults with it. Like I say, your contract is with the shop. Good luck!

If that doidn't get you anywhere tho, you can also make a claim in tort against the manufacturer as a second option. Good luck tho!

thank you all!

hunkermunker you are a fountain of knowledge on all things breastfeeding and faulty!

Glad to be of service

now, if you can just tell me how to get DP to do some housework....

I'm good, Starlover, but not a miracle worker

darn!

I had a similar situation with my Silver Cross 3 in 1, particularly the hood wouldn't stay fixed up properly on the seat unit havign been fine on the carrycot. I noticed they had changed the mechanism on some newer models, contacted them and got a local retailer (not where it was bought) to send it back for modification free of charge and I got a loan pushchair in the meantime. Have you compared yours to others in the shop to see if yours may actually be faulty ? They could try your hood on another seat unit and vice versa to assess the problem.

Your other queries do sound a bit odd - I don't understand how a cosytoes (as opposed to an apron) would not be designed to fit underneath a bumper bar - so perhaps the manufacturer could clarify that to you. Also on ours the apron was fiddly to adapt and you had to popper it differently to fit whether the foot rest was up or down, the bumper bar was removable but the release button was hidden under the padding on the arm rest and took a bit of finding and some pressure to release it, the shoudler straps were also only one position but that seemed quite common and the height lowered by routing it through the cosy toes which had holes at 3 heights. These were really only minor niggles though once the hood issue was resolved.

tbh that is probably the best response you will get from the shop as if you look here under "What are you entitled to ask for?" you could well have been deemed to have accepted the goods and therefore not be entitled to a refund. You could try to argue that you have only just started to use the seat unit but even then you may only get a refund, or equivalent, for the cost of that part of the pram.

Good luck

lizs, the cosytoes is quite bulky, and you have to really squish it up to get it under the bumper bar.
have had all the padding off the arms, and the bumper bar is welded in! definitely not removable.
have noticed, as you say, that a lot of them have fixed position straps. In our case the cosytoes also only has one set of holes, so can't even be lowered using that!
They recommend using the pushchair part from 6 months, and he is no way oging to be tall enough that the straps are in the right place! iyswim

i do realise that these are design faults, rather than it actually being broken...
dunno

will see what they have to say when I take my list of things in!

If the bumper bar is stated as removable and obviously isn't that is a misdescription ! There is 't a removable panel on the cosy toes is there - just some over in Europe are convertible from a soft carrycot style (ie. have sides) then these remove and it becomes flatter for use in a pushchair - although I'm sure you would have spotted already if that was the case. Be interesting as to what the manufacturer says about it.

yeah, i'll wait til the shop hear back from the manufacturer and see what they say before I go in with guns blazing!