Faulty Pushchair - What are my rights?

Deeli_2

I am hoping this is the right place to post my query as before, I had posted to credit card section! Am still familiarising myself with the website! OK, here goes:

I bought a pushchair around May 2007. It cost me £500 (with a discount, I think it was more than this for base, carrycot and chair).

Two weeks ago my husband and I were taking our son out in the pushchair to get him to sleep and we had the chair facing us (rather than outwards). We also had the hood up so that my son could not get distracted. However, something snapped in the pushchair whilst I was pushing my son along the pavement, the pushchair seat flung backwards and my child fell head first towards the pavement. Fortunately, the hood of the pushchair slowed him down enough for my husband to grab my son's leg and prevent him from smashing the back of his head against the pavement.

The mechanism that sets the angle at which the chair can be tilted had snapped. So here is my issue:
The travel system was one of the more expensive ones on the market at the time

It is meant to last until child is 3-4 years old (mine has just turned 2 and he is a lighter baby than average), so the mechanism should not have broken so easily

The fault could have resulted in serious damage to my child, had it not been for a) my husband catching him and b) the fact that we had the hood up

However, I have been told by the department store where I purchased the pushchair that the Manufacturers have said that the pushchair is outside of its guarantee period (of 1 year) and we will have to pay £150 to fix it. I know this is a design fault because we hardly use this pushchair as my son likes to walk everywhere and it is not possible for us to have damaged the mechanism.

I do not think I should pay anything. But what do you think? Do I have a leg to stand on? Must I roll-over and pay for the privilege of being able to take my son out in an expensive pushchair without fear of him damaging his head?

The whole purposes of spending a small fortune on a pushcahir was so that it would last for first and subsequent babies... and at the very least up to the 3-4 years implied by the advertising material!

Please help!

Firefox1975

hmm

You have had the chair for 2 years. Not sure you will have any comeback on the manu,

As distressing as your story is aswell I am not so sure they will hold much weight with your accident. Best bet might be to find out if anyone else has had the same problem.?

sooz

write directly to the manufaturer. The shop doesn't really need to be involved as the pushchair is now so old. However, I think you will have to pay something towards the repair of a 2 year old used pushchair. You can't say that between the ages of 0-2 your son has preferred to walk all the time

Halloway

SOGA says that goods must last a for a reasonable length of time. In the case of a high-end pushchair, I would say that 'reasonable' would be longer than 15 months. Therefore I would say that you have a good case for the retailer (and it is the retailer you need to deal with here, not the manufacturer) paying for most of the cost of the repair.

What you also need to take into account is the nature of the failure. I cannot begin to imagine what the part which has failed actually looks like or the nature of the failure. If it is indeed the case that the part or part of the pushchair is badly designed and this led directly to the failure then you might have a good case for claiming the whole cost of the repair.

The shop from where you bought the pushchair has attempted to absolve itself of responsibility by hiding behind the 'one year guarantee', as you would expect, but they cannot do that. I suggest you write to the store or, if it's a national chain, whomsoever deals with customer support at head office, explaining what's gone wrong and what you want done. Read up on the Sale of Goods Act(s) and make sure that you explain in the letter that you know precisely what your rights are regarding a repair.

As I said, pursue the retailer in the first instance but there's no harm in sending a copy of the letter to the manufacturer as well.

sooz

Halloway wrote: »

SOGA says that goods must last a for a reasonable length of time. In the case of a high-end pushchair, I would say that 'reasonable' would be longer than 15 months..

The OP has had & used the pushchair for 27 months.

Halloway

sooz wrote: »

The OP has had & used the pushchair for 27 months.

OK, I misread the date of purchase. But the point remains. And whilst we are on the subject of errors:

sooz wrote: »

write directly to the manufaturer. The shop doesn't really need to be involved as the pushchair is now so old.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html

Check out the fourth bullet point under 'Key Facts', and then acquaint yourself with the rest of the information on that page.

Deeli_2

Thanks Guys. The pushchair has been in use for 18 months as babies need to be in the carry cot for the first 4-6 months as they cannot sit up, so I can easily prove that whilst, we have had the pushchair for 27 months, we did not use the chair attachment until he was about 5 months (although it is recommended that we use if from 6 months onwards), so its still been in use for under 2 years.

However, I will definitely acquaint myself with SOGA and correspond with the retailer accordingly. Thanks.

fishingcinema

what make is the pushchair it might be an idea to google problem with your particular make of pushchair to see if there have been any other problems like this that may work in your defence

hope you get it sorted