Toys R Us / Tommy Tippee

shiny76

Hi folks,

After some advice/opinions on what our rights are regarding the following issue.

Last October we bought a Tommy Tippee 'Perfect Prep' machine (a quick method of getting baby's bottle ready - especially useful at night) from Toys R Us for £80.

On Saturday I noticed a bright green colour in the water reservoir. On draining the reservoir there is a bright green substance at the bottom of the unit. As it was late we returned it to Toys R Us the next day.

Toys R Us have refused to replace the unit without speaking to Tommy Tippee to establish whether this is a manufacture fault or user error. In most circumstances I'd see that as reasonable, however we use this unit several times a day and think it's poor customer service for Toys R Us to refuse a replacement.

I vaguely remember when replacing the water filter cartridge that the replacement unit had a bright green band on it - the instructions did not say to remove this band so I assumed it was to create a water tight seal around the filter cartridge. This may be the source of the bright green substance.

We followed all the instructions to the letter so cannot see how we could have caused this. If Tommy Tippee request it to be returned to them for investigation we will be without a very useful piece of equipment for even longer.

Our son has been unusally ill compared to other babies we know and although we recognise that this may unrelated (may just have had a weak immune system for instance), we are concerned this substance may have been a contributory factor in his illnesses.

I've got to go back to the store today so they can contact Tommy Tippee whilst I'm there. My question is if they refuse to accept we haven't caused this do we have any rights/way forward?

OlliesDad

It is entirely reasonable for Toy's R US to inspect the item to establish the fault. This is even more important if you have mentioned it may have caused illness to your child.

Without meaning to sound horrible, can you not just prepare the baby's bottle in the usual way in the mean time?

daytona0

OlliesDad wrote: »

It is entirely reasonable for Toy's R US to inspect the item to establish the fault. This is even more important if you have mentioned it may have caused illness to your child.

Without meaning to sound horrible, can you not just prepare the baby's bottle in the usual way in the mean time?

You don't sound horrible at all!

- Toys r us have a right to check the item b4 giving a resolution and were it down to user error then you may not get a replacement.

- Why are you (OP) so bothered about having it replaced? You went on to say that you believe that the substance may have contributed to his illness and yet on the same post you also seemed bothered about not getting an immediate replacement? What makes you think other units may not have the same issue? Either you're exaggerating about the impact on your son's health or you care more about convenience than your son's health.... In either case you've probably just got to chill out on this one..


By the way, you said you bought it in Oct and took it back on Saturday.... That is over 6 months so technically you should be needing to get a ault report to be able to return under the sales o goods act. Sounds like toys r us are going above and beyond at the moment by entertaining your aulty item issue without need o a report. Either that or there is a warranty. Point is, were they to put it down to user error then you'll need to get a report which shows otherwise (ie an inherent issue).

shiny76

OlliesDad wrote: »

Without meaning to sound horrible, can you not just prepare the baby's bottle in the usual way in the mean time?

Yes, it's just a bit of a pain in the middle of the night.

ThumbRemote

The Sale of Goods Act says that any remedy must not cause a 'significant inconvenience' to you. I think for the parent of a baby, being without the usual means of making up a bottle for any length of time would count as such.

Unfortunately, if they refuse to give you a loan unit while yours is being examined, there's not a lot you can do. You could inform them that they are causing you a significant inconvenience, and then buy a replacement yourself. If they tried sending a subsequent replacement or repaired unit back, you'd have to pursue them for a refund, possibly through the courts.

shiny76

daytona0 wrote: »

You don't sound horrible at all!

- Toys r us have a right to check the item b4 giving a resolution and were it down to user error then you may not get a replacement.

Which I acknowledged in my post, I just think it's a bit poor in terms of service given we use the machine every day to prepare feeds.

- Why are you (OP) so bothered about having it replaced? You went on to say that you believe that the substance may have contributed to his illness and yet on the same post you also seemed bothered about not getting an immediate replacement? What makes you think other units may not have the same issue? Either you're exaggerating about the impact on your son's health or you care more about convenience than your son's health.... In either case you've probably just got to chill out on this one..

I never said I believe it contributed, I said we are concerned it could have contributed. The reason I mention this is if it is a 'inherent issue' then we'd be concerned about it happening to a replacement device.

In this case would we be entitled to a refund or forced to accept a replacement due to time elapsed?

My sons health obviously comes first.

shiny76

ThumbRemote wrote: »

The Sale of Goods Act says that any remedy must not cause a 'significant inconvenience' to you. I think for the parent of a baby, being without the usual means of making up a bottle for any length of time would count as such.

Unfortunately, if they refuse to give you a loan unit while yours is being examined, there's not a lot you can do. You could inform them that they are causing you a significant inconvenience, and then buy a replacement yourself. If they tried sending a subsequent replacement or repaired unit back, you'd have to pursue them for a refund, possibly through the courts.

Thanks for the advice but looking at this link (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54/part/5A) then it wouldn't apply to us as it's > 6 months since purchase.

k3lvc

Any pics of the green substance ?

Is this (just) algae formed by sunlight shining through the clear window in the front of the water reservoir ?

Do you clean out the water reservoir regularly or just top it up when it needs it ?

shiny76

k3lvc wrote: »

Any pics of the green substance ?

Is this (just) algae formed by sunlight shining through the clear window in the front of the water reservoir ?

Do you clean out the water reservoir regularly or just top it up when it needs it ?

The unit isn't kept in direct sunlight, wouldn't have a clue whether it was algae or not.

Pics below:


It's been sent off for examination, in the meantime they've found a demo model they have lent us.

GwylimT

Have they guaranteed that the demo model has never been used by anyone else?

k3lvc

shiny76 wrote: »

The unit isn't kept in direct sunlight, wouldn't have a clue whether it was algae or not.

Pics below:


It's been sent off for examination, in the meantime they've found a demo model they have lent us.

But presumably there's a cleaning regime for the reservoir - have you followed this ?

Difficult to tell from the pics but it looks pretty close to the algae I find in the water for my coffee machine if I haven't rinsed it out for a while