Cosatto pram issues

Ironmike

Evening all,

First time post from a frustrated man!

Me and my good lady paid nearly £800 for a complete Cosatto travel system from Mothercare, with our first child together looming. Our son is now 18 months old, and we have had some issues with our pram, and with Cosatto.

Firstly, the handle on the pram broke whilst being used. They took the pram in, and had it for weeks on end with no contact. They initially said it was faulty and they could repair it, but said they had no handles that matched the colour scheme we had picked. If this wasn’t ok, we were to let them know. We obviously said we wanted it too match what we paid for originally. They then replied, changing their tune. They said they didn’t have any handles that matched our colour scheme, so we had to take what they had or nothing. They also then started saying the pram wasn’t faulty after all, but they would repair it for free as a gesture of good will. Alarm bells were now ringing, but the pram turned up eventually and although it was now mismatched in appearance, we were just happy to have it back.

A few weeks after all this, the pram developed another fault. The recline mechanism became stuck in the upright position, meaning our little lad could only sit bolt upright. We liaised with Cosatto again, who firstly said they would send a link to a video that explains how to fix it. Great I thought, but no video arrived. They finally said they would take the pram back in for repair, and promptly started booking couriers to collect it without bothering to check if we would be at home to sort it out.

They have now said the unit is faulty, but can’t be fixed as they have discontinued the model. They asked where we got it from, and how much we paid. Once we said, their mannerisms changed again. They have now said after discussion on their side, we can pick a replacement pram from their range up to the value of £484. We bought the whole travel system originally as we are planning on having another child soon, so it would be used for both kids. We now have a faulty pram and a load of accessories that can’t be used as the model has been discontinued. And we can’t get anything like what we had previously bought, with the £484 offered. We really feel like we have been done over here, and feel bitterly disappointed with Cosatto. We liked the original system we bought, but it’s been unreliable and the customer service has been dire really.

Do we have a leg to stand on? Are we in the wrong, or is it Cosatto trying to pull a fast one?

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Mike

Manxman_in_exile

I want to ask what a "travel system" costing £800 is, but I won't.

Ironmike

It’s a complete pram, car seat package, which had everything we needed from newborn onwards. It was a tad extravagant, I’ll admit. But it was my other half’s first baby (I have two daughters all ready) and she wanted everything to be right.

theonlywayisup

Your time lines aren't terribly clear.

When did you purchase and from where?
When did it develop it's first fault. Is there a reason you went to the manufacturer and not the supplier?
When did it develop further faults?

Ironmike

We purchased it approximately 20 months ago, from Mothercare online.

Cosatto offer a 4 year guarantee and specify you need to go to them with any issues, rather than Mothercare. We filled in all relative details to validate guarantee at the initial point of purchase.

It developed its initial fault in the new year, and took weeks to rectify. The second fault happened about 3-4 weeks ago, they have had the pram for over 2 weeks now.

dj1471

You've had 20 months use and only half of the "travel system" is affected, so £484 sounds reasonable to me. So long as the replacement pram is compatible with the car seat, I don't see an issue.

These travel systems are hideously overpriced, a replacement pram of comparable quality can be had for much less than £400.

theonlywayisup

As the first fault didn't appear inside the first 6 months the onus is on you to prove the fault was inherent if you want to pursue your Consumer Rights. As you claimed under warranty then you are bound by the warranty T&C when finding a resolution.

I also agree, the offer sounds reasonable.

You could counter offer and outline your reasons as you have nothing to lose by not doing it....