I have been having problems getting a refund from Kiddicare for a Graco buggy that I purchased in May but which developed a dangerous fault. A child can open the safety harness with ease. It is the second buggy bought through them – the first (by Hauck) also developed a fault but I accepted a credit note to replace it with a different brand.
Despite much emailing and telephone conversations, Kiddicare has insisted that the buggy doesn’t have a fault and has returned it to me. And this is after my local store investigated and agreed it was faulty.
As a registered childminder, the safety of my children is paramount and I want a full refund of my £225. We are now at the point of court action, which I would like to avoid. KP, New Malden, Surrey
Your query came in a flurry of letters from frustrated and unhappy customers of Kiddicare (a baby equipment specialist) unable to get through to the customer helpline in their quest to get replacements or refunds.
We had the same problem. It emerges that the chain – previously owned by supermarket giant Morrisons – has been bought by Endless, a Leeds-based private equity firm. In early September the new owner closed all but one of its 10 loss-making stores to concentrate on the online business. There were also savage cuts to the customer services, which explains the difficulties.
The new holding company, WorldStores, says it cannot comment on the previous ownership of Kiddicare and its actions, but insists it is “committed to ensure we have the correct amount of customer service agents and resources as customer satisfaction is a core value of WorldStores.”
We certainly hope things improve as the poor service highlights how badly treated customers can be in the fall-out from a corporate takeover. And it is also of concern that the company appeared to ride roughshod over your safety concerns. We checked with Citizens Advice, which said that if there is an alleged safety issue with goods there may be a breach of the General Product Safety Regulations which are enforced by Trading Standards. Citizens Advice can pass details to Trading Standards, or you could do that yourself.
As you are a registered childminder, you are effectively a business (rather than an individual) buyer but you still have rights under The Sale of Goods Act – which entitles you to take faulty goods back (even if the fault developed after purchase) and the right to a refund, or make a claim for damages – as you were about to do. As this problem arose within six months of buying the product, it’s up to the retailer, not the manufacturer, to prove that the goods were of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, or as described when it sold them.
But here it gets complicated. Any claim on your part would be against the company you purchased the defective buggy from. It now depends on what liabilities the new company took on when they purchased the old company. In this case WorldStores may have no legal obligation to provide you with redress.
However, the good news is that after our intervention WorldStores has agreed to issue you with a full refund as a goodwill gesture. But we think this highlights the huge need for customer advice where companies come close to collapse and are then taken over
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
