I purchased the G-LiTE stroller on July 14, after much online research, and thought we were buying a quality item.
As stated on its website " UPPAbaby is dedicated to building the best products... We use only the finest materials and fabrics, and manufacture to the highest tolerances."
Unfortunately, it is clear that the stroller we purchased did not live up to any of those standards. Moreover, the fact that my son wasn't injured when the stroller collapsed into itself (which was the defect) while crossing a busy city street, is luck.
While UPPAbaby did post a "Product Update" on its website, the post indicated the malfunction couldn't cause injury.
I purchased the stroller in advance of a two week vacation out of the country, and wanted something light, portable and durable. All things the G-LiTE promoted. What we got was stroller that defective, forcing me to hold my son while pushing an empty stroller. This defect left me without a stroller for the period of time I specifically purchased it. It was a big inconvenience on what was our first extended family trip, and left me dissatisfied with Uppababy.
Upon return home to the US, I discovered the stroller had been "recalled", and started the long process to getting a working stroller. Unlike some manufacturers, who will send a work product first, and then collect defective item (as UPPAbaby allegedly did according to some other posts), it required receipt of the stroller before a working model would be sent.
Therefore, on August 30, I contacted Uppababy and reported the problem, and was informed shipping material would be sent to me, so I could return the product. Only two business days later was the shipping material sent (9/1) and I received it on 9/2. The delay mailing out the shipping materials, delayed the process by a week, as it abutted the Labor Day Holiday. Nevertheless, the defective stroller was received at UppaBaby's Hingham, MA facility on 9/7 at 10:33am, the first possible day. According to letter I obtained with the packing materials, a new product was to be shipped within 5-7 business days (September 13-15). Two weeks after it should have been received, on September 26, I call Customer Service to inquire at to its status. The representative I spoke to could not give me any answers as to the status of my stroller.instead I was informed that a supervisor would call me back shortly (within a couple of hours) as to its status. No one called back. Therefore, I called again on September 27. I was then told the by a different representative that she had no information as to its status, agreed it should have been shipped already. I was informed that a separate facility (not a separate company) was handling the recall and she would requesting a status update from it. I was then promised to receive a call back in 24-48 hours regarding it status. Again no call back was received within 48 hours. Surprisingly at approximately 5 pm on September 29, weeks overdue, I finally received, (what is hopefully) a working product.
Even with my repeated attempts to contact UPPABaby via email and Facebook, no explanation of why the process took so long, why customer service representatives were not knowledgeable as to the recall process; or consideration for as to my request for a refund of the cost of the stroller ever provided. Moreover, no genuine apology for endangering my child by producing a malfunctioning product was ever received, either by Customer Service representative or in the letter "signed" by Bob Monahan.
Uppababy should reconsider the statements on its website regarding it pledges, and review its recall policy.
Lastly, all comments made by UPPAbaby, that it was voluntarily providing me a new stroller are disingenuous. According to the limited warranty, on page 9 of the manual, Uppababy would have been in breach of the same had it not replaced and/or repaired my defective stroller.in fact, I am not sure UPPAbaby did not breach it warranty in having a third party vendor handle the replacement, and in the time it took to replace the stroller.
The message that I would like you to send to the entire Uppababy family, is that the product which I was sold malfunctioned. It endangered my son's life. I understand that malfunctions and mistakes happen, thankfully no one was injured. But through no fault of my own, I was left without a stroller for over a month and a half, including while in a foreign country. Uppababy has repeatedly refused to apologize for selling me a defective product, failed to abide by its own timetable to replace the defective stroller, and failed to kept me abreast of the situation.
0 comments