Bambino Direct

Poor after sales service

I ordered an Oyster travel system by Babystyle from Bambino Direct in October 2011 and I admit that the price was good, but their after sales service has been truly awful:

- Informing me that every part of my order was ready for collection only for me to make the two hour round trip to their Huddersfield warehouse to find that there were items missing, despite me calling to check! (Yes, they do free delivery, but only specify a day, let's face it, who can take a day off for the delivery of a buggy??). This almost happened twice, but I triple checked the next time and narrowly avoided another wasted journey.
- Took three months from my original order to receive everything I had paid for, this would have taken longer if I had not pestered them!
- They tried to tell me that an item I had not received was not part of the 2011 stock only 2012, even though it was stated quite clearly in the Babystyle 2011 brochure, I received this eventually without an apology.
- Returning an item was made extremely difficult as you cannot speak directly to their returns department. The stitching had come away on the seat unit; this took weeks to resolve, with me having to prompt them for a response at every stage, again, no apology received.
- Now I have a problem collapsing the buggy chassis and they have given very vague instructions as to how I might do it, but no one is prepared to give me clarification. The manufacturer are meant to be collecting the chassis on Wednesday, but when I asked if I was to receive a replacement in the meantime, the answer was no!

My advice? Steer clear of this company. Also, Bambino Direct might want to steer clear of Babystyle, or be more prepared to deal with their shortcomings when customers are receiving faulty or substandard goods. I mean, do they honestly think that it is acceptable to leave me without a buggy while they sort out a problem which is not my fault? It's absolutely shocking.

Sometimes it's better to pay a small premium to guarantee good service; I have certainly learnt my lesson.