I’ve got a three month old baby, and two months ago, we purchased a Fisher-Price “Kick ‘n’ Play” bouncer with “soothing vibrations”. Only two months we’ve had this thing (I actually wanted a different model, but my husband came home with this one) and the “soothing unit” has gone south. At first it was going very slowly, so I put in a fresh battery. Rather then correcting the problem, then the thing wouldn’t work at all when I turned it on, but could be coaxed to start up at 1/3 speed if I snapped the foot down sharply (not with the baby in it, obviously.) Now, it’s utterly broken. Won’t work at all. I’m* pissed*. I didn’t expect the thing to last forever, but I think I could have reasonably expected it to last until the baby I bought it for grew out of it. I tried looking on-line for warranty information and customer service-- no dice. It’s all by phone. I friggin’ HATE talking on the phone to people I don’t know. My husband won’t call because he says it will just be a waste of time, they won’t send a replacement part. He says they’ll fix it, for an unreasonably large fee, and we’ll have to mail them the bouncer, and it will take a LOOOOONG time to get it back. He says it’s less hassle to just buy a new one. :mad:
Has anyone ever called Fisher-Price about a thing like this? What do they do? Would they send me a replacement part? Would it cost a lot if they did? WIll they just give me the run-around? Is it worth my bother? I know one thing, I’m going to go out of my way to not buy anymore of Fisher-Price’s crappy junk.
I’d call. You never know, F.P. is a big outfit. They might just send you a free replacement. Good PR and all, eh? Anyway, if enough people call and report that the thing’s a hunk of junk, they’ll either modify or maybe even recall it. Again, PR.
This is warranty info from their website, but it only mentions stuff bought from their online store.
Some stores up here have warranties set up through themselves. For example I bought a playpen from Sears and I got a 3 month in store warranty from them. If there was any problems, I could take it back to the store and get it exchanged. If you still have the receipt, check it, the store might have that.
Personally I would call them up and insist that they either replace or repair this one, or take it back to the store. As long as you haven’t been kicking it around it should work just fine after only 2 months of use! These sort of things are supposed to take a bit of a beating because I’ve found even younger babies once they get it into their heads they can really bang around. (Mine’s 6 months and he’s already nearly given me a black eye by accident while waving a toy around as he sat on my lap)
What I would do is avoid dealing with F&P all together. I would take it back to the store of purchase. I had a different fisher price toy that started to act really wonky. I asked, just for laughs, if they (Target) would take it back in exchange for another. It was 3 months old and I didn’t have the box, but they took it back anyway.
If the store won’t take it or you don’t have a reciept (although at Target you can just give them the credit card you paid for item with, if it was less than 3 months ago), then call FP. I have found that companies like that are really good at replacing their products without hassles. They do, after all, want you to continue buying their toys.
I managed to fix it, I don’t know for how long it will stay fixed, though. I took the thing apart and found there is a motor that spins a wedge-shaped lead weight. When I turned it on, the weight would move a bit, but wouldn’t start spinning unless it was nudged. I sprayed some silicone lubricant on it, and it began actually spinning when it was turned on… still at reduced speed. My husband said that if it had been running like that for several days, the battery might be low. So I replaced the battery, et voila, it worked like it was supposed to! I still don’t think I should have to do this for a nearly brand-new product, though. If it was a used hand-me-down, sure, but not a two month old product in normal use. I’m still not going to buy any more Fisher-Price stuff in the future if I can help it. I looked through the comments on Amazon (I hadn’t thought to do that before posting, because after all, I’ve already bought the thing) and several other people had the same problem and Fisher-Price wasn’t helpful to them when they called.
I still don’t think I should have to do this for a nearly brand-new product, though. If it was a used hand-me-down, sure, but not a two month old product in normal use. I’m still not going to buy any more Fisher-Price stuff in the future if I can help it. I looked through the comments on Amazon (I hadn’t thought to do that before posting, because after all, I’ve already bought the thing) and several other people had the same problem and Fisher-Price wasn’t helpful to them when they called.