Marathon won't go out of recline mode!

ukfan78 · May 17, 2007

My sister has a Marathon that was purchased just over a year ago so it just went out of warranty! She got it from BRU and it was manufactured in 2/06. I was moving her MA from my truck to her car yesterday when I realized that the seat will NOT stay in the upright position. When you pull the lever to lift the seat out of recline mode, it just falls back down and locks in recline. Since the seat has never been used FF, we have never noticed this! Her daughter is going to be RF for a while, but she will eventually have to FF in the seat. So what should she do? Will Britax do anything with the seat being just out of warranty? Anyone else had this happen? I know that I install it tight, but I don't overdo it. I never had this problem with my MA and I used it for 4 years!

Any ideas (besides calling Britax of course)

Melissa

Jeanum · May 17, 2007

Bummer, this has been known to happen sometimes.

I'd definitely give Britax a call and explain the above circumstances. Others on the board have had the recline mechanism fixed or the seat replaced and were able to either send in the seat for inspection and repair or replacement, even for seats over a year old. Some have even had a replacement seat shipped to them prior to sending in the original one (Splash did, IIRC), but it can vary depending on the apparent mood of the Britax phone rep. and luck of the draw. Keep calling if you have to until you get a customer service rep. who agrees to help.

cryswilkins · May 17, 2007

I had this problem with my RA, I called Britax yesterday and they are replacing it for me. Mine is only about 9 months old and we have only been usung it for maybe 3 months. At first they wanted to just fix it but after some convincing the decided to replace it. Just be firm and tell them that for the money you expect the seat to work! Good luck!

ajay · May 17, 2007

This just happened to me yesterday! My Marathon was manufactured in July 06, and I have had it in rear facing this whole time. I took it out to wash the cover, and realized it wouldn't sit up straight for when I need it front facing!

I called Britax and they basically treated me like I was crazy. They told me I could ship the seat back to them and they would try to fix it and send it back to me. What was I supposed to do in the meantime?!

Anyway--- I took it back to Target where I got it. They were more than helpful and just exchanged it for me. I ended up with one manufactured May 07! So I guess I ended up ahead in the end, but it was very aggrivating.

Does anyone know of a way to prevent this or does it just happen?

Ali · May 17, 2007

Before you call - try this!

Lay the seat down on the floor (like if a child was sitting in the seat, they would be face down on the floor), pull the recline adjuster, and pull with your other hand on the opposite side of the base. It takes a little pulling, but it should pop into upright mode.

Let me know if that makes sense, if it doesn't I can try and find pix to demo what I'm saying.

It worked on both of our MAs.

my3girls · May 17, 2007

I totally agree with the pp, it can be fixed by you, I fixed mine, here's what I typed in a post a few months ago:
"I stood next to my bed and had the seat facing away from me and upsidedown. The back of the base was closest to me, I made sure it wasn't locked into recline mode and tilted the base up/forward. It snapped right in fairly easy, then I unlocked it and did it this way a few more times. I tried and tried last night to force it in a million different ways, but this technique finally did the trick for me."
HTH!

cryswilkins · May 17, 2007

ajay said:
Anyway--- I took it back to Target where I got it. They were more than helpful and just exchanged it for me. I ended up with one manufactured May 07! So I guess I ended up ahead in the end, but it was very aggrivating

How did you get Target to take it back?? I got mine there and I figured that there was no way that they would take it since I bought it back in Sept of last year. I still have the receipt........

If this is happening to so many people don't you think this is a mechanical problem, not a user issue? Maybe more of us need to call Britax and let them know that this is happening.

ukfan78 · May 17, 2007

I tried the tricks you all mentioned and it will NOT Lock up into the upright position....it just falls back and locks in recline mode

My BIL is going to call Britax as soon as he gets home from work. I guess we will see what they say.

Melissa

ajay · May 17, 2007

I had the receipt, and I just told them it was broken and I wanted to exchange it. I have only been using it for about 3 months, but had bought it earlier. They didn't have any problem with it.

Hope this helps.

Splash · May 17, 2007

Britax will replace it. Just call a few times.

What they agreed to do for me was allow me to keep using the busted one RF and then when I needed a FF seat, to call them and they would send me a new one then. That might be because I was a bit... persistent. But either way, they should replace it for you. They replaced both of mine.

Marathon won't go out of recline mode!

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