My Regent came! Brand new! And defective!

Splash

New member
It got here yesterday with a DOM of 11-5-07. WOW!!! Talk about hot off the presses!

The cover doesn't line up with the seat. AT ALL. The holes in the cover are punched 2 inches above those in the seat. They line up perfectly... with the next slot. So the first slot in the cover is the second slot in the seat, the top slot in the cover has no slot in the seat, and the bottom slot in the seat is unuseable because I can't thread the harness through the cover.
I called Britax at 8:30 and was on hold for 14 minutes (at 8:30!!) and got a total space cadet who kept telling me that seats come assembled. Uh, yeah, I know that. She kept saying that there is no need to reassemble to seat. I told her I wasn't, just threading the harness to fit my son. She kept saying it came assembled. Then she said to return the whole seat to the store, I told her it came from Britax. "I know, we made it, but take it back to the store you bought it." I told her it CAME from Britax. She said "We don't sell seats directly" so I told her it was a courtest exchange/warranty issue, and she said "Well if it was for a warranty then there is nothing wrong with it." HUH?!?! And then goes on to say that my seat isn't safe because it was assembled incorrectly. But if I want a new cover, she'll send me one for seventy bucks.

No thanks. Not worth the trouble. I'll never need the bottom slots, I'll just use it as is. There is no safety reason not to, right? The slots all line up, just not in the right order...

But wow... brand new. On my door step 3 days after it was born. It's like car seat porn.
 
ADS

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Can you compare it to your old one? Waterbaby said her old and new one seem to be really different sizes, and maybe yours is and the cover is from the old one? Or something...? Man, what a moron...call on Monday if you have time, I bet someone else will be able to comprehend the situation...:rolleyes: (or don't... but don't sell it to someone unsuspecting with the cover all funked like that...)
 

Splash

New member
The seat itself looks WAY different. I looked at it and immediately said that they have changed this seat, regardless of repeated promises that they haven't. This seat is a different, size, shape, everything. I'll try to take pics to compare, if it shows up in pictures...
 

Mama!

New member
Ruh roh raggy. I would NOT be happy with that at all :thumbsdown:

He's still pretty short right? I'd think it would matter. I'd call someone else. She sounds like an airhead.

I am *this* close to buying a new Regent if Como doesnt come through with a much better seat.

Is your seat smaller than the previous one?
 

Splash

New member
It appears to be smaller, but I have yet to actually measure them. The perception might be due to the covers being very different... but yes, this looks like a reasonably sized seat, whereas my other one looks like an elephant in a bikini.
Also, my box was mint. MINT. I wanted to take a picture of it... still might, actually. Not a single scrape, bump, dent, ding, scratch, or scuff. Show room new... nice box. Nice seat, too, actually. Quite fond of it so far, given how much I hate our other Regent. Yes, this seat is definitely different. Can't quite put my finger on it yet, but I will....
 

crunchierthanthou

New member
What's the DOM on the tag on your cover (it's usually written or stamped on the materials tag)? or maybe they're still making cover to the old shell specs. :shrug-shoulders:
 

cryswilkins

New member
I would call again on Monday and have them send you a new cover. They sent me a new cover when my strap velcro and the cover velcro wasn't linned up right. It all depends on who you talk to.

If the seat is brand new, then it is good CS to replace the cover.
 

Splash

New member
I might be sending the whole seat back... this is a nightmare. I am really hating Britax right now. All because they changed those stupid lock offs!

I think I'm just gonna give back the Regent and go for a MA. He'll only last another year in that, and it will suck while we're using it, but it's the only thing I can think of right now. Unless I skip the recline bar, which I am seriously considering...
 

ZephyrBlue

New member
Splash, if you can stomach another phone call, ask for Nancy. She's competent and, well, competent. And she sounds like a college professor after talking with Gayle at Recaro :whistle:
 

lamamaloca

New member
I don't have any experience with this myself, but I've heard other moms complain of a similar problem with their Regents and covers, but this would have been several months back, before the mold change and everything. One of them had explained that as the seat is ridden in, the cover seemed to slide down into place better so the slots lined up correctly. I don't know if that would be true for you, though!
 

waterbaby

New member
Oh, I'm definitely interested in seeing pics, too. And the covers made quite the difference for me. The two seats I thought were most similar in size... well, that was only so because the covers were sewn the same. Once I swapped covers, it was a different story. One seat is still smaller than the other two, for sure. Measurements for the harness are the same, but the shell and cover are different.
 

mom2boys

New member
I had the exact same issue with a new Regent I got a few months ago that was sent to me because of an issue I had with the regent fix it kit they sent out. I was so excited that they were sending me a new seat, until I got it. I had the same problem with the cover slots not matching the car seat slots. I also had an extremely hard time with customer service with them trying to understand what the issue was. I was on the phone with them for 45 minutes, and they were acting like total idiots. I think they were purposely not understanding because they knew they had these problems but didn't want to send out new seats. So, I ended up getting nothing done about it and am still mad to this day. I sent in a perfectly good seat that the latch broke on when I tried to install the fix it kit. Now, I wish I would have kept it and used the seat belt as opposed to the latch. I don't know what I am going to do when he reaches the top slot. I paid so much for that seat that they say is not "defective". :mad:
 

Wineaux

New member
This is from one of my first posts on this board, and it applies equally here. If it was me, I'd be getting Britax to send me a new cover that fits. One way or another...
OK, this is where I get to stretch my legs. Something I'm good at. Getting companies to pony up when they need to... :cool:

  1. Most companies outsource their Customer Service (CS).
  2. CSR's can be good or bad. It's usually a crapshoot.
  3. If a CSR is getting you nowhere fast, then ask to speak to a Supervisor.
  4. When asking to transfer to a Supervisor, always remember to hold your ground. DON'T let a CSR convince you they will have a Supervisor call you back later. It's just not going to happen. Sorry, they just want you off the phone.
  5. Get the CSR's name and the Supervisor's name. You will want this later on. Also remember that in call centers, CSR's will many times transfer you to another CSR instead of a Supervisor to avoid getting in trouble. Getting names and badge numbers is important.
  6. Be calm when talking to the Supervisor. Ask for things nicely. A spoonful of sugar is worth more than a pound of salt.
  7. If the CSR and the Supervisor are both dumber than a sack of rocks, and yes this happens, ask for the phone number of the corporate office.
  8. Now is when you will need the CSR's and Supervisor's names... Why? Because 90% of the time they will tell you they either don't know the number for the corporate office, that the corporate office doesn't have a phone, or that they are not allowed to give you the number for the corporate office. Wear your hip waders, because this is when the CS BS starts getting mighty deep.
  9. Since you most likely did not get the phone number for the corporate headquarters, it is time to do a little research on the internet...
    • Go the homepage of the company and look under Contact Us. You are not looking for the CS line or help line number. It's rare to find the number here, but it doesn't hurt to try.
    • Look for any Now Hiring links on the website. This is where you will find their physical address, and many times the corporate phone number. Not every site has this, but it doesn't hurt to check!
    • Do a Google search for the company with words like CEO or President. This is the person's name you want! If you see a VP of Consumer Relations they will work quite nicely as well.
    • That search or the website should give you at least the city and state where the company headquarters is located. Go to www.superpages.com and do a business search for the company name in that city and state.
    • Gird your loins, because now it's time to kick some butt and take some names!
  10. Call the corporate headquarters phone number you found in your searching. Ask to speak to the President, CEO, or VP of Consumer Relations. You have their name from your searches, so ask for them by name. If the operator attempts to play Gatekeeper, shut them down ASAP! Do NOT let them transfer you to CS! If the person you want to speak to is not in, their Personal Assistant will do. Get on the good side of the President/CEO's Personal Pssistant. They can move mountains in order to keep a customer happy, and they are a force to be reckoned with in the corporate world!
  11. VERY nicely tell the person you speak to your problems. Explain how useless CS was if needed. They need and want to know this. Trust me. If you don't know something is broken, you can't fix it.

This process will most likely get your issues resolved. Getting names and phone numbers is usually the tricky part. Sometimes you have to look on financial sites and shareholder sites to find the names of the top dogs. The nice part, is that you will almost always find a good corporate phone number on those sites as well, so it's a bonus.

The more often you use this process the easier it becomes. Pretty soon it will all be second nature to you, and you will get really good at getting your way when it comes to dealing with problems pertaining to the goods and services you use everyday.

Good luck!
 
Will the cover pull down more once the child is in the seat? I know some seats i have bought before need to be weighted (by the child) to get it into place.

Sorry I read the date as 11 May 2007 and could not work out how that was only few days old! But we the same date as 05/11/07 = 5th nove. 2007.

I get it now :) my MA has the dates the US way. I always have to read it twice :)
 

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