Do you think britax should recall the frontier?

emandbri · Nov 15, 2008

I'm just curious.

canadiangie · Nov 16, 2008

FTR I don't own a Frontier, but having read as many threads as I have about the issue(s), and seeing as how "new" seats are coming with "fixed" harnesses, I'm left thinking that they should issue a free replacement harness to anyone who wants one.

It's almost getting to the point where it's not making sense anymore.

I mean, they're sewing the loops smaller on the newest of Frontier harnesses, so that says to me they agree there's potential for a problem... yet no official statement, let alone a recall. It's a little odd to me.

snowbird25ca · Nov 16, 2008

I feel very strongly that it should be recalled. I don't care if it's less than 1% of seats that are affected. I don't care if they can't reproduce it in simulations. (And no, I don't have any #'s on % or whether or not they can reproduce it, it's just a what-if.)

What I know, is I have seen enough reports on this board, that I know it's happening to parents. Many parents are going to think that they're isolated cases - the same way others have until reading it here, unless there is a recall issued.

The fact that they've changed the harness on new seats to me acknowledges a problem with the old one. If they're acknowledging that, then they need to be replacing all the affected harnesses.

Even if they don't understand how or why it's happening, they know how to fix it and have fixed it on current models. So they need to fix it on all the old seats. No doubt or question in my mind. Don't wait for parents to have the problem and call, just send the fix. :twocents:

Kat_Momof3 · Nov 17, 2008

I voted recall but not strongly

basically, I would like a recall, but I'd settle for a PSA for people to call for the fix as needed.

crunchierthanthou · Nov 17, 2008

snowbird25ca said:
The fact that they've changed the harness on new seats to me acknowledges a problem with the old one. If they're acknowledging that, then they need to be replacing all the affected harnesses.

Even if they don't understand how or why it's happening, they know how to fix it and have fixed it on current models. So they need to fix it on all the old seats. No doubt or question in my mind. Don't wait for parents to have the problem and call, just send the fix. :twocents:

my thoughts exactly. All those who bought the early ones with the flawed harness deserve to have that fixed whether the problem has manifested itself or not. It's a potentially fatal flaw and definitely worthy of a recall.

Heather98012 · Nov 17, 2008

To not issue a recall is reprehensible. They KNOW of the problem, have altered the design, & yet have taken no action to date. It says something to me about Britax as a company & it ain't pretty. I really question why I became a frst time Britax owner now.

But, I haven't seen any more info. What is the situation now? I still haven't called them. Are they sending out new harnesses? What about caps for the metal box on the back? What's the deal, essentially? TIA!

mommycat · Nov 17, 2008

Kat_Momof3 said:
I voted recall but not strongly

basically, I would like a recall, but I'd settle for a PSA for people to call for the fix as needed.

yes, this. Sp long as the info gets to the parents who are using the seats I don't care if it's a full-on recall. but some public statement is needed.

Heather98012 · Nov 17, 2008

mommycat said:
yes, this. Sp long as the info gets to the parents who are using the seats I don't care if it's a full-on recall. but some public statement is needed.

True. I just want SOMETHING done. Let's face it, there are a lot of Frontier owners out there who aren't on this site & don't know anything about the situation. And Britax not doing anything to inform them is just negligent, IMO.

MomToEliEm · Nov 17, 2008

This reminds me of the harness adjuster issue with the first batch of marathons that were made. I had one of those first seats and had a really hard with getting the harness to tighten. I decided to return the seat instead of keep it as it was really too hard to use. After only a short time, Britax revised the seat and made the adjuster a little easier to use, yet there was not a recall issue don those first production seats. I thought there should be a recall since people were less likely to get the harness tight enough as it currently was, but I guess Britax thought otherwise.

emandbri · Nov 17, 2008

Heather98012 said:
What is the situation now? I still haven't called them. Are they sending out new harnesses? What about caps for the metal box on the back? What's the deal, essentially? TIA!

The new ones comes with the harness with smaller loops. If someone has an old one and calls they will send them a new harness but without a recall there is no way for people to know they need a new harness. I'm not sure if the same is true on the caps for the metal box or not.

MomToEliEm said:
This reminds me of the harness adjuster issue with the first batch of marathons that were made. I had one of those first seats and had a really hard with getting the harness to tighten. I decided to return the seat instead of keep it as it was really too hard to use.

I had one of the first marathons as well and the adjuster was horrible. I took it back to BRU and the manager tried my seat and tried the floor model and let me exchange it.

LISmama810 · Nov 17, 2008

Kat_Momof3 said:
basically, I would like a recall, but I'd settle for a PSA for people to call for the fix as needed.

How is that different than a recall, though? Many recalls involve saying, "There might be a problem with X. Call us for a replacement part."

If they issue a PSA (not even sure how they'd do that, really) it would just be so they didn't have the negative publicity from a "recall," and that, IMO, is pretty sneaky and selfish.

There is a documented problem with a significant number of these seats. There is a fix available. Britax needs to advertise that fix to the people who own the seat, not just the ones who know enough to call and raise a stink.

Heather98012 · Nov 17, 2008

LISmama810 said:
There is a documented problem with a significant number of these seats. There is a fix available. Britax needs to advertise that fix to the people who own the seat, not just the ones who know enough to call and raise a stink.

Amen!!

Gena · Nov 17, 2008

I don't have a Frontier, or any other Britax seat. But I remember that back when the Nautilus first came on the market and everyone was waiting for the Frontier to come out, there was a thread about "Why would you pay twice as much for the Frontier as the Nautilus?" (or some similar wording). A lot of people posted that they would pay more for the Frontier because of Britax's quality, reputation, and history of standing behind their products. I think that if Britax wants to keep this positive image with its customers, it needs to issue a recall and fix this problem.

mommycat · Nov 17, 2008

LISmama810 said:
How is that different than a recall, though? Many recalls involve saying, "There might be a problem with X. Call us for a replacement part."

If they issue a PSA (not even sure how they'd do that, really) it would just be so they didn't have the negative publicity from a "recall," and that, IMO, is pretty sneaky and selfish.

There is a documented problem with a significant number of these seats. There is a fix available. Britax needs to advertise that fix to the people who own the seat, not just the ones who know enough to call and raise a stink.

I think I am not as strongly "for" the recall because I am slightly daunted by the cost and waste of exchanging all the harnesses when it is a fairly simple thing to just be aware that it can happen and check that it hasn't, and loosen a certain way to reduce the likelihood. Anyone who wanted to get a replacement could call and ask for it, while those who were not experiencing problems would at least know what to look for and be aware. Though as I am typing this, I am starting to think about how people don't ever do what they are "supposed" to do and may not check, so maybe I could talk myself around to siding with the "just recall it already" crowd...

Morganthe · Nov 17, 2008

This is the first thread I've come across talking about problems with the Frontier and that Britax is changing harnesses as a result...

Can someone link me to more info? Would a DOM of Sept 09 have this 'new' harness? What was wrong with the old one?

:thanx!:

emandbri · Nov 17, 2008

mommycat said:
I think I am not as strongly "for" the recall because I am slightly daunted by the cost and waste of exchanging all the harnesses.... /QUOTE]

The cost would be cheaper then a settlement that britax would pay if a child was hurt or killed because of it.

crunchierthanthou · Nov 17, 2008

Morganthe said:
This is the first thread I've come across talking about problems with the Frontier and that Britax is changing harnesses as a result...

Can someone link me to more info? Would a DOM of Sept 09 have this 'new' harness? What was wrong with the old one?

:thanx!:

the old harness slipped off the splitter plate if you didn't pull both sides evenly when loosening. The splitter plate also got hung up on the back of the shell. I think Sept 09 should have the fixes (smaller loops on the harness and they closed off where the splitter plate would catch).

problems

fixes

snowbird25ca · Nov 17, 2008

Morganthe said:
This is the first thread I've come across talking about problems with the Frontier and that Britax is changing harnesses as a result...

Can someone link me to more info? Would a DOM of Sept 09 have this 'new' harness? What was wrong with the old one?

:thanx!:

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=600142#post600142

and

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=56923

I'm not sure when the switch to the new harness happened in Sept - whether all Sept DOM have it or not. If you look at the straps where they're attached to the splitter plate, the revised harness has double stitching on the end so that there's a tiny loop basically below the loops the splitter plate actually gets attached to. The old harness looks like a regular harness - the splitter plate rests right at the bottom of the loop and there's no stitching on the bottom of it.

snowbird25ca · Nov 17, 2008

crunchierthanthou said:
the old harness slipped off the splitter plate if you didn't pull both sides evenly when loosening. The splitter plate also got hung up on the back of the shell. I think Sept 09 should have the fixes (smaller loops on the harness and they closed off where the splitter plate would catch).

problems

fixes

That'll teach me to not refresh after I'm done finding links (and giving kids more food.

)

mommycat · Nov 17, 2008

emandbri said:
mommycat said:

I think I am not as strongly "for" the recall because I am slightly daunted by the cost and waste of exchanging all the harnesses....

Click to expand...

The cost would be cheaper then a settlement that britax would pay if a child was hurt or killed because of it.

I wasn't talking about the cost to Britax though, as I am sure they can afford it, more the environmental/material cost, the energy used in manufacturing and shipping, etc, such a waste of resources. But like I said, as I was typing, I was starting to lean more and more towards just doing the recall because while it is a waste, I couldn't make a decision to put those costs up against the cost of a child's life should they be injured or killed because of this issue. Make sense?

Do you think britax should recall the frontier?

Do you think the frontier should be recalled?

I feel strongly that it should be recalled.

I feel it should be recalled but don't feel strongly about it.

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I don't think it should be recalled but I don't feel strongly about it.

I feel strongly that it shouldn't be recalled.

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