The First Years good customer service

tl01

New member
I had a problem with my True Fit shortly after I bought it. Basically, the harness seems to be fraying where it passes through the buckle tongs. IMHO the harness is too twist and the tongs don't fit it as well as they should. It seems that the tongs are a little too small and the edge of the harness folds over as it passes through the tongs. Anyway, I had reported the issue a long time ago... shortly after I got my seat (one of the first ones made) and the person who was supposed to get back to me ended up going on medical leave. Then I had called back and spoke to someone else and they never got back to me. In the meantime I had switched to a different seat and I had not used the seat in a while. I just started using it again and it occurred to me that I didn't really have a solid response the CS regarding this matter. I called today and they brought up my original claim. The CS rep spoke with a number of people and they are going to replace my seat so that can inspect it.
 
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TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
I agree that the slots for the buckle tongues are too small. My harness straps do fold over, but I slide the tongues every time I buckle her in so it doesn't end up folding over. My parents must do the same as they've never had a twisted strap and I have never trained them in how to prevent it. But, a person shouldn't have to do that; the tongue slots should just be large enough to house the harness strap. About a month ago, I looked and did not have any fraying on either seat, my seats are close to a year old.

You have reminded me though that I should report the too small slots in the tongues to Learning Curve. They are surely not going to change the design unless enough people report that it's a problem.
 

tl01

New member
I spend a lot of time trying to get the harness flat but once he's in the seat, sometimes from him just moving around a bit, they end up folding over again. Also, once it starts to fold over it seems to just stay that way. I thought about steaming it to flatten it.. but goodness knows what that would do to the strength of the strap. Sometimes it does fold over all the way and I think fixing it over and over again also causes it to wear.

I had the same problem with my Recaro Como... except that one always seemed to just fold over completely and then leave the strap twisted. I don't know how a strap could twist that easy. These are problems that I never did experience with Britax seats (Blvd. and TWE).
 

Mommy0608

New member
I've noticed the tongs on my TF are a little too small also. They don't slide easily on the harness; sometimes I have to really tug to get them to slide up or down. I haven't had the seat very long so there's no fraying yet but I will be watching for it. It would be nice if they could make replacement tongs that actually FIT the straps.

Do the newer DOM seats have this problem? Mine is 1/08.
 

melniemi

New member
I only had a TF for a little bit, but I kinda liked that the tongs were on the smaller side. They stayed in place rather than sliding down under kiddo's bum where you have to dig for them.
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
I only had a TF for a little bit, but I kinda liked that the tongs were on the smaller side. They stayed in place rather than sliding down under kiddo's bum where you have to dig for them.
I agree that this is a nice feature, I can always find the tongues on this seat, they are never lost. :thumbsup: I hate velcro, so am glad the seat doesn't have velcro like the Britax seats do.
 

tl01

New member
I've noticed the tongs on my TF are a little too small also. They don't slide easily on the harness; sometimes I have to really tug to get them to slide up or down. I haven't had the seat very long so there's no fraying yet but I will be watching for it. It would be nice if they could make replacement tongs that actually FIT the straps.

Do the newer DOM seats have this problem? Mine is 1/08.

My seat was made in 2/08.
 

tl01

New member
I agree that this is a nice feature, I can always find the tongues on this seat, they are never lost. :thumbsup: I hate velcro, so am glad the seat doesn't have velcro like the Britax seats do.

I agree that I can always find the tongs... but I guess for us the harness fraying has been more of an issue than looking for the tongs. The velcro on my Britax seats never matched up with the velcro on my straps... not even remotely close... so that is one feature I never used.
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
Do the newer DOM seats have this problem? Mine is 1/08.
I believe mine is April '08.

I agree that I can always find the tongs... but I guess for us the harness fraying has been more of an issue than looking for the tongs. The velcro on my Britax seats never matched up with the velcro on my straps... not even remotely close... so that is one feature I never used.
Totally agree that the fraying is an issue. I would have mentioned the folding already to Learning Curve if I had fraying that went along with it. I've kind of put letting them know on the back burner mostly because it's not causing me any serious issues. You've prodded me to send them an email about it though. I would like to see a design change, something that keeps the tongues from sliding AND keeps them from twisting and/or fraying.
 

Melodiya99

New member
I never really thought of it as a feature, but I haven't really had any problem with the straps twisting because of it...
 

tl01

New member
I believe mine is April '08.

Totally agree that the fraying is an issue. I would have mentioned the folding already to Learning Curve if I had fraying that went along with it. I've kind of put letting them know on the back burner mostly because it's not causing me any serious issues. You've prodded me to send them an email about it though. I would like to see a design change, something that keeps the tongues from sliding AND keeps them from twisting and/or fraying.

Ahhh... now we might be asking for too much... tongs that prevent sliding.. and no fraying or twisting;)
 

solmama

Active member
The straps on our TF aren't fraying, but ours has the same problem. The strap gets folded at the edges, but the tongs also make it easier for the strap to completely flip over (which is a pain to fix if you're in a hurry). DOM on ours: 01/08.

Even so, it doesn't really irritate me that much. All in all, I like the TF better than any other seat we've owned and, ours has the 3 position crotch buckle so I'd never give it up!
 

tl01

New member
The straps on our TF aren't fraying, but ours has the same problem. The strap gets folded at the edges, but the tongs also make it easier for the strap to completely flip over (which is a pain to fix if you're in a hurry). DOM on ours: 01/08.

Even so, it doesn't really irritate me that much. All in all, I like the TF better than any other seat we've owned and, ours has the 3 position crotch buckle so I'd never give it up!

I wish I had the 3 position crotch. I can see that in the near future I'm going to have to get a new seat for DS just for that reason and we are barely starting to use the top slots:(
 

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