Monday 18 February 2013

The response from Mamas and Papas

I spoke with Mamas & Papas' customer services team today.  Perhaps I was a little naive to think that they would see things my way at the first attempt, but unfortunately they didn't.  Essentially it came down to two things:

1.  They did not believe that it was reasonable to hold spares beyond two years despite my assertion that by design these units have a longer lifespan and 
2. They wouldn't be able to implement standard components in their global supply chain. 

They did say that they were discussing the feedback although given that conversation I don't think it will be particularly high on their to-do list. Still have a few tricks up my sleeve, though, so onwards and upwards!

They followed up with an email to confirm the position.  Interestingly, this came from a different person than the one with which I had the conversation.


Dear xxxx 
Further to your telephone conversation today with Fxxx, I am sorry that you remain unhappy with our response to your enquiry. I understand that you purchased your Murano cot bed from us a few years ago. This has been used as a cot and later converted to a junior bed and was used fault free since purchase. I am aware that more recently, you have opted to gift the cot bed to a friend and discovered 4 screws to be missing that were originally used in the assembly of the cot. We are genuinely sorry that this is the case and being that the Murano range is now discontinued, we are unable to supply you with replacement fittings. We do not recommend that you use replacement parts that are not recommended or supplied by us as non-approved parts may render the cot bed as unsafe. We realise that this may be frustrating and disappointing in circumstances such as yours, where parts have been misplaced. 
I am sure you can appreciate that the safety of all our products is of the utmost concern to us. All our products are stringently tested for safety, durability and for compliance to the current safety regulations. With safety being our priority, we also want to provide our customers with the most innovative designs and offer and extended choice of many different styles and colours, that we believe would compliment our customers nurseries. To enable us to provide this variety, the supply chain we have is worldwide and therefore prevents us from being able to provide universal fittings for our cot beds and furniture ranges.
When originally purchasing your cot bed, we offered a 12 months manufacturing guarantee. It is reasonable to expect that in the unlikely event a fault in manufacture was to occur, this prevail within this time frame. However, as a further commitment, we will hold spare parts for up to 2 years after a product becomes discontinued.
All components and fittings are listed in the instruction manual and specific reference is made to ensure all parts are identified prior to assembly and if there is any discrepancy, we ask that we are contacted to ensure we can remedy this. Thereafter, responsibility to secure all components and fittings must lie with the consumer. 
As a direct result of your feedback and further research carried out by us, the pricing of our spare parts is currently under review and we hope to improve this within the foreseeable future. 
I can confirm that we are seriously considering your suggestion to offer a more streamlined spares system. We genuinely take on board all our customers feedback and will implement changes where necessary. It is with regret that we cannot offer specific feedback as to what our future collections may include, but can give you our assurance that as a business, we have taken on board all the comments you have made and will continue to investigate these internally. 
Once again, we are genuinely sorry that we have been unable to provide the spare parts you required on this occasion and again thank you for your detailed feedback, this will most definitely help us to continue to review this situation and meet with our customers expectations. 
Best Regards
Vxxx
Customer Care Manager

I am now considering my response.  I only wonder if there is something I can take from their comment about the pricing of spare parts.  I like to see the best in people where I can, and maybe they are listening.  Needless to say I'm not going to go away any time soon.

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