Extreme rant !!! Toys r us is not bbb accredited !!!!

[<3 My $aving$ <3]

Here's a shocker, I'm still shaking from being sooo mad...

Just before Spring Break 2012 I bought my daughter a 24" Seraph Puple Bike (floral Details)
at the Toys R Us 1445 St Matthews Ave, Wpg, MB R3G 0K7 (204) 982-8697

She fell in love with it the moment she saw it! We'd been to 1/2dozen places looking for bikes, she swore this was the one!
They put it together for us and when we got to the front I'd asked about the "free patch Kit" you were entitled to when buying
one of their bikes, they told me there were none in stock but to check back in April... Ok not an unresonable request given it was the 17th of March...

April rolls around followed up w/the cashier, no sorry back order... k... not impressed but whatever...
April turns to May this is now my 3rd follow up, even though I had left my name on a list NO !@#$%^g patch kit...
May turns to June... bought one somewhere else...
July 13th no less... The BACK TIRE on the bike BLOWS and i don't mean just the inner tube either...

Went down there this am w/my Dad b/c I NEVER return things by myself...
I've learnt the hard way an independant witness vs Multiple store associates never hurts...

SO i tore a strip off of Customer Svc Rep as the "manager" was unavailable
BTW they STILL DON'T have any patch kits available (not that they offered me one I had to ASK)
BUT they DO NOT CARRY ANY ACCESSORIES for this or ANY of their BICYCLES SOLD IN STORE !!!
Yup that's right NO BICYCLE ACCESSORIES no handlegrips/pedals/chains/tires/seats... NADA !!!

Sadly it's well past the 45 day return/exchange
it was MY understanding there was a 1 yr parts warranty and NO EXTENDED WARRANTY AVAILABLE!!!
Considering she's only had the bike NOT EVEN 4 MONTHS I went home LIVID !!!

SO I called the Head Office Toll~free , you know the one they say is in Concord Ontario...
Guess what it's NOT even in NORTH AMERICA, it's in the UK (NO IM NOT KIDDING YOU)
I tried the (905) # straight to voicemail...

Which brings me to my most perturbed point...
The BIKES they sell are NOT MADE IN CANADA or THE USA for that matter
THEY ARE MADE IN CHINA !!! and brought HERE by an Export company by the Name of Joying Inc.
Who btw have NO LEGAL CONTACT INFORMATION other than email.
NO CANADIAN ADDRESS/PHONE/Fax # Hangs up on you

You CANNOT LEGALLY purchase replacements parts for any of their products

So my next thought was to Contact the BBB (Better Business Bureau) in MB
which is how i found out that TOYS R US IS NOT BBB Accredited (did not know it is Voluntary)
I also found out that there have been claims against them in the last 24months

I also found out there is no recourse w/Joying Inc the Manufacturer as they are outside of N. America

So I filed an online claim, which will be reviewed by BBB MB,
Its at least 2 weeks from the day your claim is recieved before you are contacted
that's when your claim is opened...

She explained to me in all likelyhood its a BUYER BEWARE
in her opinion my best form of recourse would be small claims
for selling a product that does not meet Canadian Safety Standards

I will also be getting in touch with the Canada Safety Council
as they have a vested interest in keeping our children safe...
Can you imagine what could've happened to my baby girl,
had she been on the street/ crossing when the tire blew ?!?

I WILL NEVER BUY ANYTHNG FROM TOYS R US / BABIES R US AGAIN !!!
I STRONGLY SUGGEST you don't either!!!

End of

[Brooke_]

Great idea- never purchase from them. If you want a bicycle and proper service for it then you HAVE to go to a bicycle shop. WM, CT, and TRU are not proper places.
I actually used to work at that TRU as a teenager, WORST PLACE EVER. Extremely unorganized and filled with managers who are complete idiots and staff that don't give a sh!*. I suggest you go back to the store and make a stink! The managers who worked there when I did were:
Roman,
Chris,
Donald,
Mark
and I'm trying my hardest to remember the 1 female managers name but I can't. Your best bet is to talk to Roman or Mark. They're higher up than the other two.
This is one of the reasons I HATED working there, and I am so sorry you have to deal with terrible customer service.
Good luck!

[<3 My $aving$ <3]

For 19yrs (since just before my son was born) I had shopped Toys R Us / then Babies R Us when my girl was born in 2001
Some "Manager" called me back and I QUOTE " b/c your purchase was made PRIOR to 45days ago (as stated on the receipt) there is NOTHING they can do, their hands are tied, then he DENIED that there is a parts warranty which I have a copy of... then he proceeded to tell me i had no business contacting head office as I should have come down to the store in person... Which i had already done... Go figure... At least sh!t ran down hill and he got some...

Still does NOTHING for the fact she is without a bike... I've talked to a cpl bike shops ard town, hoping to work out a deal with one of them. B/C it was made in China they've explained to me that its more than likely the bike will keep breaking...
I cannot afford another one out right. I just spent BIG BUCKS to me on a needed purchase. ANd I'm already eyeing Back2School purchases and clothes etc etc...

[Brooke_]

That really sucks. Just keep fighting! It especially sucks for your daughter who can't ride her bike during the summer! I know you want a safe bicycle for your daughter but maybe you could find one on Kijiji? You might just luck out and find a good one on there!

[misstarbender]

ugh I worked for toys r us when I was a teenager and it was AWFUL!!
Ive gone into that same store here and there with my little girl and the last time we went in was the last time we will ever go in!! Yes it was christmas...but shouldnt that be a time that they are all on their A-game? I would expect so as a manager or owner of a huge toy store.
that place is a gong show full of people that dont know what the hell they are doing.

LOL at least they are consistent though! We can always count on them to unorganized and poorly trained! no matter where in Canada you go!!

Dont even get me started on how they botched my baby registry!! seriously...I received 4 of the same baby monitor. my guests were so mad!! I went to the store (everyone shopped at the same store) with the 3 extra ones and asked to see a manager. LIKE NOW. She came up and I asked exactly how does the registry work? she said when something is purchased we take it off the registry. Then how the hell did I end up with 4 monitors. "Oh I'm very sorry" I told her I was returning the 3 extra ones I got ($79.99 each) she tried to tell me I could only get STORE CREDIT. thank god I had my mom with me. That woman doesnt take crap from no one!! she lost her poop! I told her I wasnt interested in purchasing anything from the store. And here is my debit card. Refund please. Needless to say we got our refund. Wont go there anymore, and always urge people to do the same

[i_forget]

Same issue with a $400 double stroller. No replacement parts....no warranty. Same thing everywhere. I will not spend big bucks on ANYTHING made outside of North America or of cheap plastic.

[hollyquaiscer]

I'm so sorry you are going through this. The worst part is, you have a child that loved that hunk of junk and you can't even fix it for her, thats sad. All she wants to do is ride her pretty bike.

We have purchase bikes for our grandkids both this summer and last, and we always purchase CCM or Schwinn, I know I can get parts for either of these bikes, and CCM has some pretty cool looking ones for the younger kids.

[<3 My $aving$ <3]

I fell into the "sale trap"
It was on sale and we had a giftcard...
Never EVER again !!!

One of my guy friends dropped by awhile ago
he's saying the same thing the guys in the bike shop said.

Really can't risk her being injured. She's pretty sad n i'm still fre@k!n mad
Now I'd already pre~budgeted for back to school and that doesn't leave a lot to work with.
I had to replace something in the house today too
I've heard it may be an SDM bonus Redemption This wknd so I'm HOPING they start marking down school supplies.
That or I'll be doing some grocery shopping there....

She leaves for camp in less than 2 weeks FOR 2 weeks...
I don't get ChildTax til Friday...
My son's at work, I'll talk to him to see if he can get her 1 off of Kijiji for her bday.

In Sept she WILL be rididng the bus to school (she's too young at only 11 IMO to be crossing at 3 MAJOR intersections...)
She'd have to walk 4 blocks to school/3 of them crossing against db lane traffic in all directions...
And she desrves a new bike that will last her more than a cpl summers.

Anyways, i've got some stuff to do ard the house awhile...
Thanks for listening and for the suggestions ev1!

[Babydaisy]

What isn't made in China these days? Make replacement parts impossible so your only choice is to buy again! When my son was ready for a bike I looked at TRU but ended up getting one on Kijiji and it's done great, and let me tell you he's rough on it! Hope you are able to find one!

[SavenRaven]

While this is absolutely horrible, it really doesn't surprise me. When I was shopping for my DD's bedroom set I fell in love with a crib and dresser at Babies R Us. My husband grabbed a hold of it and gave it a firm shake only to have the thing practically fall apart in his hands. After his careful inspection we were shocked to find that anything that wasn't showing on the fronts were made of particle board!! He marched me out of there and said he wouldn't buy anything of such poor craftsmanship for his baby girl. We ended up purchasing a solid wood set elsewhere for just a few hundred $ more.

I really hope you are able to get compensated for your daughters bike. What a shame!

[Slaney]

I assume everything I buy is made in China. Especially a kids bike. Seems strange an entire tire would pop though :/
However it's not a total loss. Canadian Tire sells tubes & tires. And they're fairly cheap & easy to change on a kids bike

[JasmineMcdonald]

Just a little bit of comfort, the highest quality bikes are sold in Taiwan! So if the bike was made in Taiwan other parts of the bike may be better quality.. But it can't just be anywhere in China.. You may be able to find a new wheel at one of those stores that sell bikes and stuff second hand for next to nothing..
Another idea is that you could advertise in free ad places that you are looking for such and such a wheel.. Someone may have an older bike that their own child has outgrown with the same wheel?

[<3 My $aving$ <3]

Slaney the tire blew out as in shredded... as my girl was coming up the back lane maybe 2 houses away from home.

I assume everything I buy is made in China. Especially a kids bike. Seems strange an entire tire would pop though :/
However it's not a total loss. Canadian Tire sells tubes & tires. And they're fairly cheap & easy to change on a kids bike

[<3 My $aving$ <3]

Spent the day playing phone tag.
I've been asked to take pics and fwd them to The Canada Safety Council
As I am filing a complaint against Joying Inc as well.

The person who looked at the bike today said the front tire is reading as properly inflated
The tires were not treated as far as he could tell most likely poorly made from recycled rubber materials (multiple seams in the inner tire)
Really there is no way of knowing...

Considering replacing both tires with wider ones.
They have offered me tires at cost no charge for repairs ( a good shock of course )
Now its just a matter of working out a payment arrangement

Thanks again to all !

~Michelle~

[nicolthepickle]

I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm glad to know it before I make any purchases from there though.