Can anyone help with a broken Bugaboo (Bugaboo don't want to)

[Piers]

We have a Bugaboo Chameleon, that I purchased when my daughter was born in February 2006. It has served us very well, both as a pram and a pushchair, and now that I have a second child (1 year old), it has been great for getting both kids to nursery, with my daughter ridding on the Bugaboo Board at the back. Over the past few years, I have recommended Bugaboo's to load of people, most who have bought one on my advice.

Unfortunately the unlocking mechanism broke recently, so the buggy can not be folded (it is locked in the down position). As it is out of warranty, Bugaboo will not fix the fault, and say that the only way to rectify the problem is to by a whole new chassis at a cost of £220 ($315). This has angered me as the buggy with accessories (travel bag, board, umbrella, car seat adaptors etc) cost us £770 which is over $1100 dollars (yes that is the price they charge in the UK). I always knew that the warranty only lasted a year, but when spending this sort of money (we are not wealthy by any means), I do expect a product to last long enough for more than 1 child. I am sure the fault is nothing more than a stripped thread or broken catch, but as the unit is sealed I have no way of finding out without risking damaging the unit more.

I resent the waste of paying hundreds of pounds to replace the whole unit, and know that for the price of a replacement chassis I could buy a perfectly good buggy from another manufacturer, but as none of my accessories will fit other buggies, they will then become obsolete too. I now regret both the purchase and the numerous recommendations I have made, resent the poor customer service I have received from both my retailer and Bugaboo, and consider replacing the whole unit to be extremely wasteful at a time when most of the world is looking to develop sustainability.

If anyone has experienced a similar fault, and knows how to fix it, or has a used chassis they are prepared to sell, then I would greatly appreciate them contacting me. If you are considering buying a product from Bugaboo, then unfortunately I can not longer endorse either the product or the customer service, despite the fact that for my first child, it really did serve us well. Shame.

Thanks Piers

 

[Missy85]

AWW what a shame it is broken and that Bugaboo wont help except for suggesting a new Chassis... only thing i can think of to reduce cost of chassis is looking on Ebay maybe?

Good Luck

 

[embo216]

hi hun, we have the same pram hun, but can only advise what missy said. heres a link

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bugaboo-Came...14&_trkparms=72:1688|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

or maybe google the problem see if anyone else has experienced it, i love our bugaboo but have definetly noticed the chassis not being very strong. x

 

[Piers]

I have this item in my watch list, whilst it looks hopefull at 99p, it has nearly a week to run. Over the last 2 weeks the only ones that have closed under £150 have been 'left overs' after Bugaboo sent a replacement.

thanks anyway.

 

[Piers]

As a newbie I had not realised that there was a product review section, I have placed the post there, so I wonder if a moderator may want to delete this one. If so, thank you very much to those who read it or replied.
Best Regards
Piers

 

[Auntie_audrey]

A similar problem happened with our Bugaboo of three years, the thing stopped folding.

It turned out that the locking mechanisum had broken, which is a latch on the insied. I had some made up (as its out of warranty!!) and its an easy repair.

Let me know if you are still having problems as I can get soem more to fix.

James

 

[MJstroller]

A similar problem happened with our Bugaboo of three years, the thing stopped folding.

It turned out that the locking mechanisum had broken, which is a latch on the insied. I had some made up (as its out of warranty!!) and its an easy repair.

Let me know if you are still having problems as I can get soem more to fix.

James

James,

Any tips on how to get into the locking mechanism? - I, like you, figured it would be easy to replace the bits inside, but I want to prevent doing further damage whilst I am at it. My first thought was to lever off the silver hub cap, but am now thinking about drilling out the rivet from the central axle and going in from the other side. If you've done it successfully perhaps you could post the method? There seems to be plenty of people out there with this problem, or a similar one who need to get into the mechanism, but no-one to date has posted a solution for getting in there!

Cheers

MJ

 

[Jkelmum]

Never seen so many dads in one thread ....is a buggaboo a mans pram ? would my hubby like it ?

 

[Sarahkka]

Just wanted to say that Bugaboo are jerks for not being more helpful. I also find it disgraceful that they are trying to get you to replace a small part with something unnecessary and expensive. Very wasteful.
With the prices they charge, those strollers whould have lifetime warranties. At the very least, replacement parts should be easily accessed and reasonable.
It sounds like this is a common fault with this particular stroler, too. Bugaboo should be ashamed.

 

[Sarahkka]

Never seen so many dads in one thread ....is a buggaboo a mans pram ? would my hubby like it ?

Bugaboo does pretty sporty-looking stuff, meant to appeal to both parents, I think.

 

[Piers]

Ok, so its time to appologise for not posting sooner. A few weeks after I started the post, i got a call from the head office in Holland, who had read the post( thats the power of the internet), and they sent me a brand new unit. It arrived in a bugaboo frog box, but inside there was a chamelion chassis. 2 days later another brand new unit arrived, so now i have my original broken one, the used one I bought on ebay as I had given up on bugaboo, and 2 brand new ones. Happy days

Thank you bugaboo, and than you all for posting.

PS it is a dad buggy, and a very good one at that

thanks

Piers

 

[Sarahkka]

Yay!
I take it back then - they aren't jerks!

 

[plexus]

Our bugaboo chameleon won't collapse! It seems like the unlocking mechanism on the left side has snapped.

Like you Piers, we bought our bugaboo in Sept. 2006 expecting it to last more than one child.

I've sent an email off to the service department but haven't heard anything yet. As it's out of warranty I'm afraid that we are going to get charged an arm and a leg for the repairs. I rely on the buggy 100% as we don't have a car. Our little guy is still naping during the day and it's the only thing he'll sleep in.

 

[princess_bump]

plexus - i do hope you get it sorted soon. i would keep e-mailing and phoning bugaboo tbh, i had a problem with my breezy and tbh, i found them completely unhelpful and i was disgusted with their customer service, considering i've spent around £1000 with them, i would most def expect them to be more helpful! in the end mothercare (who we purchased it through) solved my problem.

please keep on at them plexus - it is not on when you spend soooooooo much money on a stroller! do let us no if you get any luck

 

[Piers]

Plexus,

As I thought that Bugaboo were not going to resolve my problem I bought a used chassis on eBay. It was for sale with a buy it now price of £50 at a time when most other chassis were well over £100. The only catch was that the seller would not post it, and she lived in the middle of nowhere. As I was going near by for work, I bought it an collected it. I was planning to put it on eBay, but have not got round to it yet. If it helps, and you cant find a cheaper one elsewhere, please feel free to get back in contact and I will pass it on to you for cost. Obviously the ideal outcome would be resolution from Bugaboo, but may be this will help as a back up.

thanks

Piers

 

[plexus]

Thank you so much Peirs I am hoping that they will fix it, or sort out a new one....but who knows?

I do think it is ridiclous that you spend so much money on a "travel system" and the bloody thing breaks. We're not loaded and thought of this as an investment, lasting 4 to 5 years, guess we were wrong. I mean bugaboos cost more than some cars for pete's sake!



princess_bump. was your pram still under warranty? we did go to John Lewis (where we bought it) and because it's not under warranty any more they said that they really couldn't help. They were nice enough to say that they would rent us a pram if ours was off getting fixed...

 

[Piers]

good luck, with customer services, I could be worth talking to the head office in holland

 

[plexus]

Get this I spoke with customer service and they are going to send along a new chassis!?! They are out of stock at the moment and won't be sending it til the 17th but still.

The pessimist in me thinks that I shouldn't count my chickens til it happens but thank god!

Cheers for all the help and I'll keep you posted!

 

[Babee_Bugs]

Hiya... I have the solution for you and its sooooo easy to do ( i can provide pics if you want).

The only way i found this out is, im a total investigator and if something is broke i will take it apart untill i find the problem and then ill come up with a solution. Times are abit hard on the money side of things but doesnt mean we cant have some Luxuries So anyways i Purchased 2 Broken Chassis off ebay. They both had Different Problems, 2008 Chassis wouldnt Unfold and the 2005 chassis would open and close but the handle on the left would move about alot. I got them for a absolute bargain of £20 each so i thought what the hey lets give it a try.

PROCESS:-
On the centre of the Chassis is a big black circle (where the wheel arms and handlebar arms all join upto). On there in the centre is Metal Dome Caps, these take some doing to get off, you will need a flat head screwdriver and a cloth to protect the plastic and basically prise it off (took me 30 mins to get it off!). Once the Cap is off take off the first black plastic piece and be careful as this is the area in which the metal prongs are located at. Have a good look about and check to see if the wire is connected if not reconnect the wire to the locking mechanism Or you may find that the wire is broke i.e snapped then that will need to be replaced. I cleaned everything and gave the Metal prongs abit of grease to ease these alongs. Then put it all back together and there ya go simple as that

So on my investigation on the 2008 Chassis i found that the thin metal Cable it had come off the disk inside the Centre Console, so therefore when you tried to fold it, it wouldnt because it wasnt connected it couldnt Disengage the prongs out of the fixed/locked position to fold.

I hope this has made some Sense... Ill add some Pictures when my new Camera Arrives

 

[princess_bump]

Thank you so much Peirs I am hoping that they will fix it, or sort out a new one....but who knows?

I do think it is ridiclous that you spend so much money on a "travel system" and the bloody thing breaks. We're not loaded and thought of this as an investment, lasting 4 to 5 years, guess we were wrong. I mean bugaboos cost more than some cars for pete's sake!



princess_bump. was your pram still under warranty? we did go to John Lewis (where we bought it) and because it's not under warranty any more they said that they really couldn't help. They were nice enough to say that they would rent us a pram if ours was off getting fixed...

yes - it was still under warranty.