Thursday, June 25, 2009

Goodbye to my beloved My Ride

Right now, my My Ride is sitting in my hall closet. I really love the seat, so why on earth is it in the hall closet? It's awaiting a shipping label to return it to Graco. My beloved My Ride is returning to the manufacturer to be inspected and likely killed :(

I read on www/car-seat.org about problems a few people had with the harness adjuster fraying on their seat. I don't usually adjust Sofi's harness (I've mastered squashing her in there). Since I often reccomend the seat, I decide to try adjusting the harness everytime I put Sofi in/out of the seat, like most parents do. After only 3 days it's fraying :(

I tried to take pictures, but it's really difficult to see. The harness adjuster strap is the strap between the child's legs/knees. You pull it to tighten the harness (the straps around the child). That strap is held by a metal piece that unfortunately has sharp edges. So as it rubs them, it frays. Fraying looks like the strap is getting fuzzy on the side/sides.

So, I noticed the problem and called Graco. They said they'd send me a shipping label to return the seat, and then give me a full refund. I know at least 3 other My Rides are being returned by other people.

I now have 2 replacement covers (I complained about the cover not staying on the sides, they sent me another. I complained about the hole in the cover they sent me a 3rd- a different color) and no seat to put them on. I do still love the My Ride. I do still reccomend the seat, but also make parents aware of the possible problem. And I will happily buy another My Ride (Sonata- pink!) when they fix the problem :)

I have emailed a 'higher up' in Graco. Not exactly sure how high she is, but deffinetly higher than the customer service reps :) We'll see what she says about the problem.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh no! Isn't this the one with the pockets??

CarseatNanny said...

yes. Sofi was not at all happy when her My Ride was gone. She did love her pockets.

Kayleen said...

Just curious what the response was to your email. I have the same problem with Graco Nautilus, but I do not have the extra money to purchase another seat to use while I send the one back to graco for them to send me a check. I have to return seat to the store for replacement. I am on seat # 2 and likely will be taking this one back soon too. Fraying on edge just inside from edge on adjustor strap. Email me what you find out please.
kayleen_longworth@yahoo.com

CarseatNanny said...

I did just email you about your problem with the Nautilus.

I did get a response from the woman I emailed. But she's not aware of the problem yet. She says they haven't had any seats sent back yet. So she's awaiting my seat to see what's going on.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I was actually going to purchase the My Ride 65. Is there any follow up to your situation? I am now curious if I should hold off on ordering the car seat.

CarseatNanny said...

No follow up yet. My contact hasn't gotten back to me about receiving the seat. I did send her tracking numbers for my seat and 1 more that was sent back.

There are now 2 more seats that RF to 40 pounds. Including the newer Radians (which I'm about to blog about).

Unknown said...

It's July 27th - any feed back on Graco fixing the problem with their MyRide seat. I was looking to purchase one too, but not if I'm just going to have to turn around and return it.

CarseatNanny said...

Still no word from my contact, but I know last week she was out of the office. I finally got my refund check today.

I have heard that the 2 sold at Walmart may not have the same problem. This doesn't make much sense to me because they'd use the same pieces no matter what the cover is. And I haven't seen the Walmart seats myself to make compare it to the seat I had.

Jamie said...

Hi, I hope it isn't getting old with people asking you if you have heard about the Graco My Ride 65 issue yet...but has it been resolved? I just stumbled onto your blog (and I am so impressed with all that you do) and I was wondering if I should hold off getting this?!? If so, what do you recommend instead? I was looking at this since it FF until 65 pounds!

CarseatNanny said...

Jamie,
I have not heard back from my contact :( Even after a few more emails to her :( Very disappointed.

If I had the money, I'd probably go buy another My Ride. Especially now with all the nice colors :) However, I wouldn't loosen and tighten the harness every time (which I only did to test for the fraying I was hearing about). Sofi (my daughter) and I both miss the My Ride very much. And I still do recommend it when I'm at Babies R Us.

It can FF up to 65 pounds, but will likely not get your child that far. My 6 year old charge is too tall for the harness, and is only 50 pounds. But then again, I don't think there is any seat that will get many children to 65 pounds (except for a chunky, short torso child).

CarseatNanny said...

I finally got an answer, but not from my contact. I contacted them on Face Book :) If anyone has issues with the degree of fraying on their harness straps, they should contact Graco.

Here is the answer I got-
I looked into your question a little further and found out that the car seat that you sent back to us with the frayed strap was sent directly to our R&D and Quality departments for analysis. Graco has in place an early-alert system to identify consumer feedback.

Only a small number of reports for frayed adjuster belts have been received, but our engineers have isolated the cause and are implementing a solution to minimize this from happening in the future.

The straps used in our car seats are rigorously tested to ensure they retain strength even when abraded by metal edges, and some wear on the straps over time is normal. ... Read More

I hope this helps you, and we’re happy to help any customer who might have the same issue.