Piccolina Refused to provide a refund or exchange on a defective item. Falkirk Falkirk

Six months ago we bought a cute but expensive shirt and trouser set from Piccolina in Falkirk for our baby. It was for a special occassion so we were willing to spend a bit of money on it. We washed the shirt just once, carefully following the instructions on the label.

To our shock the varnish ran off the buttons, staining the fabric a deep orange colour and ruining it beyond repair. We took the shirt back to the store and very politely asked for a refund or an exchange. We even suggested that a different but matching shirt would be perfectly acceptable.

After a prolonged back and forth, we were  informed that we would not be offered any refund nor any replacement. The reason given was that the issue had 'not affected other customers'. The store disposed of the ruined garment after sending it away to their 'overseas manufacturer' for inspection for several months without telling us what was going on.

We did not receive our ruined garment back, nor our money. Piccolina also ran a stamp card scheme which was abruptly dropped without any compensation offered to those who had already collected stamps. We had been making purchases in the expectation of being able to redeem our stamps, as there had been no expiry date listed on the card.

We were polite about the matter when informed (only a few months after receiving the card) and continued to shop at Piccolina until the more serious issue with the shirt occurred. We believe that Piccolina should have offered a refund or a replacement when we approached them regarding the shirt and trouser set.

It was not our fault that the shirt was ruined after washing it once according to the label instructions. We had been loyal customers, having bought many other garments there in the past, but after months of wrangling the manager was only able to offer a '20% discount off a future purchase'.

We do not think this was at all appropriate considering the sum of money we had lost on an expensive item - not to mention the time wasted trying to resolve our problem. We also believe that Piccolina should honour stamp cards and allow them to be redeemed indefinitely unless there is a clear mention of an expiry date.

Based on our experiences as described, we believe that there are serious problems with quality control and customer service at Piccolina. We would not recommend shopping at this store.