Leap Frog Enterprises Bad Quality Control Disinterested Customer Service Not interested in defective materials or in disappointed consumers Emeryville California

I was behind Leap Frog 100% until this past Christmas season. I had purchased a SAT/PSAT/ACT prep cartridge and workbook for my 13 year old son to use on his Leap Frog iQuest. I had to order over the internet (and pay substancial shipping) because I could not obtain the cartridge locally (within 30 miles, actually).

My son requested the test prep catridge as a gift and was excited to open it Christmas morning. However, when he plugged it into his iQuest, the cartridge had an error message- "cartridge unreadable".

I called the 800# for customer service and was told that I had to pay to send the defective cartridge back ("send it with some kind of tracking method"- almost $8 to send it back) and a replacement one would be issued. Not wanting more unpleasantness on Christmas, I thanked the rep and got off the phone.

On 12/26/2003, I emailed Leap Frog customer service and after several emails, was finally told that I did not have to send the defective cartridge back and a replacement was being sent. I was to expect it in 5-10 business days.

On 1/5/2004, I called customer service again, to make sure the cartridge was sent out. The rep said a tracking number from UPS was attached to my request, but the number was invalid. He was going to try to arrange for another replacement to be sent- another 5-15 business days.

So, the holiday break came and went and my son was unable to use the $30 cartridge he asked for. Leap Frog doesn't seem to believe they have defective material out there and even suggested that the iQuest was to blame. Oddly enough, every other cartridge he has works perfectly. When I relayed this information to customer service, I received no reply.

Leap Frog seems to like it's profits and is quick to show off that fact on their site, but they should be embarassed at their poor customer service and even poorer quality control. That they tried to make the consumer PAY to return their defective material is down right tacky.

Kathy
Middle Grove, New York
U.S.A.