Baby N Kids Gear Sells Damaged and Discontinued Cribs as New Lawrenceville, Georgia

My wife and I went to Baby N Kids Gear after finding an ad on Craigslist for a new white baby crib. When we were in the store, Charles showed us the crib and explained how it was new and never used. The crib was backed up against another crib with bedding on it. It also had other merchandise all around it so moving it to examining every detail of it would have been difficult. There was no mention by the sales person that there was any damage to the crib and he just kept saying that the crib was brand new. There was no way for us to see any damage to the back of the crib while it was in the store without moving stuff around first. The sales person (Charles) explained that his delivery service would deliver the crib fully assembled as it was in the store for $20 and we agreed.

The item was delivered after the store closed on Sunday, October 07, 2012 and we noticed the damage because we had to take off the mattress platform in order to get the crib in the Babys room. My wife called the store on Tuesday, October 09, 2012 (store was closed on Monday, October 08, 2012) and spoke with Beverly (store owner). When my wife talked with Beverly, she confirmed that they were aware of the damage, but that she felt it wasnt a big deal because the damage was on the back of the crib which would be up against a wall. Beverly told my wife that they would not return or exchange the crib unless it was damaged during delivery. I called the store at 5:11 PM and spoke with Charles who stated that I would need to call back on October 10, 2012 and talk with Beverly.

As Charles requested, I called back on October 10, 2012 and talk to the owner's daughter because Beverly was out sick, she said that they would only return the crib if we were willing to pay a 25% restocking fee. I explained that the damage was not disclosed to us before we paid and received the item and I felt that it was unreasonable to charge us a 25% restocking fee for an item that is sold defective. She said that there was nothing that she could do and that I would have to call back to talk with Charles again in a little bit. I called Charles back around 2:30 PM and he asked me to send him photos of the damage and that he would call me back immediately. I sent the photos of the damage and an explanation of situation to Charles via email at 4:07 PM as he requested and offered them options to resolve the manner by either replacing the damaged section, exchange it for an equivalent white crib or provide me with a refund.

I did not hear back from Charles or anyone else from the company after providing them with their requested information, so I called back on October 11, 2012 and was told that Charles was out of town and that I would have to talk with him when he returned. I explained to the owners daughter again that I was just trying to get this worked out so we can move on and that I felt that they were just putting me off. I explained that since it appeared that they are not working to resolve the issue that I would submit a dispute with the credit card company because the item was damaged and not advertised that way and they so far have been unwilling to work with us. Then later that day at 4:27 PM I received a voicemail from Charles that they had agreed to take back the crib, but since I said I was going to dispute the charge that they would just wait to see what happens from that. I had explained to Charles that I had not yet filed the dispute, but he said that he didnt believe me and said that filing a dispute would do nothing anyway. He stated that he would just let it run its course and then they would return the crib once the dispute is settled with the credit card company.

This company clearly knew about the damage to the crib and hid behind their no return/exchange policy instead of doing the right thing -either disclose the damage or exchange the crib.