ChelinoBaby - they value money over customers (Tiffany lux II co sleeper)

My husband and I were very excited to order a new Chelino Tiffany Lux II Co Sleeper with Mattress as the pictures, videos and information on their website made the product out to be of good quality. We paid particular attention to features list where they mentioned "Large wheels with brakes" and even confirmed with an agent telephonically whether there were working wheels.

I can't fault Chelino on the turnaround time for delivery, willingness to answer questions and speed of responses to emails. The product arrived in Somerset West from their office in Johannesburg within a few days of ordering.

However, when the product arrived via Courier, the box was in a terrible condition. This did not create a favourable impression. When we started opening and assembling the product, we found the product exceptionally bulky, heavy and difficult to assemble. The daybed/carry cot hood kept popping off and the wheels DID NOT WORK. The cot was way too heavy to move without wheels. We were generally disappointed with the quality of the materials and felt that Chelino misrepresented the product.

I immediately sent them the following email: "Thank you for delivering our Tiffany Lux II cosleeper with mattress. It arrived today on Wednesday 25 August 2021. We open our product with great excitement and expectation. Unfortunately we are very unhappy with the quality of the product and would like to return it for the following reasons: 1. On the product description under "Feature list", it lists "Large wheels with brakes". These wheels are not only small but there is no way we could push the cot using these wheels. I even confirmed whether the product had wheels when I spoke to ******* on the phone. 2. The cot is incredibly heavy. Since the wheels don't work, there is no way for a mom to move it around easily in the postpartum period or after that. 2. The hood of the day bed is of poor quality and very difficult to attach to the day bed. It keeps popping off. The day bed is very difficult to get off the cot frame once it's on. 3. The camping cot has been packaged in such a way that it's impossible to fit everything back in without packing and repacking the bag multiple times. This will result in the zip eventually breaking on the bag. This is not a practical product for families looking to use the cot for when they go away for the weekend or on holiday. 4. The box in which the product arrived was torn and showed wear and tear, which doesn't inspire confidence within the customer with regard to the pride Chelino takes in their products (see attached photos). Given the above, we feel that the product was misrepresented online and will not be paying the 15% handling fee. We trust that you understand our frustration. Please advise how we can send the product back and get our immediate full refund."

The response that Chelino gave indicated that they clearly value getting their 15% more than customer satisfaction or taking pride in their product:

"We have received your email below. In order to return the product the following steps need to be followed 1. You have to return the product or we can arrange collection which you will be liable for the transport fees. 2. The 15% handling fee is non-negotiable as you have accepted the T’s & C’s online before placing your order."

No mention of apology for misrepresenting the product/apology that we were disappointed/apology for the state in which the product arrived.

We won't be buying from Chelino again and definitely won't be recommending their products to anyone