I don’t have that much experience in the world in parenting yet — after all, David isn’t even 14 months old yet — but I’d like to think based on what I do a lot during my day job that I understand a little about customer service. With babies, toys break. The Tiny Love mobile that broke after 5 months was replaced after paying a minor fee to them directly since I did not have proof of purchase. The Baby Einstein light-up musical star that came with his play mat stopped playing music and was replaced almost immediately, no questions asked.
When you have a baby, you get lots of gifts. David did. Who can blame him? And who can blame his family — after all, he’s the first grandchild on two sides of the family, the first nephew on all sides of the family — this is a huge deal.
And when he celebrated his 1 year old birthday, people came from all over to join in. His birthday party had his grandparents from Florida and Pennsylvania, his aunts and uncles and cousins from New Jersey — and they all met in New York.
One of his presents was this Kiddieland Activity Plane, which as you can tell, is not the cheapest toy. David loves this plane — he loves running his fingers against the little propeller that even lights up. He used it so much that the batteries died about a month later, and that’s where the trouble started.
Pictured below is Exhibit A. It’s important at this point to mention that Kiddieland is based in Hong Kong without any US representation, and as a result, it looks like they don’t have American batteries to test with. The left battery (Panacell) shows contacts that are a lot higher than the right hand battery (Kirkland), which is a US-battery. A note of reference: my Duracell batteries, which are actually in the device at the present, are identical to the Kirkland batteries.
The Activity Plane takes three AA batteries. When I first replaced the batteries with brand new Duracell batteries, I noticed that the device would not power on. After a short while, I understood why. The size of the batteries made a world of difference. Unless the battery contact was as long as the Panacell battery, it wasn’t going to work since the spring wasn’t extending far enough and the contact was not touching the metal plate that would cause power to run through the device. Stretching the spring didn’t do a thing. Right now, I have two perfectly-working Duracell batteries and one dead Panacell battery in the Activity Plane. Not a really ideal setup, but what can I do? David loves this toy, and as his mother, I’ll bend over backwards for him to make sure he has a working toy.
The only support for Kiddieland comes in the form of an email address that is engraved on the device. I reached out to them and was told that they could not help me at all unless there is firm proof of purchase. I understand the requirements but I also understand that the value of a customer is more important than sticking to your guns, especially when it relates to a product that was purchased as a gift.
With a purchase that was made over a month ago, why should the gift giver have the receipt? It seems silly. Is this irrational?
Call me a whiner, call me whatever you want. But I’ve never worked with a company that doesn’t acknowledge that a gift is a gift is a gift. Unless you’ve bought clothing, you won’t have proof of purchase for a gift. I’ve never seen it.
I’m not sure if this is a flaw because the company is Hong Kong based, but I assume that there are a few things wrong with this setup:
- They’re overseas. Shipping to the US isn’t something they will do lightly.
- There’s no trust in the customer. Which means the customer won’t buy their products again.
I don’t know about you but I like to err on the side of “the benefit of the doubt.” If the customer describes the product flaw with such detail, how could you not trust that they are an owner of the product? I had emailed them a month prior asking for an instruction manual (the product doesn’t come with one). I’m not coming here to exploit these toy manufacturers.
Still, though, I’d like to think that Kiddieland would make accommodations to keep me as a loyal customer. They’ve had their chance. After a week of delays and runarounds, I think I’ve made the decision not to support their products again.
Do you have any similar stories to share? Or do the companies you work with value your support? Please share your opinions — any at all about my approach and theirs — in the comments.
You’re right on here, Tamar – we’ve had many things break over the 22 months of Aaron’s existence but have never had a problem with a company who didn’t acknowledge the need to fix or replace something. Children’s products companies, in particular, should have some flexibility on this score, to account not only for gifts but for everyday life happening (you can’t keep every receipt for every item). Isn’t having the item proof enough of purchase?
Wow, first of all, what’s up with the weird battery? That is a problem regardless of whether it was purchased or not. I have never seen that happen before – there is something fundamentally wrong with the product being able to work in the US.
I think that you have a great understanding of customer service. I mean you didn’t expect the sun, moon, and stars. You even say you understand their policies, but that you feel it’s gone too far. I must say I agree… what kind of world do we live in where giving a gift places undue burden on both the gift giver and the recipient?
haha @ Stephanie: “Isn’t having the item proof enough of purchase?”
That’s what I want to know! Did we all go steal a bunch of toys, break them, then call customer service for more? lol
Anna, yeah, it was undue burden. I’m sure my aunt LOVED getting the email from me telling her I needed proof of purchase! Way to look ungrateful, right? I felt totally uncomfortable doing that.
That’s actually a really good point. More reasons not to buy from Kiddieland.
They do not not care about their distributors!
Why would they care about consumers?
That’s really sad to hear, rd. I honestly had no idea. I guess that’s the cost of doing business with them. I wonder why they even are still in business.
Just put aluminium foil between the top of the battery and the contact in the toy and….presto, working toy!
Thanks Wazap. I shouldn’t have to improvise, but I know there are other solutions.
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Thanks Wazsap. We just bought this toy and it ran out of batteries tonight, and I contacted the company – but from the sound of it that will get me nowhere. I wrapped aluminum foil around the end of the batteries and got it working again. I won’t buy from this company again if my email is treated as described – but it doesn’t change that my son loves this toy and was so sad tonight when we couldn’t get it working – so thanks for the tip.
Wow K – so sorry to hear that. I thought I was the only person this would happen to! That’s a REAL bummer…
Now, my son has lost one of the little girls who play in the plane, so this toy is not my friend, and that sucks because I know he loves it 🙁
Thank you for this info fixed er right up i found there website a waist of time but read your comments and was happy to get it done my grandson loves it good thing he doesn’t have to know the company sucks. I am greatfull for help like this.
Hi,
I’m living in Ireland and have just had the exact same experience with the kiddieland pirate ship.
It stopped working after 2 days – when I replaced the batteries with duracell, the music is all warped and distorted and other lights and sounds don’t work properly. The tinfoil trick didn’t work.
My 11-month old loves the ship and can’t understand why all the sounds have disappeared. Again, it was a gift. so I don’t have a receipt. Really annoying! Will email the company, but not holding out much hope, based on your experience.
Hi, I have the einstein mat too, and the star is doing the exact same thing, is it the battaries, or is it needing to be replaced?
Karley, try to replace the batteries. If it doesn’t work, contact iiKids (I think that’s the company) and they will replace the star.
My son loved his Lightning McQueen ride on. The steering wheel and front wheels recently broke. I emailed them to ask if the part was replaceable and they said no. I would think it would be, because it is attached together. I am going to find another ride on toy, that is not from kiddieland, because my son loved it.
This is so disappointing. I thought I’d be the only one with this issue. I guess Kiddieland is more concerned abut making money than about resolving customer service issues that would make their customers advocates (and not detractors) for the business. I hope Google shows them that the customers are boss.
Recently, a school was shut down because of an online campaign to expose how awful their practices are. This is not very different. I don’t understand what the culture is like there in Hong Kong, but they’re not going to get away with it for long.
They just had two cpsc recalls, and will not even offer refund or replace, you have to contact them in Hong Kong for parts so you can fix your defective trike your self!
Why are they selling here if they are not responsible for what they sell here, and why won’t the stores just take them back and then arrange something with Kiddieland?
Wow. What items were recalled?
edit: I think I found them –
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11205.html
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11206.html
What a company.
Thanks for the tin foil idea! He loves his mickey ,ouse ride on, yet batteriesnreplaced do not add up! also was a gift! Stopped working after. A week , tried many different batteries, just did tin foil, worked like a charm, amazing! He is thrilled! I appreciate the help! Will not purchase kiddielamd toys. Such a shame, they are so great when working
Awesome! I have the exact same problem on the exact same toy, I couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t work.
I was going to find a panacell supplier, but tin foil here i come.
awesome!
Yup. Also, you could *try* to stretch the little spring cord. It might work too. Good luck Max!
I also had the exact same problem with the exact same toy. We attempted to re-gift this after our boys outgrew it. It was a great toy. I went to replace batteries and it stopped working. 30 seconds later I found the fix online!. Thank you!! My nephew will love it too!!
Great information 🙂
It seems that batteries can be a problem, first of all you have to use the correct strength batteries. I found this out when I put new batteries in my camera, the first thing it did was to tell me that the batteries were exhausted, ok maybe I had them to long, so I put another set of batteries same problem. I thought that the camera was broken.I got a new camera started to have the same problem. then I found out that batteries have differnt strength. You needed high octane batteries for cameras and some toys, like Duracell Copper Top. Needless to say I didn’t need a new camera as soon as I put the correct battery strenght in, it worked just. Here in the USA we don’t many toys with batteries all ready in them unless they are button batteries. I have never seen them with two different types of batteries(brand names). The problem I’m having with the toy airplane is to shut it off! You think you have shut it off and maybe an hour or so later it comes on by its self the only way is to take the batteries out.FUN NO!
Yeah, not my issue, but Kiddieland is not a good company in my book.
How about if you have the right strength of batteries and it comes on by it self every couple of hours or so. Interesting!!! I think the lady did not use the correct strenght of batteries. I found that out when I went to replace the batteries in my camera.That is why one worked and the other didn’t.I have never got a toy with two different types of batteries in them that came with the toy. In the USA most toys donot come with batteries unless they are button type.I aways have to send the cylinder type along with the toy.
Well, AA is AA whether it’s Energizer or Duracell or Kirkland or whatever. I use AA. The strength is fine. My issue was the springy thingy 🙂
I just (April 2013) t bought this delightful toy for my year-old grandson. He LOVES it! So I guess the company has adapted to US customs. It might even have US distributors now. I’ll tell my son to look for what you said. And now I’m curious about the batteries. Thanks!
Connie, it always has been. But if the toy breaks, you’re out of luck. Kiddieland doesn’t offer any support to US customers, even though they have a tremendous distribution network here.
The best we can do is talk to places that carry their products and tell them not to.
How do you contact kiddieland I’ve got a trike with a missing clip
They won’t help, Sammie. But there should be an email address on the trike itself – that’s how I was able to get in touch.
Hey I looked on there tried to email them but the email address won’t work.they sound terrible
They probably wouldn’t reply even if you tried to email them. I think I followed up 3-4 times before they did.
Do you know what email address you used x
yes, carmen@kiddieland.com.hk
Thank u so much I will get a clip somehow it’s so annoying
Good luck.
I have just received a Micky mouse trike but sadly after just over a month of little use (hes only 5 months so only take it out when on short distances) the wheels have both split. Online or says this product is suitable for 24months to 5 years. Now if it cant hold my 5 months old weight, what are the chances of it holding a 24 months weight, never mind a 5 year old (my son is a perfect weight for his age). O was wondering if someone in the UK have found a contact?
My contact was in Hong Kong and I am in the US.
Well i received a reply from the lady who’s email address you put here and she is sending me out some new wheels for my trike 🙂
Nice to see they’ve changed their policies. Maybe they don’t like this blog post.
I’m really hoping their products have improved I just ordered a Disney princess 4 in 1 ride n Roc I guess I’ll be giving an update in a minute
We are having troubles with a Kiddieland remote control train my son received for Christmas. We have changed the batteries a couple times in the train itself but once we had to change the original batteries out of the controller the train worked for a day but now it won’t work. It sounds like it is dying even though the batteries are new. It is very disappointing because my son loves it.
Well, nearly 4 years later and they are producing products with the same issue. Mine was a Disney Pirates ride-on toy. Thanks to your post, I was able to solve the issue quickly with a small piece of aluminum foil.
I just replaced the batteries on this model no problem. I used energizer Ultimate lithium batteries. I am now trying to figure out how to replace the batteries on the McQueen ride-on car, I can’t seem to find where the batteries go…haha
Good to know. I will keep this in mind when replacing batteries on all electronics.
I know the feeling me and my wife got our son Thomas the tank engin ball popper ride on and the battery section one of the contac plates burned I just emailed them
Good luck, Robert. 🙁
plane sucks
I just sent them an email about our Noah’s Ark toy they manufacture in hopes to purchase a replacement animal on it. Wishing I had read this post BEFORE sending the email, but in hopeful for at least a reply. Wish me luck! 😑
Good luck, Ashley!! Let us know if their customer service policies have improved since I wrote this.
Hi I purchased the kiddieland 2 in 1 choo choo loco ride on train, for my daughters 1st birthday last week. It worked in the store with all kinds of lights, bells and whistle noises. But when I came home after her party to put it together, the train was mute no sound at all! So I opened the battery compartment, only to find out some how the batteries exploded. There was battery acid dripping everywhere, 7 out of 8 D batteries worth of acid all over the toy, the box and now all over my hands. I now have white blotches all over my hands, as well as it burned. Still the next day I have a burning sensation on the inside of my palms. I’m glad it happened now to me instead of a future date, when my daughter would have been playing on it. I was attempting to contact the company, when I stumbled on to this article. Now after reading all of you’re coments, I’m not sure what to do. But on the other hand if I could prevent it from happening to another child, then that would be a win. Any advice or suggestions on what i should do, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Jessika.
Also does anyone know of who I could contact, besides the kiddieland company. Something along the lines of the BBB, to report the dangers of this product.
I think you need to return that to the store and let them know what’s going on. So sorry to hear!
I just got done leaving a very frustrated email to Kiddieland! I have a Mickey ride on toy that we’ve had for 2 years now when the handle bars cracked. I wrote into them to find out how I could order a new set never expecting them to send them for free. I got a response asking for the proof of purchase UPC and what the exact part I needed . I wrote back saying I found the upc online but I didn’t have the receipt I sent in pictures of the damage and a picture from online of what it looked like. Then I get an email back saying we’ll since it’s been two years we can’t warranty anything, in fact they don’t warranty much it seems like from their response. Then saying that we’ll matter of fact since it’s been two years there isn’t anything we can do for you. I can understand them thinking I wanted it for free so I wrote back I wasn’t looking for a free part I wanted to purchase a new set of handle bars easy enough right!? Then they wrote back that they don’t have any extra parts to send to the user sorry… just like that. But you were willing to fix it if I had a current receipt? Needless to say I have a very unhappy two year old with a broken toy and can’t find it anywhere 🙁
That’s ridiculous. 🙁 Sorry that happened.
I just bought a trike second hand and had NO problem with their email address and they got back to me right away. They stopped making the item 4 years ago. But they answered right as soon as they opened which is different time. I couldn’t get anything to work but as soon as I bought new batteries from ToysRUs everything worked fantastic. Different countrys have different laws and requirements. I got the ToysRUs batteries because are a stronger battery because they are made for toys, they work better in electronics too. There are different stregths for different applications, some people don’t realize that.
I found a phone number for them on their website too. But didn’t call cuz I didn’t want to pay the oversea’s charges. Also I noticed that alot of people say they don’t have US contact info ect. No they don’t have too. They are a Chinese company. Just like many many other companies in Europe and Asia that make majority of items available in US, they do not have offices here. It sure is nice when they do, but in reality, US companies don’t have offices in every other country that we sell items to. Since the companies in our country are “outsourcing” so much these days from call centers to manufacturing to cost them less to make, this is going to continue to be an issue here.
Hey! The batteries can be purchased on the internet here in the USA. Try ebay and go from there. Yes, I agree that the customer service is horrible, but I hope you can use this response as help.
Good Luck out there parents!
Hello. I’m having a problem getting replacement batteries for my Kiddieland toy purchased for my grandson (now 2 1/2) for his first Christmas (2014). He was 9 months old then and still enjoys his Disney Dusty Ride-on Plane (from the movie “Planes”). Never knew until I decided to check out your reviews that I’d have such a problem finding the exact battery it needs…thought I’d just keep trying or see the toy in a store and check out the box for details on battery type. I believe the vehicle must have come with the batteries; my daughter and her cousin put it together.
The batteries lasted a long time before the batteries drained and my grandson still loves riding it…keeps bringing me the toy to open the battery case…now he’s using his tool kit that he got for this Christmas to open and replace batteries…takes 3- AA, but nothing Ive purchased works. He wants to hear Dusty talking and see the lights flashing, propeller turning and sirens blaring…all the special effects from the movie. So glad to see comments from all of you today, as I’ve tried calling the seller and Kiddieland and emailing Hong Kong to no avail. Not to have others miserable and in the same boat as me, but to understand there is a REAL customer service problem with this company and to know the recourse I need to take at this point. I’m fit to be tied right about now. Policy is one thong and bad customer service is quite another. I also understand that the company doesnt make as much on replacing batteries to keep their products working as they do in product replacement. Which doesnt make sense either, because we all have made a decision to not purchase their products again if these kind of noghtmares are the result.
Our batteries just died before Thanksgiving, so that’s the blessing in this fiasco. But, the toy is in great shape, built tough and I hate to just toss it or not be able to have a child use it as it was designed to be used. No way am I going to even consider asking his great auntie where she purchased it and it would be ignorant for me to question if she even asked for a gifting receipt after 2 years. Smh.
I’m going to try the aluminum foil idea for now and continue to try to get the batteries this toy needs, because I want to pass it on to my great nephew…its still in great shape. And my grandson just got an upgrade– the 6Volt Powered Kidtrax Dusty Ride-on Plane. His Godmother purchased it at Kids R Us and Walmart sells it also, so I’m praying there will not be any issues with the 6Volt battery when “it” needs to be replaced– better start checking around for retailers now.
Best of everything and thank you ALL for sharing your stories and tips here.
Happy New Year!
Emme
In Petersburg, VA
I purchased the minnie mouse ride on train for my grandaughter for her 1st birthday a month ago. Her mother just messaged all the batteries have leaked in side the train all were original kiddieland batteries