I've just had a surprising conversation with Bugaboo about our pushchair...

We were delighted with our Chameleon when we bought it after all the checking and comparing which new parents do. We chose Bugaboo because we loved the style and had strong recommendations from the stores we visited. Although we initially bought only the basic pram, we found ourselves trusting the brand so much we quickly added the Cosytoes, Travel bag, Parasol, ... etc

Everything was fine until on holiday a couple of weeks ago the chassis broke. We had the pram in 'digger' mode - big wheels at the front - on a path in some hills on France. Without any obvious cause one of the black plastic arms snapped away from the metal leg. Luckily we could still manoever the pram and got home with just minor inconvenience.

When we got home I googled the problem, but I couldn't find reports of any similar faults. Certainly the pram hasn't had any unusual use, which made me suspect a manufacturing problem - so called Bugaboo for their help.

The Bugaboo customer service line goes through to a team in the Netherlands. As our pram is out of warranty, their view was very simple - they would not help. I asked if they would at least look at the pram to check for any manufacturing fault. (An 800 pound pram shouldn't break in normal use with a (small) two year old in it.) The response from the customer service rep was surprisingly that he would pass on my request to the right team but that they would probably not get back to me! They didn't.

So now I have the option of buying a new chassis at well over 200 pounds or accepting that I'll get no more value from all the rest of the Bugaboo kit we've bought. Our son is almost two and a half, we could get a brand Quinny buggy for less than the replacement spare part - and probably better customer service

For a premium product it's a really poor customer service experience.

Has anybody else had a similar issue and found Bugaboo more forthcoming? Or does anybody know a less expensive way of repairing the hinge? If so we'd be really grateful to hear from you.

Hi Tomsdad, I know you posted this thread a while ago, but I have been passed this as I am having problems with my Bugaboo Cam and customer services. You know how you mention that your bugaboo broke where the black plastic arms snapped from the metal leg, do you mean where it attached to the handle? Mine snapped where the black plastic meets the metal handle when going up one of the bigger bus stop curbs with my just gone 1 yr old in. My chassis has actually been sent to Amsterdam to be checked by their engineers who have said that they have never had this happen before at all. They have since said that this is not a manufactor fault and have said if I want a replacement chassis I must pay £230. Any info would be appriciated. Thanks.

I've read about a lot of people who had problems with bugaboo's customer service....I actually can just praise them. They were fab when our chassie broke and replaced it in about 2 weeks time after emailing back and forward with one of their reps.

I'm sorry that you such a horrible experience with them...Hope you manage to find a cheap chassie somewhere or will be at least able to sell all the bugaboo parts you got and buy a new pram with that money.

>>>Ops just send you that you posted this last yr. lol