Baby bottle steriliser at Mothercare

Cianos

We bought a Tommy Tippee bottle steriliser which was and still is on 50% sale. The box displays that it will keep bottles sterile for 24 hours. Before using it we noticed that the lid doesn't fit in exactly to the lip of the steriliser so we decided to bring it back.

They said we could take another and we asked could we open the box to make sure this one fit properly. It didn't, so I brought it back up to the counter. A lady who I presume is the manager (older, not wearing the uniform) said I could pick out another brand, that they've been getting a lot of them back. So I presume they're selling them at half price because of the fault

I don't know a lot about bottle sterilisers, but I presume for the bottles to remain sterile the lid has to remain sealed. This would mean customers could be buying the sterilisers, using them thinking that they're sterile for 24 hours, which could be a health risk for their babies. There's no in store warning about the defect.

Plek Trum

Hhhmm.. did you raise this issue with the Manager in Mothercare (about your concerns etc for other users?) Might be worth an email to Mothercare to alert them to the issue with the item and potential hazzards and also to Tommy Tippee outlining your concerns.

Approach it as a concern rather than complaint as you were offered a replacement. Good to do so.

Tabnabs

Cianos wrote: »

We bought a Tommy Tippee bottle steriliser which was and still is on 50% sale. The box displays that it will keep bottles sterile for 24 hours. Before using it we noticed that the lid doesn't fit in exactly to the lip of the steriliser so we decided to bring it back.

They said we could take another and we asked could we open the box to make sure this one fit properly. It didn't, so I brought it back up to the counter. A last who I presume is the manager (older, not wearing the uniform) said I could pick out another brand, that they've been getting a lot of them back. So I presume they're selling them at half price because of the fault

I don't know a lot about bottle sterilisers, but I presume for the bottles to remain sterile the lid has to remain sealed. This would mean customers could be buying the sterilisers, using them thinking that they're sterile for 24 hours, which could be a health risk for their babies. There's no in store warning about the defect.

Unless you can prove the reason for a reduced sale price, you haven't a leg to stand on.

Cianos

Tabnabs wrote: »

Unless you can prove the reason for a reduced sale price, you haven't a leg to stand on.

I'm not looking for anything out of this other than highlighting that it might be a safety issue for other peoples children. If people are buying the sterilisers thinking the bottles are good for twenty for hours when they're not them it's irresponsible of Mothercare to have them for sale, at a discount or not.

dudara

Write a letter to Mothercare and Tommy Tippee outlining your concerns about the product.

It's up to the manufacturer to decide if a recall or other action is warranted.

borderlinemeath

The way that most 24hr sterilisers work is as follows:

You sterilise all the bottles, you then remove one to make a bottle and use - so you've opened the lid and let the air into the steriliser. So at this point they are no longer "sterile".

The steriliser then automatically resterilises the remaining bottles - ie steams them again at intervals - can't quite remember, it might be every 2/4/6 hours or so, it resteams them for 5/6 mins.

So there is no chance of the bottles being left to gather germs for a very long period. That said the lid should fit - snugly not tightly, but it should fit. The problem that you are describing sounds like the consignment got squashed in transit somewhere along the way. Plastic is very pliable and also manipulates under heat.

And there is no chance that a retailer would sell a dodgy batch of sterilisers at full price let alone half price due to a manufacturing fault. If a faulty batch is discovered they are removed immediately from sale and returned to the manufacturer for inspection. Believe me, there are items removed for far less - if there's child safety involved they take no chances so your assumption is way off the mark.

I would contact the manufacturers and retailer and alert them to a potential problem, it may be a transport issue, it may be a manufacturing fault but they may not be aware of it at head office/manufacturer level.

Arciphel

We bought one 2 years ago and it was the same. Bear in mind the lad is not symmetrical, it has a front and a back side. Eventually it fit in quite well after a few sterilisation cycles. P.s. the steriliser doesn't re- sterilise the bottles, it is only sterile for 24 hours if you don't open it in the interim.

wmpdd3

The older TT sterliser was half price in a few places last Sept when I was buying, they went to 75% off in Tesco after x-mas. There just seems to be a new design.

I think there's a logo on the front totell you what way it goes.

Theres no reason for Mothercare to sell off the sterliser at 1/2 price if there was a fault, much easier for them to contact the TT and get full credit. It would damage TT to have faulty product sold.

Cianos

Arciphel wrote: »

We bought one 2 years ago and it was the same. Bear in mind the lad is not symmetrical, it has a front and a back side. Eventually it fit in quite well after a few sterilisation cycles.

The lid on the model I had was symmetrical. I tried the lid in both directions and the size of the gap was the same.

That's interesting that yours only fit in properly after a few cycles. I would have thought though that if the shop was getting a lot of returns on a specific product around the same time and the solution was as simple as that, then she would have told us. I'd also be interested to know whether this is written about in the instructions.

P.s. the steriliser doesn't re- sterilise the bottles, it is only sterile for 24 hours if you don't open it in the interim.

Yes, so if it doesn't keep the bottles sterile until the lid is properly sealed, it's not functioning as advertised.

I wasn't there when exchanging the steriliser for another model (I was minding the baby!), but after asking about whether the gap in the lid will still allow the bottles to stay sterile, the response was "Em, I think so".

I'm going to email the manufacturer and Mothercare, I'll update the thread afterwards.

wmpdd3

It should be a sealed fit, otherwise you'd burn your self with steam while its working. There's one vent on the top, but the sides should be sealed.

Cianos

Sent this to Tommee Tippee last night;

Hello,
Approximately two weeks ago I purchased a Tommee Tippee electric steam
steriliser from the Mothercare store in Carrickmines, Ireland which was
selling it at a 50% discount.

While setting it up for the first time, we noticed that the lid did not fit
properly on to the base. We tried it in both directions but it still did not
fit.

Today, we returned the steriliser to the store to exchange it for another
one of the same model. We asked could we check inside the box to make sure
the new one had a lid that fit. The lid did not actually fit, and I brought
it up to the counter to let them know. One of the staff members said that
they have gotten a lot of returns on this model and that we can pick out
another brand if we wish.

It appears that your product is knowingly being sold with badly fitting
lids, at a discounted rate. If the lids do not fit properly, then they are
not keeping the bottles sterile for 24 hours as the product's box
advertises. If many customers have returned their steriliser because of
this, then there must also be many customers who also have badly fitting
lids but trust that the product is working as it should.

Besides the inconvenience of having to return the faulty product, we are
quite disturbed that we were knowingly sold a faulty product that we could
have presumed to be sterilising our baby's bottles but because of the fault
was not doing what it was supposed to. Further, other people's children
could be at risk if their parents trust that the product they bought from
you is functioning as advertised despite the gap left by the badly fitting
lid.

Yours sincerely

And just now received a fairly uninformative reply from Tommee Tippee;

Hi xxxxxx

Thank you for taking the time to email us your comments. I am sorry to learn of the problems you have encountered with the steriliser.

I have passed on your comments to the design team and our quality control department.

Again, thank you for your comments.


Many thanks

xxxxx

I thought they would have more to say about my suggestion that they're providing a product that could cause a health risk.

Maybe I'll hear back from someone else who my message has been forwarded to.

wmpdd3

You will def receive a detailed response from the technical dept. I've dealt with both them and Avent from a retailers point of view and they are very pro-active in investigating possible defects etc.

Usually the ask for the item to be returned or in your case where you have already returned it, the batch number of the product.