Hasbro Customer Service: Buyer Beware

Hasbro, to anyone with children it is a household name. Hasbro has been the toy manufacturer since the mid 1920's. Children who grew up playing with the toys and games from the Hasbro family became adult customers who bought Hasbro's toys for their children and grandchildren.

Hasbro is a company built on decades of loyal customers, those same customers expect stellar customer service when there is an issue with a purchased product. That is not the case when dealing directly with the Hasbro company over a improperly working toy.

Case in point: I purchased a Hasbro Simon Says Sit 'N Spin for my grandson as a Christmas present. The Sit 'N Spin was purchased at the local Wal-Mart, wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree. During the usual hub-bub of Christmas morning, the Hasbro Sit 'N Spin was opened, put together, batteries inserted and briefly tried out by my grandson. The Hasbro Sit 'N Spin did not spin when my grandson sat on it, but we assumed it was because it was placed on thick carpeting and would spin correctly when on a hard floor surface. The lights and sound worked perfectly, so we thought no more of it at the time.

A few days later, we tried the Hasbro Sit' N Spin on a hard floor surface. It spun perfectly, until my grandson sat on it, then it would spin at all.

Bear in mind that the recommendation on the Hasbro Sit 'N Spin box stated the product is for 3+ years old and up to 50 pounds. At the time, my grandson was 15 months and 25 pounds. The original box I purchased the product in was long gone, disposed of with the rest of the Christmas paper, so I could not return the Sit 'N Spin to Wal-Mart.

My only recourse was to directly contact Hasbro's customer service via email from the Hasbro Inc. website.

In the email I sent to Hasbro customer service in mid- January, I stated the facts of the problem with the Sit 'N Spin and I asked for a replacement or a refund. 9 days later I received the following email from them -'Thank you for contacting Hasbro, Inc. We are pleased to be able to respond. If the base moves freely, then the product is fine. The handle does not move'.

I sent Hasbro, Inc. the second email, stating the facts slightly more forcefully than I did in the first email. The product was not 'fine', the 'base moves freely', but only when my grandson is not sitting on it.

The following day, Hasbro, Inc. responded with (in part)-'Since your satisfaction is our goal, we wish to send you, at the address you provided, a replacement item of equal value. Shipping will be done as quickly as possible. We hope this resolution meets with your approval'.

10 days later, the 'replacement item of equal value' that I received was a Playskool itsy-bitsy Spiderman which is defective, and had obviously been returned to Hasbro by some other customer. The package that itsy-bitsy Spiderman was in was taped together. The Spiderman is supposed to sing two songs when a button, located on the top of each foot, is pressed. Press the button and the itsy-bitsy Spiderman sings one line of the song, the button has to be continually pressed to get through either song in it's entirety.

An improperly working itsy-bitsy Spiderman is of the equal value of an improperly working Simon Says Sit 'N Spin, that I will have to give Hasbro credit for.

Buyer beware, when purchasing a Hasbro toy. Keep your receipts and original boxes so you can return the toy to the point of purchase for a refund in the likely event that the toy does not work properly.