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repair information needed on a toy riding pony

B

Bill Proms

Jan 1, 1970
0
My cousin has a toy riding pony like the one found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-76471-FurReal-Friends-Butterscotch/dp/B000F2JZKO

Recently, it has become partially dysfunctional and I was trying to find a
repair facility. I contacted the manufacturer and they say it's no longer
in production and therefore no place available offering repair. It's really
to large to ship anywhere, so I'm left either with a broken toy or no choice
but to try and repair it myself. I looked it over yesterday, but found it
very UNuser friendly when trying to disassemble it. The pony "coat" for
example, while it unzips from around the head, there are no other areas with
zippers so the only way I saw to remove from the body would be scissor
cutting which I really didn't want to do. There may be a special way of
disassembly anyhow which is why the next step was to try to find a service
manual.

Anyone have experience repairing these gadgets please chime in. What a
waste to spend nearly $600 new and can no longer get support when something
goes wrong.

Thanks in advance,
Bill
 
N

N_Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
Bill Proms said:
My cousin has a toy riding pony like the one found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-76471-FurReal-Friends-Butterscotch/dp/B000F2JZK
O

Recently, it has become partially dysfunctional and I was trying to find a
repair facility. I contacted the manufacturer and they say it's no longer
in production and therefore no place available offering repair. It's really
to large to ship anywhere, so I'm left either with a broken toy or no choice
but to try and repair it myself. I looked it over yesterday, but found it
very UNuser friendly when trying to disassemble it. The pony "coat" for
example, while it unzips from around the head, there are no other areas with
zippers so the only way I saw to remove from the body would be scissor
cutting which I really didn't want to do. There may be a special way of
disassembly anyhow which is why the next step was to try to find a service
manual.

Anyone have experience repairing these gadgets please chime in. What a
waste to spend nearly $600 new and can no longer get support when something
goes wrong.

Thanks in advance,
Bill


From my limited experience of motor & clockwork driven automata the main
failure, assuming fair wear and tear, is the first drive pinion, stripped
teeth/shifting or split. If its been abused then it could be anything , of
course
 
W

William Sommerwerck

Jan 1, 1970
0
Recently, it has become partially dysfunctional and I was
trying to find a repair facility. I contacted the manufacturer
and they say it's no longer in production and therefore no
place available offering repair.

You might want to point out to Hasbro that it's legally obliged to provide
service parts (and by implication, service).

If Hasbro doesn't cooperate, contact your state Attorney General and file a
complaint.
 
S

Sofa Slug

Jan 1, 1970
0
You might want to point out to Hasbro that it's legally obliged to
provide service parts (and by implication, service).

If Hasbro doesn't cooperate, contact your state Attorney General and
file a complaint.

My guess is that Hasbro would try & weasel out of it. The ad does state
"Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes". Once certain makers discontinue
manufacturing an item (particularly with imported electronics), you may
be immediately left out in the cold - they might literally deny it's
existence, sometimes refusing to supply parts or even service info (I
had this happen recently with Kenwood). This appears to be on the
increase as more & more manufacturing is outsourced to nameless Chinese
factories.
 
C

Cydrome Leader

Jan 1, 1970
0
Sofa Slug said:
My guess is that Hasbro would try & weasel out of it. The ad does state
"Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes". Once certain makers discontinue
manufacturing an item (particularly with imported electronics), you may
be immediately left out in the cold - they might literally deny it's
existence, sometimes refusing to supply parts or even service info (I
had this happen recently with Kenwood). This appears to be on the
increase as more & more manufacturing is outsourced to nameless Chinese
factories.

While these are great excuses, it still doesn't chang the 7 years of parts
laws that still do exist in the US. Best case, the OP would get some money
from habro to cut the loss on the thing junking out.
 
S

Sofa Slug

Jan 1, 1970
0
While these are great excuses, it still doesn't chang the 7 years of
parts laws that still do exist in the US. Best case, the OP would get
some money from habro to cut the loss on the thing junking out.

I could be wrong, but I have never seen written confirmation of any
FEDERAL law requiring parts to be available for any specific amount of
time (if this does exist, I would welcome a link to it). Maybe you are
thinking of California state law (and similar laws in some other
states). Here is the citation for California:

---

a) Every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an
electronic or appliance product described in subdivision (h), (i), (j),
or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code, with a
wholesale price to the retailer of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and
not more than ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents ($99.99), shall
make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service
literature and functional parts to effect the repair of a product for at
least three years after the date a product model or type was
manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the
warranty period for the product. (b) Every manufacturer making an
express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product
described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the
Business and Professions Code, with a wholesale price to the retailer of
one hundred dollars ($100) or more, shall make available to service and
repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to
effect the repair of a product for at least seven years after the date a
product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the
seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
 
W

William Sommerwerck

Jan 1, 1970
0
Thank you for the updated information.

Some manufacturers won't supply service parts for products currently in
production!

There used to be such laws -- at least according to what I read in a "High
Fidelity" article, and what the parts lady at Sony told me.
 
H

hr(bob) [email protected]

Jan 1, 1970
0
My cousin has a toy riding pony like the one found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-76471-FurReal-Friends-Butterscotch/dp/B0...

Recently, it has become partially dysfunctional and I was trying to find a
repair facility.  I contacted the manufacturer and they say it's no longer
in production and therefore no place available offering repair.  It's really
to large to ship anywhere, so I'm left either with a broken toy or no choice
but to try and repair it myself.  I looked it over yesterday, but foundit
very UNuser friendly when trying to disassemble it.  The pony "coat" for
example, while it unzips from around the head, there are no other areas with
zippers so the only way I saw to remove from the body would be scissor
cutting which I really didn't want to do.  There may be a special way of
disassembly anyhow which is why the next step was to try to find a service
manual.

Anyone have experience repairing these gadgets please chime in.  What a
waste to spend nearly $600 new and can no longer get support when something
goes wrong.

Thanks in advance,
Bill

What doesn't it do that it is supposed to do, and what can it do? If
you want help, we need more information.
 
B

Bill Proms

Jan 1, 1970
0
Just a quick update here- the manufacturer no longer supports this type of
pony. I emailed and later called them yesterday. They don't even have a
service manual available either and also advised me that there were no user
serviceable parts inside. I'll tell you one thing, if my cousin hadn't of
bought this used at a yard sale (I think she paid $20), I would have been
quite upset with the lack of cooperation especially considering the original
pricetag of hundreds of dollars.

For now, they'll just use the pony as an unpowered toy. The kids can still
get up on it and have plenty of fun.

Thanks again for the reponses here.

Bill
 
W

William Sommerwerck

Jan 1, 1970
0
Bill Proms said:
Just a quick update here- the manufacturer no longer supports this type of
pony. I emailed and later called them yesterday. They don't even have a
service manual available either and also advised me that there were no user
serviceable parts inside. I'll tell you one thing, if my cousin hadn't of
bought this used at a yard sale (I think she paid $20), I would have been
quite upset with the lack of cooperation especially considering the original
pricetag of hundreds of dollars.

You know the old joke about the kid playing with the cardboard box and
ignoring the toy.

It sounds like Butterscotch was a product with fundamental design problems,
and Hasbro decided to just dump it. At least Tyco didn't gripe when people
requested replacements for their defective N.S.E.C.T.

Regardless, I'd still contact the Attorney General in your state, or the
state in which Hasbro is located. If people don't complain, businesses will
continue to get away with this "we don't give a damn" crap.

I just forced La Crosse into replacing a clock/thermometer which was labeled
(on its Website) as having an atomic clock, but did not, with one that did.
 
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