A&L onbuhimo defects: seeking for experiences

[lady6wheels]

[I thought I had posted it but don’t see it in my timeline - mods if you delete it can you let me know? I m trying to be as respectful as I can of the A&L brand]

Hi everyone,

Item: A&L onbuhimo (hemp+silk blend), bought new April 2023,

Experience: used daily from summer 2023 till March 2024, 30min-1h most of the time , inside, to put baby to sleep. Never washed, never used detergent on it or put on heater. Baby was 11kg in july 2023, and roughly 13kg now.

Good things: loved how compact it is, easy to use. My baby loved it. Comfortable.

Issue: chest strap ripped, should pad abnormally frayed. see picture

Concerns: showed some weakness in december but it looked like a thread getting out. Since there s silk i assumed it was normal. Just tear through the chest strap will tightening.

Actions taken: asked the manufacturer if it was normal after just a light daily use. Answer was it s not under warranty because just wear & tear. After some back and forth, proposed to do 15% off of next drop or 25% off old stock (no onbuhimo on old stock). i declined. Wrote a report to health canada (i m living there) and will buy from another brand to replace. Manufacturer was polite but we did not come to an arrangement. She still would like to investigate (at my expense for shipping & repairing)

Question: has it happened to any of you & what did you do.

There's more to the story but it s the gist of it. I considered repairing myself but after advice from other parents, i ll wait for health canada reply (if any) and order another brand in the meantime. I m 3rd trimester pregnant and the onbuhimo is a life saver .

--- update since April 2nd when I first posted:

I just ordered a LL onbuhimo to secure an onbuhimo (asap due to our situations). I ve had good feedback for the LL onbuhimo on both the quality and the customer service. I discussed with the A&L owner and with an Admin from the A&L facebook group, and really hope they can update the design to reinforce the straps and sell replacement straps or something that would have helped resolve my issue. Some moms have shared their experience with me on other groups and it really seems like a defect (they use the onbuhimo with their toddler, in the pool, in the sea, washing it, with no similar issue).

in the mean time, we are adapting our bed time routine and it s longer, more tears, but we are ok. in the great scheme of things it’s "just" a very inconvenient and expensive issue.

https://preview.redd.it/s31ljbjxnos...bp&s=ef20e6574fdd90a25317912223d13d651be73ea6

https://preview.redd.it/2dm1e8lxnos...bp&s=b72e3573e017144d6f5eb4325858d88c9c25005f

https://preview.redd.it/41mjk9jxnos...bp&s=20d21bb68c286e21b211a8cf73db00b2fedd5cb4

 

[lady6wheels]

@grace_given17 that’s also what I was wondering but I see other second hand onbuhimos that are still great. so are people just not using them?

 

[rane]

@lady6wheels You'll be surprised how people can use a carrier for years without washing lol

 

[rane]

@lady6wheels Hey I experienced some issues with my onbuhimo too though not fraying. I bought an onbuhimo last year on BST, made about 2 years before that. Seller said she never washed it but she was not first owner. It had silk fuzzies, which was no Biggie to me.

I washed it in cold water and Soak (was used to washing SB silk carriers) and the colours ran, there was dye transfer all over the carrier and it just wouldn't stop. I contacted the A&L owner and she advised me to do hot vinegar washes multiple times, and I did, and still the issue persisted.

She said it could be some dye trapped in the fibres, i'm not covered by warranty (only applicable to first owner), and said it was probably used by a previous owner in a pool without washing (which honestly there was no chlorine smell whatsoever). She pointed at her website which said to ask BST sellers for a colour fastness test before buying on BST. She offered to fix the issue if I sent it back to her in Hawaii and covered shipping back. I am not located in the US and ended up spending another 50 USD or so sending it back to get it fixed and getting it back.

After it came back to me though, I could feel that the shoulder pads feel noticeably thinner, like I could feel the "bubbles" on the foam inside. But honestly whatever, she didn't have to fix it for me but she did, it was such an awful experience I have written off the entire carrier's price. No carrier should have colour run to this extent. Not to mention I find A&L really uncomfortable and never ever reach for it unless we went to the pool. IMO A&L is overrated.

 

[lady6wheels]

@rane Thank you for your experience. I think i had not realised how small the business is and lots of the "flaws" seem typical to small manufacturers. I m not in the US either and Canada makes us pay custom fees even for repair if the product is above 60 cad value...

 

[rane]

@lady6wheels Most people are too polite to slam a small business on Facebook, so only if you really follow generic groups closely (e.g. Carry On instead of the A&L BST) can you find hints of people who have negative reviews. And you usually have to probe them to get their true views (DM or otherwise). Same with H&P Lark - their following on Facebook is quite cultish (I mean really, who needs to see the 3658288465th post of "if you're still on the fence you should just buy the lark, it's the best I have ever used") and there are people who dislike it, if you look hard enough at comments. I mean I do like it, but I also think it's a bit overrated and quite pricey.

 

[lady6wheels]

@rane That's a fair point. I tend to rely more on my bump group(s) now!

 

[chriatopher]

@lady6wheels Your original post has not been deleted, it shows in your post history when I check!

 

[lady6wheels]

@chriatopher I have one where I asked advice for replacement, but I had posted one yesterday morning I believed with the same text as above. We had a snow storm and lost internet yesterday so maybe it never got posted

 

[pitcharan]

@lady6wheels You can honestly review brands here, no problem. If they’re selling defective carriers and not offering to make it right people should be able to see that.

 

[lady6wheels]

@pitcharan thank you. To be more accurate, the owner offered things that I don’t think were fair for me, but I guess as a Small Business they may not be able to afford doing things beyond what they are strictly insured for unlike bigger brands. And my understanding is the current "defect" that I noted is not considered as such from a warranty /insurance perspective.

 

[chriatopher]

@lady6wheels Ah that one I don’t see, you’re likely correct it never posted.

 

[unsureofjesus]

@lady6wheels That sucks. I heard something similar in a BST group awhile ago which stopped me from buying one of these. Thank you for sharing

 

[rane]

@lady6wheels Oh there was an issue with their eco-fin last year too. They sewed the webbing for their new eco-fin too low, and had to shift it. Didn't want to offer a refund (cos small business), only fix. Later when people noticed they had other carriers without box stitching on the webbing, and again no refunds but fix only

Here's the full thread:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/nFFtTbFSxafpFAW3/?mibextid=oFDknk

 

[ashley03]

@lady6wheels I dont understand why you needed to report to health canada?

 

[lady6wheels]

@ashley03 Because it s a potential harmful defect on a type of product that is closely looked at. I did not "need" to but I was encouraged to do it in case other people have similar issues so that Health Canada has ground for investigations/certifications etc. They are the ones ordering recall or certifications on such products.