Thursday, August 19, 2010

Mi Wheels AVOID!...Illegal Copy of The Bugaboo

I have seen a fair few of this brand popping up on eBay and being compared to being like the Bugaboo. (but cheaper yayyyy)Yes they look the same, and seemingly do the same as the Bugaboo but for a half of the price. If it looks like a duck, walks and quacks like a duck IT IS A DUCK!As with most big name brand the illegal factorys in China have gone into overdrive to tap into the Bugaboo market. If you check out he likes of Alibaba.com you can see to what length some items get copied and sold illegally. Mi wheels is trying to come across as legite as they haven't gone as far as stealing the Bugaboo name.I have collaborated alongside some high up personnel in the baby trade about this previously unheard of product as if it is what it seems like is being sold then seemingly Bugaboo have some competition....will it seems Bugaboo are quite safe and Bugaboo are on fact clamping down on the Mi wheels product as it infringes on their patent design. As well as trading standards have been informed.The worrying thing is the Car seat being sold as part of the package. The car seat has passed NO safety testing what so ever. The certificate it says it has is in fact a made up cert number when it has been checked and some of the cert numbers and certficates can be bought from the manufacturers in China so not worth the paper they are printed on! so basically if you value your babys safety you will NOT use the car seat. When the importer for Mi Wheels was pressed on this he admitted as much and said that even though it was described as a car seat it was to be used with the chassis only?!?! ermmm 1 why sell it as a car seat and two would you really want to trust your babys life to a company that has no regard for your babys safety?! They only care about selling as many units of this product as they can.There has been some feedback from a mum who has used this pram and on the first outing out the plastic on the chassis has cracked and given way it turns out when examined the plastic is of inferior quality and would no way pass the safety standards in the UK, infact anywhere. The fabric on the pushchair wouldn't pass UK standards either as it is not flame retardent and the quality of the matrials is poor aswell. Bugaboo prices reflect there design, brand, marketing, extensive safety testing and copyright prtection non of this comes cheap hence why you pay for the Bugaboo brand.Summing up Mi Wheels is an patent infringing illegal copy, made of inferior materials and the car seat is illegal. If you want a Bugaboo then purchase a Bugaboo you pay more but at least your childs safety isn't in question.If you have had the misfortune to have been sold a Mi Wheels then send it back and request a refund or contact your local trading standards.If you buy a cheap Bugaboo off eBay immediately check to see if it has a Bugaboo branded serial number on the chassis as people are changing the Mi Wheels fabrics for Bugaboo ones so just to take care when buying a cheap or used one.

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