Fisher Price Power Wheels Recall

We bought our son a Power Wheels car in December of 1998 at the Walmart in Buford Ga. We were not aware of any recall on these cars. As a matter of fact the recall states if you purchased the car AFTER Oct 28,1998 your car was NOT part of the recall.

Our house burned down on Oct 25, 1999 as a result of a short in the charging system on this car. I found out two months after this about the recalled cars. At the time Fisher Price had the model numbers affected listed on their web site. Ours was one of those numbers. This car had been sold several months after the recall.

I contacted Walmart and Fisher Price. Actually Walmart referred me to Fisher Price saying it was not their responsibility that they sold me a defective car. Fisher Price said they would be happy to address our losses which wer not covered by our insurance. But they wanted to come pick the car up first and have it inspected by their labs. They wanted documentation showing the date of the sale and the purchase location. I said I have the receipt both from the store and the credit card company with dates and identifying the product, but that I would not just let them have the car or these documents without some type of protection agreement concerning my articles and rights. They refused.

The economic damages were devastating to my family. Even with insurance we lost an additional $60,000-$70,000 in articles. Plus the cost of having the house rebuilt was much more than when we purchased it 4 years earlier. We were forced to move into a trailer built in 1962. It was terrible. We lived there for 8 months. Now we rent a house in Cleveland Ga. It is still very small but better than the trailer. We are still struggling to come up with enough money to rebuild.

To complicate that we have a son who requires heart surgery for defects. We have a substantial amount to raise to cover our portion of that surgery (coinsurance). Besides losing our home it has affected our personal lives tremendously. I have developed an ulcer that I can't seem to get healed even with very expensive medication. My wife and I both feel depressed all of the time because of the losses and the difficulty of having to start over.

Roy should immediately retain an experienced litigator to represent him against Fisher Price, which built the defective product, and Wal-Mart, which negligently sold an item that had been recalled months before.

I called the repair shop, and they said I would be put on a waiting list of over a hundred people. This was the only repair shop serving the Fort Hood military post, Killeen, and Temple Texas area. We put our name on the list and heard nothing for more than 4 months. The repair shop kept saying that Fisher Price had not sent the replacement part to them yet.

I left military service, and moved to the Dallas area. When my name came up on the waiting list, I transported the truck to the repair shop. I retrieved the truck the next day and was disappointed with the results. Once I got the truck home, and charged it up, it would barely move with my son in it. In addition it kept making a clicking noise from the battery compartment.

I took the truck back to the repair center, and the technician said that one of the batteries was dead, and that one of the rear wheel motors was not working. I asked him if this was normal, since he just finished doing work on the charging system. He stated that sometimes batteries just go dead like that. But he would be happy to sell me a new one for $30. I left the shop in disgust, for now I had a nearly $200 Powerwheels F-150, that my son had not ridden in nearly 5 months, and it was going to cost me more money to get it running.

Of course the batteries are in danger of going bad, they recalled the charging system for a very extended amount of time, and gave very little information, or advice as to the problem.

Well, I have had the rear wheel motor replaced and purchased a new battery. I dumped almost $100 into a truck that my 3 year old son had driven 6 times in a 3 month period. Now that he is 5 years old I finally have a toy he can enjoy with no thanks to Fisher Price.

Our 4 year old son wants to ride his Power Wheel. We feel we have been stuck with an expensive toy that our son can not ride. We paid for the merchandise, all we want is the repair kit to fix it. Can you help us?

I have left messages for Fisher Price and e-mails I can never get to a real person. We are tired of waiting. Our son is very upset that he can not ride his powerwheel that was a birthday present.

A follow-up from N.M.:

This is my second letter regarding the Power Wheel vehicle. After I wrote the first letter I decided I would give Fisher Price one more chance. I called and was able to get through, I was told my repair kit was packed a month ago and was ready to be shipped but had not been shipped yet.

What I was told was my model number and run number did not appear in the computer. What a surprise since I had called them two months earlier and gave it to them. I was then told it would be shipped out and a supervisor would contact me in 24 hours to explain the situation, since I was then concerned since the batteries had not been charged in 8 months would they work. I was assured that I would receive a call.

Here we are 5 days later and no call.

How can Fisher Price get away with this? I am unable to again contact them for the message tells me they are too overwhelmed with calls. I am tired of trying to get this toy fixed for my son!!!! It is very hard for him to see the Power Wheel and not be able to ride it.

When I called the two or three repair centers in the area, they told me I would have to wait several months to get the car fixed. Additionally, some of them did not even have a waiting list. Needless to say, I signed up for a waiting list at a repair center that is about 25 miles from my home several months back. I still have a wait of several months.

I would like to either get my money back (about $100) or a replacement car. I think it is disgraceful that a company like Fisher Price should get away with (this). They figure that a lot of people will give up rather than fight back. My son, who will soon be turning four, will probably be in high school by the time they can get this car repaired.

Then Fisher Price had the nerve to give me a "Gift Pack" that included a $10 gift certificate for specific toys I do not wish to have, and 2 stickers for my daughter.....What an insult and inconvenience. The least that they could have done was pay for my mileage!!!

I own quite a bit of "Toys R Us" at my home, and a great deal of my "toy store" include Fisher Price products. But, I will be damned if they get another penny of my money. They caused quite a bit of work and travel for me, and didn't even say "Thank You" That is not customer service, or satisfaction!!!

My son has a Monster Racing Truck that is part of the Fisher Price Recall. I don't live near one of the service centers and at one time Fisher Price had a message that on their automated phone service that the materials to repair the truck would be sent to people like me.

I have one problem. I have not been able to get in touch with an actual customer service represented since the recall began. It would be nice if the company provided an actual person to talk to. When someone calls they get the automated service or wait on line to be told, "Due to the high volume of calls we ask you call at a later time, good bye, click."

I have been trying for 12 months. I was told if I still have been unable to reach Fisher Price, please call their representative, Lori. I contacted her and received a letter that I would receive the necessary conversion kit. This was 6 months ago and I hve not gotten any package. I very discouraged.