PegPerego Gaucho Silver

This little thing was purchased as a Christmas gift for our twins, on December 6th 2003, for a local store in Athens. Now, the toy was not exactly what you call cheap, it costs 500 Euros, or in other words close to 500 US$, a sum with which you can purchase a real, working, used, old car. But given that the Gaucho has a motor (electric one), which can give the kids an hour of fun with every charge of its battery, plus two gears forward and one in reverse, plus a working rear suspension, plus very nice look, plus the fact that the money were contributed by their grandmothers, made us get it.

We were aware that the twins were still too young to play with it, so when we first brought it into the house, I didn't connect the battery. We were hoping that they would spend some time playing with it, and having fun with it, even with the ... engine not working. And it was exactly this that happened, the twins had a great time playing with the stationary truck, climbing in and out, pressing every little detail, especially the working horn button. All was nice, and we were glad that they could at least spend 10 minutes busy with it, during which we didn't have to run after them, like we do all day!

Of course, being only 23 months old, the twins didn't know what can break and what not, so very soon (actually the third day), the external right hand mirror gave up, and broke. I thought to myself "No big deal, Peg Perego has a distributor here, I'll call and order a replacement". To be on the safe side, I removed the other mirror as well and next morning I called "PERAMAX S.A." the local distributor of Peg Perego. This is where the fun part begins.

The ... "technician" of PERAMAX asked me where I got the truck from. I told him the name of the shop. He then asked me to tell him a number that was on a special card that the shop had given me, to make sure that the truck was imported to Greece by PERAMAX. At this point, I started getting frustrated. OK, I had bought the damn thing here, so I had the card and everything, but what if I had bought that truck from Italy, during one of my business trips there? Would that mean that PERAMAX wouldn't support me if something went wrong with it? The answer was "yes", they only support the toys they import themselves!!! OK, I am not totally ignorant about the European Community laws, I know they cannot do that, and I told him so. In any case, since I did have the card, I said OK, let's skip that for the moment and see how I can get that bloody mirror.

So, I answer all the technician questions about the model etc (they only have one Gaucho, but anyway), and then I hear him saying "Yes, we do not stock replacement parts for the toys, you will have to order it with us and we will bring it for you from Italy, in about a month". Come again? No spare parts? A month? OK, the mirror is no big deal, the toy is functional even with out it, and I doubt if the twins will miss the mirror anyway, but what if the electrical motor was damaged? What if a steering component was damaged? Why should my kids be deprived of their (very expensive) toy, for a month, waiting for that so called "distributor" to bring the part from Italy? The part can be here in two days, using even plain, old Post Office services, one day with either DHL or UPS or FedEx, why a month?

So I say, screw the distributor, I am going to write to Italy, directly to the producer and order my part. I log in the Internet, and Google points me to the right web site. Sure enough, there are contact details for customer support, in Italy. I quickly type my request, explaining what I need and everything, and send it over. I thought "OK, they will answer in a couple of days, I'll give them my credit card number, three more days and the mirror will be here".

WRONG! For at least 3 weeks, no reply! Now, I know that the Italians are not as customer-support-oriented as the American companies are, but this is ridiculous. I spend my hard-earned money to pay this bloody toy, the most expensive toy in their product line, and they do not even bother answering my e-mail?

I log in the Internet again, verifying the address I used for my e-mail. Sure enough, it is the correct one. Frustrated, I decide to write to US customer support about this incident. I know they are not responsible, but I might end up with a direct e-mail or phone in Italy. The next day, I receive an answer by Tom Towner, the customer service manager if Peg Perego USA (what a difference! Thanks Tom). He informs me that he forwarded my e-mail to his colleague in Italy. That was on January 6th 2004.

Until today, January 30th, 2004, no one has bothered contacting me from Peg Perego Italy!

SOME CUSTOMER SERVICE! For sure, this was the first, and absolutely the last toy I bought from this company. If you live in US, go ahead and buy this truck, your kids will love it and you are assured that if something breaks you will get support. But if you live in Europe, then screw Peg Perego, they might have nice products, but they do not stand behind them, so look elsewhere. If something gets damaged you want to be able to replace it, in toys which cost so much. That, my friends, you will not get from Peg Perego Italy.

So, I urge you to boycott Peg Perego, if you live in Europe. This company does not deserve your business.

Below, is the PERAMAX card, just to prove you that I did buy the bloody thing, and it was purchased locally.

John Caradimas

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