So, for anyone who inevitably says “tl;dr,” (that is, too long; didn’t read…and I don’t blame you if you do!) here’s the cliff notes version: I big puffy heart Cottonbabies customer service.
My first ever cloth diapers were Bumgenius 3.0s. I bought three in October 2009, and bought three more maybe a week or so later. Those 6 diapers have gotten a lot of use, since my strategy was to wash often, saving the money I would have spent on disposables. I used that money to build my stash gradually, and it was several months before I finally had enough to go to every other day washing!
I knew from reviews that Bumgenius aplix didn’t last very long, but after a few months, my diapers started looking like this when they came out of the wash!
These two saw the worst of it. The laundry tabs were pilly, one was rather shrunken, and the closure tabs were curled.
I know that Cottonbabies sells refresher kits, but I don’t have a sewing machine. My Mom has an older one that she would let me use, but it’s kind of awful (sorry Mom!) and would probably make a mess of it. I was thinking I could just buy some white thread and try to do them by hand, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check first, to see if this would be covered under the 1 year warranty.
I contacted Cottonbabies customer service on Monday, August 23rd and had a response the same day. To my surprise, it indeed would be covered under warranty. On the one hand, a product advertised to take your baby through potty training should last at least a year without needing “refreshing,” but on the other hand, it didn’t seem surprising to have aplix issues after nearly a year of lots of use. I was pleasantly surprised!
I read on, and the other shoe dropped. The email said I would need to include info on how I cared for the diapers, including detergent. Dun dun dunnnnnn! We went back and forth for a few days, since the insinuation was that my warranty would be voided since I used detergents that were not “5 stars” on the “safe” list.
Finally, on August 27th, I received word that it should be OK, and I could go ahead and send them in.
I filled out an easy form online, received an RMA number, and packed the diapers up with a copy of my receipt, info about what was wrong with them, and included the RMA number inside and on the label. For the record, the RMA form did not ask me to include any info about how I cared for them.
Cottonbabies requires that diapers sent back be clean and stink free, and I think mine were. They didn’t say whether or not I need to send along the inserts and doublers, so I went ahead and put them in. I sent them via USPS priority mail, printed online with delivery confirmation, at a cost of $5.05.
I put them in the mail on Saturday, August 28th. I actually felt a little sad saying goodbye to these, since they are two of the three diapers that started me on my cloth diapering journey. Am I weird or what?
On Monday, August 30th, I received an email saying that my exchange was processed, and that I’d be receiving another email when my replacement diapers shipped. #1, hello, that was fast! #2 how awesome that I was kept aware of every step!
On Thursday, September 2nd, I received a shipping notice with a tracking number.
On Tuesday, September 7th, I received two brand new Bumgenius diapers in the mail!! They were in the next town over the weekend, so I know they would have been here even sooner if it weren’t for the holiday.
The surprise was that they are 4.0 diapers! Yay!! So that means I probably won’t have any more problems with the aplix, though I assume replacement diapers don’t come with their own warranty.
I am just beyond thrilled right now. Essentially for $5.05 I have two spanking new diapers, and got 10 1/2 months use out of the original diapers.
Awesome, just awesome! Especially when I think about the trouble I had with my Blueberry aplix after only a month or so, and the “too bad for you” response I received when I contacted them!
I have heard Bumgenius referred to as the “Wal Mart of Cloth Diapers” and while I do think they are a big name in cloth diapering, they didn’t get there with poor business practices. They make an awesome product; I have lots of favorites, but BG are still the ones my husband reaches for (past others) and they have just been all around great for us! This is just icing on the cake for me!
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
