Luvabella's Malfunction

You might think she's asleep, but she's not; her eyes will no longer open!

Less than two weeks after her box was opened and batteries inserted, Luvabella by Spinmaster malfunctioned! Her eyes now remain permanently closed.

Wanting to know if others had experienced a similar malfunction, I visited YouTube and Amazon to search for videos and to read reviews.  On Youtube, there was a video of another doll whose eyes would not open and the child's parent asking what should be done.  While reading the reviews on Amazon dot com, I was horrified by some of the things parents experienced. When one 5-year-old's doll stopped working, she ran to her mom and exclaimed, "Luvabella died!" She pleaded with her mother to make the doll come back to life. Mom purchased new batteries; the doll worked for a while but unfortunately, "died" again. How terrible!  That child will never forget that.

My experience was not as devastating, but I was as disappointed.  You can hear the disappointment in my voice when I recorded the following video on the evening of January 14, 2018, when the malfunction was discovered.


I called Spinmaster the following day to report the issue.  I was emailed instructions on how to get a replacement.  This included X-ing out the left-hand side of the doll's back, placing my initials in the center of the doll's back, and writing the last three digits of my claim number on the far right of the doll's back.  A permanent marker had to be used for this.  Afterward, I had to photograph the doll's back, "handwrite" the claim number on a piece of paper, and include that in the photo.  A video of the doll's malfunction was also required to be submitted along with photos.  I created a second video of the malfunction (which is not included in this post because it also contains the piece of paper with the entire claim number visible.)  The described photo, along with the first one in this post, and video were emailed to Spinmaster.

I had to use a permanent marker to X out the left-hand side of Luvabella's back, place my initials in the center, and the last three digits of my claim number on the far right.  Instead of handwriting the claim number on a piece of paper, I typed and printed it.

I followed all instructions, except, instead of handwriting the claim number on a piece of paper, I typed it using a large font (this was to ensure legibility -- not that my handwriting is poor because it isn't.  I just prefer typing and printing over using pen and paper.)

After a couple of days passed, I received an email from Spinmaster indicating my claim could not be proven because I did not follow the steps outlined.  In bold text, they explained that I did not "write" the claim number on a piece of paper.

"What?" I thought.  So I called Spinmaster and spoke with a very nice man named, John, who reviewed the photos and video and said, "You're fine."  He explained that they are not "used to people typing the claim number because writing it is easier."  Okay, I thought.  I jokingly told him that my [undiagnosed] OCD took over making me think it would be better to type and print the claim number.  He chuckled and proceeded to initiate the replacement.

The replacement doll arrived directly from Spinmaster in a Spinmaster shipping box inside her own pristine box.  The first doll's box was banged up around the edges, not taped at the opening flaps like this one was, and the first doll had a tiny black mark on one leg, which I ignored thinking it was a manufacturer's flaw.

Luvabella #2, shown above and in the photos and video that follow, arrived in less than two weeks. 

Replacement doll is still secured to her box in more areas than the first doll had been secured.  This doll also had a piece of plastic placed on the back of her head between her head and the headband.  The first doll did not have that.

She's free with all her interactive items and waiting for batteries to be installed.

As illustrated in the video, she works well, even better than the first doll. 

Luvabella #2 now wears the curly Afro wig (size 15) that I used for Luvabella #1.  I think she looks so much better with hair.

Here's hoping there will be no issues with Luvabella #2.


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