“AS-IS” PREFOLD WARRANTY
As with all of our products, any one or all of the prefolds purchased can be returned for a full refund (less shipping) prior to being washed. Our normal 45 day, no RMA needed, no restocking fee, easy return policy is detailed here. They are still returnable, so the wording "as is" is really an overstatement.
After washing, returns are limited to issues with the prefolds that affect their functionality. For example, 1) shredding of the cotton material, 2) stitching coming undone on both the inner (straight) and outer (serge) stitchings on a side of the diaper, or 3) a hole or tear developing in the diaper are covered under the 90 day warranty. These issues clearly affect the functionality and longevity of the diaper. Call or email us and we will send replacements free of charge. These issues are quite rare. Please do not worry, such issues are few and far between.
Minor issues (i.e. slightly imperfect or cosmetic in nature) that do not affect the functionality or longevity of the diaper are not warranteed after washing. Examples of minor issues not waranteed are as follows: Frayed edge between the corner of the diaper and the corner finish stiching. This fairly common condition has no effect on functionality of the diaper since the fraying stops at the vertical finish stitching (which is about a quarter inch from the corner of each diaper). This is the most common cosmetic issue with our current production run of the unbleached prefolds, but can also occur on the white ones. We do not cover this cosmetic issue under warranty. Sample picture below:
corner fray is not warranteed.
broken serge stitch on orange, skipped straight stitch on brown, not warranteed.
With our current production runs, it is also not uncommon for a few diapers to have a single broken stitch or a mis-stitch. Typically, a broken serged stitch will not get any worse through normal use, due to this type of stitching method used. However, over time, a broken or mis-stitched straight stitch could (worst-case) result in the entire length of straight stitching coming undone; if it is not mended. We suggest mending it with a sewing machine if you have access to one. Hand sewing it will also work. If you don't mend it, that's ok. The straight and serge stitches are redundant to each other. Either of these two stitchings is sufficient to ensure the integrity of the diaper. In fact, some prefolds are not manufactured with the straight stitchings at all! We have previously sold serged-edge only prefolds and did not have any problems with their long term durability. [Note: With that said, if you have a straight stitching issue with one or more of your prefolds, after washing, and are still not satisfied with relying on the serged stitching, give us a call or email us and describe your concern. We will then refund you the cost of the prefold(s) that has the straight stitching issue. You have 90 days to use it and wash it. No worries. That's plenty to time to use it to gain comfort that the diaper really will be fine and it won't fall apart. We are a home-based family business but really do want our customers to be satisfied; even during this period where we are trying to perfect custom sized prefolds! ]
Please note that we are working hard with our manufacturers on our Summer and Fall 2008 production runs to address these minor issues to the extent possible.
A note from Karen about this:
Why this new policy? Because we choose to remain a home-based business. We do not want to hire an employee to do prefold inspections. Becoming an employer is not a step we want to take. There are not enough hours in the day for us to inspect each and every prefold ourselves while still maintaining our quick shipping and raising our three children. There are only 24 hours in a day and sometimes choices need to be made. We are not a huge mail order company with many employees. We are just a mom and dad home business, with a passion for babies and natural fiber cloth diapers. We are striving to provide prefolds that actually FIT babies correctly. Thank you for your patience during this time of new product development. The diapers are what they are. We are clearly telling you what the potential issues might be, so you can make a wise purchasing choice and not have any "surprises" when you receive your diapers. They are the best we have at the moment. Even with these issues, (many diapers are indeed perfect, but not all), they are still great diapers. Thank you for your patience as we continually improve these prefolds.
What percentage of the diapers are perfect vs. minor imperfections? I don't know yet, and it seems to be mixed. Sometimes a dozen is perfect, sometimes a dozen has a few of these issues. Of the 4 dozen unbleached I wash-tested, I saw 3 diapers with these issues, but that's not a large enough sample to really know what each dozen will actually be like. To me, it's evidence that there are at least some of these issues, and I want to honestly tell you up front, before you buy, that this is what we have, both in the white from China and the unbleached from Pakistan. These shipments just arrived and we will know more as we get more customer feedback in coming weeks. I am confident that even with these minor imperfections, the diapers will perform very well and are the best available in these sizes on the market today.
Sincerely, Karen
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