“It all started on Tuesday afternoon, when a friend told me that she could no longer access my birth list. I thought it was a simple technical problem”confides Alisson. But the next day, it was his mother-in-law who told him the news: an article in the press announced the bankruptcy of the BabyKid stores. “That’s how we understood what was happening.” “We had no direct communication from them, even though our items were paid for and in store”she adds, visibly disconcerted by the lack of transparency.
The Babykid store chain, present in Wallonia and Brussels, officially declared bankrupt: 70 jobs are threatened!
A list with a room and a stroller: “An obligation”
Attracted by attractive offers, the couple chose to create their birth list at the beginning of August at BabyKid Suarlée, in the Namur region. The couple was also seduced by the promise of a voucher worth 10% of the items offered on the list. “Come to think of it, with all the deals in the store I figure they must have already known what was coming. I feel like it was really a theft.”the mother-to-be is indignant.
Among the other inconveniences, Alisson mentions a new obligation: “When we made our list, we were told that we absolutely had to buy the room and the stroller from them. As it’s our first child, we didn’t pay too much attention to it, we had to buy everything anyway.” A requirement that did not yet exist the previous year, according to her. Additionally, a deposit was required to reserve these essential items. “We had to pay 1,000 euros deposit to reserve the room and the stroller“, she details. This deposit was initially to be returned once the items had been paid for by their loved ones, but they were ultimately told that it would only be refunded upon closing of the list, scheduled for November or December. “Today, we are very afraid of never seeing this money again.”admits Alisson.
What makes the situation even more difficult is that the birth list has simply disappeared. “We spent time choosing each item and today, there is no trace, apart from a few emails confirming the items offered by our loved ones“, explains Alisson, stressed by the situation. The last gift validated by e-mail dates back to Sunday evening, shortly before the stores closed.
The court declares the Babykid chain of childcare stores bankrupt
The couple therefore finds themselves in a delicate situation, with a room worth 1,000 euros, a stroller, various items offered and the deposit to be recovered totaling an amount of almost 4,000 euros, all currently blocked. “What’s hard is that the room was given to me by my grandparents. There’s sentimental value in it“, she says, moved. Despite this, Alisson has planned a co-sleeper, a bed that attaches to the parental bed, while waiting to know if she will be able to get her baby’s furniture back. “The warehouse is five minutes from our house, but I no longer have too many illusions“, she confides. “We hope to at least be able to recover something.“
If you too have items blocked in one of the 11 stores, customers are asked to send an email to one of the two curator lawyers Mr. Yves BISINELLA, [email protected] with the reference “birth list + name of the list and list number”, being as precise as possible as to the elements of the list or the ordered elements claimed and as to the payments or deposits made. The curators add “Attach all relevant supporting documents, lists and payments”.
