Customer Reviews

P'Kolino Little Reader Chair

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This company is taking advantage of the good reviews that the old chair got to sell more of the new lower quality stuff. This product should really be sold under a different name and have its own reviews. It's smaller, lighter and less dense than the original, basically a totally different product. Not fair! And, it should sell for half the price of the original one. I'm not returning mine because my time more important. Just wanted to warn everybody.

This screams Bait and Switch!

This is a cute chair but smaller than I expected. Also, be aware that the cover doesn't come off, so there's really no way to wash it. My 18 month old loves having a chair of his own though, so for us, this was a worthwhile purchase.

P'kolino decreased the density of the polyurethan form to reduce manufacturing cost.
I bought a new one to give it to my second daughter, and previous one is MUCH harder and heavier, and I prefer the old one.

UPDATE (08.11.2011):
In talking with P'Kolino, there was a manufacturing problem with the chairs "Made in USA". They sent me one that was "Made in China", like my original one, and it is perfect.

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I purchased my first P'Kolino Little Reader Chair in Green on Sept 15, 2009. That is a 5 star chair; very happy with it.

With the addition of another child, we purchased another chair (in Purple) on July 24, 2011. This chair is much lighter than the older one.

The older chair has a high density foam in it, and weighs in at 1678g (3.7 lbs).
The new chair is less dense than the original one, and weighs in at 1004g (2.2 lbs).

The older chairs feel like they are more stable than the newer ones. I don't have any concerns about my kids climbing in and out of the old one. The new one, I could see someone taking a tumble.

Not too happy about it. I will see what Amazon / P'Kolino have to say.

This is one of my best purchases for my 16 month old daughter. I hesitated at first because of the price, but my daughter's reaction more than made up for the cost. She LOVES it. It is the only thing that got her to sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time. She actually sits herself in the chair and looks at books by herself. It's the perfect size for her now... and should still fit her well for another few years. It's foam & has a sturdy wide base, so she can't hurt herself with it. It has a handle in the back & is light enough for her to carry wherever she pleases. And the fabric cleans easily with a damp rag. What more could you ask for?

We bought two of these, one for each of our twin 16 month old boys, one in blue one in orange. Orange seems more popular, they both try to get into the orange one together. They absolutely love them, perfect for watching barney on the tv or just chilling in the living room. The chairs are perfect size for kids of this age, and they also love turning them on their side and rotating them in different ways. Having their own chairs has also helped to make mealtime easier, as our kids no longer resist getting into the other chairs we put them into when they eat, in fact they get in by themselves. The kids haven't yet tipped over in these, they seem to resist tipping even though they are light enough for them to move around by themselves--rather than tip over, the sides seem to compress when the kids climb on these. I recommend these chairs highly.

We bought a purple one years ago, and loved it so much that we got a 2nd one when we had another kid. But boy, were we disappointed! The newer version is slightly smaller, thinner, and just feels less well made than the purple one. Unfortunately, the price is about the same, so it's sadly a case where you really get less for more. =(

P'Kolino: Please bring back the quality!

I've purchased both the P'Kolino Little Reader Chair and the P'Kolino Silly Soft Seating and I'm writing this review to hopefully help anyone who is debating between them. I'll initially review each item and will then compare them. The star rating above is specifically for the P'Kolino Little Reader Chair.

P'Kolino Silly Soft Seating P'Kolino Silly Soft Seating in Pipa - Blue:
I bought the P'Kolino Silly Soft Seating (in orange) for my 1 yr old son hoping he'd use it as a chair but also hoping that he'd enjoy building a tower with it, using it as a table, or whatever else he wanted to do. He very rarely sits on it as a chair but has had a bit of fun pushing the top of it around the house and occasionally throwing some of the pieces. He really enjoys sitting on the base sideways with one leg on each side as if riding a car and scooting around the house (or being pushed on it across the floor). The cover is fleece-like and picks up a lot of dirt easily from our hardwood floors and the foam is softer than I imagined, but it's a cute chair and we like it. While my son did have fun playing with it on occasion, I had hoped he would have shown more interest in it (particularly in sitting on it). This brings me to my 2nd purchase:

P'Kolino Little Reader Chair P'Kolino Little Reader Chair in Green:
I bought the P'Kolino Little Reader Chair (in orange) for my 17 month old son who loves to read (the same son who was 1 yr old when he got the Silly Soft Seating). He likes to sit in it while reading his books and enjoys putting books in and taking them out of the side pockets. When the product arrived I was surprised to see that the chair is meant for children 2yr+ since I hadn't noticed any mention of this on the Amazon description. I was even more surprised at the size of the Little Reader Chair because it fits my son quite well and he is very petite (~5th percentile). Although it's a small chair, I think it will fit him for a couple of years but I'd be surprised if these chairs were big enough for larger children. The cover is faux-suede and the chair is fairly sturdy (for foam).

Little Reader Chair vs. Silly Soft Seating:
I like both of these products but for different reasons. If you want a chair for your child that they will sit and read in, I would absolutely get the Little Reader Chair, but if you aren't looking specifically for a chair for your child and would like something more imaginative that they can be creative with, I'd get the Silly Soft Seating. It's much more of a toy than a chair. Also, it's not as sturdy as the little reader but is certainly sturdy enough. I'm glad we have both of these chairs because my son enjoys them but I think in the long run my son will get more use out of the Little Reader Chair.

I stand by my comments below about the "made in the USA" chair but have an update on how P'kolino handled my complaint.

I contacted P'kolino on May 11 making my concerns known to them. Within one day I was contacted by both Antonio Turco Riva, a co-founder of P'kolino, and Julie Likely in customer service. They both acknowledged that there had been a change in quality in the chairs. The earlier, better quality, chairs were made in China and the low quality chairs were sourced from a US manufacturer they had turned to to meet demand. They both apologized and immediately examined the stock of chairs available to them in the US to see if a Chinese made chair (of a particular color) was available to replace the one I had purchased. When it was not, Ms. Likely told me that she knew when a shipment was due to arrive from China and she would personally make certain I received one as soon as it arrived in their warehouse. Ms. Likely kept me informed of the status of their delivery of chairs and as soon as they were available she was good to her word annd had one shipped to me. It arrived today and I am pleased to say that it is the same high quality of the first two chairs I purchased. Now each of my sons has comfortable and fun chair in which to enjoy bedtime stories.

My rating goes from a 1 star back up to a 5 star, both for the quality of the chair and for the quality of the customer service.

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Last week we received our third P'kolino Little Reader chair for my 1 year old's birthday. I purchased the third chair based on the quality of the two I purchased for my now 4 year old and now 2.5 year old boys. Those chairs have stood up to all kinds of abuse and the chairs have retained their shape and comfort. Sadly, P'kolino seems to have messed around with a winning formula. This third chair is made of much less dense foam, the cover is made of thinner material and the built in cloth handle will never stand up to the wear and tear my boys will subject it to. Even more sadly, the new, lower quality chair, is made in the USA while the first two were made in China. The manufactured date for the three chairs were tagged as 2008, 2009 and 2011.

While I would recommend the earlier chairs wholeheartedly, I cannot, and will not recommend the newer low quality chairs P'kolino is selling (mind you, they are charging the same price)

I bought this chair for my son in October 2009. It has been a great chair and withstood the test of time with an active toddler. I used to recommend it to all my friends with kids. Now, I have just received a new one for my second child and it is really well, kind of crappy. The inner foam is less rigid and substantial. The outer fabric is thinner and flimsy. And, they have modified the design so that the zipper which before was relatively small and discreetly located underneath, is now located along the back of the chair and runs the entire length of the chair. As the instructions specifically state that the user should never remove the cover, this is clearly a cost cutting measure. Not only does the giant zipper make it uglier, but also seems to me like it will be a risky temptation for curious little hands and fingers.

I agree with the other reviewer. I think P'Kolino is taking advantage of their high ratings and has greatly decreased the quality of their product at the cost of the consumer, which in this case is a young child. Shame on them.