Monday 1 November 2010

My first QuinnyCasters assignment - unpacking the Zapp Xtra

Can you believe that, after the excitement of receiving our Quinny Zapp Xtra on my birthday, I had to LEAVE IT IN THE BOX unopened for 3 weeks! It’s been like a prolonged Xmas Eve! Why ever would I do that, you ask? Especially when I'm the kind of girl who can't resist sneaking a peek at my pressies BEFORE my birthday...

How did I resist getting my hands on this?!
Well, to cut a long story short, those who know me are well aware of the major house renovation I’ve been submerged in for almost a year. This means that the majority of my belongings are in boxes, under dust sheets, in the loft, I think you get the idea. As our upstairs flooring is currently exposed floorboards, and the downstairs has been completed, most of our belongings consume the entire lower level, making living space limited. Put it this way, Laila and I live in the dining room at the moment! This also means that having an area to document the momentous unpacking of our Zapp Xtra has been near impossible, especially since I’ve done it all single handedly, hence the delay! I’d originally planned to do this assignment at my parents’ house as the Quinny delivery was due the week prior but, as it came on the following Monday, I missed that window of opportunity. In the end, my unpacking was in the corner of my kitchen!

Having seen various tweets from other QuinnyCasters about how easy it was to put together (and as an Engineer’s daughter!), I thought it’d be a doddle, so I admit I didn’t bother looking at the instructions – I usually figure these things out myself and get a worryingly great sense of satisfaction and fun from doing so! However, as a result of one particular part (which I think is supposed to be pre-assembled) not being attached, I just couldn’t figure out how to get the seat on. There wasn’t any commentary or annotation to the instructions either, so I ended up ditching them. There was a web link cited as an instruction video but, whilst it was lovely and glossy (which, as a consumer, I genuinely do appreciate) that hadn’t helped either. I spent about an hour trying to get the seat on! Frustrated, I ended up going to bed. It niggled at me. And niggled. And niggled some more…

I got out of bed at 01:00 (you may notice the 'straight out of bed' look in the last frame of my video - that's what I call dedication to the cause!), determined not to let our little Zappy defeat me. Low and behold, I discover this missing part in the box. I realised where it was meant to go, but was disappointed that the instructions didn’t indicate where the detachable parts were. Once that infamous part was attached, getting the seat on was easy. If it hadn’t been for that, I’m convinced that it would’ve been amazingly quick to assemble. I assume that this part is usually preassembled though.

So here’s my first QuinnyCasters assignment for your delectation: the unpacking of our Zapp Xtra. I had nothing short of a nightmare trying to get this uploaded, as Windows didn’t like how much was going on in our story when it was trying to save it – at one point, I thought my first assignment wasn’t going to see the light of day! I persevered, cut lots out, reduced the resolution, and finally got this end result...


Now that Zappy’s up and raring to go, I’m in love with it already! It looks divine (high on my list of pushchair priorities I’m afraid) and the reclining and rear facing features are what the youngsters would call ‘peng’! I'm really glad I went for Rebel Red too – looks hot, and I can’t wait to test drive!

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