Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is the first online review that I have ever written. I write because I hope that someone out there will learn from my experience and save money that I have lost on this product. NOTE: Most of the reviews that I have seen on this product are from people who are happy with this product right out of the box. This is a different perspective. I have been dealing with this company and this product for OVER A YEAR and I am truly disappointed. Like all of you, my wife and I chose this product because we felt that it would securely keep our two wonderful sons away from our stairway. We were also interested in it because it was metal (dog proof!). For these reasons, we ended up purchasing THREE of these gates for our home. Initially, I was disappointed a bit with the installation of the product. The screws that came with the hardware kit were too short for really secure installation, in my opinion. I ended up using some longer, stouter decking screws. Otherwise I really don't think the things would have stayed on the wall. After installation, however, the gates performed well for a time. Less than a year after purchase, however, the knobs on two of the gates froze. This rendered them completely useless. We had to remove the gates from our stairway just so that we could go to bed at night and then, of course, our stairs were left accessible to our toddlers. I contacted The First Years, and they agreed to replace these two gates with two new gates of the same variety. The only hitch was that I had to send them my broken gates first - which left my stairs exposed for an even longer period (I have noticed at least one other reviewer mentioning this customer service issue). I received the new gates without a problem. It is now less than a year later. Within 4 weeks of each other, ALL THREE of my gates have failed in the same fashion. Let me be clear. I have now had the opportunity to use FIVE of these gates. ALL OF THEM HAVE FAILED IN THE EXACT SAME FASHION. They were obtained at different times and from different locations. This leads me to believe that there is a REAL DEFECT IN THIS PRODUCT. I have spoken with customer service about this problem. Their corporate line is that the warranty is not valid more than 12 months from PURCHASE. It matters not at all to them that they sent me brand new gates less than 12 months ago. They hang their hats on the fact that my original purchase was over 12 months ago. After pointing out to their supervisor several times that this warranty policy made no sense at all, the best she was willing to do is send me two different gates that are LESS EXPENSIVE, LESS SECURE, NOT SUITABLE FOR STAIR USE, AND ULTIMATELY UNFIT FOR MY FAMILY'S NEEDS. Bottom Line: We have now spent an additional $200 on new gates from a new company (Kidco - like them so far). Please learn from our experience and save yourselves some money and frustration.