Stroller scam: Parents sound the alarm in Quebec, saying they were duped

Two Quebec parents are speaking out after buying strollers from Marketplace online and realizing what they bought wasn't as advertised.

Vincent Montambeault is a first-time dad to a now-four-month-old boy.

And while parenthood holds many surprises, he says getting scammed while trying to buy baby gear wasn’t something he was expecting.

“I think we just have that bubble in our head that everyone’s in the same boat as us,” he said. “Everyone is kind and wants the best for the parents.”

Montembeault and his girlfriend live in Sherbrooke, but they decided to drive the roughly 155 kilometres to Montreal after finding the perfect stroller — an Uppababy Vista 1 — online.

“The ad had these pictures of a pretty much a brand-new stroller. It was fully equipped,” he said of the Facebook Marketplace ad.

So with an asking price of $890, the couple felt like it was a fair deal.

Once they arrived in the city and contacted the seller, they were made to wait outside the building.

“She brought the stroller and then she kind of rushed us, saying that, ‘Yeah, I don’t have much time,'” Montembeault said.