Baby Bargains Book Blog

Reader: Li'l Deb-N-Heir disappoints

Reader Colleen M in suburban Chicago writes in today with her disappointment with the service at Li'l Deb-N-Heir, one of our top picks for the best baby specialty stores nationwide. As always, we want to hear your feedback---so readers in Chicago feel free to chine in with any comments if you've been to this store!

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To Whom it May Concern:
 
I am a new-mom-to-be and I have recently visited your store.  I was very excited to take a day to head to Li'l Deb-N-Heir since it came so highly rated from friends and family as well as the book Baby Bargains.  My husband and I actually live in a "small town" suburb and always try to do our best to support local businesses, so I was excited to have a store that was so highly recommended and wasn't one of the big-box baby stores.  I am a firm believer that it is worth the extra money to 1) support local businesses and 2) have the superior customer service that is typically offered at a specialty store. 
 
Now, with all of that said, I was truly very disappointed by the service I received the two times I was in your store.  I went out the initial time just to get an idea of what was out there, took a few weeks to think things over, and headed back to Li'l Deb-N-Heir to make the most exciting purchase so far for my future first born.  I guess I should mention that I was not really pleased with the "older" woman clerk that was "assisting" us the first time we visited the store, but gave the benefit of the doubt that maybe she was just having a bad day or whatever and decided to head back anyway. 
 
The second time in your store, I had my selection made and basically had my checkbook in hand, I was so excited to purchase this Ragazzi furniture.  I happened to be at Buy Buy Baby earlier in the day looking at some other things and noticed they had the same set that I was looking to buy at your store.  I was greeted warmly by a woman at BBB and given some excellent information on the company and their new wood tones, etc.  I definitely received service that is not expected at one of these big-box stores.  However, I was still convinced that I needed to buy my first born's furniture at Li'l Deb-N-Heir, so I left BBB and headed to Naperville. 
 
Once we got to the store, I noticed a sign outside that said something about "Ask about discount Ragazzi furniture" and I was stoked.  I did my best to avoid the lady I had talked with previously, but when the three (3)  other groups of people walked out ahead of me without buying anything, the same woman approached me.  I cannot explain very well how I was treated by her, but I can say that I got NONE of the basic information that I was given at BBB as a passerby and it seemed that I was annoying her by asking about the furniture.  She did not have the same knowledge that the store clerk had at BBB and honestly, just made me feel pretty uncomfortable.  We talked about some pricing options and when I asked questions, she shot me down, without even having a real solid answer.  There was a lovely older gentleman who walked with a cane who at least got up to go and "ask someone" in the back a few questions. 
 
I was so disappointed by this service and I think I made that fairly clear.  I took my $3,000 and walked out the door and headed directly to BBB and purchased my baby's bedroom furniture for at least 15% less than what I was willing to pay at your store.  I know I've rambled a bit here, but I've really never been more disappointed in a shopping experience in my life.  I have done my best to tell any of my friends and family about this experience, to hopefully save them some time and energy when they are looking for their children's furniture. 
 
Regards, Colleen

Reader: Baby Town (Reseda, CA) isn't worthy of Top 21 list

Reader Donna H. writes in with some observations about Baby Town, a Reseda, CA baby retailer that made our list of Top 21 baby stores this year. Read her letter below.

We are monitoring all the retailers on our list to decide who will stay and who will be replaced. So feel free to send us stories (both good or bad) about any of these stores. Post in the comments below or drop us an email!

Hello,

I feel the need to write about the horrible service I have received from
Baby Town in Reseda, California. In June, I spent four hours registering
for my baby registry at Baby Town. I live in Santa Monica but because I
saw that Baby Town was one of your top 20 baby stores in the country I
decided to drive the distance and register there.

From the start there were red flags - even while I was in the floor. The
sales people were very unprofessional - complaining loudly about their
work/workloads within ear shot of the customers. It took almost 30 minutes
for someone to come help me with questions for special order baby bedding
and even then that person had no idea. In fact, she almost had me order
the wrong item. Eventually, a person who seemed to be in charge of the
bedding area stepped in and figured everything out.

They have the auto scanners for the registry which they gave me upon
arrival - knowing that the machine had broken over the weekend but assured
me it would be up and running in a few days once they replaced the cord.
With their confidence, I used the scanner.

Once I went to the front desk - I never felt assured that in fact this was
all going to work out. I went ahead and left my scanner and also ordered
my special bedding with a security deposit to put it on lay-away in case
no one purchased - I would be responsible.

I started calling Baby Town within a few days to find out the status with
their registry and if the wire had been replaced. it had not. After three
phone calls (owner and Manager, Nancy) I was told that a wire arrived but
did not fit and they would need an additional week or two to resolve the
issue. If I wanted, I could come back up and hand write everything I had
registered for (40-50 items); or wait it out. I asked if this were really
going to get fixed and was assured it would. After this call, I never
heard back from Baby Town. I continued to check online and after two or
three weeks went to another registry (online) to re-register for my items.

Today, (two and a half months later) I called to pick up my baby bedding
and find out why I was never called back about the registry. I spoke with
the manager, Nancy, who was rude and actually tried to put the blame on me
and the owner. She took no responsibility and not until I mentioned
writing to Baby Bargains did I get an apology. She was aggravated to even
have to explain the situation to me. And let me know of all the people I
was the only one who refused to come back up (a 40 minute drive for me)
and hand register. When I asked her why she felt I was to blame she
basically told me she'd done what she could and left it in my hands to
figure out. Not the answer one would expect from a store rated at top 20
in the country. She continued to point the finger at the owner explaining
she had never promised that it would be working again and in fact, he was
the one to tell me. I honestly don't care who told me - Baby Town assured
me my registry would be up, it went out on my invites and we had to
scramble to fix the problem with my friends and relatives.

I am heading up in the next day or two and have been offered no recourse
for this situation. If I hadn't already put the deposit down I would
cancel this order all together.

Please - reconsider listing this store and I hope you can include in
update online.

Best regards,
Donna H.

The 20 Best Baby Stores in America

Who are the 20 best independent baby stores in America? 

As the authors of BABY BARGAINS, we have visited hundreds of baby stores from coast to coast during the past 15 years. Along the way, we've met some of the smartest retailers in the USA---folks who we often turn to to find out what's REALLY happening in the baby gear biz. Which cribs, strollers and car seats are selling and winning raves from parents . . . and what are the bombs. 

Readers often ask us to tell us they want to support indie stores---but which ones are most reputable? If you are tired of the chains, here is a list of stores to check out.

A few notes: just in case you are wondering, NO retailers paid us to be on this list. We don't take advertising, commissions or fees to recommend stores in our book or blog. The retailers we think are best earned it the old fashioned way---by focusing on their customers. 

So . . . drum roll . . . here are the 20 Best Baby Stores in America (in alphabetical order):

Baby Furniture Warehouse (Boston)           

Baby Love  (Ft. Lauderdale)

Baby Super Mart (Broomall, PA)

Baby Town (Reseda, CA)

Baby's 1st (Houston)

Behr's  (Metro NY)                       

Berg’s (Cleveland, OH)

Georgia Baby (Atlanta)

Goores (Sacramento, CA)

Great Beginnings (Washington DC area/Maryland)

Ideal Baby & Kids (Miami); also known as La Ideal.

Karl's (Philadelphia)

Kids Stuff Superstores (South Dakota, Nebraska)

Lazar's (Chicago)

Li'l Deb-N-Heir  (Chicago)

Lone Star Baby (Dallas/Fort Worth)

Lullaby Lane (San Fransisco)

Tiny Totland (Manchester, NH)

Treasures Room (St Louis)

USA Baby (Milwaukee, WI location only)

Tip of the hat: BRU's bottle exchange program

We've been beating up Babies R Us for the last few weeks over the Jardine recall, so let's take a second to applaud the chain when they do something right: reader Elizabeth F. writes in today with word of a free (and unadvertised) bottle exchange program at BRU.

As you remember, BRU (along with other major retailers) announced they were phasing out polycarbonate baby bottles that contain BPA in the coming year. But what if you bought $100 worth of BPA bottles before they made that announcement? Elizabeth writes:

I heard something from a mom in my playgroup that Babies R Us was allowing customers to bring in their BPA containing bottles of any brand, and exchange them for BPA-free bottles at no cost. I thought that was too good to be true, but I thought it was worth a try. I sent my husband in with 9 bottles, a mix of Avent and Dr. Brown's - and he came home with 9 new BPA free Dr. Brown's bottles for free! It is true.

All you have to do is bring in complete bottle assemblies - caps, nipples, bottle, etc. - and BRU will exchange them, bottle per bottle, for any BPA free bottle. It is quite amazing. I thought your readers might be interested in this, as BRU has not published anything on their website or advertised this policy to my knowledge. I wouldn't have known about it if that mom hadn't told me. I hope you find this info useful.

Chicago: Bellini's new owners pledge a fresh start

Readers of our current book know that we have not been kind to nursery furniture chain Bellini after their melt-down last year. In multiple cities (including Chicago), Bellini stores suddenly closed . . . and in some cases, Bellini owners took customers deposits without delivering any furniture.

Well, there is some good news on that front: Chicago parents Cindy and Jeff Hudgins are trying to turn around the brand's reputation, re-opening a Bellini store in Chicago on North Clybourn Avenue (it is the only Bellini in Illinois).

Ironically, the Hudgins were victims themselves of the previous Bellini crew---they lost deposits to Bellini's previous franchisee in the state, when the Bellini stores closed without warning.

Our beef with Bellini was not just the franchisees (who took the money) but with Bellini headquarters---the owners turned a deaf ear to consumer complaints, which we found shameful (and tarnished the brand as a whole). It's no surprise that Bellini has only 45 stores today, down from 60+ back in the 90's.

Still, we thought it was fair for readers in Chicago to give the new Bellini franchisee a shot. Feel free to post any opinions or experiences you have with the new store here.

Right Start sells recalled car seat, reader alleges

A reader sent in this rather distrubing story about a car seat purchase from the Right Start:

On Monday, April 7th, I ordered a Compass I420 infant car seat from www.rightstart.com.  When it arrived on Wednesday, I noticed the date of manufacturer was 05/13/2006.  I thought it was a bit odd that the car seat was two years old the day I took it out of the box, but I can appreciate that it takes a while to ship car seats from manufacturing plants to the retailers. 

This morning I decided to research Compass safety recalls.  I was surprised to learn that the only safety recall for Compass on file with the NHTSA was for the I420s manufactured from May 7 - 15, 2006.  When I called Right Start to discuss the fact that they sold me a recalled car seat, no apology was offered for selling me defective merchandise.  In Right Start's defense, they did agree to return the car seat and to waive the return shipping.  When I asked if there were any new I420s in stock, I was told that they only had one model number, which is apparently the same recalled one I bought. 

I contacted Compass to let them know that Right Start sold me a recalled car seat, and I also sent an email to Right Start customer service.  I haven't heard back from Right Start yet, but I wanted to let you know that Right Start sold me a recalled car seat!

This probably brings up a good point: always check your purchases against a recall list like those at recalls.gov. Don't assume that if you dealing with a name-brand retailer that you wouldn't get a recalled item!

Update: Our reader has just received this response from Right Start:

I am sorry for the delayed response, but we were waiting for a reply from Compass. The Car seat was a clearance item, thus the reason for the significantly reduced price and manufacture date. Right Start does not purposely offer unsafe merchandise, and if there are any issues that arise we will absolutely accommodate the customer and follow suggestions from the manufacturer. The product you received should have a 2" green sticker on the box that says "Compass Quality Checked". This sticker indicates that the seat has been inspected and does not fall under the details of the recall. If for some reason one seat slipped in our shipment in error Compass did say a repair kit was easily accessible by contacting their toll free number 1.888.899.2229. I know you stated you were not keeping the product, but I still wanted to explain all this to you.

Also, I am sorry if you felt Pat was not regretful of the situation, but she had actually opened the issue with they buyers and vendor immediately after your phone call and prior to your email. Sometimes customers don't want to hear sorry's, reasons, etc. they only want to be taken care of. While I am sorry you were not completely satisfied with Pat's response I do believe she did what she thought was best, but at times we can be wrong. So, for that I do apologize and can assure that Pat was very concerned after speaking to you.

BRU Registry caution: hassles with "online only" products

Reader Heather E. writes in today with a cautionary tale about "online only" items on Babies R Us' registry:

Hi~

First, I want to say I love both your BABY BARGAINS Book & Website. I have learn more from your information than from any other source.

I decided to register with BRU after the information you posted about Target's Registry on your blog.

A week ago I received some items via FEDEX from a family member from BRU. These items were items that I had deleted off the registry a couple of days beforehand. I was also alerted by this family member that my address was not listed correctly on the registry ( my mistake - didn't verify the information imputed by the BRU associate- I guess I figured she couldn't have messed up my address since she took it straight from my license). So, needless to say I was somewhat confused that this stuff came. The packing slip had been removed from the box and there was no additional paperwork inside of the box. Therefore, I called the BRU support line to see what was the best way to properly address this.

I was told by the associate that if the item was sold ONLINE ONLY than the item could be returned through the mail and only the purchaser would be credited. I was not eligible to receive any type of merchandise credit for products that are sold ONLINE ONLY. She did tell me that I could obtain a store credit only if the store carried the item. Thankfully, my local BRU carried the products and I was able to return.

Based on this new information, I had done some additional changes to my registry last night- mostly removing ONLINE ONLY merchandise. I noticed today that the registry had not updated. I called BRU support line and was told to give it 24 hours. Since there is a shower this weekend, I did not want to get caught with returning stuff again. So, I called again. I was told by the second agent that I had to clear the cookies on my computer - my argument to them was HOW DOES THE GIFT GIVER KNOW TO DELETE THEIR COOKIES IN ORDER TO SEE THE MOST UP TO DATE REGISTRY?? To that they could not supply an answer. It makes total sense why I received deleted items off of the registry.

I told the associate that I typically would not have a problem, but given how horrible their return policy is I didn't want to get stuck with stuff that I don't want. She told me that this is a recent policy update and that I should complain via the TRU Corporate Site under CONTACT US.

I am hopeful that BRU will finally get my registry to operate properly!

Dot-com bomb: Buy Buy Baby's online registry meltdown

Good news and bad news for fans of Buy Buy Baby, the popular East Coast chain of baby stores.

Good news: the store has just debuted a new web site with a cleaner look and revamped baby gift registry.

Bad news: the baby gift registry doesn't work, prompting a flood of complaints from our readers. The problems: the site was down all weekend---and now numerous items are listed as out of stock, leaving folks with upcoming showers wondering if they should switch registries.

Here is a typical email from reader Mary A.:

I am due in 8 weeks and recently registered at Buy Buy Baby for my shower, based on your recommendation. Wouldn't you know it -- the weekend my invitations went out, they decided to revamp their website and the ability to purchase off the registry online was completely down. I really think they should have warned registrants in advance, as most of my guests don't have kids and would only purchase online.
 
The phone number they referred people to is apparently a call center that services a few different stores, so my guests kept explaining to the operators that no, I wasn't registered at Bed Bath and Beyond, and they could provide no help on descriptions of products.
 
When the registry went up a couple of days later, it was pretty messed up -- you would click on certain items and the registry list would keep reappearing, rather than pulling up a description of the item. This problem has decreased in the past day or so, but is still an issue. Plus more than half of the items on my registry are out of stock.
 
The worst part by far is that I have faxed Buy Buy Baby and emailed several times and they just email back the same response, that they're working on it. I requested a phone call from someone three times, but have heard nothing. In the meantime, my guests are totally confused about what to do. For a store that prides itself on customer service, all I've heard is crickets. Not even an offer of a token store credit for my inconvenience.
 
Unless something drastic happens over the next couple of days, I am definitely done with Buy Buy Baby.

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(Mary follows up with this email):

It's been frustrating. If you go to my registry on the site, you'll see that more than half the links you click on don't work at all -- just bring you back to the registry page. Then about 90% of the items on my registry -- pretty normal items -- are listed as "out of stock." I know that glitches can happen, but right now I feel like an unpaid Buy Buy Baby guinea pig.
 
I did call a store yesterday, and the assistant manager called me back a couple of hours later letting me know that he was frustrated too, and couldn't get through to anyone except the people at the Call Center since they were bought out. He left a message with someone there, and I did get a call back from someone at their corporate office yesterday afternoon. She kept saying that people should just call the 800 number to order -- which, I explained, wasn't really working either. She transfered me to her supervisor who said she would call me back this afternoon.
 
This is not the end of the world, of course -- I've had a really healthy pregnancy, and the registry is just a blip on my life's radar screen. But if the supervisor doesn't help out this afternoon, I am just going to register at Babies r Us and hope the word gets out.
 
PS -- I bought my gorgeous wedding dress from a place in Boston you recommended in Bridal Bargains 6 years ago and saved $2500. You guys are the best!

Reader mail: BabyAge.com complaint about double order

Reader Catherine S. writes in this story about the service she received from BabyAge.com:

Hi!  I found your book to be incredibly valuable.  Thank you!

I wanted to report that BabyAge.com is a horrible website, with terrible customer service.  I ordered a car seat online (Britax Roundabout), and, after pressing 'purchase', the website displayed an error message stating that there was a technical error and the order did not complete.  I then proceeded to redo the order.  This was around 8pm.  Then, I went to bed (new baby!) 

When I got up in the morning, there were 2 confirmation emails...the same order 7 minutes apart.  Turns out that the website message was wrong, and the order had been placed!  I immediately sent an email to customer service to notify them of the duplicate order and cancel it.  No response.  Later that day, both orders shipped.  I then sent another email (maybe the next morning) asking how to handle the duplicate order, given that both had shipped.  No response.  I called later that day, several times, waiting on hold for 10 minutes each time before being sent to voicemail.  I did not leave a message.  The next day, I finally got through to customer service, who informed me that I would have to wait until I received them, then send the duplicate order back. 

When I did receive the orders, I noticed that both car seats were manufactured in May 2006.  I had previously spoken to Britax's customer service, who had informed me that the warranty on their products is one year from the date of manufacture.  So, both car seats were already out of warranty (I ordered in December 2007).  I called the return department to get the return information.  I asked that I not only get a full refund on both orders, but that BabyAge.com pay the shipping.  After much discussion/argument, they would not pay the shipping for either car seat, despite the fact that one was a duplicate order and both were outdated products!  They claimed that the duplicate order was my fault, and that I made the error, not the website.

Long story, but, in short, BabyAge.com is horrendous. 

Just wanted you to know.

Thanks! 

Catherine S.

Talbot's Kids to close; sale time!

Reader Jessica S. writes in with this bargain:

Hi

I don't know that news has spread, but I just wanted to let you know that about a week ago, Talbots announced that by September or October of '08 they will be closing ALL of the Talbots Kids locations. The good news? Closeout sales are the best! 30 to 50% off retail, sometimes more. The bad news? All Sales Are Final. Four worst words in retail, in my opinion. The closings are going to be spaced through the year, with the smaller, less productive stores going first. There wasn't any mention of the outlets closing, but with no new product coming in, one would assume that they would be closing too, probably later in the year.