Big name store losing touch? (Mothercare)

Member Name: Heatheruk

Product:	Mothercare
Date:	27/07/03 (1398 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Large selection, Good to view and compare

Disadvantages: Poor customer service, Over priced, Appaling after sales care

Mothercare, it has always been known as the biggest name for baby gear and equipment, and still is the first point of call by many parents and parents to be, though does it still deserve this status?


The stores:

Found all over the country, Mothercare (in town) and the larger out of town Mothercare World's sell everything you could possibly need for a new baby. From prams car seats and cots through totoys and clothing as well as maternity essentials there is a wide reange of brands including many items by Mothercare themsleves. The shops are large and generally have the majority of items on show, along with changing areas and an easy to follow layout (expertly designed with the necessary buggy space!)

Advantages:

Mothercare's selection makes it a great one stop shop and it is easy to try and compare lots of different items. Particuarly for prams / car seats Mothercare is an excellent first stop. The staff are all well trained and know a lot about the products.

Disadvantages:

Whilst knowlagable staff is a must, unfortunately in many Mothercare stores there appears to be too few staff, resulting in you having to hunt them down, each store varies and in a few staff seem a little more reluctant to help.
Whilst there is a great range I personally would not choose to buyat Mothercare, use them to decide which model you are interesteMothercare, it has always been known as the biggest name for baby gear and equipment, and still is the first point of call by many parents and parents to be, though does it still deserve this status?


The stores:

Found all over the country, Mothercare (in town) and the larger out of town Mothercare World's sell everything you could possibly need for a new baby. From prams car seats and cots through totoys and clothing as well as maternity essentials there is a wide reange of brands including many items by Mothercare themsleves. The shops are large an
d generally have the majority of items on show, along with changing areas and an easy to follow layout (expertly designed with the necessary buggy space!)

Advantages:

Mothercare's selection makes it a great one stop shop and it is easy to try and compare lots of different items. Particuarly for prams / car seats Mothercare is an excellent first stop. The staff are all well trained and know a lot about the products.

Disadvantages:

Whilst knowlagable staff is a must, unfortunately in many Mothercare stores there appears to be too few staff, resulting in you having to hunt them down, each store varies and in a few staff seem a little more reluctant to help.
Whilst there is a great range I personally would not choose to buyat Mothercare, use them to decide which model you are interested in and then shop around, prices are not very competitive and you will often find better deals at Babies r us, online store such as Kiddicare.com and even local independant shops. The clothing selection is a little drab, and please if you are pregnant, keep some style maternity wear at Mothercare has remained in 1980. Again pricing on clothing is a little too expensive.
Should you buy an item from Mothercare (in particular larger items of equipment) then be aware of the lack of assistance should something go wrong. The guarentees mean little as Mothercare will often try to blame you use of an item on a fault, and should you try to go to a different branch they will deny all responsibilty. "Mothercare branches are all independent" as I was told by one manager.

My experience:

Like most Mum's to be I went to Mothercare for a mad buy of everything you can imagine, if it was meant to aid peace and quiet I brought it! My shopping experience was good and I was able to find everything you could imagine at the store (Mothercare World, Purley Way). I steered clear of the drab maternity wear but purchased a car seat, bou
ncer, pram, sling, bottles, steriliser (ok you get the picture).

Soon after I started noticing many of the items I had brought far cheaper else where, for example my steriliser was £15 pounds cheaper at Tesco, and the pram was £35 cheaper at online. Since that trip any items I have seen at Mothercare I have looked for elsewhere, and not once have I found Mothercare to be the cheapest.

Then came the car seat saga....... by pure chance I was looking on the Mothercare website (mothercare.co.uk) and noticed in tiny writing that my car seat had been recalled due to a safety fault. Mothercare had failed to make let customers know that these car seats had been found not to be safe.

And the pram? Well first the mechanism that folds the pram down started to fail, or rather work to well and was folding with my son inside, then a wheel fell off. The first trip to fix it I was told it woudl need to be sent away, but that they could loan me a pram in the meantime. Great I though, until I saw the loan model. An old tatty and dirty buggy, with no lie back fuction or protection and certainly not suitable for a new born baby. So they sent me an hour in the other direction to another branch, where it was fixed in store. Great! But no one week later the faults reappeared, (still under guarentee might I add) and so aanother trip, this time back to the largest Mothercare World within driving distance. Here I was told that it could not be fixed because another branch had already loked at it, oh and also the faults were my fault anyway as I had used the pram up and down curbs and on uneven ground! Well sorry, but I hadn't realised that prams were for ornimental use only! Eventually after much debate, 2 hours of hanging around the pram was fixed, to last another 6 weeks before it was binned and I went elsewhere to buy a new buggy.


Other info:


Mothercare have a catalogue and you can order over the phone for a reasonable delivery cha
rge. To obtain a catalogue, place an order, or locate stores near to you call:
08453 304030

Also the website is availible, a little bland but ok to navigate:
www.mothercare.co.uk

Alternative shops to try:

Babies 'r' us
Kiddicare.com
Next for Clothing
Tesco, Wilkinsons and Asda also have a some baby equipment at great prices.
Major department stores.


In summary:

Go, browse, milk the advice, pick your favourites, then shop elsewhere for them!

Summary: