Vent on babies Garlore

[bekkyboo]

hey...

Needed a vent - After having a few false labour alarms and finding out that im starting to dilate now, DH and i got some cash together to pay out our layby (which has all of bubs stuff in - pram, seat, cot, everything....) - so we paid it out - over 1g, only to find out that most of the goods arent there, the baby monitor wont be in until end of june - my c-section is booked for 14th June. The layby was started in Feb....

Not only have they screwed this up - but they have forgotten about the things the first lady (who started the layby) put as free - for spending a certian amount. So now i have to prove that they were meant to be there.

This is the last thing i need right now, i need my things to get sorted out....

Anyone else have this problem?

[poshBecks]

oh no!!!! that is such bad service!!!

i'd write them a complaint letter!

[bekkyboo]

yeah, youd think they would be nice - concidering we spent 1600 there....


NOT HAPPY JAN

[poshBecks]

:banghead:
yeah, youd think they would be nice - concidering we spent 1600 there....


NOT HAPPY JAN
Exactly!!!!!!! :banghead:

[Pixie]

aww thats bad normally well whet I layby-d some things they asked my EDD and everything was there 2 months prior.

Complain ring them and explain..

[bekkyboo]

i rang 2 hours ago saying that i have about 3-4 weeks left, but i have started to dilate and have had a labour scare already this week, i need the items NOW... she said, ill ring and get the eta on the items and call you back...

Im going to call them again now...

[MrsMiggins]

Keep onto them, they're normally pretty good.

When we had our stuff all on layby, we rang them just before we were going to make the big drive down to Morayfield to go pick it all up & I am so glad we did, as most of it hadn't yet arrived!!

I told them that we needed it ASAP & that this was simply not good enough & let me tell you, credit where credit's due, they were brilliant!! So good in fact that I have returned there to shop on several occasions since.

They rang around & got all the stuff there within 2 days I think it was.

Best of luck with it all!!

[bekkyboo]

rang them again then - funny enough this lady put me on hold for 5 min to call the company to get the eta....

So here is where i stand now....

Pram - 10 days
Car seat - out of stock - but prob around 10 days
Bassinette mattress - unsure as i just called in measurements (that was my bad!)
Baby mointor - end of june - gunna get a refund (wanna hope so for $200)
Nappy bag - Friday
Cot mattress - in stock now
change table pad - in stock now
change table pad cover thingo - in stock now.

I think it is all in who you speak too - cause when i called then i found out that the girl i orginally spoke to was out on lunch - so much for a quick call then call me back....

[Oscar's mum]

Wow I always thought when you layby something that they would have it in stock!:eek:

[andrewsmum]

Ooh, that's not good especially since you had put them on lay-by in February. I thought stores weren't allowed to sell anything that had been put on lay-by.

As you are already dilating and had a labour scare as well, I would probably look into hiring the hospital's capsule (if they have such a service) until you get your carseat and pram. Worth a thought should you have your baby before 10 days is up?

Use the cot in the meantime while waiting for the bassinette mattress?

That's not really good of Babies Galore. Get onto upper management if you can, maybe they can transfer the stock from other stores. Good luck.

[bekkyboo]

thats what we thought, especially with 3-4 months to get it into stock!!!! when we layby'd them they were in stock, so i think they must sell what ever if you by on the spot, take them off the layby and sell them...

Well here is what i am telling my little bubba - stay cooking for at least another 10 days!

[mythreelittlemonkeys]

that is so bad - how does that work..didnt they have them in when you laybyed? If they did they were yours and they shouldnt have sold them...and you are not telling me they not had any in since...
I would be having a major panic/anger attack! - yeh go to your regional head office with it...and then if no luck one of those ghastly shows aca or tt! thats so pants Bekky! Can you get your monitor anywhere else??

[mum33]

can they have the items that are not at that store, brought in from another store???

[bekkyboo]

hey there junie :D

Prob could get it elsewhere, but i dont think i will - it was the angelcare sound and movement monitor... Think ill leave my paranoia at the door, and just get a stock standard target one... save myself some money - they wouldnt cost that much would they?

[Riles]

Hey, that sounds crappy. You poor thing. You've got enough to worry about... I would get refund on everything that they don't have available and go to Babyco or someone else and get what you need., Maybe when you say this they might back pedal and magically find some stock at another store... so Annoying. I had same problem with my pram.. unfortunately at my work when a customer gets really cranky they usually get what they want.. Sad really

Not sure if anyone else had this happen but just to let you know I had AngelCare Sound and Movement monitor and thought it would set my mind at rest BUT the ALARM for no breathing (movement) kept going off and giving me a HEART ATTACK everytime. It would go off every 20mins so I would hit the wall and go rushing in to check my son. It was so horrible and we were nervous wrecks after third nite of using it so I returned it. The lady said when I returned it that she had had several returned. I got just basic one for $80.00 and its great.. Not sure if we just had bad batch but it was a nightmare..

[cwsmum]

GRRRRR :mad: Now I know why I don't shop there...I was ignored the only time I ever went in there so I never went back...Babyco weren't much better.

Have you seen the baby monitors that have a video camera in them? If you really are worried about keeping a close eye on bub you could get one of those, I think Target has them...they work in the dark too apparently:thumbsup:

Hope you get everything sorted before bub comes.

[Oscar's mum]

GRRRRR :mad: Now I know why I don't shop there...I was ignored the only time I ever went in there so I never went back...Babyco weren't much better.



Babyco now don't get me started on how rude the staff at the local shop to me are! Hmmmm:mad:

[Spewiesmum]

Did you go to Loganholme by any chance? We had the exact same problem. Some goods were taken off the floor on the day but one or two disappeared by the time we came to collect them. Our carseat took an extra 2.5 months to get to us. The change table we wanted was no longer available by collection day so they had to give us a different one. We were due in October and while I can't remember when we put the layby on, by September I was telling them I was due "any day" in the hope they'd get all the gear together.

[hummingbird]

We had a shocker with Babies Galore aswell. We had done the online registry and its was a debacle. 10 weeks later and we are still waiting for them to call to let us know if one of hte items someone bought for us has come in. They told us it would take three days! To be honest I had forgotten all about it until I just read this post.

[OscarTheGrouch]

Babyco now don't get me started on how rude the staff at the local shop to me are! Hmmmm:mad:
Same here. Extremely rude!!!:mad:

[mum33]

Babyco now don't get me started on how rude the staff at the local shop to me are! Hmmmm:mad:

they were great with this nervous new mum....:thumbsup: (well mum to be at the time). very happy with the service i recieved from them...

that was at the bankstown store here in sydney.

[bekkyboo]

yeah it was loganholme... wow they have a rep for doing this - wish i knew before hand.

We went in to get the things they said had turned up to be in stock... and get the refund for the monitor, and wowie - things just magically appear when you bring your husband with you...

The pram - which was meant to be out of stock, appeared. The nappy bag - also 'out of stock' was out the back all wrapped with our name on it and all. The bassinette mattress - that had to be 'specially ordered' was up the back of the store, with my choice of design....

So all that is left is the car seat, which they will 'call' me about tomorrow... Ive told them that ill give them a couple of days to get it... if they dont get it, then refund....

Absolutly insane - there is no way ill shop there again.

But on a side note - I LOVE my new bertini sports shuttle. Its real purty....

[Briswegian]

Take the time out to write a letter....you tend to get free stuff...I do it all the time.
Tell them exactly what the problem was, how if adversely affected you, and then what you would like done about it. If you are fair dinkum about not shopping there and are telling all your friends...then they will want to make you happy.

My most recent complaint is to a hotel we stayed at on holidays and i'm asking for a written apology and a refund...they probably won't refund but I will then ask for travel vouchers...so have somewhere to go, a next thing to ask for and ask for a written response within 7 days or something like that. It works! :)

[Harry&Max's Mummy]

The only problem is that all Babies Galore stores are franchises so all are owned by different people. Found this out with a similar problem as well. The Randwick store in sydney is excellent

[SilverStarfish]

Is this about the store near the Hyperdome?

We bought our stroller and car seat from there. The stroller was out of stock, it took weeks and weeks and at least 2 reminder phone calls from us before we finally got it.

[luckie_me]

When I first moved up to the gold coast I went into Babies Galore to put on a layby but no one wanted to talk to me!! So... I went to Baby Co and they were great! Got a free Rocker So i was Pretty happy with that too! I will go back there but they are a little pricey, mind u i went and put everything on layby and then the next week they had a big sale!! pretty much on the things i had got too!!!Arrgh! That makes me :mad: !! But as far as Babies Galore go... they can stick their baby stuff were it fits!!:thumbsdown:

[kiwibird27]

Call straight to HEAD OFFICE - cry alot, yell alot - don't get off the phone till they guarantee delivery on time!!!!

[buzzing bee]

Hi All

We had problems with babies galore as well and our pram was not in by the time the laybuy was up and we had paid all the money off. All our stuff was delayed and the staff were never concerned that it was late. Mind you they were very nice when you laybuy $1000.00 worth of products. We ended up getting our pram somewhere else and it was supposed to be out of stock at the manufacturer. I now go to pram city, the staff are nice and they have plenty of stock.

[Briswegian]

WOW, the loganholme store sounds REALLY bad. I got my stuff from the keperra store and they were great except there was a baby love guy there stalking us trying to get us to buy babylove car seats and bagging out all the other ones.

Just wondering if it is mainly the logan store so I know where to recommend to friends. as it was three years since I bought my stuff.

[bekkyboo]

yeah it was the one near the hyperdome...

We have everything now except the car seat, Ill give them a call in an hour and see how that one is going.

Im going to write a letter of complaint - i find i roll over to easy if i have to talk or anything, DH does that much better than me.

Talking to a friend who went in there the other day to get a gift for a baby shower, the chick said they were out of stock - but said "ill go see if i can pull one out of layby for you".... this is where their problem is, they are selling stock and not replacing it.

[Tam-I-Am]

Hi Bekkyboo,

I'm sorry you've had such an awful time of it with your layby. I'd be really very stressed and p!ssed off!

I've just done a search of the office of Fair Trading in QLD to find out what the stores obligations are in regards to holding the items that you layby-ed. While a layby is generally accepted to be an agreement that the store will hold on to the merchendise you have requested until it is all paid off, unfortunately there is no legislation regulating it QLD at the moment - so each store basically makes up their own policy - here's some information I found:


What is a lay-by?
A lay-by is an agreement between you and the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper agrees to hold the goods for you until you can pay them off. Your goods are kept at the shop until you pay the final amount.
Lay-by is a popular way to buy goods because there are no credit charges. However, in Queensland when you take out a lay-by, you are entering into a contract which requires you to abide by certain conditions. These conditions are set by the trader.
Because there are no lay-by laws in Queensland it is common to find that conditions change from store to store.
Before you lay-by, be sure you are aware of all the terms and conditions and get them in writing from the trader.
Your written lay-by agreement with the trader should include:

total price of the goods
deposit paid
time intervals for payment (every week, every second week)
maximum length of the lay-by
a description of the goodsIf you do break your lay-by agreement you could lose the money already paid on the lay-by as well as the goods. You need to check this out before accepting the lay-by.
If it is the trader who breaks the lay-by agreement you as the consumer at least are entitled to get your money back.


If you want to check out the information for yourself, here's the website:
http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/oft/oftweb.nsf/Web+Pages/244A8F2FC1A4AAAF4A256B570020BD17?OpenDocument

I would definately be writing a letter of complaint to them, though!

Good luck, hope your bubba holds off til you've got everything!

[bekkyboo]

*update*

Called them about the baby seat (they were meant to call me yesterday morning) - low and behold - they can not get my car seat in the colour that i wanted anymore - strangely enough, they had one on display in the store.

Rang fair trading, we are getting a full refund, and i am going to write a letter of complaint stating all the problems, how annoyed i am, how many ppl i have spoken to have come accross this problem with this store (thanks everyone!) and what i want to happen now.

Any suggestions on what i should be demanding in return for all this hassle. They offered 15% off a different coloured car seat - but DH thinks thats not enough, and didnt matter cause we didnt want that one....

Any suggestions would be great, the chick at fair trading said its best for me to actually state what i want...

HELP ME PLEASE :D

[Harry&Max's Mummy]

I would tell them i wanted a more expensive carseat for the price of the one you originally ordered and perhaps a gift voucher or another item for their incompetance and out of good faith.....as their prior customer service was nothing to write home about. Remind them also more people discuss with family, friends etc negative experiences in stores rather than good and let them know that your pregnant girlfriends will now be going to a direct competitor and remind them to have a nice day...

[FourAngelKisses]

Free carseat :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Bronte Pot-Pot]

I have to say I wasn't too impressed with babies galore when I went either everything was more expensive than other places I had been to - I got most of my stuff from Baby Bizz they were wonderful and really helpful. Also Baby n Things I think is called at Mt Gravatt the staff there have always been really helpful to me there. Oh and another place that I can't go past for service is DJ's they are always good on service there too.

I actually got my monitor from Toy's r us can't remember the brand name now though but it was good for my peace of mind - but it is very much a personal thing whether to have a monitor or not.

Oh and I think try at least 40% off the car seat - I doubt you'll get it free but hey nothing ventured nothing gained :) And remind them that your talking about their recompense will impact on what you tell your pregnant friends who tell their pregnant friends etc. etc. :ecomcity:

there i go again :ecomcity: shutting up now :-)

[Briswegian]

Ask for what you'd really really like....if it's a free car seat, then ask for that. They can only say no and offer you something better than the 15% that they've already offered.

Re baby monitors, I bought a fisher price sounds and lights off ebay for $30!! Works perfectly as I can't hear the baby when I'm downstairs or outside without it.

[bekkyboo]

Here is the letter - Can you see if it makes sence.... havent quite finished it yet, but want to make sure that im going about it right.

Management,

Jason and I took out a lay-by at your store on 27th February 2006. We found the service be incredibly poor as we were ignored for quite some time after we entered the store. Jason decided that if we were not acknowledged with in the next 10 seconds we would leave the store. In retrospect, I wish that we had have left then.

We were taken around the store by sales person “c” (as stated on the lay-by docket), she was very helpful, although I believe she did mislead me on the contents of some items. We were led to believe that construction zone 6 piece cot set contained a nappy stacker, laundry hamper and a lamp. We were led to believe this as she stated “You get everything here in this one” – pointing out the laundry hamper – which was the selling point for us. It was not until I got the lay-by home that I found out that it did not contain the items I was led to believe it did. If I had have known this at the time of purchase – there is no way I would have bought the item.

When we took out the lay-by we informed the sales person that we should be able to pay the entire amount of straight away ($1620.60), but if something were to go unexpectedly wrong, where we able to pay it as a normal lay-by. She stated that as long as we made regular payments (she told us it didn’t have to be weekly) that there was no set term as long as the payments were made. Due to some family problems, we were not able to pay the amount as we expected, so we proceeded to pay as much as we could as often as we could.

Due to a serious labour scare on 15th May 2006, Jason and I decided it would be best to come up with the remanding amount owing ($1010.60), so that we had all that we needed before the birth of our child. On Tuesday 16th May we came into the store, and paid the remaining amount, in cash, only to find out that the majority of our items were not in stock. Jason and I were very shocked to find this out. After some research with the Fair Trading Department of QLD, I was able to find the definition of a lay-by. According to Fair Trading Queensland “A lay-by is an agreement between you and the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper agrees to hold the goods for you until you can pay them off. Your goods are kept at the shop until you pay the final amount.” This is the reason we were surprised that our items were not in stock. All accept 2 items were in-stock the day that we took out the lay-by. Therefore, by this definition from fair trading, all bar 2 of our items should have been available that day, not 3 out of 8.

The next day I rang your store to see about when our other items would be arriving. Leanne informed me that she would ring the suppliers and call me straight back. As these items are very important to my husband and myself, I waited by the phone for this call, after 2 hours I called your store back myself to find out what had happened. Chris answered and informed me that Leanne was on her lunch break. This is an example of your staff’s shocking customer service. Not only had she not rung me straight back, but she had not even made the call she was meant to. Chris called the supplier for me, while I was on hold, and found out that our Bertini Sports Shuttle would be here in 10 days, and that our Aunger car seat was out of stock. We had discussed the fact that our angelcare sound and movement monitor would not be in stock till the end of June. This we found to be unacceptable. Our c-section is booked for the 14th June, and the fact that the lay-by was taken out months ago, well and truly was enough time to get this item into stock before our due date, we decided to get a refund for this item and shop for it elsewhere. After discussions with your staff about the items that we were meant to be receiving as ‘freebie’ for spending over $1500.00, we decided to make yet another trip into your store to collect these items, and get a refund on the baby monitor. When we arrived at the store, we were informed that they were able to ‘find’ a Bertini Sports Shuttle for us, but the gr8 x nappy bag would still not be in until Friday 19th June. Although when the staff member went out the back to get the items that were in stock, our bag “appeared”. At this point my husband and I were extremely displeased with the service from your store. Your staff appeared to lack in communication with each other, yourselves and your suppliers, and your customers are the ones that are suffering.

I was informed on Wednesday 17th June that I would be called first thing on Thursday (18th June) morning to be informed of when the Aunger car seat would be in stock. Although both my husband and I noticed there was one on display in the store on all of our visits during this week (15th – 19th June). I waited at home for the call all Thursday – but I received no call from your store. I waited until after lunch on Friday 19th June to call your store back to chase up the information about the car seat. Staff member Emma informed me that she had been passed on the job of sorting this out, which I was rather offended that even after all of this, I was still not informed of what was going on. Emma proceeded to tell me that the Aunger car seat was not available in blue which we had paid for (although that is the one that was on display), and that we could receive a red one at 15% off, select a different car seat or get a refund. After contact with my husband, we both agreed that 15% was not nearly enough to make up for all the short falls in service from your staff or the hassle this entire experience has caused us. We did not want the red seat, so we have no choice but to opt for a full refund.

My anger about this whole situation has led me to talk to many people about the service from your store. Many people have informed me that this problem has occurred with your store before, this information I wish I had known previously, as there is no way I would have shopped at your store with a reputation as it is. I was also informed from a person that when they shopped in your store and something wasn’t in stock that they wanted right then, the staff member offered to pull it out of lay-by for them. Drawing back to the definition given by the department of Fair Trading, I find this grossly unfair. I have informed many of my pregnant friends about my problem with your store, and all have now decided to not shop with Babies Galore, and to inform all their friends of the problems I have experienced.

I have called the Department of Fair Trading, who advised me to write this letter of complaint, and to take the refund for the Aunger cars seat.

Jason and myself would like to be reimbursed for all of the trouble we have been put through with your store in way of a formal apology and

[Oscar's mum]

The letter sounds good!;) Who are you sending it to though? I would send it to the head of Babies Galore and one to the store.

[Bronte Pot-Pot]

Here is the letter - Can you see if it makes sence.... havent quite finished it yet, but want to make sure that im going about it right.


I was informed on Wednesday 17th June that I would be called first thing on Thursday (18th June) morning to be informed of when the Aunger car seat would be in stock. Although both my husband and I noticed there was one on display in the store on all of our visits during this week (15th – 19th June). ...........


I assume you actually mean May in these dates?

apart from that good letter!

Bron

[bekkyboo]

im not sure who, i was gettting the impression today that they are each separtely owned francises.

Its not too rude or anything??? I thought it was best to put in dates, names and full item description as much as possible to make sure they know exactly why its so frustrating.

Still deciding on what i want from them, I dont really want the car seat, i wanted the blue aunger one, and if they cant get it, ill get it elsewhere.

How would i word 'more freebies' - i was thinking some more cot and bassinett linen, or something...

[Harry&Max's Mummy]

Hi
The letter sounds great, if you look on their web page it used to display the franchisee's names and in the cataloge. I have just checked my cataloge and now it just has their address. If you cannot find the name get someone to ring the store and ask the owners name? just to address the letter personally to them

[Briswegian]

Great letter. I would personally leave out the bit about telling others about the store. At this stage you are looking for them to compensate you. If they think you are already a lost cause to their business and have already slated them to everyone else, then they may be less inclined to help. I would leave the letter at this stage as you've done...what happened and how it affected you and what you want. As far as freebies, say you would accept (a) refund or (b) range of complimentary accessories for your purchases (ie: bedlinen etc give some examples of what you'd accept).
Then you can send a letter after all is settled saying that you believe this to be an ongoing problem with the store and not just a one off....
Just a suggestion.

[bekkyboo]

Just rang Autobarn - carseat is there, in the colour we wanted and cheaper, so we are going to go get it!!!! yay...

Still trying to figure wording for give me free stuff. I dont want discount cause i dont want to spend any more money there, i have already spend 1600....

:D

thanks everyone for all your help, it has made this whole experience alittle better.


Oh got a friend to ring for names -they wont give out names of the owners...

[Oscar's mum]

Don't forget to add that you are awaiting their response.;)

[bekkyboo]

thanks danielle, i have taken out some of that. I have left in that i found it to be an ongoing problem, and that they take things out of lay-by for other customers. The owners mightnt know about that these things are happening.

[meiko]

Great letter, I would be so ****ed off too. I shop at their Moryfield store and have had no problems.

Did you get your Angel Care monitor, I got mine at target so much cheaper and I noticed the other day that k-mart now stock them.

Good luck I hope that you hear back from them soon.

[Rachael]

Did they ever give you a date that all the items would be instock by?

I have shopped at the same store(Logan or Loganholme one don't remember name of suburb lol) and found everyone to be helpful, especially Chris who was nice enough to answer the hundreds of questions my husband asked her.

Goodluck with getting everything sorted out, it is sad that it happened to you because they have such a good range of items there.

Hubby and I plan to go back regularly to spend our voucher and use our loyalty card.