View Full Version : Un Pram Friendly Shops!! Ahhh!
Just a vent.....don't you hate it when you go into a shop and there is just no way known to man that your pram is going to fit down the aisle?? I mean clothing shops, shoe shops, any kind of shop?? What do they think??? Oh just because I have a pram I don't want to go into any of these shops?? If I ever own a shop it will certainly be one thing that I am very conscious of...what about wheelchair bound people?
FourAngelKisses
20-05-2006, 10:04
This is one of my pet hates. Where I live there are only TWO pram accessable shops.....the chemist and the supermarket. The rest all have steps and heavy doors. I usually leave the pram outside and carry Matthew in, but some days I just drag it up the stairs and then struggle with the door. Of course, no one ever helps by holding open the door do they??
I did get caught out in Big W once, I paid for what I brought but then found that the pram wouldn't fit through the security things at the end, so I had to ask the 15-20 people behind me to back up so that I could get out. I was so embarrassed.
Shazbutt
20-05-2006, 10:05
Oh, well, think of all the business they're losing....serves them right. :mad:
But yeah, it sh**s me too. I can't go into a few of our local shops as my pram doesn't fit. I'd have to lug the baby around while trying to control my unruly toddler, and just don't have the patience to shop then....
Jeanette - I have done the same thing...in Coles, and had to ask if the people behind me could let me out....:o how embarrassment!
FourAngelKisses
20-05-2006, 10:07
And when you ask them to please excuse you while you get out, they all give you this nasty look don't they? I think all checkout aisles should be 1m wide, minimum!!
OscarTheGrouch
20-05-2006, 10:10
The supermarket checkout aisles really bug me. It drives me nuts having to put your groceries through and not being able to push the pram through the same aisle. Of all the supermarkets I use here in Sydney, not one has had a pram friendly aisle. Only the aisles for 12 items or under seem to accomodate prams. I wonder how people in wheelchairs get on? I have just been on holiday to NZ recently and all their supermarket aisles are big enough to fit prams through.
Mrs Little
20-05-2006, 10:46
We have done our groceries at a local Franklins store for the last 2 years.
When we had DS, we discovered on our first shopping outting, that our pram didn't fit through the checkout isle.
For a while i didn't say anything, as hubby was with me. So he'd unload the groceries on the belt and i'd go through the fast check out with my pram. I tried to do it with a big huff each time so they got the point.
Then one day ( was cranky before i even got the shops...lol) i'd had a enough! I spoke to the manager and said "If i was shopping by myself with the baby in the pram, how could i unload and pay for my groceries without having to go through the fast check out with a trolley or basket full.??" Her reply.." Just leave you pram and trolley over there and come and find one of us and then we'll find someone to open the checkout with the wide isle." WHAT??!!! As if i don't have enough to do with a baby and the groceries.....and then I have to find someone??? Aren't i the customer?
By the way...my sister was once wheelchair bound for 5 years. So i know the rights for wheelchairs.
So i told her that it wasn't good enough. Why can't the wide isle ( WHICH THEY HAVE BUT DON'T OPEN)...always be opened? She said that it's too hard to man.....what ****!
So i left the store in a huff and i called the Franklins customer number. The manager ended up ringing and speaking me. He was much more friendly.
I explained that these wide isles should be open at all times, for people with prams, wheelchairs or even pushers for the elderly. It shouldn't be at OUR inconvenience to find someone to open it and then wait. Why couldn't they just roster it as the checkout that is always manned. And i said that it should be labelled as the wheelchair accessible isle.
His response " We can't always man it. People have to go on breaks."!!!! " We have a wide isle? I didn't know that".
Why can't someone replace the person who goes on the break? I'm sure the wide isle checkouts are law to have...something to do with fair practises for the disabled?
Anyway...long story short...
:D I laugh everytime i go the store now. DH and i ( and my pram with DS in it) go to do the groceries and the wide checkout is NEVER opened. HA!! But by the time we get to isle 8 or 9 ..which is when we're nearly done...it's ALWAYS magically opened.
I'm sure they see me coming and get all ready for this crazy women with the pram!
So...my suggestion....speak up. Say something. Complain. It seems to have worked me.
Sorry for the long post...was great to vent about it though!:smiliedance:
Mrs Little & Son.
Haha Mrs Little, GOOD ON YOU!
Having to hunt somebody down just so that you can get out of the supermarket is just ridiculous! Like everyone mentioned what about wheelchair bound people and the elderly? Its unacceptable.
Do they not know the mission it is just to organise yourself to get to, through and from the supermarket? Feel a mothers wrath!!:D
Your probably not gonna like this but is having a pram a disability?
So you cant get into a shop?
Lift your child out.......or dont go in there....I dont have any issues with this...I'm a pram hater from waaaay back.
Chickadee
20-05-2006, 14:51
If you think it's bad now, just wait for christmas displays to go up :mad:
I agree that complaints are needed or nothing will get changed. For all those little shops, tell the owner or manager that you have several hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket that you'd dearly love to spend, and you can see some items in their store that you'd love to look at, but simply can't get into their store. If necessary you can ask another customer going into the store to ask the sales person or manager to come to the door to speak with you.
I think it's quite rediculous not having wider aisles.Anywhere.:mad: Today I went to my local Best n ' Less to get some baby clothes and the aisles there in the baby section are shockers!
I had to mow down racks of pram height clothing just to turn a corner and I ended up with several peices of clothing under my wheels that had got caught on the squeeze past.I just left them where they fell.:D My little protest!
I shouldn't have to take DD out and leave my pram full of shopping unattended,the aisles should be wider full stop.
.
Goosie22
20-05-2006, 15:56
Your probably not gonna like this but is having a pram a disability?
So you cant get into a shop?
Lift your child out.......or dont go in there....I dont have any issues with this...I'm a pram hater from waaaay back.
Me too (PRAM HATER)!
I use a sling, even with my 2 year old I managed to look around 35 display homes the other day without any trouble upstairs and all.
nemosmum
20-05-2006, 15:58
What about buying a shop-aisle friendly pram:thumbsup:
I bought the Quinny Zapp and it fits in anywhere!
Its fabulous :yes:
I know you's are talking prams but it just reminded me of something that happened to us the other day at Wollies.
Our 2nd woolies store opened up a little while ago.. and now having a baby, tried to get a baby trolley, didnt have the normal baby ones, they had "new" bigger trolleys and had a baby seat in them. anyways..
used one of them but when it came time to pay for the food, the trolley didnt fit through the checkout!! :eek: :eek:
She says "oh yeah, theyre new.... you'll have to pay here and get your trolley through another register"
Bugger that! there was only one they could get it through and it was packed! i would of had to wait, so i told her, im leaving it here and grabbing another... how bloody stupid ???!!!
my local supermarket doesnt fit the baby capsule trolleys thru the aisels!!:no: i have to shoot thru express and go back round to my checkout,all while dodging people waiting in line.
sure its easy enough to say"take your baby out of trolley/pram and walk in shop" but what about diasbled people?are they spose to jump out of their wheelchairs and walk???????
lukaelmo
20-05-2006, 18:48
Ah yes, I always think of wheelchairs, for us prams are but for a short moment in time...
lukaelmo
20-05-2006, 18:51
Me too (PRAM HATER)!
I use a sling, even with my 2 year old I managed to look around 35 display homes the other day without any trouble upstairs and all.
What kind of sling do you use? The dude is only really light, but sooo squiggly :laughing: . He gets a bit angry in his sling, he wants DOWN! NOW!
I have tried the ring sling, the one piece of material sling and the baby bjorn... I was thinking of trying some sort of backpack contraption next.
Okay, back to prams.....
Goosie22
20-05-2006, 19:21
What kind of sling do you use?
I have a Baba (http://www.babaslings.co.uk/instructions.htm) sling, and a homemade ring sling. I had one of those baby born type (baby hangers) I hated it very uncomfortable.
I have a hip carrier with a harness that holds bubba firmly to me.....all 11 kilo's of him...love it. I have a pram too....an umbrella stroller....but I still hate 'em!
Goosie22
20-05-2006, 21:50
:smiliedance: mine is 14kg now and he likes to piggy back, I put the shoulder strap out over my arm to cut the stress on my neck. He used to love the hip carry when he was still feeding but now hes a back boy.
claireandbailey
20-05-2006, 22:16
DOnt get me started on um pram friendly shops!!!
Today we went into sydney to do some shopping and we went into Victoria's Basement in Town Hall. Its hard enough to walk around in there at the best of times without worrying about knocking someting over. My mum was pushing my DD's pram and a lady that worked in the shop actually said to my mum " u know u shouldnt bring a pram in here its dangerous". i couldnt believe it. Lucky my mum didnt tell me wat the lady said until we had left because she would've copped and earful. How dare someone tell someone that they shouldnt have come in the shop just because they have a child in a pram. Wat are you supposed to do?? leave them outside the shop to amuse themselves???
Not that I shop there frequently in fact never...but was with a girlfriend who is childless and Supre have a sign that says no prams allowed....I had to wait outside while she went in and looked around....that was pretty bad!
For the pram-haters... I'm not sure if you've ever tried to carry a 3 year old and a 5 month old on your back. I'm thinking you would need to resort to a pram.. especiallly if you intend to carry things to a check out at the same time.
What i don't understand is why there are parent rooms (and disabled toilets for that matter), that have doors which weigh a tonne and are impossible to open, hold the door open AND push a pram (or wheelchair) through. Add another child to the equation, and you have chaos! :no:
Why they can't all see the importance of those automatic door opening buttons is beyond me! :confused:
I don't even bother going shopping for clothes if I have to take DD with. I tryed to take a pram into city beach once, (with very great difficulty), and the shop assistants were disgusted. I got the dirtiest looks from them.
Having said that, I know it's not the shop assistants/managers fault that stores are not pram friendly. In most cases it's the fatcats at headoffice just trying to squeze more and more stock into stores....more stock=more $$$$$.
cheezelkat
21-05-2006, 22:14
I tried to go shopping with a pram once - never again. It was awful.
I tried once to go clothes shopping with DS in a front-pack - doable, but not fun. I think if its *fun* shopping, DS can spend some time with Dad in the food court :D
Grpcery shopping, I always wear Liam because they never have enough of the baby seat trolleys :mad:
I just ram my way through!!!!
If they dont make things wide enough for a pram to get through then I push my way in & move things as I go :laughing:
I think it is rude, r they trying to tell us mummies that we r not welcome in there store :confused:
It makes me sooo mad :mad: Do you notice that not only the staff in the shops look at you with the "why are you in here with a pram look" but other customers in the shop look at you the same way as well !!!!:mad:
My funny little episode was in a crowded chemist shop when I first got my 3 wheel jogger pram I had been used to a very hard to push 4 small wheel pram as I tried to manouver my way around the shop a shop assistant stepped backwards and in front of my pram so I dodged her and yep I knocked a big "pretty" perfume display for a six . Now I was the one who copped the filthy looks...Not the dizzy pharmacy assistant who walked in front of me !! Listen to me raving on ..I just hate crowded shops....
jessgray
22-05-2006, 14:34
i hate trying to get into shops that arent pram friendly. i hate taking DS by myself to the supermarket coz i get wierd looks as a i load up a basket while he is in the pram. my pram that i use most when i go grocery shopping with DS is fairly bulky and a bit on the wide side. i often wonder how twin prams negotiate their way trhough overcrowded asiles at supermarkets or through stupidly desgined parent room doors.
i went into supre with my younger sister once with DS in a stroller (our other pram lol) and boy did i cop the filthy looks for bringing DS in to the store he was asleep so he couldt do much damage to their store lol
another one of my pet peeves is buses that arent pram friendly and when you are by yourself and you have to lug a pram up the steps to get on a bus its not fun.
cheezelkat
22-05-2006, 14:39
Don't get me started on buses or even public transport in general.
On the buses no one helps with the pram and the buses are so tiny the prams needs to be folded up. Impossible when you're holding a nappy bag and a baby as well!
Why is it people hate mums with prams? We can't live at home until the kids turn 18 :laughing:
It is so frustrating.:mad:
SassyDiva
22-05-2006, 14:51
Not that I shop there frequently in fact never...but was with a girlfriend who is childless and Supre have a sign that says no prams allowed....I had to wait outside while she went in and looked around....that was pretty bad!
OMG that is absolutly not acceptable. I am horrified. That's discrimination isn't it. I take my pram into Supre all the time and find the girls really helpfull in trying to help me push aside over stocked racks, if I saw a sign saying NO PRAMS i'd have to complain - our money is as good as anyone elses, we are customers and deserve some service.
When I get greasy looks (mostly from ppl trying to rush thru, xmas time is the WORST) i give them a nice big grin :D , do these ppl think they were born as adults and their mother never struggled with children, a pram, bulging nappy bag and groceries....please
FourAngelKisses
22-05-2006, 15:07
I hate it how people stand in the middle of shopping centres having a chinwag and wont move out of anyones way, even if they see you coming (or waiting for others to go past them so you can get past). When jacob was a couple of months old, we had to go around a group of people talking and a little girl (probably 7-8) stepped back, tripped over the pram and missed Jacobs stomach by less than half a cm with her hand. The women who were talking all just laughed, but they didn't know that Jacob had just had kidney surgery the week before and still had stitches in him. DH REALLY told them off for laughing at a girl almost squashing a baby.
yummymummy
22-05-2006, 18:52
I hate it when you are in Big W and there are lots of other mums in the kids section and they wont let you past, of all people they shoul understand ..........I totally feel your pain............But what about the lovely people that stop and open doors for you , Bless them:smiliedance:
Good grief! :eek:
I am also horrified by all these experiences. That is terrible.
Angel- I am surprised your DH stopped at that. I mean, even if your DS had not had an operation, crushing a baby is hardly amusement. :mad:
Some people! :no:
As for asking me to wait outside because I have a pram, I don't think the person that would dare do that to me and get away with it has been conceived as yet!
Who on earth do they think they are???
I absolutely agree with the person who pointed out, we are NOT the first, nor the last generation to use prams! Their day will come!
twins+another
24-05-2006, 13:40
Your probably not gonna like this but is having a pram a disability?
So you cant get into a shop?
Lift your child out.......or dont go in there....I dont have any issues with this...I'm a pram hater from waaaay back.
What is your suggestion for those of us with twins and can't just 'Lift your child out' ? Do you suggest we don't buy groceries?
MissBrightside
24-05-2006, 13:55
I hate this too! and I have always wondered about people in wheelchairs.
I remember I went into a $2 shop once I could just fit my pram through the aisle, but I thought I have just as much right as anyone else to be there. Anyway I came up this one aisle and there was 2 people standing there. I asked politely "excuse me" they just turned around and gave me greases. I just kept walking and they had to move, so more greases. I got mad and swore at em.
~Emmylou~
24-05-2006, 15:04
BIG W is the worst - all the checkout aisles are too narrow for my pram except one (which always has a looong queue with everyone else whose pram doesn't fit :banghead: ) and their baby section is hopeless! If there is someone standing in the aisle you want to look in forget it.
Best and Less isn't much better :mad:
And you would think young mums would be their main customers!
FourAngelKisses
24-05-2006, 15:21
Your probably not gonna like this but is having a pram a disability?
So you cant get into a shop?
Lift your child out.......or dont go in there....I dont have any issues with this...I'm a pram hater from waaaay back.
I only just found this comment. there is no way in hell I will leave my pram outside a shop if I am going to be in there for more than 30 seconds. If I did my pram would most likely be stolen. I, as a parent, have as much right to be in a shop as any other person.
How do people who are in wheelchairs manage? What are they supposed to do?? Leave their wheelchair outside??
What is your suggestion for those of us with twins and can't just 'Lift your child out' ? Do you suggest we don't buy groceries?
Get a skinnier pram.
Dont go out in public.
Never leave the house.
In seriousness......what I said was having a pram is NOT a disability.
I dont like them.....even though I own 2.
I dont lobby for 'wide pram rights' as I dont think its important.
Each to their own. I'm sure you'd respect me not using a pram as much as I dont have issues with you using one.
Just a footnote: Any mum with twins should be entitled to anything society can throw at her to make everything easier!!
SilverStarfish
24-05-2006, 15:41
Lucky for me, 3 month old DD loves being in her sling, so right now I avoid the problem and wear her when I go shopping.
When she gets bigger I'll have to enter the pram battle too :banghead:
Goosie22
24-05-2006, 22:37
When she gets bigger I'll have to enter the pram battle too
No you wont, she will love it (riding) even more then.
We used to own a small shop and the people we bought it off wouldn't allow prams inside. I was gobbsmacked one day when a lady came into the shop to ask if she could bring her pram in because her baby was asleep.
I'm sure I must have looked like an idiot when I said sure, not having realised the former owners stance on prams, but we had out bub behind the counter with me, he was 2 weeks old when we took over so there were always prams and baby bits and bobs everywhere!
sopolicha
25-05-2006, 15:32
DOWN! NOW!
I have tried the ring sling, the one piece of material sling and the baby bjorn... I was thinking of trying some sort of backpack contraption next.
Okay, back to prams.....
If you are keen for a backpack thing you should try the Ergo.
Sorry, back to prams.
andrewsmum
25-05-2006, 15:35
Cotton On Kids at Miranda Westfields - they sell 100% cotton baby and kids clothes at reasonable prices - problem is, I can't navigate my pram in there!!! The clothes racks are sooo tightly packed together and only room enough for one person to walk through. What can other mums with bubs do in a children's wear shop if they can't move in there?? Must be losing business this way. Sure won't be getting anything from me.:thumbsdown:
Ana Gram
25-05-2006, 15:38
I tried slings but we all hated them. They are the worst investion ever.
I would never be told that I wasn't allowed into a shop because I have a pram. I would go in any way, and knock everything off the shelves.
clairbear
25-05-2006, 16:23
Ha ha Chellegoth, picturing a mummy with pram gleefully knocking everything off the shelves:laughing: to the horror of shopkeepers!
If they want our business they should accommodate pram and wheelchair users alike!
I agree BIG W is shocking, only one or two pram friendly aisles and hardly ever open so I end up joining the big queue at the service desk to make my purchases, then have to exit out the front door and go throught he whole pram search rigmarole:mad:
I put off having a pram for as long as I could, had first son in a sling till he was 6 months...then had to geta big 3 wheeler jogger as it's the only one that doesn't give my dh and I backache (we are both over six foot), which I now tumble both kids into.
Our local supermarket is a bit of a hike and if I just want to grab something from IGA I can't, there are three poles in front of the bloody door to stop trolley theft I guess!
Love all your vents, and enjoyed having mine!
No, having a pram is not a long term disabilty...but having one and trying to get into shops, on public transport or anywhere has certainly opened my eyes to the plight of people who are permanently wheelchair bound and it sucks!:thumbsdown:
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