Car Seat Advice from a baby store associate....

HappyMommy · Apr 22, 2010

So I was at the baby store the other day looking at car seats and this is what I witnessed:
A customer is looking at convertible car seats.
In walks the store associate.
- Customer: "I need a car seat. Which one is the best car seat?"
- Store Assoc: "Britax is THE BEST"
- Customer pointing at the TF: "What about this seat?"
- Store Assoc.: "The cover will be completely ruined after just one wash"
- Customer pointing at the EFTA: "And this?"
- Store Assoc.: "This is just a terrible seat"
- Customer, holding the headwings of the CA:"This looks like it would protect the head well"
- Store Assoc.: "No, this is just air, it's useless. Britax is THE BEST"
- Customer: "So all these other car seats are just for show then?"
- Store Assoc.: "Yes, that's it."
- Customer: "OK, I'll get the Britax then"
Customer walks out the store with a RA50.

OMG!!!!!!!! LOL

MomToEliEm · Apr 22, 2010

Wow! That salesperson must really like Britax. If that had been me at the store, it would have taken a lot of willpower not to go over and talk to that salesperson. Britax is good, but it isn't way better than all those other seats.

jeminijad · Apr 22, 2010

I have to say that I don't understand why people expect to get car seat advice from the hourly retail worker who happens to have been stuck in car seats/strollers that day/week.

When I go into Home Depot, I don't for a minute think that the guy wandering around by the roofing nails can give me an accurate asessment of what my needs are for MY roof, with all of its variables. Same goes for any big box establishment. They are great for what they are, which is a place that you need to figure out what you need, yourself, and then go get it.

I know there is a member or two here that works for BRU... their customers are insanely lucky. Everyone else needs to do their own homework!

mommycat · Apr 22, 2010

I would not have been able to resist that. All in the guise of innocent, questioning, "but I heard that...." comments, to press the details (or lack there-of) from the sales rep. I'm mean that way.

HappyMommy · Apr 22, 2010

Agreed, the customer is acting just as crazy as the store associate. I can't beleive she made a decision in 5 minutes at the store about which car seat to buy!!! She walked out with a RA 50 and had probably no idea what she had just bought, probably did not know anything about weight/height limits of her seat...etc. Just surreal!!!
Oh, I forgot a line in the conversation, just edited my original post...

mommycat · Apr 22, 2010

It is sad to think, but I would be willing to bet that more people than not shop for car-seats this way. Or with even less interest, not asking anyone which one is the best, and just taking the cheapest one off the shelf.

Maedze · Apr 22, 2010

You know, I'm not that willing to show contempt towards the parent.

That's how *I* shop for things I don't know anything about. I do a little reading before hand, and then I ask the clerk.

In fact, I just bought a Curve, when I thought I was going to buy a Droid, based on the recommendation of the 12 year old manning the Verizon booth, on the very reasonable assumption that he knows a hella lot more about smartphones than I do.

In fact, I've asked for advice from the clerk every time I've made a major purchase in an area I didn't have much intrinsic knowledge. This doesn't make the parent a 'bad' parent.

Was the advice she got completely eye-roll worthy? Yeah, of course, and I probably wouldn't have been able to keep my yap shut had I been standing there

But what the parent did wasn't stupid.

HappyMommy · Apr 22, 2010

Yeah, but the parent did not even check to see if the seat would even fit her child...It might not even fit the child! But I agree, the store associate is far worst than the parent...

joolsplus3 · Apr 22, 2010

I love when people ask me, oh, anything, in the carseat department. If they don't ask me a thing? Well, they deserve that Summit, I think

I try to keep my workmates informed, and BRU definitely teaches us that all seats meet the same standards... that doesn't mean you'll get totally awesome advice from all of us, but we don't push any brands on people

Mommy2Marcus · Apr 22, 2010

HappyMommy said:
Yeah, but the parent did not even check to see if the seat would even fit her child...It might not even fit the child! But I agree, the store associate is far worst than the parent...

Before I knew anything about car seats I bought a Safety 1st All In One. Never did I EVER think to check to make sure it fit my child properly before buying it. I just bought it, read the instructions, installed it & used it. I did spend more than 5 minutes picking it out though. It fitting a child is just not something that most parents think about as most convertible are labeled for 5lb babies even though some of them will never fit a 5lber. So she probably never thought about it not fitting her child.

jeminijad · Apr 22, 2010

"Bad parent," certainly not.

When I was 19, I worked at Wal-Mart (try not to lynch me.) They put me in the Hardware department. Mostly, I mixed paint. I also answered questions all day long from adult homeowners about whether they should use TSP to power wash their house, what level of paint solids were in Dutch Boy, whether the Minwax varnishes were safe during pregnancy (!) and many, many other questions I was in no way qualified to answer. I read the packages and did my best.

The customers assumed I knew more than them, by virtue of standing near the power tools all day I suppose

There are going to be some exceptions- my little brother worked for Verizon, and they do attain a certain techical level of expertise and get some training in their jobs. They also do one thing all day, with one type of product that by its nature is not a safety item. Taking advice from them is significantly different from someone blithely spraying their $300k house down with God knows what that the teenage clerk at Walmart told them to get, or sticking their most precious possession into an improperly fitted, unecessarily expensive, fill in the blank is wrong with it car seat because they didn't do any reading online!

HappyMommy · Apr 22, 2010

At the end of the day, it's just sad that there isn't better information out there to help parents pick a good car seat...

mommycat · Apr 22, 2010

HappyMommy said:
At the end of the day, it's just sad that there isn't better information out there to help parents pick a good car seat...

Well, other than here. Sad that there isn't better, readily accessible to anyone, information out there. The more information we manage to give out about what to look for in a seat, and how to check fit, etc and that it's important, the more it will (hopefully) spread to become general public knowledge. One can hope. I am always thnking with this in mind - every person that I help get more information or learn how to install and tighten will probably know or meet at least one other person who then has a baby and they can pass on the advice.

BabyKaykes · Apr 22, 2010

Maedze said:
You know, I'm not that willing to show contempt towards the parent.

That's how *I* shop for things I don't know anything about. I do a little reading before hand, and then I ask the clerk.

In fact, I just bought a Curve, when I thought I was going to buy a Droid, based on the recommendation of the 12 year old manning the Verizon booth, on the very reasonable assumption that he knows a hella lot more about smartphones than I do.

In fact, I've asked for advice from the clerk every time I've made a major purchase in an area I didn't have much intrinsic knowledge. This doesn't make the parent a 'bad' parent.

Was the advice she got completely eye-roll worthy? Yeah, of course, and I probably wouldn't have been able to keep my yap shut had I been standing there But what the parent did wasn't stupid.

pssssst...you should have got the Droid.....

BookMama · Apr 22, 2010

HappyMommy said:
At the end of the day, it's just sad that there isn't better information out there to help parents pick a good car seat...

Well, there is, if parents would take the time to do a little research.

Maedze · Apr 22, 2010

BabyKaykes said:
pssssst...you should have got the Droid.....

The clerk's opinion was that Curve was more user friendly for a first time smartphone owner.

(The fact that I could get the Curve for 30 dollars also impacted my decision

)

BabyKaykes · Apr 22, 2010

Based on online reveiws, I picked the AOE for my godson at 9mths.

I was overwhelmed by car seat choices when I registered for my baby shower. Armed with the Baby Bargins book and a little prodding from the store associate, I picked the ComfortSport.

Based on budget and this forum, as well as the car seat board on BBC, I ended up with a Scenera and then a car seat obsession.

It's all about research!

Jennifer mom to my 7 · Apr 22, 2010

BabyKaykes said:
Based on online reveiws, I picked the AOE for my godson at 9mths.

I was overwhelmed by car seat choices when I registered for my baby shower. Armed with the Baby Bargins book and a little prodding from the store associate, I picked the ComfortSport.

Based on budget and this forum, as well as the car seat board on BBC, I ended up with a Scenera and then a car seat obsession.

It's all about research!

Heehee, good thing Isaiah is shorter torsoed

So, how much bigger is he than Mattie now? He is 38 inches, 34 pounds or so dressed, 15ish inch torso (rf in a radian xtsl). Of course Raffaella is 43.5 inches, 49 pounds, and like an 18 inch torso.

BabyKaykes · Apr 22, 2010

Jennifer mom to my 7 said:
Heehee, good thing Isaiah is shorter torsoed

So, how much bigger is he than Mattie now? He is 38 inches, 34 pounds or so dressed, 15ish inch torso (rf in a radian xtsl). Of course Raffaella is 43.5 inches, 49 pounds, and like an 18 inch torso.

Are your siggies off?: 4yo Isaiah: 41.5", 39lb - torso is 14", barely

ketchupqueen · Apr 22, 2010

I've been working on my USA Baby franchise owner for almost a year now.

He's finally got better info up than "at 1 year and 20 lbs. baby should go FF", but I still can't get him to carry any convertibles or combo seats or anything but Britax. Why? "Britax is the best, and my customers know they're the best, so they won't buy anything else." Well if you won't CARRY anything else and TELL them Britax is the best, then duh!!! (He sometimes carries a TurboBooster as well as the PWSG, and carries the Keyfit 30, SR22s, 32s, and 35s, and Pegs as well as the Chaperone, so this apparently does NOT apply to infant seats. Whatever.)

Car Seat Advice from a baby store associate....

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