msg221
Well-known member
Okay, after this 3 hour seat check, I now know that I need to get myself into the gym, pronto! My feet were hurting so bad after standing up the entire time and my lower back was absolutely killing me!
As for the check event, I only got to help one couple because with everyone else, there was a language barrier. I was really disappointed that I couldn't help more. The seat check event was in an area of Phoenix where the majority of the population is Hispanic so the bilingual techs had to help them. So while they helped the parents, I kept an eye on their little ones since our seat check was in a busy grocery store parking lot.
The one couple I did help were expectant parents who wanted to learn how to install their Keyfit 30 bases. Mom was in her car, dad in his with each of them having a base in their vehicle. Mom and dad were a super nice couple and thanked us and were just very appreciative, telling us how nice it was for us to do this. I was told by the other techs that it is rare to see vehicles and seats like this couple had in the area that most of their events are held. This probably explains why one of the techs told me yesterday that she had never seen seats like my TFP, MR and MA that I had in my vehicle.
I did see some horrible misuse. The first check we did I immediately saw everything wrong as soon as dad opened the door: 19 month old FF in an expired Touriva. It was obvious that the harness was way too loose, harness was way too high, the install was horribly loose and the seat belt was very twisted. Not only that, the seat was just filthy nasty. Stained, crumbs, the retainer clip was filthy. We sent them off with a brand new Evenflo Titan, rear facing.
Another bad one: Dad came with his 3 children, a 7 year old, a 3.5 year old and an 18 month old. The two little ones were in the rear seat of a 1997 4-Runner, both FF. Scary thing is that when we uninstalled the Scenera that the 18 month old was in and then tried to reinstall, we couldn't because we found that the retractor was broken on that side. We couldn't install in the center either because there was no latchplate! I also noticed that the center of the steering wheel looked like it was coming apart, which is kind of scary because of the air bag. It was scary to have to send them off with one of the kids not being restrained safely because of the broken seatbelt retractor. I hope that dad is able to have that repaired.
We gave out a lot of seats and actually gave out all of our convertibles. One family got two new seats including a HBB since their 5 year-old daughter wasn't riding in anything when they arrived. It really made me feel good to see them drive off and all of the kids safely restrained now and nothing could beat the smile that little girl had in her brand new booster seat!
As for the check event, I only got to help one couple because with everyone else, there was a language barrier. I was really disappointed that I couldn't help more. The seat check event was in an area of Phoenix where the majority of the population is Hispanic so the bilingual techs had to help them. So while they helped the parents, I kept an eye on their little ones since our seat check was in a busy grocery store parking lot.
The one couple I did help were expectant parents who wanted to learn how to install their Keyfit 30 bases. Mom was in her car, dad in his with each of them having a base in their vehicle. Mom and dad were a super nice couple and thanked us and were just very appreciative, telling us how nice it was for us to do this. I was told by the other techs that it is rare to see vehicles and seats like this couple had in the area that most of their events are held. This probably explains why one of the techs told me yesterday that she had never seen seats like my TFP, MR and MA that I had in my vehicle.
I did see some horrible misuse. The first check we did I immediately saw everything wrong as soon as dad opened the door: 19 month old FF in an expired Touriva. It was obvious that the harness was way too loose, harness was way too high, the install was horribly loose and the seat belt was very twisted. Not only that, the seat was just filthy nasty. Stained, crumbs, the retainer clip was filthy. We sent them off with a brand new Evenflo Titan, rear facing.
Another bad one: Dad came with his 3 children, a 7 year old, a 3.5 year old and an 18 month old. The two little ones were in the rear seat of a 1997 4-Runner, both FF. Scary thing is that when we uninstalled the Scenera that the 18 month old was in and then tried to reinstall, we couldn't because we found that the retractor was broken on that side. We couldn't install in the center either because there was no latchplate! I also noticed that the center of the steering wheel looked like it was coming apart, which is kind of scary because of the air bag. It was scary to have to send them off with one of the kids not being restrained safely because of the broken seatbelt retractor. I hope that dad is able to have that repaired.
We gave out a lot of seats and actually gave out all of our convertibles. One family got two new seats including a HBB since their 5 year-old daughter wasn't riding in anything when they arrived. It really made me feel good to see them drive off and all of the kids safely restrained now and nothing could beat the smile that little girl had in her brand new booster seat!