Just need to stay away from the BRU carseat section...

Kyras_Mama

New member
DH and I were in BRU last night looking at playards since we plan on getting one next week while the great-trade-in is on. Wandered through the carseat department because I wanted to peek at the smartseats. There's a mom with a roly poly little guy in an infant seat talking to an employee and looking at seats. I can pick up enough of the convo to know that she's looking for a seat for the baby she has with her because he's about to outgrow the infant seat by weight (i'd guess he was right around 6 months). Employee was pushing a 3-in-1 from the sound of things (whichever one they also sell at Costco as he said they have it there too but it's orange). Tells her that since the little guy is already over 20 lbs she can turn him right at 1 year. Mom comments on how short the harness looks (good for her for noticing!) and that she's concerned because she doesn't want to have to buy and figure out a bunch more seats as he gets bigger and he seems to be growing on the same chart as his cousins who are all tall/heavy toddlers.
BRU employee says, "With this seat, all you have to do is get him to 3 and 30 and you can take the harness out and use it as a booster! That way you won't ever have to buy another seat!"

UGH!!!! Now.. I know, they're not techs and not even all that well trained most of the time... but shouldn't they at least not be giving out advice that's ILLEGAL!?!?

Normally I try to just ignore stuff like this and pretend I don't hear but in this case I just couldn't keep my mouth shut. I commented to her that all my nephews are big kids too and outgrew some of the shorter harnessed seats pretty young but none of them were ready for a booster at 3 years old because they were so wiggly. Asked if she'd seen the new graco smartseats that were rear and forward facing but with a little taller harness and then were a booster too.

Employee then says that they (the smartseats) don't actually make a booster and that they're really more for parents who want to skip the infant seat and carry the smart seat around and put it on shopping carts. GAH!

ETA: You'd think the guy would at least have been ok with me pushing a more expensive seat for him to sell. *lol*
 
ADS

sunnymw

New member
Oy oy oy. I stay away too. Really far away. Because all I do is walk over to DH and start yelling at him about what I saw :eek:
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
oy... he doesn't even know the minimums for the seat he's trying to sell, let alone anything about the seat that would be better!

I hope the mom listened to you.
 

Kobain's Mommy

Well-known member
I would call and talk to the manager about that. If you are going to have someone in the car seat section... they should at least know how the seat they sell functions, as in RFing only, convertible, 3 in 1, combo, or booster.
 

kaleigh71

New member
I think if they are going to have untrained employees like that one, they should bar them from giving advice PERIOD. BRU needs to step up to the plate and be responsible. Seriously, it is gross negligence if you ask me. :thumbsdown:
 

bethng

Active member
I think if they are going to have untrained employees like that one, they should bar them from giving advice PERIOD. BRU needs to step up to the plate and be responsible. Seriously, it is gross negligence if you ask me. :thumbsdown:

It kills me when someone else is working the car seat section and raving about certain seats (ones that I cant stand) and I cant even say anything to correct their incorrect information. Even when I work baby registry I sneak into the car seat isle now and again lol
 

Kobain's Mommy

Well-known member
I don't think it's just BRU either giving bad advice. I've been to Baby Depot where their employees give out bad/wrong info. It just goes back to if they don't want to train their employees then they should tell them to just not say "I'm not trained." and leave it at that.

I mean really there's a lady that looks to be at least 60 working at BD. One day I saw her giving bad advice on car seats. Also was all over the fact BundleMes were "safe" when the about to pop pregnant lady questioned that.
 

Kyras_Mama

New member
I don't think it's just BRU either giving bad advice. I've been to Baby Depot where their employees give out bad/wrong info. It just goes back to if they don't want to train their employees then they should tell them to just not say "I'm not trained." and leave it at that.

I'm sure it's not just BRU, that's just the only baby store that I'm in that actually has someone IN that area most of the time. The only other place I shop for baby stuff is usually Wal-Mart and the woman in the baby dept. there knows that if she doesn't know the answer on a seat, look it up in the manual or go find my DH working in frozen and ask him. *lol*
 

autumnlily

New member
What's scary is - because they work at BRU, some parents trust them for advice because, "they work at a baby store". And, then guys like him sound so confident in knowing the product when they clearly don't... BRU should be worried about their liability for ill advice from their sales folks.

I have to admit - there is one gentleman who is fairly good at Jantzen Beach (well he was there a few months ago... I haven't been there in a while) and a young woman who did well in conversations I overheard. It was very refreshing!

this past Fall, I had to be escorted out with a seat (they keep changing their "try the seat" rules there) and when I went to install it RF for my 2.5 year old the sales associates eyes bugged straight out of her head. We had a little conversation and I wrote down some resources for her to check out. She still thought I was nuts.. but I'm hoping I planted that seed.

Good for you for speaking up...planting the seed is a great place to start. And, I wholeheartedly agree that you should call up the manager and let him/her know the illegal and unsafe advice their sales associate was giving out AND his lack of knowledge on their most current product. I'd encourage you ask for an email and then send him the blog link for the smart seat ;)
 

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