Store's Offering Car Seat Installation?

Is this common practice now? I was doing some stroller research last night and discovered that 3 independent baby store retailers in my area now offer car seat installation with the purchase of a car seat. Not inspection, installation. They will also offer installation of additional seat for $15. Are a lot of retailers doing this now? I wonder how they are covered liability-wise; separate rider on their businesses insurance?

my guess is that they don't realize that they are not covered liability-wise and that someone started it by saying "hey, i think I am good at installing car seats" and then of course the other stores couldn't be outdone I would ask them if CPSTs are installing the seats (maybe they are paying one to do it) and if not point out the obvious flaws in their marketing plan, like getting sued if they install a car seat wrong and a child dies etc. :thumbsdown:

Yeah that is a HUGE liability, I bet they hadn't thought of it that way though! Any parent who gets in an accident and the child is injured could easily sue the store...

The two independent stores near us both do this, but they have carseat techs who come in on Saturdays to do it. (They also do inspections, and I think both are free---the inspections for sure are, and they will inspect seats even if you didn't buy it there; not sure on the installation as we're planning to install ours ourselves. They won't sell the seat we picked till the fall, so we had to buy it elsewhere, unfortunately.) It hadn't occurred to me that there might be liability issues, though---oy! Maybe we should just go to the state police check, which is equally near our house...

ETA: Just checked the website of the store we're registered at. Installation is free if you bought the seat there, but there's a $25 fee for installation/inspection if you bought it elsewhere. I had in my head that the inspection was free either way....oh well! It does say certified child safety seat specialist, though.

The boutique store by me has several CPSTs installing seats...I have mixed feelings about it, I really don't like hearing people who have no idea how to install their seat, but at least they're in right i guess.

I've never heard of this, and I, too, have mixed feelings on it.

The reality is, in my experience, most parents and caregivers do NOT properly install seats even after they've been shown how. Of course if I were the CPST working for a store like this, I would make sure I was also teaching the parents how to install the seat. But having someone else install it is better than just winging it and having no clue (or no care) about how it's done but doing it anyway.

I work at a store where we have 2 CPSTs on staff and we teach people to install their seats. Its the same as an install at a seat check, the parent installs the seat. I am not sure on the liability insurance but I am sure that its written in somewhere.

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I posted this quickly before I left this afternoon and didn't get a chance to give the background info on the stores... all three of them have CPST's doing the installs. I have very mixed feelings about this though.

The largest of the three stores I have no problem with. They have a VERY large selection of seats and keep current stock of them. They have also partnered with the county sheriff's department CPST's and only do the installs on an appointment basis. Their employee's aren't the ones doing the installs. And I feel like some education is probably being given.

The other two stores are much smaller and only have a selection of about 3 different brands of seats. Their stock is very low and most seats need to be ordered. The owners of each of the stores are CPST's. The reason I have somewhat of an issue with these stores is that I feel like the reason they got the certification was to simply be able to sell one more thing to the customers. I don't know how much education is going on and I would like to think that they would tell parents if there was an incompatibility issue and where to purchase a seat that will work better for their needs.

I agree that having a properly installed seat (even if the parents don't know how to do it) is better then them just throwing it in the car on their own. But, I don't know, I somehow feel like they aren't exactly doing this for the parent's and kids. Which I'm sure isn't the case, but I've been to both stores and I never really got the "we take child safety seriously" feeling. All I got was "we sell really expensive stuff and brands that no one else does, so we're better than the big box store." Too harsh? Maybe.

I used to work in Northern California, at a now-closed baby store, doing installs for $20 a piece (I got paid 20$ an hour, spent downtime selling seats and strollers). The store had liability insurance, so did I.
Anyway, it really just depends on how it's done. Frankly I wish every single store that sold seats were required to have a tech on staff to teach parents how to put them in. Not 'free install to go with high dollar seats' (though I've done contract work with another local store here, the store owner paid me--her contracts with the seat manufacturers made her keep the prices high, so it was a 'free' service to the customer she was able to give away), and I gave the parent the usual full inspection and tutor time.

oakster said:

The two independent stores near us both do this, but they have carseat techs who come in on Saturdays to do it. (They also do inspections, and I think both are free---the inspections for sure are, and they will inspect seats even if you didn't buy it there; not sure on the installation as we're planning to install ours ourselves. They won't sell the seat we picked till the fall, so we had to buy it elsewhere, unfortunately.) It hadn't occurred to me that there might be liability issues, though---oy! Maybe we should just go to the state police check, which is equally near our house...

ETA: Just checked the website of the store we're registered at. Installation is free if you bought the seat there, but there's a $25 fee for installation/inspection if you bought it elsewhere. I had in my head that the inspection was free either way....oh well! It does say certified child safety seat specialist, though.

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The liability issue is that they are supposed to be terrified YOU will sue them if your child is injured in a crash after they install your seat. No one's ever sued a tech or a store yet, but at least one carseat company has been pretty reamed by a multi million dollar injury suit.

Our local baby store used to do installs (they did mine!) under the Safe Kids umbrella using SK forms and turning them in. It was kind of an informal inspection station during their open hours. Now they have a formal inspection station on Saturdays.

It does fill a need. There are some people who just WON'T learn to install their own carseats. Period. If they're willing to pay, they should because it is then a value-added service, not an educational service.

If they have legitimate techs I am all for it!!! The problem I see with stores popping up and doing this everywhere is that at some point they will have some random store employee going it ya know? Especially privately owned stored that don't have to follow corporate guidelines

Myself and another tech have inspection appointments at her store about every other month - she is the manager of a local baby store. She has parents sign up for time slots in advance. There is no charge and seats don't have to have been purchased from her store. We use the same forms that are used at the monthly pd checks, but with the baby store's name on the liability waiver.

We don't install seats, and for sure the parent is the last to touch the seat. The parents have all been happy with the information and education given according to the feedback that the manager has received.