BRU

DabOfLoven

New member
I lucked up and got a new Blvd from BRU for $240. Woohoo. My daughter is now in it, and my son in her Roundabout.

Anyone else notice that the carseat "sales person" at the store are incrediably ignorant.. or is it just my store? 3 case in points... One of the first times I was looking at carseats in there I wasn't totally carseat stupid, but just didn't know ALL the facts. The sales guy was trying to tell a lady that the 40lb weight limit was only a guide line and that they actually would hold more weight than that. I had to raise the BS flag to him and he swore by it. Then one of the girls that was over the department moved in next to me. She had a little girl who was around 1 at the time and I swear my DH could've installed the seat better than she did her own daughters and he's never installed one! The seat was always flopping around with huge items in the backseat with her that could become projectiles. Then today when I was buying my seat a lady said that in TN a child can move up to a BPB at 3 years and she was going to move her up! I informed her that just because by the seats requirements that they can move up, in TN they have to be 4years and 40lbs. She had no idea. I wonder what all bad information they are passin around. Even the police officers who inspected our seats when I first installed my sons seat said that every seat that comes from them is never installed correctly. These people are supposed to be trained for this.

I think I'm going to call corporate and inform them. This is going to get some babies/children hurt one day.
 
ADS

Mama!

New member
It really is frustrating. I did meet one girl at a BRU who seemed to know a bit about the HWH Seats that were available at that time.
 
from my understanding, they are not really trained. they certainly arent certified. I went the babies r us 2 days in a row and I helped out someone each day. the first day, the cemployee was showing a family a booster for a 3 year old. I stepped in (asked the family if that was ok) and gave them some info. I dont trust those employees as far as i can throw them. they just are not very informed.

btw, what is the deal with the BLVD for that price? I need a new carseat ASAP and likely going to order the Blvd tonight, but would like to get it in town if possible for that price!
 

jessclear

New member
I actually heard about EH from a sales person at BRU. He happened to come up to me and showed me the Britax seats and stated that they harness to 65lbs, which is safer, etc. He is the only informed employee I have come across, but I'm glad he was there that day. Since then, I have been given some really bad advice from several others.

Last week, I was helping a friend shop for car seats in BRU and was explaining to her why the 3 in 1 isn't the "only seat you'll ever need". An employee came up and said that kids aren't in harnesses or boosters that long anyway (they're too old). I corrected her that children should stay harnessed to the limits of their seat and as long as possible. She was very annoyed and kept a close watch on us the whole time. She was listening in from the other isle. I hope she learned something.

BTW, I am looking into CPST classes this year. I have become obsessed!
 

DabOfLoven

New member
btw said:
It was one they had used for display. Our store sometimes has 2 of the same seat displayed.. 1 that people can take outside, or try out in the store, and another that is taken out of box but zip tied down to the shelf. I just happened to walk in to the store and there it sat on the clearance table:D I myself was about to get it at Albeebaby.. and was so glad I lucked up on it! Didn't have to wait on shipping and was able to get the year of warranty for it! It is only 4 months old too.. so not been sitting there a while. It was the Park Ave print.
 

DabOfLoven

New member
From what the cop told me, this store is supposed to be trained in the same way they are. Through the same company, or whoever it is that trains them. It's just crazy.

What does it take to get certified anyway? Just for a regular person?
 
It was one they had used for display. Our store sometimes has 2 of the same seat displayed.. 1 that people can take outside, or try out in the store, and another that is taken out of box but zip tied down to the shelf. I just happened to walk in to the store and there it sat on the clearance table:D I myself was about to get it at Albeebaby.. and was so glad I lucked up on it! Didn't have to wait on shipping and was able to get the year of warranty for it! It is only 4 months old too.. so not been sitting there a while. It was the Park Ave print.

ahh... no such luck for me and i was in there jsut the other day. looks like i will be placing that order tonight! :)
 

Mama!

New member
I thought the general consensus was never buy a display model? You never know what's been done to it!
 

DabOfLoven

New member
I thought the general consensus was never buy a display model? You never know what's been done to it!

I know the girl over this department... I asked her.. This one was the one that was attached to the shelf.. It hadn't been handled like all the other ones are... It's just for an end cap that they use to display only. I wouldn't have done it otherwise.
 

elle7715

Member
I know the girl over this department... I asked her.. This one was the one that was attached to the shelf.. It hadn't been handled like all the other ones are... It's just for an end cap that they use to display only. I wouldn't have done it otherwise.

What was the Date of Manufacture?
 

michelle3802

New member
I have a friend who is an assistant store manager for BRU. She has completely lost my respect in regards to car seat safety.

She put her 2 yo in a backless booster and he wasn't even 30#. She said they are tested to be safe down to 20#, so it's perfectly safe. :thumbsdown:

She helped my other friend install a SS2 RF! She said it was a convertable seat and the Graco rep had showed her how to install it rf. I didn't see it, but it was described to me, including using the tether to make the incline happen. Two days later a big chunk of the shell came off! Then my BRU friend tried to say it was a defective seat and wanted to exchange it for another one. (Luckily I stepped in and got the 5 mo child into a DC.)

She was, also, furious with me when I tried to explain to her that I was returning the booster seat she sold me because my 29# 38 in 3.5 yo DD wasn't really safe in it. DD kept falling asleep and would end up with her head in her sister's lap. :eek: I told her about the stuff I had learned here and was told that you can't trust the info you find on the internet because they are just trying to sell you car seats you don't really need. She talks to the company reps and they tell her the truth. (My thoughts. Wouldn't the company reps be the one's trying to sell you seats.)

And she is the one training the employees regarding car seats. Scary!!!
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
I have a friend who is an assistant store manager for BRU. She has completely lost my respect in regards to car seat safety.

She put her 2 yo in a backless booster and he wasn't even 30#. She said they are tested to be safe down to 20#, so it's perfectly safe. :thumbsdown:

She helped my other friend install a SS2 RF! She said it was a convertable seat and the Graco rep had showed her how to install it rf. I didn't see it, but it was described to me, including using the tether to make the incline happen. Two days later a big chunk of the shell came off! Then my BRU friend tried to say it was a defective seat and wanted to exchange it for another one. (Luckily I stepped in and got the 5 mo child into a DC.)

She was, also, furious with me when I tried to explain to her that I was returning the booster seat she sold me because my 29# 38 in 3.5 yo DD wasn't really safe in it. DD kept falling asleep and would end up with her head in her sister's lap. :eek: I told her about the stuff I had learned here and was told that you can't trust the info you find on the internet because they are just trying to sell you car seats you don't really need. She talks to the company reps and they tell her the truth. (My thoughts. Wouldn't the company reps be the one's trying to sell you seats.)

And she is the one training the employees regarding car seats. Scary!!!

OMG :eek:

that is terrifying just to read... let alone witness :eek:
 

Chameleon

New member
I know the girl over this department... I asked her.. This one was the one that was attached to the shelf.. It hadn't been handled like all the other ones are... It's just for an end cap that they use to display only. I wouldn't have done it otherwise.


I still wouldn't buy it. Parents still man handle those seats. Trust me I know. I do. I lift my kids up to put my kids in them. I play with them. THere's no telling how many other parents do the same, or how they treat that seat on display.
 

amy919

New member
Ugh, I know your pain. BRU employees generally suck. We have a new one - a really nice young guy that looks like he doesn't give a crap or know anything about car seats, but he's actually pretty good. He's new. I met him a few weeks ago and asked him if he knew anything about the Nautulis. He didn't, but wrote down the name and said it sounded like a great seat. He was excited about it. We got to talking and he was saying how the Britax seats were the only "good" options they offered, except for the EFTA, but he's backed off a bit recommending that because the specs on the BRU card say it only RF to 30 pounds instead of the actual 35 and he's just tired of arguing with people over it. He said even showing people the box doesn't seem to matter. He said that he can't believe people trust a stupid sign made up by a moron in corporate over the specs listed by the manufacturer of the seat.

I love this guy. We were there over the weekend so I could show Matt the EFTA and right next to it was a 3-in-1 seat. A pregnant woman was there with her mom working on her baby registry and was asking about the 3-in-1. She was really sold on it and he was trying to talk her out of it, explaining that it wasn't worth the money and wouldn't last as long as she thought it would. He kept trying to direct her to the EFTA or one of the Britax seats, but she wasn't buying it. Since I was standing right next to her with Matt and the kids playing with the EFTA, he said "talk to her - she knows her stuff". I talked to her and she ended up registering for the Keyfit 30 and even though I tried to talk her out of registering for a convertible seat, explaining that they expire etc., she didn't seem to believe me :thumbsdown:. She did up registering for the EFTA, though.
 

Momof4Girls

New member
I suspect they don't let CPSTs do the training simply for the reason that BRU sells a TON of after-market products...and CPSTs would cut down on the business incredibly.

Raechel
 

Momto3Divaz

New member
:rolleyes: I use to work at BRU a couple years ago, I loved the store and wanted discounts and I was pregnant w. my 2nd daughter... I was at the baby registry desk but we all had the same 'training'. Consisted of videos & a binder for each section with questionaires to answer and we would find the answers by looking at the boxes and reading the info :eek: There was no one to actually train us on anything including the people who would show you around during like special registry weeks when groups of parents would come and those people were normally just based on senority!!! I know I know!! I gave recommendations on products I knew only which was everything but the carseats. Although when asked I would recommend infant seats and then the 3 in 1's!!! :eek: I had no idea then!! It was not a requirement most of the workers were High School kids, college kids, & Retirees. This was only at my BRU but, I know its just alike in many other places. I still shop at BRU but asking sales people is something I stay away from I know from experience they are not always actually knowlegable as they should be.
 

dhardawa

Active member
Babies R Us won't hire a CPST for liability reasons. Apparently, they can argue that their staff isn't trained and that their advice is the same as taking advice from the cashier at Kroger. If they hired professionals, they could get sued. I think this is asinine, but my trainer had connections with the big shots at Babies R Us and had gone round and round with them.

As for my bad experience there? It was about four years ago. I was wandering the seats to see if there was anything new out. I overhead a BRU girl telling a pair of grandparents about combination seats vs. convertible seats. Her exat words were, "The only difference between the two is that these seats [combination] have guides for the seatbelt, but it really doesn't matter because if you buy this one [convertible] you can just wrap a lap belt around the child and the seat once he outgrows the harness." The words, "NO YOU CAN'T!!!" actually came out of my mouth before my mind had a chance to process what I was saying. I talked to her for a bit after the family was gone and she said that her only training was what some guy who also worked in the car seat department had told her and that was what he told everyone. :eek:
 

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