Question Graco Customer Service (good/bad)?

We're thinking about getting a Nautilus for Pacey, but are worried about Graco customer service. We are a Britax family and as most of us know, they usually have awesome customer service. How does Graco compare?

Thanks in advance!

I've dealt with both for my Marathon and my Nautilus.

It is easier to get ahold of someone at Graco and they aren't quite so...um, MEAN...on the phone, but their reps really don't know ANYTHING about the company. I read about the Nautilus here and someone said she HAD one (this was early this year, Januaryish). I called Graco to see when they would be in a store near me and I was told there was no such seat


But I have had to call Britax back several times (oh what a pain their wait is) to get someone on the phone who was willing to help me too.

I've heard good and not so great, but nothing that would keep me from buying a GN. Right now, it's the sea of gray and black they've got going on that's holding me back.

Maedze said:

I read about the Nautilus here and someone said she HAD one (this was early this year, Januaryish). I called Graco to see when they would be in a store near me and I was told there was no such seat

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That doesn't surprise me. Graco was very secretive about the Nautilus before it debuted.

I just bought a SS1 for my DS to be and when it arrived there was a small hole in the cover. I called Graco CS and they are sending me a new cover right away. I was quite impressed with their quick response.

LOL, I hear ya on the gray/black. They have all kinds of blue/red/cars/etc. covers for the Turbo and all the Nautilus has so far is gray, gray, and more gray. I don't know when we'll be getting one (really, he has plenty time in his Marathon anyway), but maybe they'll have some new covers out then (yeah, I'll keep dreaming).

Anyway, thanks for the responses so far!

SamPacey&Joshua said:

We are a Britax family and as most of us know, they usually have awesome customer service.

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I haven't exactly found that to be the case.

I haven't called Graco, so I can't comment on them, but like Crunchy said, it shouldn't keep you from buying the Nautilus--it's a great seat. (Nor should great/awful customer service keep you from getting a Britax you want.)

I actually had to call them yesterday (Fri.) and they picked up super fast, were very friendly, and took care of my problem right away, no hassle. :thumbsup:

Not car seat related - but I had to call Graco about a highchair that needed a new seat pad. The lady was very nice and said that it had been discontinued, but placed me on hold for a few minutes and came back and said that they designed a new seatpad that would fit a couple of their models that were similar. She sent them out to me quickly! She was very nice and helpful.

much like Britax, it depends on the rep in question.

Now, I do like that they also have a way to contact them via email right on their site, for when you don't want to forget to call, but it's too late to do so right then.

I've gotten sometimes better responses that way just because they only have a few people who answer emails and they seem to have been there longer or be higher up.

(we had an issue with the Nautilus tether ripping halfway through width wise in the leftover portion... still not sure why, but I noticed it when I went to tighten it in my friend's car, which has a top tether that is less far away from the top of the seat than mine... they replaced the entire seatback...)

However, when I've called (which I did when I couldn't figure out how to remove the headrest to put it on the new back to attach that to the base and I called many times when the Nautilus wasn't even in that many walmarts yet), I've gotten great service almost all the time.

Granted, there was the time that the CSR rep (this was a few years back, though) tried to tell me that you couldn't use the back of the turbobooster once it was past the top of the vehicle headrest on it's LOWEST setting... Heather (murphydog77) and some other techs on bbc showed me where it said otherwise in the faq, though, so no worries.

But I've had stupid answers from britax reps, too, now that they have hired so many that haven't been with the company for years and arent' as thorougly trained.

In general, I've had to wait less on hold and they almost always take care of whatever issue or question I have with no problem and just really fast and efficiently.

Thanks everyone!

And I definitely know about it depending on the rep. We had issues with the Decathlon that one rep. kept wanting us to send back for testing (it had already been sent back once and still sucked). We called back and the next rep. immediately said they would replace the seat. So I know now with any company...if one rep. isn't helpful, call back and try again until someone is.

I've had to call both Graco (Nautilus) and Britax (Marathon) in the last year. Both responded quickly to the issues we had.

We've had 4 Nautiluses for our two vehicles and one child -- one is the original, we crashed one, and Graco replaced one due to a sharp point on the metal lever that adjusts the harness -- it was damaging the adjuster webbing. We have been very happy with the seat.

Tina

I don't like calling Graco. I find that Graco Canada sucks! Everytime I have called them i've been giveng the run around and that is with my SR (the handle broke & had to be replaced 3x's before they got it right ), my highchair, my comfortsport and now my SS1. After my last issue with my SS1 they would tell me (more then once this happened) that they would call me in 24-48hrs and one time she told me she would call me tomorrow. Yeah both times was well over a week before they called me and the one time I had to call back and email. One of the reason she had to call me back is because she was telling me to install my base wrong and I called her on what she was telling as it was wrong.

I have never had great luck with Graco. Even if the GN comes to Canada I hope to not buy another big Graco product again.

From what I've seen (and heard), the Nautilus is a great seat and I'm wanting one really bad, lol. I didn't want one when they first came out, but it's grown on me. We finally got to play with one in a store a month or so ago and that was it...I've been wanting one since. Pacey thought the "handles" (booster belt guides) were the coolest thing ever. As soon as he sat in it, he grabbed them with a huge smile and excitedly said "It has handles!!" The harness is the smoothest, easiest thing EVER to adjust. Overall, I was just really impressed.

We may not get one until Pacey is close to outgrowing his MA (he's got at least 1 year left in it, I'd say), but I don't know yet. Unless something better, in the same price range comes out before then, that'll be his next seat.