Booked? Paid? So?

[draco664]

Just got back from a 4 day road trip with the family, visiting my in-laws over the Easter break.

Had a blast, my daughters were enthralled at all the wildlife they saw, even the traffic was good.

The sucky part came the day before we left.

My daughters are 2 & 4, so obviously need car seats that fit them. Both girls were getting to the upper threshold of weight for their seats, so we bought B (the elder) a new seat, and made sure K (the younger) would fit in B's old seat.

No problem, but since we were heading off on a long car trip, we wanted the seats professionally fitted.

A local BabyGoodsCo have a consultant who comes in on certain days to fit seats bought there. You have to book 15 minutes for each seat you want fitted, and pay 30 bucks per seat for the service.

I'd taken half a day off work to help pack and prepare for our trip, so I went with my wife and girls to the fitting.

Suck 1

To get fitted, you need to put your car in a particular parking bay set aside for the job. The woman in the slot before us parked there, got her seat fitted, then locked her car and went inside to do some shopping.

So we asked the fitter if we could park next to the belfish sitch's car to get fitted. He muttered something about insurance and said no.

So we asked the store to ask over the loudspeaker for the lady to move her car. No loudspeaker.

So we waited 10 minutes for the cow to finish her shopping and move her car. If I'd known what she looked like, I'd have gone into the store and hunted her down.

Suck 2

Fitter starts by removing K's old seat. As he works, another woman comes up and starts asking him questions about what seat she needs. He stops and answers her. She asks some more questions about which seats are better. He answers them, all the while leaning on the open car door.

Now, we had somewhere to be after the fitting. So my wife politely points out that we have a booking, and that there were people in the store who would answer the woman's questions just as well as the fitter.

"Oh, I'll just be a second."

My wife is a lot less confrontational than I am, and I was looking after the kids in the play area. So at this point we're past the end of the 1st fitting session and looking like we were going to be late to dinner.

Suck 3

I finally bring out the girls to have their harnesses fitted, having expected to have brought them out much earlier.

I find my wife almost in tears as a heavily pregnant woman tries to convince the fitter to leave our car and fit a single seat into her car becasue she is due the following wednesday and can't get a proper fitting before that due to easter.

I pointed out that we had booked and paid for half an hour that was rapidly disappearing, and that our seats still had not been fitted.

It was only when I stated that I'd be contacting the fitter's franchise owner that he started doing his damn job and telling the rest of the constant stream of question askers to go into the store to speak to the people inside.

I'm really glad that our trip went off without a hitch. My wife was stressed out enough after that that we really needed it.

[Thatgirl71]

People are so friggin rude, I am non-confrontational too and probably would have reacted the same as your wife.

[bankworking]

Wow, they were really not on the ball. We all know SCs will take even handicapped spots and emergency lane parking, so if they had only one parking space allowable for the fittings,they really should have been more gun-ho about getting the cars moved along once the fitting was done. Though she could well have disappeared on them, knowing SCs, or ignored perfectly clear instructions to make certain to move her vehicle to a different spot.

With all the interruptions, they seemed to be treating this like a volunteer, we'll-help-everyone-as-we-can, service rather than something you had paid for, and had to set up a specific time slot for. Still, never a good idea to count on an appointment not running over. Too many ways for SCs to make things run behind, or just plain bad luck (or overbooking under the expectation of cancellations) even if the professional is doing their best to stay on top of things. I never trust that I'll get into an appointment when scheduled.

[Draco]

See, if it was quick and only happened once? I could see letting it slide. If it kept happening? Yeah, that's when I'd start getting angry.

Pregnant woman wants it done quick? Well, her hubby/boyfriend/SO/mother/father/WHATEVER can drag her car there after she schedules an appointment if she pops the kid out before it can be done. She is most likely NOT going to be taking the kid home same day.

[ravevolution]

Should have saved the 30 bucks wasted on this suck experience and went to a local PD or highway patrol station and checked to see if they would be willing to have a officer help ya out with it proper child seat fittings

[BlaqueKatt]

I find my wife almost in tears as a heavily pregnant woman tries to convince the fitter to leave our car and fit a single seat into her car becasue she is due the following wednesday and can't get a proper fitting before that due to easter.

well if the hospital she delivers at is anything like mine was, getting a car seat "fitted" will do zero good. See we had one of the convertible seats rather than the "carrier seats", and no matter what kind of seat you own you carry the baby from the maternity ward to your car-IN THE SEAT, so they can watch YOU put the seat in correctly.

also people are pregnant for around 10 months(40 weeks is NOT 9 months!), you mean to tell me she had no time within the previous 9 months to come in

[Kogarashi]

We had a carrier seat, so the base was installed in the Jeep, but I believe the hospital had someone go out with Hubby to check to make sure the base was in properly before we were allowed to take either daughter down to the car.

Also, I do know that around here, if you're not sure on installing the seat yourself, you can have local PD check it for you. It's even mentioned in all the pregnancy information the local health centers hand out. Sure beats scheduling with someone who appears to be a flake.

I do understand wanting to make sure they're in properly before a long trip, which is why I'm glad our local PD can double-check for us if necessary.

also people are pregnant for around 10 months(40 weeks is NOT 9 months!), you mean to tell me she had no time within the previous 9 months to come in

Agreed with the sentiment. Unless she waited until right then to get the car seat, she has plenty of time. And if she did wait until right then to get it, why can't she schedule like a normal person and have her husband/baby daddy/sister/best friend/doula handle it if she suddenly goes into labor?

On the timing, 40 weeks is ten lunar months, but on the good ol' calendar, only spans 9 of the 12 months in a year. So both are technically accurate, which is why, I think, most practitioners and many moms simply jump straight to counting in weeks instead.

[chainedbarista]

yep, pregnant woman gets zero sympathy from me as well; she had ample time to take care of this and NOW it's important? bugger off.

you scheduled the time, it was yours; a complaint and maybe a partial refund may be in order for this lack of service.

[Shalom]

On the timing, 40 weeks is ten lunar months, but on the good ol' calendar, only spans 9 of the 12 months in a year. So both are technically accurate, which is why, I think, most practitioners and many moms simply jump straight to counting in weeks instead.

Although if I understood my wife's OB/GYN correctly, the 40 weeks starts counting from the beginning of the previous period. Which means, as I pointed out to him, that she was technically 2 weeks pregnant before she even ovulated.

[Kogarashi]

Although if I understood my wife's OB/GYN correctly, the 40 weeks starts counting from the beginning of the previous period. Which means, as I pointed out to him, that she was technically 2 weeks pregnant before she even ovulated.

Yeah, it's kind of nuts.

[Lots42]

well if the hospital she delivers at is anything like mine was, getting a car seat "fitted" will do zero good. See we had one of the convertible seats rather than the "carrier seats", and no matter what kind of seat you own you carry the baby from the maternity ward to your car-IN THE SEAT, so they can watch YOU put the seat in correctly.

The hospitals I went to would have screaming fits about that. The nurses would be putting the MOM in the seat.

[tropicsgoddess]

People can be so damn inconsiderate sometimes! Preggo lady has no sympathy on this for me. She had plenty of time to do it, but did it at the last minute.

[greensinestro]

It's sort of like when you're checking out at the local Wal-Mart and some asshat has to interrupt the cashier with "something simple".

A little over a year ago, I liked what I saw at the local DMV. The lady in charge of calling out the next person's turn was very stern and by the book. At least fifty people must have approached her with "simple questions", and each time would rudely turn these people away, saying "No! I cannot answer any questions!". Too bad it can't be like that in customer service.

[Becks]

Too bad it can't be like that in customer service.

It could be if the powers that be actually thought for a few seconds.

[Bella_Vixen]

It was only when I stated that I'd be contacting the fitter's franchise owner that he started doing his damn job and telling the rest of the constant stream of question askers to go into the store to speak to the people inside.

Please tell me you called anyway.