to think Mothercare are threatening MNHQ ?

[cumfy]

There is a current AIBU thread which originally had the title:

to be absolutely furious with c&&&ing mothercare?? (sanitized)

Within an hour or so after I emailled their PR dept highlighting the poor customer service detailled therein, the thread title was changed to:

to be absolutely furious with &&&&&&& mothercare??

My interpretation is that Mothercare tried to get the thread pulled, but instead MNHQ agreed to amend the title
Coincidence:o

Note there are many <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/+intitle:cunting&num=100&hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&hs=EvS&rls=en-GB&prmd=v&filter=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AIBU threads with cunting still in the title; so seems unlikely this was simply a "language" issue.

We have a large mothercare in one of these industrial centres outside a major city. Moved to UK when DS was 22months (I am British but lived abroad) and had stopped using Mothercare myself by the time he had his 2nd birthday - I already had refund (in vouchers ) from them re product issue and customer service issue.

When he was 3yo I wanted a high backed booster and the shop that cares for Mothers couldn't be bothered about trying to 'help' me but very interested in telling me about the refund the difference policy. Became clear why when I popped over the road to Toys R us and they had the same cheaper, they helped me try it in my car and for height (DS has long body and short legs). Needless to say I never have and never will set foot in Mothercare again.

LL I'm fuming for you - it's very poor but thankyou for highlighting Mothercares continuing lack of care and customer service.
I just feel annoyed that Mothercare won't now do the right thing and refund as they won't be 'bullied' into backing down and will be afraid that everyone with issues will use the internet to get what they want.

Newsflash Mothercare - provide great and acceptable service and no-one will need to complain.

That's awful! Mothercare managers, if you're reading this, drop the PR firm. Invest money in customer service. Because that's what mothers talk about. And we talk in real life, where you can't suppress it.

For example, I've had great service from Boots, and I told people. I've had great and bad service from Mothercare, and I told people.

No wonder their share price continues to do in a downwards direction. Share price chart can be seen on the mothercareplc site.

I would not invest in Mothercare. Other investors out there, do you have shares, are you selling yours? 52 week high was 690. Now at 500.

Shareholders can't surely be happy with company performance. Customer service level is a big part of retail these days... Unhappy customers = drops in profits.

If Mothercare cares about it's shareholders, they would improve customer service even if that meant making an initial loss. They rely on new parents, who these days are Net Savy. So unresolved complaints on internet message forums is not good for business.

If I had shares in Mothercare, I would be selling fast - this sort of internet coverage does not make for a good Pre-Christmas selling period.

Can you not approach Watchdog and get them to do a story??

LL good to hear you again; thought MC had "bought you off" with £100s of gift vouchers or something!

Can't believe that they failed to contact you, after specifically stating here they had.

Have you checked your messages, as this might be the only point of contact they have.

Maybe Mothercare are concentrating on the non-UK markets these days. BBC News: Mothercare lifted by global trading as UK sales slide (15/07/2010)

One of their large share holders is Aberdeen Asset Management plc. If you deal with them, then you are investing in Mothercare. (Source - 9,020,753 ordinary Mothercare plc 50p shares.)
Another large investor is Global AEGON Asset Management Group. (Source)

If you work for those companies, or have connections with those companies - please raise the issue of why they hold Mothercare shares... and get them vote at the next shareholder meeting to improve customer service standards. If shareholders start to kick up a fuss, Mothercare will have to start being a bit nicer to customers... otherwise they will lose the investors, as well as the customers.

Shareholders - Please read THIS MESSAGE THREAD ... is this how you want a company you invest in to deal with unhappy customers?

LacyLeggins - Given that the product was a Phill and Teds buggy... what has that OutnAbout (their UK distributor) said about the situation? Presumably that is where the buggy is going for repair - are they aware it's the same buggy keeping coming back and still inside it's 1 year warranty? While under their warranty terms they can repair it... but how many repairs do they consider is acceptable!

While Mothercare are getting the brunt of the complaints here... they are the retailer and have to accept responsibility for products they sell. If OutnAbout are supplying them with faulty products then Mothercare needs to look at that situation. They should also IMV look at the Warranty terms provided by Distributors/Manufacturers and consider if they are reasonable. Repairs may be acceptable... but repeated repair of the same components... surely that needs investigation.

Ask your local trading standards how many repairs are acceptable... they may have a view on that.

Consumer Direct: Buggy
Gordon Macdonald, Consumer Direct Scotland manager said: 'Pushchairs can be a big outlay at an expensive time for parents so if things go wrong, it's worth remembering you've got rights. If an item is inherently faulty, it's down to the retailer to put it right by offering you a refund, repair or a replacement.'

Nannynick

Ask your local trading standards how many repairs are acceptable

Answer: No repairs are acceptable.

In this situation, since a repair caused significant inconvenience under Sale of Goods Act, it is not regarded as an appropriate remedy for goods that are not fit for purpose.

Consequently, legally Mothercare were obliged to only provide a refund or new replacement.
It was their obligation, not manufacturer's.

PS. Scots' law is different, and even less consumer friendly.

Mothercare has always had spectacularly poor customer service. Their response here doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

Maybe if MN is too scared conscientious to replace the "cunting" in the original thread title, maybe they would consider using the less offensive but still accurate "Useless fucking shitehawks" instead?

HAHA

That sounds like an excellent compromise to me, Snorbs

Phil & Teds have responded on the other thread - with luck once head office start taking it up, they and their UK distributor can have words with Mothercare and get the problem sorted.

LacyLeggings the way they have treated you is appalling.

I had a pram which fell apart 3 times. But the difference is John Lewis took it for repair with no fuss and gave me a really good courtesy buggy to use while it was being repaired, so the inconvenience was minimal. (Actually the courtesy buggy was better than mine, so it wasn't a bad experience at all!)

That's what you do if you care about customers, I'll be shopping there again, probably more than I did before there was a problem.

I hope yours gets resolved soon. What a shambolic way to treat a customer.

UPDATE - wasnt sure which thread to update!

i have emailed p&t and am just waiting for a response from them. i was very pleased they contacted me as i havent contacted them directly regarding this! thankyou p&t!

on the otherhand mothercare are still being c*nts! (sorry but thats how i feel). i went in today to speak to the manager again, who told me my pushchair was being mended as a matter of priority. only for her to tell me p&t only recieved it today and it will be at least another two weeks :(

Thanks for the update. Mothercare have been stupendously stupid in dealing with this. Is the manager aware of this thread? I expect they must have lost several £1000s from this thread alone.

Is it sorted now or are you still buggyless?

in order to help the message cut-through WTF does that mean
I'm going to e-mail mothercare referencing this very thread and ask them to replace the broken wooden strut on my highchair for free. I mean wood shouldn't break should it?!!

Don't see the problem here. The thread still contains very bad PR for Mothercare. The C word adds nothing to the post except to shock and offend some people.

I have no problem with MC complaining or with Mumsnet amending. It is still very very bad PR and hopefully will be taken seriously by mothercare.

I would be very concerned if MN deleted the thread, but they didn't.