to think that MOther care is the crappiest shop in the world and tbh a bit rough?

[NoahFence]

i went in there to look ( indesperation) for a gift for a new mum - was thinking some gear or some clothes. WHat a hell hole. Naff logoed clothes, sterile shopping area, stroppy be-polyestered staff and a general air of tiredness

AIBU to sugggest that Mothercare has Lost its way?

just saw fiveisanawfullybignumbers post, it was the cambridge store that i went into as well!

memphis I dont understand why it "says it all" because the manager worked her way up from Saturday girl to manager?? My mother pretty much did that in greggs should she have not? Should she have flitted from job to job not gaining any long term benefits for loyalty to a company?

If someone bought me Mothercare, I loved it, great quality.

Must be an old shop you went in, I went in one the other day while big sis went to the loo. Shop assistants came straight over to other sis and me, asking us if they could help. We were standing by the prams, laughing and joking about which one we would have now. We are all in our late 40's and early 50's and really fantasising about having grand children!

Still a very pleasant shop to go in, I still feel it's the best quality. My only bugbear is the lack of boys clothes compared to girls but this is true of any baby shop.

Squeaver said:

"Here's the problem with Mothercare. 20 years ago it had pretty much a monopoly. Then everyone else - including the supermarkets - realised there was BIG MONEY to be made in gullible doting new parents. And Mothercare didn't keep up. So they went downmarket (not that they were ever upmarket, but they went profit-chasing) and sourced all their crappy products from the cheapest manufacturers possible. At the same time, JL, Mamas and Papas etc etc had figured out that people WILL spend £gazillion on a pram that looks like a 4x4 and captured the baby-as-an-accessory market leaving poor old Mothercare with the huns looking for somewhere to dump their stinky nappies before they go to McDonalds for lunch.

Your welcome, Mothercare, my invoice is in the post."

Precisely. The other issue is that their stores in my corner of England tend to be out of town ones, now. It's hard getting out and about with a young baby, and when I'd gone to the effort of dragging us out, I wanted to go somewhere worthwhile. Which wasn't going to be a business park where there was little else of interest.

My parents and parents-in-law went to Mothercare a lot when they were parenting us as young 'uns, because Mothercare had a store in the town centre then. Now, they do not.

MangoTango there is still a Mothercare World, they just moved it to Valley Park, near Ikea :)

I also havent visited the shop for ages since buying my sons car seat years ago. Very expensive and the staff arent that friendly. There are now a wider range of shops that offer cheaper products..

There is but it isn't the same. Smaller. Less of everything. We used to find the Clarks concession good in the old one. Helpful staff and plenty of sizes in stock. Not much in stock in the new one. We used to like all the toys and books upstairs in the old one, but not so much in the new one. No tree trunk lift that makes funny noises Pram section much smaller (not that i am in the market for prams these days.) Just not the same, so we didn't go back and now go to Clarks in the Whitgift Centre and order the sizes we want online from home so no wasted journeys.

Got put off for good on the day I spent 20 farking minutes waiting for someone to come and talk me through carseats, a couple of years ago.

Eventually asked why no-one was helping me, despite (a) repeated (polite, honest) requests and (b) staff standing round chatting. Was told I 'had to understand' they were very busy that day.

No, I didn't. Took myself and my spending power elsewhere and have done ever since.

One exception - when DS2 was born weighing less than four pounds, they had the only decent selection of tiny baby sleepsuits. Apart from that I haven't bothered.

This thread's reminded me that I'd intended to complain to Mothercare when I was pregnant, as the few times I attempted to try on maternity clothes there, none of the branches I went to had more than ONE changing cubicle, it was always occupied for the longest time ever, and there was nowhere to sit down (apart from the floor!) outside it while waiting, which for heavily pregnant women is not exactly living up to its name of 'mother-care'!

Can anyone advise me though - I always did use Mothercare for carseats, as I thought they had a good range. I need to buy a new one now for age 4-11 - where else (less grim) might be worth trying?

HAlfords

hahaha, well the smell in mc was probebly me.

I have been there for job interviews twice and never got the job. When i got there i just felt really angry and trapped and couldnt wait to leave.

The second time at another store i went for interview and actually threw up in the store half way through my interview! so that smell of vomit may have been me.

Apologies

I agree it is not great but I also think that JL have got the most hideous colours in for girls. Last year was awful too bright green with purple spots and orange etc. Yuk!

Half of you must be talking about the Kingston branch: HORRIBLE and HOPELESS
(this thread has cheered my up on a crap day)

I

Half of you must be talking about the Kingston branch: HORRIBLE and HOPELESS
(this thread has cheered me up on a crap day)

The Mothercare need me (Weybridge in Surrey) is actually okay. It is big and has an ELC and a Clarks within it. I tend to go there for toys, presents and shoes. I haven't bought clothes for the kids in there for a while though.

Funnily enough I think they are attempting to branch out a little bit. I tried to go to Blooming Marvellous online the other day and the brand has been bought out by Mothercare. So perhaps they are trying to go a bit more up-market...

Boots clothing and mothercare clothing are one and the same aswell arnt they.

Couldn't agree with you more I have had the most appalling customer service in there and I'm found their clothes extremely poor quality and ridiculously over-priced!

Went in there the other day to get a pair of troos for my DS. Apparently, though, they don't sell boys clothes. Just row upon row of vomit-inducing sugary pink 'princess' t-shirts. Felt like a bit of a knob walking out without buying anything cos the sales girls had been glaring at me the whole time and I wanted to appear purposeful, so decided to grab some little coat hangers (99p in Wilkinsons). £5 for a pack of 5!!! Absolute rubbish, won't be going back.

Hope so, their maternity clothes up to now have been hideous and frumpy.

Nursing underwear even worse.

i'm due my second child in july and have had a mixed bag of experiences at my local mothercare, in brixton. Some of the staff are quite sweet but half of them couldn't care less! I've spoke to the manager (quite a dish!) a couple of times about the good and the bad of it and he seemed to take a genuine interest in my opinions and insisted they were working on the service. It was quite refreshing because he was more friendly than i expected from the last manager (total wierdo!) He said any time i have a problem he'd be grateful to hear my feedback, so i'm going to keep my fingers crossed!