Mothercare £81m loss this year - because they crap perhaps?

[trixie123]

Apparently they are looking at some major restructuring. They are blaming it on the recession but AIBU to think that it might just have something to do with their appalling in-store and aftersales customer services as regularly attested to on here? Maybe they should come and have a read and then undertake some training / investment in those areas?

bugger, meant they ARE crap perhaps!

I think they should put some of the blame on their crappy, over-crowded store layouts and hit and miss customer service.

it's an absolutely hideous shop, imo. worse since it jammed crappy little ELCs in there as well.

The fact you can get everything they sell cheaper elsewhere.

Better go and spend my gift voucher in there before they shut down then.

I blame Myleene.

Agree they're utterly rubbish. Why is that? Do they pay their staff less so they just don't care about the stores? They're always in such a mess. How can for example Boots manage to run shops that don't look like they've been hit by a hurricane and yet Mothercare can't? And are they so cheap that they don't train any of their staff to know anything about any of their products?

It's coz of primark innit

Primark don't sell buggies, innit.

Mothercare really are dreadful, when you think they are really the only baby shpo on the high street they have had to try quite hard to muck up this badly.
I think most first time mums tend to head straight for mothercare with their long list of stuff they think they need (I know I did) only to be met with messy shops and untrained/disinterested staff. When I was pregnant with DD they could have got a fortune out of me.

I used to work in Children's World that got taken over by Mothercare just after I left but it was basically the same kind of idea and we had to go in an hour before the store opened to learn about any new products etc - pretty embarrassing to be asked to demonstrate a pram that you can't operate so we'd practise and cast an eye over the stock situation so we knew what we had in and what would have to be ordered etc. I used to love spending all morning with expectant parents buying all their kit. Am sad to see how rubbish its become (though I do actually quite like their clothes this year (not the Myleene overpriced tat though))

It's cos of tesco innit?

Worst baby shop I've been in since getting pregnant!

I was quite amused a few years ago when they came quite high up in one of those 'best places to work' things. Really?!

What I meant is does anyone actually buy baby clothes from primark? And people will go to mothercare to test buggies but buy online?

With the increase in discount baby shops, and online shopping, eBay, amazon, gumtree, freecycle even, mother care has lost its niche market, and is rather redundant, which explains why they have elc.

I wouldn't be able to tell you how crap they are now as I haven't been into one in 4 years since they refused to exchange an unopened, as-purchased packet of Size 4 nappies for a 4+ "for hygeine reasons".

nailak - I don't think they can blame the internet, their service is dire. Most first time parents are easily parted with their money, if a shop can't make money from people clutching long lists of stuff they want then they really need to look at their staff and the service they are offering.

DCs are now 23 and 21 and Mothercare was crap when they were born. I bought a pushchair there once and a wheel fell off on the way back to the car!I'm amazed Mothercare has lasted this long

rude lazy staff - always 'TOO BUSY' to help you - or walking away when you say 'excuse me' I wont shop there anymore

plus their kids clothes are over priced and tat :)

I found their things overpriced for what it was and also has a limited boyswear section. Like the other posters, as a recent new mum to my first child, I was ripe for the picking with my list but can count on one hand the items I have bought their.

I bought a potty on the Internet and it was falling to bits when it arrived and it wasnt cheap they then tried to say it couldn't be returned for hygiene reasons, for the price you pay I expected better quality/customer service.

They are more expensive and their boys' wear has grown worse and worse. Which annoys me as boys always fare worse than girls for clothes everywhere as it is.

Mothercare is good to go and look at things like prams, high chairs, car seats etc and then after deciding which one you want you can then buy them from elsewhere for a third less.
Maybe that is why they are struggling? They have turned into a baby merchandise showroom but no one actually wants to buy the stock from them?

Its a shame that some of their stores are good and some... less so. Our local store is great (in a not so great town centre). All the staff there are helpful and friendly. I went in to collect an order this week and the lady went and looked in 3 different places, checked it couldn't be in a different name, went and checked again, rang a colleague to check it wasn't in a loading bay... then wrote their number down so I could call to check if it had been delivered before going in again.

(oh the embarassment when i got home and had misread the email/misremembered what I'd done and it had been sent to my home address and not the store after all! )

I do think it'd be a shame if they closed down, but I'm as guilty of shopping around and getting better prices at kiddicare online.

Revenue increased from £397m to £413m but second-quarter like-for-like sales in the UK fell nearly 10pc

hardly a loss is it? in real terms..... Im seeing a 25mio increase in over all revenue.