AIBU to be cross with Mothercare?

[famishedpotato]

I bought a 0+ Joie Gemm carseat online from Mothercare ahead of DD's birth in August. Well, at 15weeks old she doesn't bloody fit in it!

She's only 6kg, but the straps are too tight to close round her because she's very long. Contacted Joie to ask if it's safe to remove infant insert before the proscribed 10kg if she just doesn't bloody fit, they say no... Sometimes babies just don't fit, try a different seat.

Contacted Mothercare to ask for a refund and they've said sure... If I take it in to store. They've just closed my nearest store though, so the next nearest store is over an hours drive away... And I don't have a sodding car seat!

AIBU to say they ought to sort this out without putting all the hassle and expense on to me? I'm a new mum, and it's their megacorp that sold me a crappy product!

Only read first page but will bet you dont get a refund. It is fit for purpose just the downside of a big baby

The thing with up to 13kg is that it doesn't mean it'll always fit a baby who weighs that much if the height element becomes a factor first. My son is very skinny and outgrew the height looooong before he hit the weight limit.

Same as my washing liquid says "up to 20 washes" but I only get like 18 because I live in a hard water area and need to use extra.
One size does not fit all.

Why ask if you're being unreasonable and then refuse to acknowledge it?

Here's a suggestion op.

There is a Facebook group called Car Seat Advice UK. The people on that group are absolute experts on all things car seat related.

Before you waste your time and energy going to Mothercare why don't you join that group and post this issue there. I can guarantee if anyone else has had the same problem/issues you will be able to get advice about it, or on what you need to do to sort it.

A 15 week old can't possibly have outgrown a seat intended to fit up to 15 months. There are two crotch strap positions on this car seat. Have you changed the position?

Have you undone the shoulder straps at the back of the car seat? Which insert do you have as you say you only have one. You do not need to use the foam insert for a child her age. Just use the liner/head hugger.

If you go to Mothercare I would be absolutely amazed if they refund you. When I worked for them their refund policy was very strict. Hopefully if you take it back you will see a helpful member of staff who will be able to adjust it for you to fit your DD.

Well, children grow at different rates. Unless your DD is off the scale long though it sounds like a crap product, should be able to accommodate a wide range of sizes. Are you sure you can't move the straps up?

My babies were very long and skinny. At 7 and 10 they still are. Car seats are the least of your worries. Wait until you’re paying VAT on school shoes for an 8 year old and having to get school uniform altered because said 8 (now 10) year old has the waist of a child 2 years younger and s the height of a child 2 years older. Or all all kids clothes crappy too?

Just read that she's 91st for height and 75th for weight. My DD was 91st for weight and also long and her Maxi Cosi lasted until she was over one. I'd be annoyed as well....

Are the adjusty bits not behind the seat cover or under the strap padding? I dont understand how a seat can work if the straps can't be adjusted

YABU. Still not quite sure why you're blaming Mothercare.

I bought a car seat from them (the Joie/Mothercare one) which is up to age 7. My son is 20m and probably has a year max in the seat as the straps are nearly at the maximum height level. He's a tall child. It's never occurred to me to ask MC for a refund as my son definitely won't in the seat until he's 7!

If she's too tall to sit in the car seat for one journey to Mothercare - you must be housebound.

If she'll just about fit, take the journey, and get a new one with the refund £ for the trip home.

So Mothercare:
Didn't make the seat,
Didn't choose the seat,
Didn't make the baby,
Didn't use the seat for several months, making it unable to be resold.

But they ARE willing to refund you if you just take the seat back to the shop and yet you are still moaning? Goodness gracious me, talk about ungrateful.

I think to be fair to Mothercare, they could come on here and start a CF thread...

Just adjust it to fit your baby. You're being very pedantic!

I really struggle to believe that your child has outgrown the seat so young. I think you must be missing something in the way the straps are fitted/adjusted.

My son was 98th centile for height and weight and yet was fine in his infant carrier until 14 months.

I would suggest posting on the Facebook group "car seat advice for the littles UK and Europe" and asking advice about fitting.
An infant carrier is not outgrown until the baby's head pokes over the top of the shell, which is impossible for your baby at their age. If the straps genuinely do not adjust to allow the seat to be used until that point then it is probably not fit for purpose.

Read the bloody instructions. You only have to use EITHER insert A or B - you don't have to use both, so stop being a pedantic plonker and take the bloody newborn insert out and use the other one.

Video here www.dailymotion.com/video/xtpkay

the reason you have to take it in person rather than posting is you need to prove to the person in the shop it doesn't fit your DC as you have been using it 3 months. If you hadn't used it and it still had original packaging you more than likely would have been able to post it. If mothercare let people post it without seeing wether it really was broken/unfit for purpose, people would take the piss and they would lose even more money.

If Mothercare sell the seat, then they are the ones with a responsibility to the consumer.
I'm with the OP - if the seat is marketed and sold as 0+, then it clearly isn't fit for purpose if a 15 week old baby can outgrow it.

I cant see how mothercare are at fault. Direct your anger at Joie.

Mothercare sound as though they have great customer service.

OP join the car seat advice uk group on FB, see whats suggested as best for you then go mothercare for refund and pick up a new car seat from there.

It really isnt that hard...

The OP shouldn't go against manufacturers instructions just because someone on MN say so. If she doesn't use it as instructed and her baby is injured in an accident, what then?

The OP shouldn't go against manufacturers instructions just because someone on MN say so indeed not, IWanna, hence me posting the exact bit off the instructions that says to use EITHER A OR B insert.

OP I can absolutely guarantee you that the straps adjust. All car seat straps adjust, that's how you get a baby in them! Pull the straps loose, clip baby in and then tighten the straps. I don't mean to sound patronising but I take it this is your first baby? The newborn insert is for newborns who need their head kept in place. You can take out the foam back of the insert and keep the head insert if you feel nervous about taking the whole thing out.

Go to the bottom of the car seat where babies legs go, and pull at the fabric part of the seat away and look for a button. This is what you press to release and tighten the straps.

As pp daid, all car seat straps adjust. Theres normally a panel in the back that you can move the shoulder parts further up 2 or 3 times, then there's a button betwrrn baby's legs that you press fully to pull the straps loser to out baby in, then oull the long bit tight.

Iwanna the thing is that I would have thought that most of the people commenting are parents who have used large numbers of 0+ car seats between them and know that what the OP is claiming doesn't make sense.

Joie/Mothercare aren't cowboy outfits that make/sell unusable car seats to scam people. People have pointed out to OP that she has most likely misinterpreted the manufacturers instructions as it is normal to have to remove an insert around this age.

Rather than accepting she may have made a mistake she is blaming Mothercare and yelling at a load of people with experience of this on the internet who are trying to help.

As an ex retail manager, they will require the goods back. So you do need to go in, there's no avoiding it. And the refund is probably goodwill as opposed to policy so they've been pretty generous. YABU to complain about pretty decent customer service. I appreciate how the whole situation is annoying though!

Also I would definitely ring the store in question & chat to a manager and/or get customer services to chat to them too and confirm. Customer Services are notorious for saying whatever shit will make whiney people get off the line. Actual shop staff then have to manage expectations. Call now or be prepared to wait ages in store whilst they call Customer Services and/or the Area Manager...

I had that car seat and my DS is 98th for length and 75th for weight. He fit in it to 9/10 months and I think I took the insert out around 3 months and he was within guidelines so maybe you need to check.

Aren't the A or B inserts age/size dependent? If manufacturer told her not to, based on the age/size of her baby, then I can see why she wouldn't want to go against that.