... to think that it's not 'Mothercare' but 'mother-to-be-care' and

[PigeonPie]

they don't give a flying fig about mothers who are?

I went this afternoon because that is where our nearest ELC now is and we had some vouchers to spend.

Firstly, it was really difficult to get round with the pushchair because of all the crap and boxes which were left lying around.

And secondly it was very difficult to take two under 4s to the loo with DS2 in a nappy but needing to use the loo. I had to change him on the floor of the women's loo because the baby changing place was in a different part of the store with no toilet in.

I think that all Mothercare staff should either have children and know how difficult it is to get round and change nappies etc or else at least take a pushchair or wheelchair round their store twice a month.

[grrr]

hmm
I have had a different experience - I used to live near a big MC and yes the ELC bit was ALWAYS a nightmare to get around (I am fairly confident it's not always delivery day!) but in fairness to the staff, I have always, always found the staff to be 100% helpful, honest and friendly.

Never needed the loo there so can't comment, and I find their clothes a bit overpriced, but I have used their delivery service and shopping online which makes them quite competitive pricewise, as you can ALWAYS find vouchers/codes and quidco 5/6% off.

Don't get me started on shoe shops for kids though

Reality,

You wouldn't be refering to the town with the 'Shelley' fetish, where if you are slumming it you shop in Sainsbury's would you? If so I grew up there! And escaped to Chav-land down the road

We call it Mother-Don't-Care.

I hate it with a passion.

They never ever have the 1 item I have gon in for and I hate that it has such a monopoly on the baby/children market.

I was gutted that they took over ELC because now everything is out of stock there too.

Their profits are going up because they are expanding overseas (or so I read in Money Week last week).

They are opening branches in countries which didn't previously have a culture of Buying Loads Of Useless Stuff When You Have A Baby so they are untapped virgin markets.

Meanwhile they take the eye of the ball here....

I live in the town with the 'Shelley' fetish as well & don't really miss our Mothercare as I always found it unhelpful. Mind you I use one occasionally now as my 2 dd's are 15 & 12! But I am a childminder so always on the lookout to replace bits of kit, find new ideas etc. I agree this town has no baby shop now & 'chav' land only has a Mothercare & the other 'exclusive' independent shop, most of my shopping for buggies etc is done by looking at what other people are using, having a go & then buying online! Yes you can buy them from Argos but you can't try out & that is important, also I like Toys R Us for some things, but again the selection is slim.

we trekked 30 miles to our nearest mothercare world to look at pushchairs 'in the flesh' so to speak - only to find that they either didn't have them on display or that the display models were dirty and broken and the dippy staff couldn't even show me to fold/unfold. We then went to the big babies R us across the road and found the staff much better, they had an expert car seat fitter who was really knowlegeable.

I went into our local (large) Mothercare to exchange a Bumbo play tray that had a manufacturing fault. I had a really hard time getting the swop because I had lost the receipt despite the box still having the shop label on it. I understand about receipts etc, but I didn;t want a refund, just a straight swop.
Dh was with me muttering out of the corner of his mouth 'don;t lose your rag, spooky....'
Was hard to stay calm. But I managed it and got the swop - eventually.

I think saying that all staff shoudl have children is VUR, I used to work there when i was 17-18, I was very nice to my customers and knew about all the products.

You issues sound liek a store based training issue

when we set stuff in our store we used to grab a double buggy off display and make sure that we could wheel it round all the shop so it was easy for customers to do so.

but that was a few years ago it all could have gone tits up by now

Hanging - I had almost the same experience! Went to see a pushchair in MC, they didn't keep it in stock. I asked if they had any others of similar price and spec I could look at, sales assistant waved her hand vaguely at the display and was overwhelmingly 'meh' about selling me a pram so I left. Went to Toys R Us over the road instead.

However, I've always found the facilities at MC really good, baby changing and toddler toilet in the same cubicle, seperate feeding area with uber comfy chairs. Both the stores I use are large and new though which probably explains it.

Wonder if I am the only one who found Mothercare a Godsend last year? I was shopping for DD who is small and skinny for age (then nearly 7) and wanted 'leggings'. As in full-length leggings. I tried almost a dozen shops and MC was the best by far for price/selection/quality/what DD wanted. Plus they had belts, which DD needed badly.

DH and I walked out of MC two weeks ago after being ignored by staff for ages then getting a very disinterested staff member eventually agree to talk to us about car seats. We took our money elsewhere.... John Lewis are always lovely and have fantastic mother and baby/child toilets and feeding room etc.