Getting quotes from independent retailers

[whysoserious]

Has anyone got any experience of this? Basically, i'm after an iCandy Peach stroller and Carrycot, along with a maxi Cosi Pebble and FamilyFix base. I'm sure I've read on here about people getting cheaper prices off independent retailers if all is bought from them.

However, I've emailed several retailers so far and they're all very cagey about giving prices and are trying to get me to go in for demos etc. I have already had demos and know what I want and am just trying to find the best price grrrr!

Has anyone managed to get decent quotes off independent retailers for buying a few things from them and how did you go about it? Email? Phone? Travelling from shop to shop?

iCandy have this ridiculous rule that retailers can't Give prices on the Internet or over the phone. They are also so slow with stock that it's beyond belief. I know of 4 people who ordered iCandy pushchairs whilst pregnant this year and only one of them had their buggy by the time the baby arrived. Not quite sure how they are managing to keep operating with these tactics, I have looked at the peach myself and love it but given what I have heard from friends (and read on here and on Facebook) I wouldn't order one if they were the last pushchairs on earth!
Nothing wrong with the pushchairs themselves, but the way they treat customers and the lack of information about delivery dates, and also the failure to meet delivery dates they do promise is a joke.

I have had a different experience to the former. Some retailers seem to have a better relationship with iCandy than others and are granted a more prompt delivery of stock. I ordered the latest iCandy peach in silver mint two weeks before I received it ~ the company received a shipment about 3 wks ago. I also bought a maxi cosi cabriofix with the carrycot and pushchair. Total cost: £829 - expensive, yes. Easy to use and gorgeous, yes. If you look on icandy's Facebook page, you will see that a lot of retailers are advertising if they have stock but there is no way you can avoid picking it up from th store. It is their policy. Is I worth the hassle? I think so. HTH.

Thanks for the information. I did manage to get a couple of quotes - one was the standard RRP and the other was £30 cheaper.

I'll have to have a look at the Facebook page for some decent stockists because definitely don't want to be without a pram for when the baby is born - especially as they don't fit into the carrycot for long anyway!

I got my iCandy peach from John Lewis - thankfully my parents were paying for the stroller aspect and we were looking for good customer service rather than cheapest price, though we had kept an eye on prices and did our ordering in January. (We ordered almost everything from JL). It was delivered to our house in loads of time, even when DS arrived 6 weeks early. I still love it, 16 months on, and am now starting to think about the peach blossom converters as we're expecting DC2 next year!