Jane - as in the Spanish Pushchair! Advice / Stockists please...

[Thell]

I'm looking at getting one for my first baby in Feb. Anyone got any advice about whether or not to bother?
Do they lie flat facing you??
Is there a shop in London where I can actually go and look at one in the flesh, or would I need to hike across Spain???

Mothercare have them on their website, so they may have them in their shops too, you could always phone them and ask. If you're looking at the 3-wheeler (Powertrack or Slalom) then you can buy a lie-flat carseat that attaches to the pushchair and faces towards you, or a carrycot which allows the pushchair to function as a pram. Once the child is too big for that I think they have to face forward in the pushchair.

John lewis do some models I think, and many smaller pram stores, loads online. The Uk distributor is here and should be able to give you a local stockist. Which one were you thinking of , some ahve a carrycot type car sea which faces you, others face forward only.

Thell - I have posted on the antenatal thread about the one I've got.

hi thell i have a jane (pronounced hannay) carerra push chair and it is absolutely fantastic. had the carry cot and car seat too both of which i wld recommend. if you want some more info on stockists and general info on my system message me and wld be more than happy to give more advice. gs

I had the Jane pushchair and it was fine for baby number one but did not last with baby number 2!

The lieflat seat was fine but no good with ds2 as there wasnt much room in the car so we hardly used it lying flat. The car seat then goes into a seat but the baby was too small for it so I still needed a handheld babycarrier for the car too.. The seat faces you to begin with but then you change it to a normal buggy.

If I had to start again I wouldnt buy Jane again.

Thanks chaps. I don't think Mothercare stocked Jane pushchairs when I checked before Christmas!
I'm interested in the four wheeler (Carrera C) - because it can be used as a pram initially, folds up umbrella style really small and is very light. I suppose I want it all - something very compact but robust and not too expensive!
Anyone have any other recommendations if Jane was not up to scratch?

I've never seen Jane in mothercare.
I have a Jane powertrack 360 which I used with a matrix lie flat carseat as a carrycot for baby no 3. I actually never the Matrix AS a carseat as I already had a britax rock a tot and as someone said it takes up a lot of space across the backseat of a car if you use it in the lie flat position, which isn't much good if you have other children. Also I hardly ever put the baby in the car so didn't mind him being in a normal car seat. As a carrycot it was fine, but I'd probably just get their normal carrycot attachment with hindsight (which is cheaper). It faces you in carrycot mode, and then converts to a 3 wheeled pushchair. Highly recommend it as a pushchair and as a brand - I have just reconverted it back into a carrycot using the matrix as child 4 is due in a couple of weeks, and it looks like new 2.5 years later (despite use all that time as a rural off-road buggy).

I got mine from a small independent retailer in wilts. I think I've seen them in Lilliput (Queenstown Road) - give them a ring and see - otherwise there is that colossal pram emporium in Ealing where you can test drive practically everything ever made by anyone - Craigs? Look in the yellow pages, it will be obvious the one I mean.

HTH

Don't mean to offend anybody here but I really dislike Jane.

I work for a fairly large independent nursery retailer. We sell many brands but Jane is by far the most troublesome manufacturer to deal with.

The build quality is by comparison quite poor, we are constantly sending back our customer's prams back to Northern Ireland (to Johnston Prams, the UK distributor), who are frankly not interested in dealing with repairs.

To be fair though, we have seen far more problems with the Powertrack and Slalom models than the Carerra. I still think the build quality (for the money) is rubbish.

I hope I havn't upset anyone too much here.

Another thing to consider is the fitting of the Matrix car seat. It is much larger than most other group 0+ car seats and therefore does not fit well into all cars (in the seated position), the seat belts of many cars are not long enough to go around it, making it sit at a very awkward angle. If you do decide to go with it, get the retailer to fit the car seat into your car before you buy to make sure it fits.

I know that it is great on paper, but in reality the Jane is not quite as perfect as it seems.

Message withdrawn

Hi alibubbles, I'm afraid I have no experience with next stage Jane car seats (only the Matrix and Rebel), sorry.

We deal mainly with Maxi Cosi, Bebe Confort and Britax. If you have Isofix already, I'd say stick with it. You know that is correctly fitted all the time and there in no margin for error with Isofix.

Thanks so much for all the advice - I must say, Teaandcake, that what concerned me was that although there are a lot of fantastic reviews for Jane on the web, the bad ones are really bad. They usually site poor components and an inability to get it mended or replacement parts, so that squares exactly with what you are saying.

I actually found a 2-in-1 yesterday that seems to fit the bill, and bought it half price as the fabric has been discontinued! (Hurrah! )
More importantly it is a brand that I know has a good reputation and is based in this country, so after-sales service shouldn't be a problem.

Glad you are sorted. Jsut in case anyone else is thinking about Jane, I have a powertwin, and I think it is ace. They seem very strong and well built to me, and I've never had a problem with it.

Oh good - I'm glad that someone has a powertwin and said that they are good as I ordered one yesterday!

I do like my powertrack but as it hasn't gone wrong I haven't had to test the aftersales service - sounds like that might be just as well!

I LOVE my powertwin. Easily the best tandem to push and maneuvere. I've had two other twin pushchairs and flogged them both on eBay, because although the Jane is a pita to get in and out of our car (amall boot) it's worth the hassle.

We bought a Jane Twin Two Matrix Light travel system which cost £1000. We live in Singapore and travel by taxi when we have the children so taking the cots off is very important. We've only had it a few months and it is a new product from Jane apparently.
A few weeks ago the release on one of the cots broke while it was still attached to the frame. I had to ring the online retailer and then Jane themselves to be talked through how to detach it. Credit to Jane, they have given us a replacement which I collected when I was back in the UK on business. They wouldn't ship it to Singapore. Now my wife has just rung me to tell me that the second cots has broken and can't be removed from the frame meaning that she is having to walk home in 90 degrees of heat and 90% humidity with our two 7 week old boys.
In almost every other respect the Jane Twin Two Matrix Light system is very good but because this one has broken on us twice in exactly the same way and because I have seen the part that broke, which I think has been cheaply designed, I would not buy another of these pushchairs - certainly not at such vast expense.
If you buy one this particular model be prepared to be disappointed.
Hugh