MNHQ here: thoughts on Mothercare (NOW CLOSED)

[FinnMumsnet]

Hello,

The BBC have been in touch with Mumsnet to gauge your opinions on Mothercare.

We'd love to hear anything and everything you've got to say -- do you shop at Mothercare? (Or have you in the past?) If so, what do you like about it? If not, why not? How does it compare to the alternatives? What does it do well, and what less well? Have your views changed over time?

Please feel free to post in as much or as little detail as you'd like.

Thanks,
MNHQ

[Lovewatchingrainfall]

Used to love Mothercare. However they have now got very expensive and cheaply made clothes. The maternity range has gone down hill and the quality is poor. Can hardly get things in store have to order online and it's a hassle to return.

[fulltothebrimwithloveliness]

Only reason I occasionally venture in is to get little bird things in the sale. Other than that, awful - massively over priced, very bland clothes, unhelpful and ill informed staff. Sorry Mothercare, can't see you lasting much longer.

[Cakescakescakes]

Our nearest is a massive refurbished store which is generally a pleasure to shop in.

Good:
Babygros and vests are great quality
Little bird range
ELC toys range
Good selection of Lansinoh and Medela bits and pieces

Bad:
Car seat assistant I dealt with most recently was very patronising and not actually very knowledgeable about what was suitable for my car
Mylene Klass range is tacky and awful
Website is a bit hard to navigate

[MargaretCabbage]

I think the toddler clothes are lovely but I never buy them as they're so expensive. It's the kind of shop where I may go to look at a buggy or swing and then order it online for much cheaper. The feeding room in my local one smells like poo. It's in with the baby change so there are dirty nappies in there but other places don't seem to have this problem.

[Disraeli]

Clothes seem too expensive for the quality, although they recently had some things in a 2 for £12 offer, which I thought was an appropriate price for the quality.

I find toys are cheaper elsewhere.

I have found them good for newborn requirements - bottles, sterilisers etc.

I do however use them quite regularly. I'm a member of TAMBA and get a discount, otherwise I probably wouldn't.

[Cakescakescakes]

And I only go instore now as have had so many bad experiences with online delivery (things not arriving or being sent back to a warehouse etc)

[ClemFandango]

Our nearest branch shut down and I 'm not surprised- it was mucky and had the tattiest selection of clothes - all character crap and very gender based. The one in the next big town over is, however lovely - like a different brand.lt is well stocked and I've bought some nice clothes in there for baby and even my 4 yr old. Helpful to have feeding and changing facilities. Clothes more expensive than supermarket but generally a bit more interesting. The maternity clothes are awful though, the bra I had from there was the worst I've ever owned. It is weird how much the stores and the stock vary from place to place.

[twilightcafe]

Boden prices for Primark quality.

[Sophiesausage]

Online shopping is terrible. Long lead time on deliveries. Status never changes to despatched. Orders for in store collection lost or I get told I've already collected! In store purchases I have no issues

[eurochick]

They were brilliant for premmie sized clothing, which is otherwise difficult to find. I also like the Little Bird stuff - nice bright colours rather than a sea of pink and blue.

I think overall the store is really old fashioned. The toddler clothes are not very nice. I looked for maternity clothes in there but found them very old fashioned and I must have been one of their older customers at 37. I don't think I bought anything at all for myself from there.

[Diamondsandpears]

Really appreciated the
Feeding and changing rooms when they were clean. I can't stand the data harvesting practices. I give you money in return for goods. You take my personal data to do as you please with.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Very limited stock. Own brand goods poor quality. Branded goods over priced. Staff surly and no expertise. Stores dirty and "tired".

[WhirlwindHugs]

I like their kids clothes. I really like the little bird range - they often have nice quality gender neutral clothes a lot cheaper than nordic brands! Had some nice maternity jeans too.

Their bra fitting service and range is absolutely appalling though. High prices for bras that don't fit and don't last.

[CockneyViv]

Oh dear, this isn't going well is it??

My local mothercare is very good. It's in a retail park and very quiet during the week. Staff have been very helpful when I've looked at strollers and carseats despite making it very clear that I wouldn't be purchasing today. I eventually returned and bought the carseat, staff very helpful in showing us how to fit it in our car despite it being very busy that day (purchased stroller through boots as it worked out £50 cheaper with various deals and advantage card points).

I bought some new tops for my dd. Very soft, I'm impressed. Bit too much pink for my liking in relation to clothed but that's the same with any shop in my experience (especially supermarkets).

However, I find the high street stores a little pointless. Not enough choice and too hard to get around with the pushchair. website is also pretty rubbish

[throughgrittedteeth]

We had a similar experience as a PP with the car seat debacle. They basically told us our car was unsafe and we should buy a new car as "even with the passenger air bags turned off you can't guarantee that they wouldn't go off and kill your baby" - direct quote there.
I also had a similar problem as pp where I ordered something to be delivered to store and it simply didn't arrive - no notification/email/phone call. When I called to ask about it the staff from the store were very helpful though and found out the problem quickly.

Having worked in retail for years, I think the biggest problem is that there aren't enough staff to provide an expert service for things like car seats and prams which has a knock on affect to the rest of the store - the staff end up jaded and unhappy because they're expected to do everything all at once - give advice, take orders and serve on the till - and as others have said, they lose any sort of niche service because they're just crap at everything. Often these big businesses are run by people who have never worked on a shop floor and have little knowledge or experience with the ups and downs of a working store.

I could go on and on about this to be honest...

[FeralBeryl]

Poor service.
Shit user unfriendly website.
Expensive poor quality maternity clothes.
Nice baby stuff.
Great elc range.
Only go in there to push the peaks around and then order elsewhere.

Oh and I think they've rested on their laurels with advertising-there we're actually a lot of different things in there I wouldn't have thought they would stock and may have considered purchasing from them.

[middlings]

Maternity clothes were appalling quality and very poor range.

Any store I've been into, including ones in relatively new retail parks, feel tired and old.

Very expensive - I got a present of some vouchers for Mothercare and that was the only reason I bought anything there. I remember going in to stock up on things when DD1 was born 4 years ago and being seriously unimpressed. I was in our local store again recently, and nothing had changed. Would never occur to me to go there now. It was my mum's "Go-to" shop 30 years ago and doesn't appear to have kept up. Sad really.

[QuoteMeYouFuckers]

Expensive shite. My maternity jeans from there wore out whereas those from next and Dotty Perks were fine despite everyday use.

A huge amount of gender stereotyping in their clothes and toys aimed at boys and girls.

Having said that, however, we bought a wooden play kitchen from their elc range, the older version of this one if anyone's interested, and it's lasted us 3 years so far and my dc still play with it nearly every day.

[GiveMyHeadPeaceffs]

Actually my local Mothercare is the only shop near me that doesn't insist that all clothes for boys should be grey or variations of blue. I love dressing my ds in bright colours and Mothercare stocks them and they're reasonably priced

[BuzzLightyearsHoneyBun]

My nearest is Teesside Park and I have nothing but good things to say about it.
I have only bought toys and clothes there, but the ranges are good (I love little bird and My k, some of the boys MC stuff can be a bit twee for my taste).
The ELC section is great, always has a good stock.
The staff never fail to be helpful and the shop is set out well.

[LemonPoppySeedMuffin]

I've found the staff in my local store (Watford) really helpful and the shop well laid out. The branded products seem to be the same price as e.g. John Lewis and they regularly have sales etc (if you sign up to their email mailing list) which make their own brand items reasonable (I agree they are overpriced otherwise). I'm not fond of the quality or choice of their clothing (though boys clothes seem uninspiring most places!) but I'm happy with their other products.

I was particularly pleased with how they dealt with the recent Nuna Rebl car seat safety issue - I bought one of these seats (from mothercare) for my son earlier this year, when I found out it had failed a well known safety test in a 40mph crash I returned it to mothercare and they gave me a full refund - no quibble, really quick and they had extra staff on the tills and out fitting new car seats and the manager (possibly area manager) at the door apologising etc. I was really impressed - I'd gone in expecting to have to fight for a refund!

[FuzzyBoots]

Left a really bad taste when I went to look at car seats for my 1yo. I'd done my research and when I wanted to see if they had a 2 way pearl (for erf) I was told that the law has recently changed so legally you HAVE to forward face them at 15 months!! I politely corrected her that 15m is just the new minimum and not maximum, and was told I was wrong 'and anyway where would the legs go?'

They should try training staff if they're advising people on something as important as car seats, people will often trust sales assistants to know what they're doing and I would've had I not researched beforehand.

And in general I just don't get it. As most posters have said, overpriced, not very good ranges and nothing stands out over any other similar stores.

[JLoTheAstra]

The Oxford St store has been really disappointing the few times I've gone in there this year. Staff are so bored, uninterested and disengaged that it actually made me uncomfortable to be there and I didn't dare ask for help! There were also big cardboard boxes and clutter left abandoned all over the place, and the atmosphere in the store was very stilted and tired. I've spent thousands on kit for a new baby and a toddler this year but I've hardly spent any of it in Mothercare because the whole experience is just a bit painful!

[TheColdDoesBotherMeAnyway]

Mothercare are awful. My local one closed their toilets and feeding room 'for repairs' that took about 2 years. When I emailed to ask what was going on I just got a generic 'it's closed for repairs, sorry for any inconvenience' type of reply. I haven't been in there in a while so I'm not sure if they have reopened now and if so if they look any different, I would hope for something spectacular after that amount of time!
The shop floor is a mess. There are never enough tills open. The clothes are expensive and poor quality. It is such a shame because they could make killing around here, we don't have any independent nursery shops or a John Lewis locally so their only real competition locally is Babies R Us.
I have also never forgiven them for taking over the ELC and closing our local branch where the staff were actually helpful and seemed to like their jobs. And they ruined Happyland!