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I'm interested in purchasing baby furniture from these stores, any comments on customer service, return policies, coupons, etc? Does it really take 6-16 wks to receive your furniture? Any comments on these items is appreciated.
Sorelle Wendy Crib
Mother Hubbard Sartoga 4 drawer dresser 7000-40
Best Chairs Kaylee #2887 swivel glider
Anyone shop at kidspalace1.com?
Thanks,
GL
I am not sure about these stores as far as buying furniture, but a lot of people have problems in general getting furniture that is damaged. There are several threads on people getting damaged Sorelle cribs and having difficulty getting replacement parts. For the crib, I would highly recommend jdee.net. They have excellent customer service and will not put you off. I checked their site and they have the Wendy crib for $490. I paid a little extra for a crib just to get it from jdee.net in case there were problems. As far as delivery time, you just have to check the website or call the distributor to see if they have them in stock or if they have to order the item. I got my crib within a week. I know for a lot of gliders, they have to be ordered and can take a long time. Dutailier can take 12 weeks, but I don't know about best chairs.
We ordered our Mother Hubbard dresser from Buy Buy Baby. Don't know about the other stores, but BBB's special order time window is 8-12 weeks and, as of right now, seems to be pretty accurate. We're about 8-9 weeks out from when we ordered and we haven't heard from them yet. :)
As for customer service, obviously I can't comment on the back end yet (e.g., how they handle delivery, damages, etc), but otherwise I've found their customer service to be pretty good. The first girl we dealt with when ordering our dresser was an idiot, but when I called back to place the order I spoke to a tremendously kind and helpful sales associate. So far, everyone else we've dealt with there has been very pleasant and helpful as well...some more than others, but you'll find that anywhere.
Good luck!
Jessica
We bought from USA Baby (which is really a store that is locally owned in each area. Not sure if it's technically a franchise or what, but I don't think they all adhere to the exact same policies). Because I'd heard horror stories about shipping time, delays, damage on cribs, we made sure to buy one they actually had in stock. Worked best for us. USA Baby does often have their Once a Trimester Sale going on (hint...it's more than once a trimester!), so that's the best way to get a good deal there. They also have a 1 day sale every so often where they sell off floor merchandise and display cribs, etc. If you attend that, make sure you go early, or all the good stuff will be gone long before you get there!
DON'T order from USA Baby- just do a search in the archives and you will find a ton of horror stories. Like Andrea said, only buy something there if it's in stock.
My husband and i had to shop around a long time and we know how you feel but we finally made our decision with baby furniture at Best Chairs. We love it and it is relaxing to sit in. We have had it for over a year now and we haven't had any problems with it.
Hope I have helped....
Leigha
I second the poster who said not to buy from USA Baby. These stores ARE franchised, so not everyone has a bad experience. Here's what happened to us:
We bought our daughter's armoire (Berg...mountain collection) from USA Baby in November 2003---it was paid in full in December 2003. We were told 6-8 weeks for it to arrive. We had bought a bassinet and crib from them before buying the armoire and had received them without a problem, so we had no reason to suspect we would have a problem with the armoire.
After months of excuses from them about why we hadn't received our armoire, we finally contacted the local BBB and all of the local news stations in the Orlando area. Well, one of the stations contacted me the following Monday asking me if I was aware the store had closed it's doors. I wasn't aware and ended up on the news with another couple telling about the crappy service and lies we had been told. That was in March 2004. We didnt' have the furniture and we weren't getting our money back. We ended up having to go to another furniture place and ordering the furniture (and paying for it again).
Since March 2004, we had been fighting with the corporate offices to get our money back or to give us some furniture. Again...excuse after excuse...things like, "it's just a matter of time but you're going to get your money, etc" Well, we had been dealing with one person since March 2004 and not knowing who else we could speak with at the corporate offices. A few months back, we insisted on speaking with someone else. About a month ago, we FINALLY got a letter from them giving us a credit at a store that's about 2 hrs away from us. We went there and order the new baby's crib, a crib mattress, and a car seat. Luckily, the car seat and mattress were in stock. We were told 12 weeks for the crib to arrive....we are crossing our fingers that it comes. In the meantime, we have money set aside in case we have to buy a crib on the fly.
As mentioned before, these are all franchised and you might not have an experience like this if you were to buy from them. I'm sure there are lots of people out there who have nothing but great things to say about them. But, why risk it? If I didn't have a store credit, I would never have set foot in another USA Baby store again. If it were me and I could buy the furniture I loved somewhere other than USA Baby, I would.
Good luck with your search!!
Andrea
We bought a Childcraft Legacy crib from Baby 2 Teen in 2003. The service was good, but the shipment took just as long (if not maybe even a little longer) than expected. I think it was 6-8 weeks, but it has been a while, so I may be remembering wrong. In any case, the quality was good and the sales staff was pretty helpful.
Jerilyn
DS, Sean 10/03
DD is scheduled to arrive via c/s on March 21! :)
"Baby makes days shorter, nights longer, home happier, and love stronger."
I know there are many horror stories about USA Baby on this board, however we had a great experience. We bought a Sorelle crib, and assumed it would have to be ordered, but they had it in stock. The rails for the conversion kit had to be ordered, they told us 8-10 weeks and it only took about 6. They also happened to have the changing table in stock. Customer service has been wonderful. The changing table had a bent screw and stripped nut, so I called USA Baby about getting a replacement part. They called me back within 1/2 hour and said they couldn't find the an extra part in the warehouse so they took one off the floor model and would hold it for me to come pick up. Each time I have been in there I have been impressed with the staff's friendliness and knowledge, even the guy in the warehouse was great. I do know that they are all owned separately, so I guess it's hit or miss. I live near the one in Salt Lake City and would definietly recommend them.
We ordered our Baby's Dream Infinity nursery furniture from Buy Buy Baby. My cousin gave me two "20% off one item" coupons, which we were able to use for the two most expensive pieces (crib and combo). We also ordered the bed rails and the hutch. Although I registered at BBB and BRU a while ago, I haven't received any coupons in the mail. I have a feeling they wait until you have purchased a bunch of expensive items before they send them to you! BBB told us delivery would take 8-14 weeks, but we ordered the pieces on January 26, and they called us 2 weeks ago to tell us they were in. So far, we are pleased. We have arranged for delivery and assembly for this weekend. I'll repost once we have the stuff to update on quality of service and whether anything was damaged.
Our Baby's Dream Infinity furniture was delivered from Buy Buy Baby right on time - actually even a little early -- on Saturday. They assembled the crib and placed the combo unit. The delivery people did mark up my newly painted walls a little in the installation, which annoyed me, but I let it go. Then, when I inspected the furniture more carefully, I noticed that the front rail of the crib had a mark on it that is either a scratch or was not properly finished - you can see the unfinished wood. The top of the combo unit had the bottom of a screw sticking out of it. Neither of these were major problems, and my husband said he could easily fix both, but I feel like we paid for something new and undamaged, and that is what we should get. I called Buy Buy Baby shortly after delivery on Saturday. They said that they would have to wait until Monday to resolve the issue because they would have to get in touch with the manufacturer during business hours. BBB called me first thing this morning and said they are ordering a replacement top and replacement rail for the crib, and will contact me as soon as they are in to schedule a time for someone to come and repair it (4-6 weeks). I am keeping my fingers crossed, but they were very cooperative, and since the items are usable (my husband lowered the screw so it isn't sticking up out of the top), as long as they keep their word, I am satisifed with the outcome.