Indianamom2
04-06-2009, 10:36 PM
Let me start at the beginning, being as brief as possible: The Jardine crib we purchased for DD #1 about 5 years ago was recalled. I got a voucher for a new crib, which absolutely had to be purchased at BRU, for $219. Other than the Jardine brand cribs and a few other not-so-great quality cribs, absolutely nothing was that price or less.
Fast forward: I made my peace with having to pay extra for a new crib. I did my research. For the money and given the options in front of me, I decided on buying the Baby Cache Heritage Lifetime crib, at the sticker price of $399. I knew I would also be purchasing the bed rails.
I have waited....and waited...and waited for a coupon that would work on cribs and finally a darling lady from these boards sent me one that expires on April 9th. I was all set.
Today: I go in, sit at the desk and attempt to order my crib. I am told there are none in the warehouse, none in any local (think 100 miles or so radius) stores and I would have to special order one. My coupon would not work on special orders. It would take at least 10-12 weeks (the guy actually advised me to pick out something else!) and I am currently just about 27 weeks pregnant.
So I ask if it is available online. It was, I could use my coupon for 15% off, but then there's the little matter of shipping. It was going to cost $130 to ship the crib, completely negating the coupon and then quite a bit.
I call my local BRU and speak with a manager. I explain about the recall, about the voucher, about the crib not being in stock....and ask if the shipping can be refunded (I think something about the voucher program had mentioned this). She said, "I don't know." YOU'RE THE MANAGER!! IF YOU DON'T KNOW, WHO WILL?? Then she gets back on the line and tells me that they just got a shipment in that afternoon (I was in the store around 12:00 pm). So I tell her I'll be back this evening.
This evening: I go in, sit at the desk and attempt to order the crib. The girl (a different person, of course) brings the tag from the crib over and shows it to me. It says "This item is temporarily unavailable." I nearly lose my mind. I ask how this can be possible, given that I spoke with the manager at 3:00 pm this afternoon and she said they had just come in. The girl finally looks it up on the computer and discovers that there are a couple still left in stock. She starts ordering the crib.
This is when I notice the price tag. At noon today (and every single other time I've seen the crib, in the store or online) the non-sale price has been $399. At 8:00pm, the price is now listed at $429. I literally lose my mind. I ask if this is the price. The girl says yes. I tell her to get the manager. I explain to them both why I extremely frustrated at this whole (racket) process and how I am not paying $429 when, through no fault of my own, the price suddenly went up $20 since noon. I am seriously ticked.
They can tell. They agree to lower the price. (How big of them.)
Then I order the bed rails. For every other convertible crib kit, the price has been around $60. The girl tells me, "That will be $129 for the rails and they will take about 12 weeks to come in."
*^#&#*@^@*#&#^#^#*&&*@&!^@&*!!
Granted, when all is said and done, I ended up paying around $130 for the crib and $140 for the rails. It doesn't sound bad, but I so dearly despise this whole process at Babies r Us right now.
And heaven help them if, when the crib arrives, something is missing or damaged. They will not know fury like mine!
(and did I mention that this crib apparently will not fit in the back of the minivan and we'll need to rent/borrow a truck to get it home?)
I'm done now.
Christina
Fast forward: I made my peace with having to pay extra for a new crib. I did my research. For the money and given the options in front of me, I decided on buying the Baby Cache Heritage Lifetime crib, at the sticker price of $399. I knew I would also be purchasing the bed rails.
I have waited....and waited...and waited for a coupon that would work on cribs and finally a darling lady from these boards sent me one that expires on April 9th. I was all set.
Today: I go in, sit at the desk and attempt to order my crib. I am told there are none in the warehouse, none in any local (think 100 miles or so radius) stores and I would have to special order one. My coupon would not work on special orders. It would take at least 10-12 weeks (the guy actually advised me to pick out something else!) and I am currently just about 27 weeks pregnant.
So I ask if it is available online. It was, I could use my coupon for 15% off, but then there's the little matter of shipping. It was going to cost $130 to ship the crib, completely negating the coupon and then quite a bit.
I call my local BRU and speak with a manager. I explain about the recall, about the voucher, about the crib not being in stock....and ask if the shipping can be refunded (I think something about the voucher program had mentioned this). She said, "I don't know." YOU'RE THE MANAGER!! IF YOU DON'T KNOW, WHO WILL?? Then she gets back on the line and tells me that they just got a shipment in that afternoon (I was in the store around 12:00 pm). So I tell her I'll be back this evening.
This evening: I go in, sit at the desk and attempt to order the crib. The girl (a different person, of course) brings the tag from the crib over and shows it to me. It says "This item is temporarily unavailable." I nearly lose my mind. I ask how this can be possible, given that I spoke with the manager at 3:00 pm this afternoon and she said they had just come in. The girl finally looks it up on the computer and discovers that there are a couple still left in stock. She starts ordering the crib.
This is when I notice the price tag. At noon today (and every single other time I've seen the crib, in the store or online) the non-sale price has been $399. At 8:00pm, the price is now listed at $429. I literally lose my mind. I ask if this is the price. The girl says yes. I tell her to get the manager. I explain to them both why I extremely frustrated at this whole (racket) process and how I am not paying $429 when, through no fault of my own, the price suddenly went up $20 since noon. I am seriously ticked.
They can tell. They agree to lower the price. (How big of them.)
Then I order the bed rails. For every other convertible crib kit, the price has been around $60. The girl tells me, "That will be $129 for the rails and they will take about 12 weeks to come in."
*^#&#*@^@*#&#^#^#*&&*@&!^@&*!!
Granted, when all is said and done, I ended up paying around $130 for the crib and $140 for the rails. It doesn't sound bad, but I so dearly despise this whole process at Babies r Us right now.
And heaven help them if, when the crib arrives, something is missing or damaged. They will not know fury like mine!
(and did I mention that this crib apparently will not fit in the back of the minivan and we'll need to rent/borrow a truck to get it home?)
I'm done now.
Christina