Be careful - installation done incorrectly by certified inspector

[HonoluluMom]

I took my car and new convertible, Britax Advocate 70CS, in for a car seat inspection at my local hospital with certified inspectors.

They did not know how to install the car seat correctly and they ended up doing it incorrectly. The Britax has a lock-off and the hospital did not install the seat with the lock-off.

After re-reading the manual, my family and I did it on our own. I've left a message for the hospital about this and am waiting to hear from them.

I'm sure that most inspectors are wonderful people with a lot of valuable information. However, in an abundance of caution, even if a certified inspector helps with the install, I'm not going to assume it's been done correctly and will always read and re-read the manual and double-check the install.

[Joolsplus2]

Sigh. This is why I should move home and get a job in Honolulu, huh? Think my husband would buy that? I know my mom (still on O'ahu) would :)

Yeah, that's a super new seat and they should have really just read the manual, read the manual, read the manual to find out how to do it. On the other side of that, the lockoffs aren't required when your seatbelt locks (any car newer than 1997), so unless the install was shockingly loose or at the wrong angle, it was more than likely safe.

[mom2binsd]

They also should not have "installed" it for you, but had you install it with their guidance, their job is to teach not to install, although many don't do this.

[Neatfreak]

Was not using the lock-off the only problem that you had with the installation?

[HonoluluMom]

They also should not have "installed" it for you, but had you install it with their guidance, their job is to teach not to install, although many don't do this.

I actually took in 3 cars and 3 Britax Advocate 70CS seats. We installed the car seat in 2 of the cars beforehand. I'll admit one of the cars, we didn't have time to install the car seat.


Was not using the lock-off the only problem that you had with the installation?

Yes, the lock-off was the only problem (that I am aware of). And even though one of the car seat inspectors said the lock-off is not necessary, for some reason after the car got home, grandma was able to move the car seat significantly more than 1 inch.

I spoke with the coordinator of the hospital's car seat inspection and she was very apologetic. She said she would speak to each of the car seat inspectors that worked on the cars. I got a call from one of the inspectors and she was apologetic as well. I told them that I'm glad we figured out the issue and were able to resolve it and hopefully this will help them the next time they need to install an Advocate.