BabyCenter Store

Full review
I needed to buy another Combi Dakota booster seat for my youngest child, and I wanted that particular car seat because it allowed kids 33 inches and up to use it, whereas other booster seats started at 40 inches. We’re a short family, and since I’m only 60 inches myself, I knew it could be a while before my youngest was 40 inches, but she was tall enough for the Combi, and too big for her other car seat.

Only one problem- I was having trouble finding it. Target no longer had it, and I really did not want a blue one from the One Step Ahead Catalog, because I have 2 girls, and blue to me just seemed like it was for boys. So, I finally found one at the babycenter.com store, in orange, for $26 something, which was cheaper than the $29 I paid for the other one several years ago.

Anyway, I had never shopped at this online store, in fact, I hadn’t logged on to Babycenter.com in a while since my kids had gotten a little older. But, I had to have this car seat, so I decided to try them out.

When you log onto www.babycenter.com, you’ll have to click on the dot beside Baby Center Store, and it will take you right to the store area. There are clickable links on the left that will take you to these areas:

Nursery
Gear
Maternity
Baby clothing
Feeding and nursing
Safety and baby care
Toys
Books, music, and DVD
Gifts
On sale

Since I was looking for a car seat, I clicked on gear, but there is a search feature you can use as well. Once I clicked on the gear link, I was taken to another page, and I clicked on car seats, then it had it broken down into infant/toddler/booster, and I hit booster and was taken to that page. I found what I was looking for, and hit add to cart.

This particular store does participate in the Ebates program, so 5% of my purchase was coming back to me, plus I saw an online code on Ebates to get free shipping on orders over $49, so I decided to look around and see if there was anything else I just had to have to get my order total up to $49. Plus, I had never shopped here before, so that was another reason to check them out.

Well, after wandering around several minutes, I could not find anything else I needed nor even wanted. Since my kids are 3 and 5, a lot of this stuff they would have no interest in nor would they need- strollers, baby spoons, bibs, baby clothes, infant toys- nothing I needed. In looking around in the store, it made me a little sad- my babies were no longer babies, and I realized how far along we had come by looking at all the baby stuff.

But anyway, I decided to get my car seat and go, and just not use my free shipping coupon, since my order total was only $26 not $49. Checking out was no problem, I entered all my necessary info, and the store accepts Visa, Master Card, or American Express. There was no tax to ship to my home state of Tennessee, which was a bonus in my opinion, because we have a very high tax rate of 9.75% here.

As far as shipping is concerned, there's a base rate of $5.99 per order (an order can include multiple items) plus a $.40 per-pound fee, up to 50 pounds, for each item. Large and bulky items take a bit longer and cost a bit more because oversize charges apply. I was charged $10.59 for my car seat to be shipped, to which I say egad! But, it was shipped via Fed Ex ground.

Anyway, after placing my order, I got kind of concerned when I did not get a confirmation email right after ordering. It was the next morning before that confirmation email came, and it already had the Fed Ex tracking link in the message. So, I guess that was alright.

Then, about 3 days later a huge box arrives- and I thought, now surely they did not put that in that big of a box, did they? Turns out it wasn’t the Combi I had ordered, but a Britax Marathon was in the box. Gee, what a surprise-I called them and was like, uh yeah, I didn’t get my car seat, I got this Britax. My packaging card was right, but I don’t know how in the world the Britax ended up with me- I guess someone out there expecting a Britax got my Combi instead. So, I called and they scheduled another Combi coming my way, and when they delivered that, they were supposed to take the Marathon with them. I called customer service and they were really nice about it, and I was only charged for what I ordered and not the whole Britax Marathon, and the price for sending it back, so I guess it was no big deal.

But still though, I found it rather weird that my packing slip was right, but here sat this Britax Marathon, and they had no idea I had it. But anyway, 2 days later they were supposed to come with the Combi I ordered, and I left the Marathon out on the front porch and they were supposed to take that with them. So, on the morning of the supposed pick-up, I put the huge box on the porch and waited. Around 2:30 in the afternoon it was still there and I wondered about it- so I called Baby Center’s customer service center, and stated the problem. Some really rude woman said- they have until the end of the business day to pick it up- they are scheduled to get it. Ok, but uh, my guess is if they haven’t come by this time, they’re probably not coming. So, nothing I could do but say ok. They finally did pick up the Britax about 4:30 p.m., but did not bring my other car seat.

The next day, I got an email saying my car seat had been shipped, and the other one returned. The car seat I ordered finally showed up the next day, and I was so glad to be finished up with my business with Baby Center.




Overall:

Well, I will never shop here again- I did have that rather weird mix up, but even if I didn’t, there’s really not much there for my kids- they are no longer babies (sniff!) and the store’s merchandise is more aimed at the infant group. Plus, the crazy antics with the car seat mix up really got on my nerves, and one time when I called about the matter, some lady got rude with me. So, can’t say that I would recommend this store at all!