By Angela Stringfellow on April 30, 2011 in
If a stroller is on your must-buy list, your choices are vast. Most definitely, price becomes a factor in your decision. We have discussed before whether a high price stroller is worth the cash, but in the process of reviewing strollers, a bad customer service experience raises this question again.
When we are assembling our reviews, we gather each stroller's specifications, such as safety features, number of seats, harness points, included accessories, folded dimensions, and so on. There are times when we can't locate or verify these specs online so we call the manufacturer to fill in the gaps. Most of the time, it's quick, painless and fruitful—meaning we get the information we need.
Low Price = Bad Customer Service?
Recently we tackled the Cosco Juvenile line, including the Cosco Juvenile Deluxe Comfort Ride (*Est. $40), the Cosco Juvenile Sprinter (*Est. $150), Cosco Juvenile Umbria (*Est. $50) and Cosco Juvenile Altura (*Est. $65). This line is priced on the low end, and the reviews we read indicate that you get what you pay for.
Consumers are less than enthusiastic about Cosco Juvenile strollers, also sold under the Eddie Bauer and Safety 1st brand names, saying they're difficult to maneuver and very short (without adjustable handles), causing parents to hunch over while pushing them. A short wheel base contributes to the steering problem and also means parents are likely to kick the rear axle or accidentally touch the brake. Parents say Cosco Juvenile strollers have uncomfortable seats, and they aren't impressed by the three-point harness, which they say feels unsecure. (Most strollers today have a five-point safety harness.)
One bit of information notably missing for every Cosco Juvenile stroller is the folded dimensions, so we called. They wouldn't provide us with any information over the phone. Instead they instructed us to send an email, but they couldn't give us a response timeframe, because apparently they're inundated with emails.
So we wondered, “what would happen if we were consumers calling for this information?” We did just that; immediately called back and said we were considering a few models but were looking for the folded dimensions of each to determine which one to buy.
This time, the company representative was more than happy to help, although she spent a few moments looking for the information and then instructed us to visit the website, because she couldn't locate it. We couldn’t locate it on the website either. Finally, we called Cosco about the matter for comment. Prior to publication, I had a lengthy conversation with Julie Vallese, Vice President of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications for Cosco Juvenile. She was extremely nice and more than willing to address our concerns regarding the situation. Vallese said that the rep I spoke with is new to the customer service line, and that they're proud to have an in-house customer service department with many employees who have been there 10+ years. The fact that I happened to speak with a newer rep meant she didn't have much historical product knowledge as opposed to some of the longer-term employees.
In regards to the experience we had calling in as the media, it was explained that the reps are trained to handle customer inquiries only, and have strict instructions not to have discussions with media reps about products. I said that the question was quite simple -- just a product spec that should be readily available. We weren't asking for opinions or safety information or anything that could potentially be taken out of context. She felt that when the rep realized we were "media" her immediate reaction was simply to refer us to someone who was trained to speak with media, given that she is new. Vallese said she was incorrect, however, in the response timeframe the rep gave us for an email reply, because they do make every attempt to provide information to both consumers and the media and we should have been told that they would reply promptly.
Vallese also said that the fact that the folded dimensions of their products aren't available on the website is an issue, because that is important information for consumers, so she'll be discussing that with their copy editor and trying to have that information added.
High Price = Good Customer Service?
Coincidentally, we also had to call Bugaboo to request the folded dimensions of the newly released Bugaboo Donkey (*Est. $1,200 and up), which is at the opposite end of the price spectrum and gets rave reviews. The experience was vastly different; we were greeted with a cheerful recording apologizing for the wait, telling us we were third in queue and our expected wait time.
We waited less than four minutes to speak to an enthusiastic representative who graciously obliged with our request, offering the folded dimensions of all three configurations of the Bugaboo Donkey with an explanation of how the Donkey sits when folded—and an apology that the dimensions were in centimeters rather than inches.
It seems that in this case, price is an indicator of both product quality and customer service. We can't generalize this experience to every stroller manufacturer, but it does raise an interesting point: How much would you be willing to pay for superior customer service? If you knew that paying a few hundred dollars more for a product would mean that any problems would be resolved efficiently and graciously, would it be worth it to you? We're curious to hear what you think. Share your thoughts with us in the comments!