Several months ago, as anxious expecting parents, we went to Babies R Us to order a Dutailier Glider. When we got there and wanted to place the order, we found out that Dutailier offers a startlingly large selection of wood and fabric choices for the gliders. Slightly overwhelmed, but excited, we picked our fabric and wood and placed the order for the glider and ottoman.

We were also fortunate enough to find a 15% coupon that we were able to apply to the high ticket item order. While placing the order, we were informed that this special order would take 10-12 weeks. If the delivery came in that window, it would have barely come in time for our son’s entry into the world.

At the 10 week mark, I called to see if the glider had arrived. It had not, but they said that they would call me when the glider had arrived. I patiently waited it out, but after the 13 week mark, I called again to see the status of the order. I called on a weekend and the customer service people could not check the status of the order. They said that I would have to call on Monday for a manager to check the status of the order.

I waited through the weekend and called first thing Monday morning. Someone was able to check the status of my order and they told me that it was “in progress”. No ETA, no other news. They said they would call me back when there was an update.

I waited another week and with no response from Babies R Us, I decided to call again. No update on the order. Frustrated, at this point, I drove in to the store the next day to talk to someone face to face.

I got to the store and got in touch with a manager there. He looked up the order and informed me that the order had been processed, but the status has been marked as “TRANSFER FAILED”. He explained to me that this is not uncommon, but it means that the glider and ottoman have been made, but there was some kind of failure in shipping it to the store. The status had been marked as such for the past month and unchanged since.

He said he would have to call the corporate office to find out the status of the order. The next day, I got a call from him saying that he had not heard back from the corporate office, but would call me as soon as he hears something. He said that when the glider arrived and I go into the store to pick up the ottoman, he would work out some compensation for the inconvenience incurred for me.

I waited the week out, and on the following Tuesday (one week from the time I had gone into the store), I called the store again. The person I spoke with before wasn’t there, but I asked for the status of the order. They said that the order status has not changed and is marked as “TRANSFER FAILED”. They said that they would leave a note with the person that I spoke with to follow up with me the following day. They apologized and said that they would leave a note on the order and with the store manager to work out some compensation for the tardiness of the order.

45 minutes later, someone called me from Babies R Us to inform me that the glider has been delivered and is sitting in the store waiting for me to come pick it up.

Our son had arrived two weeks early, so we were without a glider for quite some time now.

I went into the store and picked up the glider and ottoman. After they found my order they processed it and said I can wait for the glider to be brought in from the back and sit at a bench. I asked about the compensation promised to me and was met with a blank look by the employee. They checked with their manager and the manager gave us 15% off our order. That is roughly $100 back for the inconvenience.

I wanted about $100 for the trouble. The lack of communication on their part, the frustration of not knowing if and when the order would arrive, and the fact that I was the one who had to continue to pester them about an order than I had paid in full upfront in good faith was quite the ordeal. I wasn’t expecting Babies R Us to give us that much back, but it is because they did that just kept me as a customer. I was ready to boycott them because of this awful transaction, especially on a high ticket item, but at the end of the day, though I am not happy with how this transaction progressed, I am satisfied with the resolution.

You just saved me as a customer, Babies R Us!