By far one of the best investments we have made in child equipment has been the Phil & Ted’s 3-wheel pram. It’s a popular model among the toddler-owning fraternity and I see more and more of them when I’m out and about. Always there’s a shared smile and a nod of the head that says “Hello fellow trendy parent, aren’t we glad we’re not bugaboo owners.” It also gets a fair amount of attention from people wanting to know where I got it and do I like it, so I wasn’t surprised when I was approached in Dundrum Shopping Centre on Sunday afternoon.
She was wearing a full-length fur coat and looked far too manicured to be a parent but nevertheless she swooped over to me:
“Oooh, we’ve been looking for a pram like that! Do you like it?”
“Yes, it’s great, we love it.”
“Wherever did you find it? We’ve looked everywhere.”
“I got it off the inter….”
I hadn’t even got the word out when the smile died on her lips, she rolled her eyes, clicked her tongue and turned her back on me. Ever eager to have complete strangers approve of me I called after her,
“I’ve seen them in Roches Stores in Blackrock as well.”
She was no longer interested though and gave me an unconvincing smile over her shoulder before sweeping away. Had she given me the chance I would have asked her why she reacted that way to my mention of the internet. She didn’t strike me as the type to not have a credit card…perhaps she doesn’t have access since so many people in Ireland still don’t even have dial-up.
I couldn’t help wondering if it was something more like fear; to the average Irish person who doesn’t spend as much time online as we bloggers and blog-readers, I can imagine the internet would seem a scary place. The media likes to publish stories about the dark side of online life, the sensational accounts of pornography, child groomers and identity fraud. I suppose those are the ones that sell newspapers and boost ratings.
If she would have stayed around I could have told her I had been able to read reviews and compare prices at my leisure, all from the comfort of my home. In the end the pram cost me over €100 less online than any shop I checked with here in Ireland. Even when I rang those Irish shops hoping to give them my business and told them I would definitely buy from them if they would match the price they refused with no negotiation. Not even an offer of a discount. So, instead I bought from Kiddicare in the UK who delivered to my door within two days, no fuss. I believe we have in the internet a wonderful weapon against so-called “Rip-Off Ireland” and it’s not being used to its full potential, either by retailers or by customers.
Why are we as a nation so slow to embrace it?
24 replies on “Internet-Phobia”
But can it do a 180 degree turn out of the Dundrum shopping centre lifts? These are the sort of questions you need to be asking yourself.
The internet is what you make of it yourself…
Weird…
Lovely story. I love the way you elevate it to a broader canvas and contrast the approach of Irish business with internet value. I wonder what people you were speaking to when you were looking them to match the on-line price? Were you speaking to people who were authorised to negotiate? Who were empowered to think about what you were proposing?
My hypothesis is that the only person able to negotiate with a customer is the owner. Everyone else, including the supervisor on duty, is there to administer the sale. In other words, there is no culture of negotiating sales in shops. Car sales, yes. The staff who are not on commission for whatever they sell have no interest in negotiating with you. This isn’t an Irish trait; I found the same in most UK shops. Egypt: now there’s a country where you negotiate all the time. It’s almost an insult to the shopkeeper if you don’t negotiate.
Tell me more about your pram. How long will it last? Up to what age? How easy it it to push up and down escalators?
I want to compare it with the one i have: a http://www.stokke.com/product.asp?p=Xplory&la=EN&na=IR&div=C Stokke.
Colm: It can turn on a dime, even in the Dundrum shopping centre lifts 😀
Omani: The pram is designed to last for however long your child is in need of one from new born up. It also has an attachment for a second child which fits behind and slightly under the main seat. We’ve used it as a double buggy with my nephew and it’s still very easy to negotiate in small spaces. Most double buggies are way too large to fit in Irish shops. It has enough storage space under the chair to hold the contents of a supermarket basket, and it’s a doddle to push. I’ve not had any trouble pushing it up and down escalators, I wouldn’t want to try and get it on a bus though as it’s awkward to fold…you need both hands…and it can be a bit hefty when I’m trying to lift it into the car boot. It’s my only gripe with the design that it doesn’t have a clip to keep it folded. Still I’m extremely happy with it.
I like the look of the Xplory, also it seems like it would be good for the child to be up high, kids like to be able to see. One thing I notice that might make a difference to the choice someone made would be that the Xplory allows an older child to sit upright, in the Phil and Ted the child is always slightly reclined. It’s not a problem for us since Eve doesn’t mind, but I know some toddlers who will only tolerate sitting completely upright.
Very good points Claire.
One downside of buying on the Internet can be the touch-and-feel factor for certain things. Clothes would be the obvious one but you can see how it applies to lots of other things as well. Also, in certain cases just good advise from a knowledgeable sales person can be useful if you are unsure or have multiple choices or there are other factors difficult to figure out online.
But in general you are quite right, and it’s great to have it delivered to your door!
We saw one of those prams this weekend, outfitted with the second child in the under-attachment. I have to say that I think the under-child gets a really raw deal. Especially, as Peter pointed out, if the first child is flatulent.
As for the non-negotiations – I think Irish businesses suffer from endemic myopia. That’s the only explanation I have for the poor service and lack of creativity they exhibit.
Was this the same pram you were using that infamous day you were stuck in a doorway, putting yourself in quite the predicament with the gentleman (I hesitate to refer to him as such) behind you! 🙂
Ann, I know it looks like the under-child is getting a raw deal, but in all the reviews I read, and from my own experience they don’t mind being in the lower seat. In fact I’ve read a lot of accounts of the kids arguing about getting to sit down there. The only problem with it was it’s not reclinable so if they fall asleep it’s not as comfortable for them.
Angie: Yes, the very same. I blame the door and my poor spatial awareness for that situation…it’s the reson I’d be a dreadful parallel parker. 😀
Having just crawled out from under the internet hole I found myself in I have to concur with you Claire. I took the plunge and bought (dare I say?) the new Flook album on iTunes and boy is it great. Plus it too was delivered to my doo…lap-top. Great story Gingerpixel. Cheers! K-
Meant to say internet-rock. So much for posting comments at the end of long days. I’m tired. K-
Claire,
This is slightly off your point, a tangent so to speak:
do you know any blog which collects stories about customer service in Ireland – either good or bad?
I have a few stories about customer service and it would be great to cluster them with other such stories.
Hmm, if there’s not there should be!
I don’t know of any, the closest I can think of is http://irishlinks.blogspot.com/ but that’s a guide to Online shopping in Ireland.
Perhaps a new blog project for you Omani? 🙂
The pram sounds like a dream, even if the people you encounter while using it don’t – but how easy is it to get on a bus…
That was always my measure of a pram. I had one, not for long mind you, which wouldn’t fold until you lifted out the plastic holder in the bottom. So you had to lift the bags first, then the baby, then lift the tray, then fold the pram, throw it on your ehm shoulder and somehow with one of your six arms pay the bus driver!
Phew I am knackered even thinking back to it.
I think you should start being one of those mad-Mummies and knock people over with the pram before they have a chance to be rude. At least then when they fall over they have something to really moan about.
Hi Redmum, I’ve never tried to get it onto a bus but only because I know it would be impossible. It’s far too heavy and awkward to even get up on the steps let alone to try and collapse it and lift it one-handed. It’s definitely not a bus-friendly pram.
Even the DART is a pain because so many stations don’t have good access to one or other of the platforms. Thankfully they’re working on getting lifts in all the stations now. I can’t imagine what people in wheelchairs have been doing up until now. Not getting the DART I suppose.
Heh, my mother in law is so suspicious of the dreaded internet that she still insists in dealing with a travel agent face to face. I saved her around 300 quid once on a holiday but she wouldn’t take it because she thought it had to be a ‘dodgy internet scam’. Deadly looking pram though, if they come in black I’d get one and put a little knightrider light
on the front
Claire – can you fit 3 kids in it??
Hiya Stuart. No, two’s your limit I’m afraid. I can imagine you’d get quite a workout pushing any pram that could fit 3 kids!
I’m thinking we should get one of those, the baby’s nearing 1.5 stones and the BabyBjorn is getting uncomfortably heavy and he has outgrown the pram basket weeks ago. We got a nice-looking pram off the internet and it’s been great, apart from the plastic squeaking that annoys not only the baby and the person pushing it, but also the innocent people sitting on park benches trying to drink their morning flaggins of cider in peace. I think I’ll read a bit more reviews next time before buying anything expensive online.
There are people who use the internet, and there are people who are scared of it. I always feel like im in some sort of infomercial when trying to explain the benifits of shopping online.
Hi Claire,
nice post…. my sentiments exactly. Thats what I try to tackle in my blog.
If you have any other nice links like that Kiddicare one please pass them on to me. I have added a Grazr widget to my blog which will act as a directory of online shopping sites. My choice of sites probably has a slightly male bias, so it would be great if you could make a few suggestions to balance things out a bit.
I suppose one reason Irish people are not fully exploiting the economics of the Internet, is because there is no really good online guide available to them. The internet service providers or irish search directories, don’t do it for me. Search directories are too all encompassing and its takes an effort to distinguish the good sites from the mediocre ones.
So I am trying to filter out the best ones and adding commentary through my blog to emphasise why I’m picking those sites.
I love your site Paul, very useful and great to see someone filling a much needed gap. If I think of any other sites I will definitely let you know.
Hi
How did you buy this from Kiddiecare? Their website says they will not deliver outside of the UK?
Did you get it delivered to the North?
Thanks
Ger
Hi Ger,
Hmm, they must have changed their policies because when I ordered it there was no international restrictions and they delivered to me in Dublin with no hassle. It’s a real pity if they no longer deliver here but that seems to be a trend with a lot of internet companies in the last year.