Great Prices and Customer Service Make Nursing Baby a Winner
Written: Jul 07 '04 (Updated Jul 08 '04)
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I admit that I am not much of an on-line shopper. I buy on-line if I can get a fantastic deal (very rare) or when I simply cannot find an item in a brick and mortar store. I also have a try before I buy policy with baby items. And still I bought an Over the Shoulder Baby Holder (OTSBH) from nursingbaby.com, sight unseen. If I continue to have great experiences like I had at Nursing Baby I may become a confirmed on-line shopper yet!
General Information
As the name of the site implies, Nursing Baby caters to breastfeeding mothers and their babies. They have been in business for 6 years providing nursing clothes, breast pumps, milk storage and a variety of accessories designed to improve the nursing experience. One of the accessories is the sling that I purchased.
Navigation
The home page features a round picture of a nursing baby. Around this picture are bubbles linking you to the various areas of the site. In addition to “store” there is “parenting”, “family bed”, “links”, “boards” and “nursing”. Above this picture is a paragraph of “Best Deals & Sales” that I find a little busy and distracting but once off the home page the site is easy to navigate.
Entering the “store” area brings up a new page. The main categories are listed to left and include slings, breast pumps and clothing among others. The number in parentheses after the category names indicated the number of items listed in that category. Below that is a pull down menu to search by manufacturer, and then a keyword search block. There is also a block with FAQ topic listed.
On the right hand column is a list of their top 5 selling items. There is also a block for live on-line support. The center of the page includes monthly specials. This area is far better laid out than the home page. Instead of a paragraph style list there are thumbnail pictures of the sale items. Listed below each item is the product name, the regular price and the sale price.
Since a sling is what I was after, that was the link I selected. That brought up the list of 4 products in that category each with a thumbnail picture and price. Clicking on either the product name or the “buy now” button opens up a page that includes a to read the product description. For the sling I was purchasing the product information included the available fabric patterns. A pull down menu below the thumbnails of the fabrics allowed me to select the size and available fabric. Then a single click on “in cart” added it to my cart and brought up a page with my cart contents as well. Then a click on “checkout” and I was ready to make my purchase.
Checkout
At the checkout you have the option of creating an account. The account information includes your name, address, phone number and the option of subscribing to a newsletter. All of this information is password protected. If you choose, you can proceed to the check-out with setting up an account and on the next page you will be asked to input your name and address.
Whether you have created an account or not the next step is the delivery method. Nursing Baby offers free shipping on all order over $20 and shipping is just $3 for orders under $20. 3 day priority rush shipping is available for $3.99, which I opted to pay for. Here you can also add any comments about your order.
Selecting “continue” brings you to the payment page. You can use credit cards, PayPal or check/money order. There is no list of which credit cards are accepted but I used American Express. Hitting “continue” again brings you to the confirmation page where you have the opportunity to review you order and make any changes. The hit “confirm order” and you are done.
Selection
Nursing Baby is not a baby mega-mart. You aren’t going to find hundreds of different brands and styles. Instead what you are going to find are high quality items in each category. There are Medela, Ameda and Avent breast pumps available, along with matching bottles. The process of weeding through to find the good quality products from the bad has already been done for you.
While the OTSBH is manufactured in at least 50 pattern, like many on-line retailers, Nursing Baby offers a small selection of fabrics. They were actually one of the only retailers that offered the striped fabric that I really wanted.
Why I Chose Nursing Baby
I spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon trying to decide where to buy my OTSBH, because they are available from dozens of on-line retailers and I had no luck in finding any place local to try one out. I did find lots of other on-line stores that had lower base prices, but they charged such high shipping rates that the sling ended up costing more than Nursing Baby. Basically Nursing Baby prices had the shipping costs built into the price, which I liked. Since I was unsure how the sling would work for me I did not want to have to “eat” the shipping costs if I had to return the sling. There is also a generous 30 day money back guarantee. For health reasons breast pumps and breast pads can only be returned if they are unopened.
I also liked the fact that Nursing Baby was offering a free instructional video or DVD with purchase of a sling. Many companies claimed to offer the free videos many required a $5-$10 deposit that was refunded when you paid to return the video. To me that isn’t free. With Nursing Baby I received a free DVD that I can keep for future reference.
After the Order
I placed my rush order on a Wednesday afternoon. I received an email that evening confirming that my order had been received. I received an e-mail that my OTSBH had been shipped the next day via USPS. I received my sling on Saturday. Nursing Baby does not routinely offer tracking numbers for packages shipped via USPS. I was willing to forgo that in order to get my package on a Saturday which is a normal working day for the USPS.
After using my sling for a couple of days I realized that I had ordered the wrong size. I e-mailed Nursing Baby and received a response in just a little over an hour. I was given the option of sending back the sling I had for an exchange or ordering a new sling and returning the other one later. I decided to have a smaller sling shipped to me immediately instead of sending back my original sling for an exchange. That way, in case the smaller one was too small I would not have to order the larger one again. I again paid for the rush shipping and had my new sling in just 3 days. After trying the smaller sling and being satisfied with it I packed up the original sling and shipped it back. Four days later I received an e-mail that my sling had been received and my credit card had been credited for the original purchase price.
Both slings arrived in a rather large USPS cardboard boxes with the OTSBH in its original packaging inside. Since the sling is essentially a large piece of cloth with strategically sewn in batting no packing material was necessary for damage prevention. Both times I got the exact size sling and fabric I ordered and in the time frame promised by the rush shipping option.
Final Thoughts
I am thrilled with my experience with Nursing Baby. The site is easy to navigate and the customer service is efficient and helpful. The prices are as good or better than other sites and the free shipping is a great bonus.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Mary Ellen
Location: Nutmeg State
Reviews written: 1371
Trusted by: 237 members
About Me: The most wonderful time of the year...back to school & Epinions!
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