The Baby & Confusion Store

Aaaarrrrgggghhh! I screamed in my head, with a wavering smile plastered on my face. I rather got the impression that Baby & Co. stood for "Baby and Confusion" when their saleslady still could not understand what we were trying to say after explaining it for several times already. I felt like I was again a pre-school teacher, trying to be patient as I rephrased my instructions in different ways and even gave examples to drive my point.

My close friend Minik was having her baby shower that afternoon, and she had registered at Baby & Co. Since SM Marikina was the nearest branch where my fiance and I could drop by on the way, we decided to buy our gift there and were even delighted to see that they had a rather bigger branch with wider selection than the ones we've seen in other places.

Eager and expecting to do it fast, we approached the first saleslady we saw. She was very friendly and accommodating. After informing her of our purpose, she immediately excused herself to get the "list" for us. But when she came back, she was holding not what we had been anticipating. She handed over a glossy, colorful paper containing the list of items a mother would need for her baby. We then explained that we wanted to see the list that Minik and her husband Brian chose because they had registered in their company. We even emphasized their names. A look of suprise, then understanding registered on her face. She then asked, "What quarter?" My mind went blank and a feeling of irritation passed over me. I sighed and explained once more. Finally, she went to get their supervisor because her brain cells were probably becoming over-roasted without even coming close to terms with what we really wanted.

The supervisor was a woman who looked quite presentable and decent. She was equally friendly. She came to us, holding a brochure about their "Star Baby" promo because she had the impression from the saleslady that maybe we wanted to enter our own child in that contest. The clock was ticking, and we have not gotten anywhere close to even choosing a gift! You can just imagine how frustrating and annoying I felt. My fiance was even more goaded, that's why he chose to just roam around and check out some of their products.

Feeling like a broken record, I explained our purpose-now-a-dilemma to the supervisor. Good thing she instantly understood and went to get the actual list we had been waiting for! If she had not, I'm not sure if I could have held my composure any longer.

When we finally had the list, the supervisor left us in the hands of another saleslady (not the previous one). But whoa! The story doesn't end here. All of a sudden, we were surrounded by not one but around five salesladies with eager smiles, all peeking at the list then rushing off to grab some items. And some of them were even running with excitement. Before we could even react, there was a small cart in front of us filled with about six products! "Wait!" I said right away. "We're not going to buy everything on that list." Though someone said they just wanted to show us the options, I had an inkling that a few of them really thought we needed to purchase all the listed items.

As we were weighing our options, the group of salesladies launched into their own confused discussion of what this was all about. I was surprised (okay, a little shocked as well) to hear that most of them did not have an idea what a baby shower was! All along they had thought that the baby was already out. One even asked us if it was a baptismal celebration. But then, a more shocking revelation was that they also did not know anything about registries!

As soon as we got our gift, we tried to get out of there fast, muttering thank you's. We were irritated, frustrated, and late. Not a good customer experience, I tell you... Being clueless is one thing, but not being oriented about your company's procedures was quite maddening. Thus, upon paying at the cashier, we filled out an SM feedback form and recounted our exasperating encounter.