Showing posts with label online shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online shopping. Show all posts

Saturday, April 7, 2012

My Worst Online Shopping Experience

I must say that I have done quite a bit of shopping online. Expect for the hideous website of Ryanair, I haven't really had bad experiences. Until a couple of weeks ago.

Photo by Fräulein

I came across this nice bodysuit for babies with "My mom is blogging this" print. As our goddaughter, who's mother also writes a blog, was to turn 18 months old, I thought I would buy her one.

The bodysuit was by CafePress. I first went to their English web site, but as I was browsing there, I was suddenly thrown to their German page, loosing all product details I had found so far.

The web page didn't look very user friendly. Most of the links were marked with a question mark. And as I was trying to make the purchase, there was no link for me to go forward...


I have now realized that I should have just gone directly to address cafepress.de instead of the www.cafepress.de/totrocket, where I was thrown to. At the time, I thought these usability issues were due to Safari browser and used Firefox instead.


As the delivery costs were very high (8 euros!) I decided to buy two bodysuits, one for Fräulein, too. They had a size chart to help choosing the right size of clothing, but the measures were, well...


2 * 26cm = ... 64cm ?

Well, I decided to buy two with the size 18-24months. The cost of my purchase was stated to be 40 euros. I payed with PayPal, but after clicking 'OK', the sum was suddenly 41€! Well, one euro is not much, but I don't think it is a very good practice to increase the cost after you have made the purchase.


To their credit, the products were delivered within the time they had promised and the quality seemed to be OK. Although the size 18-24months is a bit short for 17-months-old Fräulein...

But yes, her mom is definitely blogging this!


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Side Effects

This really is efficient: I placed an order for Baby-Markt on Monday at 1:37pm and the products were delivered to our front door today (on Wednesday) at 12:49pm. So, now we have the potty and the scarf.

But ordering a lot of things online has some side effects: your DHL delivery guy gets to know you!

When we moved to Wiesbaden, I ordered quite many things for our unborn baby. The same DHL guy delivered all those products. He, naturally, noticed my big belly and always asked, when the baby was due. And now he always remembers to ask about the baby. Like today: "Ist das Baby gut? Schläft sie? Ist sie ein Jahr jetzt?"

At the beginning of our 'relationship', he asked where we came from. I told we were from Finland, but for some reason he remembered it wrong. Once he popped in at the same time as our Hebamme. Outside, he had asked the Hebamme, is she was coming to visit the family from Australia... Maybe he just thought we were from some faraway country ;)

Well, the next time he delivered something, he asked: "Finnland, ha? Eurovision? Kennen Sie dass?" At the same time he made some movements with his hands indicating playing the violin. I'm not sure what he meant, maybe he remembered that Lordi had won the Eurovision Song Contest a couple of year ago.

Since the first of our 'meetings', the same pattern has been repeated. Our last name brings to his mind a song by The Beatles. So, every time I open the door for him, he sings a part of that song and asks "The Beatles, ha, kennen Sie dass?". Then he asks something about the baby and leaves.

And I'm always left smiling. Partly because I have received some shopping. But partly because he is always in such a good mood. "The Beatles, ha?"


Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Shopping of the Week

I have had some great opportunities to spend time with my favorite hobby this week.

Here is what I have bought (and saved) this week - online, of course.
Somehow these all seem to be for my daughter...

- Maxi Cosi PrioriFix car seat (discount 39%)
- Snowman pictures for window (free gift when ordering from myToys)
- Baby Björn potty (discount 15%)
- Spiegelburg scarf (no savings, but it was just so cute. And there were no delivery costs, as I bought it with the potty)
- Emile et Rose jacket + beret (discount 43%, see the link only for the look of the product. I actually bought it from Limango, but they only sell certain product for a couple of days, so the link wouldn't work for long)

And it is only Tuesday afternoon...

Friday, November 25, 2011

A Devoted Hausfrau (Or Not)

My husband loves the Kellogg's All Bran breakfast cereals and he used to eat those for breakfast daily when we still lived in Finland. They don't sell those regular ones in our local Rewe grocery store, but only ones with something with them, like apple. When the Finnish Fathers Day was approaching, I thought I would find him his favorite cereals.

On the Kellogg's web site, I found out that All Bran Flakes are sold in an Edeka store, which can be found in Sonnenberg part of Wiesbaden. On Friday before the Fathers Day, I drove with my daughter to Sonnenberg. But as it was early Friday evening, I couldn't find any place to park my car. After cruising around for twenty minutes, I gave up. (Not so devoted Hausfrau, I might add. If I were, I would have parked the car in the city center and walked the couple of kilometers to the store with my daughter in her push-chair.)

Yesterday I thought I would have another try. We drove back to Sonnenberg and found a place to park quite easily. We went into the Edeka store, which was right by the parking area. But it turned out to be a drink store, which - funnily enough - sold also pet food, but not any breakfast cereals.
Edeka Wein & Getränke (and pet food)
The well-hidden real Edeka store

After looking around the parking lot a bit more, I noticed the real Edeka. At this point, I should have known that there wouldn't be the right breakfast cereals in the store, not after all that trouble. And there wasn't. All I learnt was that All Bran Regular is totally different product from Dayvita All Bran Flakes... The first is what I was looking for, the latter what they had in the store. And if you are wondering about the difference: the latter has yoghurt flakes mixed with the regular ones. Those they sell in Germany. The plain flakes they don't.

So, I bought the yoghurt ones, even though I think they sell those in our local Rewe, too. If, and I emphasize the IF, I were a devoted Hausfrau, I would now open the box and separate the regular flakes from the yogurt flakes. But I guess I'm not and I'll do what I always do: go shopping online. But it isn't as easy as one could think. As the All Bran Regular isn't sold in Germany at all, they cannot be found in any online store, either. I only found them in one Swiss online store (because those are sold in Switzerland!), but they do not deliver abroad.

Yes, I know, I know, my husband has managed well without these breakfast cereals for over a year now (well, he eats those whenever he travels to Finland), so I guess he'll manage without them in future, too. But I must admit, this has become a bit of an obsession for me. And it is so difficult for me to admit that there is something I cannot (or it is much too expensive to) buy online!

Other things I haven't found in local stores and miss from Finland:
- Irish or British cider (please, tell me, if you know where to buy a bottle of Strongbow or any other brand in Wiesbaden!)
- Fazer chocolate
- Twinings Earl Grey Green Tea
- good, fresh fish
- frozen potato products other than French fries

and, like all Finns who live abroad, I must mention:
- rye bread and
- salty liquorice


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Handy by Handed BY - Yet Another Reason to Shop Online

When we moved to Germany, we didn't have many baby-related things with us, so we had to start preparing for the baby's arrival as soon as we had moved in to our new apartment in Wiesbaden. One of the first things I purchased (from an online store, of course) was a Wickeltisch (changing table, a very German product, I've been told). The table was very simple (Geuther Clarissa), so I had to also get some baskets for storage. I do not like the normal Wickeltisch baskets, which are usually made of rattan (I have had my share of rattan furniture in my room when I was teenager). And I wanted to find some baskets which I could use in other purposes after there would be no need for the Wickeltisch.

From a baby product store KönigsKinder (located in Arcade passage in Wiesbaden) I found lovely baskets made of plastic stripes.  From the tags I learnt that the baskets were produced by Handed BY. They were handmade using recycled materials and making sure that the craftswomen are not exploited. However, I didn't buy these baskets right away. But then I walked into another store in Arcade, Tribeca (it has since moved to the same block with the Cuckoo Clock) and found the same baskets there with lower price. That was it, I had to buy those baskets. I got this one small in pink-grey-white, and three larger ones in white.


Now that the Wickeltisch is no longer in use, I have found other functions for the baskets. The biggest one served as storage for baby toys, but quite soon there were too many toys to fit into the basket. We now use it for our daughter's books.


To store all the toys, I went back to KönigsKinder for even bigger basket, which I had seen in their window. I brought home (yes, actually bought from a real store and brought home myself!) one with a lid and colors matching our living room decor. I thought the lid would be good in hiding the toys, although it is not rigid enough to pile these over each other in case we'll need more baskets for toys.


Yesterday, a couple of weeks after buying this latest basket, I noticed that the handprint shaped stamp is missing. After some Google search I realized that the basket isn't by Handed BY, but by another company called Blessing! But don't they look similar? It actually says 'Blessing's' on the tag, but I had thought it was the name of the product... No wonder I couldn't find this from any online stores, when I was looking for the lowest price!

At first, I was a bit disappointed, because I had kind of liked the idea of buying something that is ethically made and is environmentally friendly, like the Handed BY products. To be honest, I'm not usually into this 'save the world' stuff, but it is a great add-on, when you find something nice.

And the lesson here? You better do your shopping online, when you can peacefully find all the background information you need before the decision. Fortunately, my daughter does not seem to care about the brand of the basket - she still likes to climb inside to play with her toys.


Saturday, November 12, 2011

Hausfrau's Favourite Hobby: Online Shopping

The world of online shopping has opened up for me since we moved to Germany and had a baby. First of all, the selection in German online stores is so much larger than in Finland. Secondly, shopping is so much cheaper here. The sales are better, plus the delivery is usually free! DHL brings the shopping to your door possibly as fast as the next day.

I'm not a real fan of shopping clothes for myself online, as I'd like to try them on. But for baby clothes as well as other accessories, online shopping is a great option.

I must admit that I have even become a bit of a maniac in finding the cheapest offer. In choosing a product I might visit several 'real' stores, but after that I take the shopping online. For example, after choosing the pushchair I wanted, I spent quite a while online searching where I could get it the cheapest (one year ago Bugaboo Cameleon was cheapest in Dutch Mutti und Ich store, even with the delivery costs).

Another nice thing in online shopping are the Gutscheins (discount coupons). Every time you order something, you are provided with several coupons to other stores. And you would be a fool not to use them, right? ;)



I won't even start to list the online stores, which I visit regularly, but I think there are a couple worth mentioning:
  • Baby Markt: for anything baby-related. Very reliable and the delivery is free in Germany for orders over 20€. And if you'd like to order something that costs under 20€, add a Pampers packet to your Warenkorb ('Baby Markt macht den besten Preis!') and your order will be delivered free of charge!
  • Buch.de: Good selection of books in English and always free delivery
  • myToys.de: good selection of toys always in sale
  • There are several nice online stores for baby clothes, but one that I have used a couple of times is Ellerhop. I had thought I'd need to wait until January to get winter clothes with good price, but they already had the lovely Cupcake snowsuit in sale. 

If you still aren't convinced or if you need to explain your hobby to someone, please remember that online shopping is a great way to learn a language!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

The Cruel World of Shopping

This happened already a month ago, but I'm still so disappointed that I need to whine about this... :)

I have really fallen in love with online shopping, especially with children clothes (more about that later). But once in a while it is nice to go and finger real clothes and get new ideas. A lovely store Kinderplanet closed down in August, so I was thrilled to notice that another store opened right next door.



I was familiar with this store from my online shopping experiences, so I had quite high hopes for it. Royalkid has a wide range of lovely brands in their selection.

I went to visit this new store in order to find something nice for my daughter to wear in her first birthday party. As I stepped in, there was an eager lady welcoming us. I told her what I was looking for and her immediate reaction was 'We only sell clothes for children older that 3 years'. From the sound of her voice and her body language I was able to read that she expected us to leave the store. Then she took a look into the buggy and commented quite surprised 'She is very big!'. She stormed to the rack and took a dress to me saying 'This might be small enough for a two year old'.

I saw the price tag and politely asked if they had anything else than clothes. Then I noticed a bowl of beautiful Il Gufo hairpins. I was about to try one on my daughter, when the lady commented 'But she doesn´t even have any hair!'.

At this point, I had had enough and thought that she didn't want to sell us anything. Thinking to myself that Royalkid should stick with the online store, I went to H&M and bought a nice dress and a hairpin for the birthday party.
© Citymami