Baby Grand

This is an adorable store with terrible customer service. It is convenient to my house but I won’t be going back. I was buying a gift off a registry and the staff wasn’t helpful at all. They grabbed me a gift that was already purchased. There is no gift wrapping or at least they didn’t offer, no tissue paper or anything. They just threw my purchase in a bag. I’m not one to write negative reviews but this was not a pleasant shopping experience at all.

Just had a terrible experience at the Hopkins store. We went in to buy a double stroller for our daughter, who has a two year old and is due with their second in a month. We wanted to look at the Orbit stroller/​car seat system. It took forever to find someone that was familiar with the Orbit, we were told he was the only one that knew about it. In the meantime, a very helpful woman showed us several double strollers that our daughter did not really like or thought would work well. Finally a man came to help us with the Orbit, and he told us he could not understand why we wanted to look at this system for a second child, and ‘unless we were willing to spend $ 1200 why would we look at this stroller?’ I said we were aware of the cost and familiar with the product, and would like to understand how it worked as a double stroller. He said it would take an hour and a half to show us! He was so rude I could not believe it. We explained that we did not like the other strollers, but really wanted to understand the Orbit system. He did not seem at all interested in showing it to us! Horrible customer service! I would not recommend this store, nor go back here.

I bought an outfit at the St. Paul store (newborn gown and hat). After looking at the receipt and seeing it was twice what I thought I was paying for it I returned it at the Hopkins store. As their systems don’t communicate I was told I could not get my return receipt in the store, but it would be mailed to me instead. They also needed to jerk my original receipt to do the return. No receipt sent, no refund ever put on back on my card. When I called the store a few weeks later they had «no record» of me purchasing it or returning it. Nice $ 60 donation to their owner I guess.
I get that some of these baby boutiques are a bit snooty, but they have the absolute WORST customer service I’ve seen anywhere. Anything they have you can order on Amazon for a fraction of the price and without feeling like you are inconveniencing their employees by buying something.
Also, better hope your baby doesn’t need a diaper changed while you are there. The only option they give you is to change them on a dirty bathroom floor. Seriously? You are a BABY store!!!

I like to support small businesses but will not go back to this store (however our experience at the Hopkins store was much better). Originally the service was great, other than a few snarky comments that the owner made to her staff, and several knowledgable staff were helping us look at rockers. They agreed to let us take home a book of color samples to compare to our nursery if we just left a «refundable» deposit. However to «make things easier» the owner suggested we just write up an order for the chair in their system and we could cancel the next day if we changed our mind. We should have known better but the service up to this point had been great so we felt we could trust her. However once we decided on a chair from a different company (we found one that was cheaper and would be delivered 6 weeks sooner) things got really bad. I had to call several times over 3 days because the staff didn’t have authority to issue the return and the owner wouldn’t return my calls. When I finally reached her, she refused to issue a refund and went into a 10 minute rant about how the Internet is ruining small businesses and giving me a guilt trip for not buying from her after they let us borrow the color swatches. She agreed to give us store credit, which was infuriating since this was a $ 600 «refundable deposit» for a chair, everything in the store is overpriced. Finally after another few minutes of arguing she reluctantly agreed to give us our money back since we were already buying a crib from their Hopkins location, which I believe is owned by her son (and is a much better store).

A few months ago, I stopped in Baby Grand to investigate strollers. A gentleman helped me out initially, but as I started asking more complicated questions, he referred me to a woman who, I’m going to assume is the manager of both locations, if not the proprietor. The gentleman stuck around as the woman answered my questions. As the time went on, he disappeared, and the woman seemed to give off this vibe of talking at me, opposed to listening. I leave with a quote for 3 strollers with a standard «Call us if you have any questions.» Not an entirely bad experience for a random walk up, but still left me thinking, what just happened? Did I just experience a really crappy interaction? Nah. It’s just St. Paul.
Let’s jump to last weekend. I ended up purchasing a Mutsy stroller from somewhere else. What I needed was an adapter for my Peg Perego car seat. I stop in Baby Grand. Same guy is at the front counter. I explain what I need. He immediately defers to «Her» again. No, really. He said «Maybe She knows what you’re talking about.» I’m thinking, is any of the staff empowered around here? So, the same woman who had given me the quote appears from downstairs. He summarizes my needs to «Her». She never makes eye contact with me because she’s looking down, or her eyes are shut when she’s look up while talking. She goes on about stock and her database being off. She calls the Hopkins location. I (yes, I) offer to drive over and get the item since I live in Minneapolis. It sounded like the person on phone wasn’t competent to understand verify said adapter is really in stock then call back. «She» says she’ll call me once they have verification. I never got a call.
What really makes me despise this place is not the overpriced $ 24 French Giraffe squeezy toy. It’s the fact that for the amount of money one could spend in this place, They should be kissing your butt the moment you walked in the door, smile, act like they’re providing a service to you opposed to you providing a service to them. The older woman manager is not pleasant to deal with, rude, and clearly used to be a car salesman. How this place became the sole Mutsy reseller in Minnesota is beyond me.
Customer interaction and how the customer feels is how you make money. I went to another place in Edina; 5x as snooty. Even though they didn’t have what I was looking for, they were super nice, and even broke out their iPad to search for it. They had no shame in referring me to Walmart for said adapter. Don’t worry. I didn’t buy it from Walmart. The point is, They listened. They were courteous. They went the extra step. They will get my money when the time is right. Not you, Baby Grand.

I like the idea of the small, independent, and conveniently located baby goods store, but this place has a lot of problems. It’s almost like they’re trying to get you to stop shopping there (mission accomplished).
Over the past year we’ve purchased multiple «new» items that have clearly been opened and used (high chair), and in some cases had parts missing (diaper sprayer). Baby on Grand’s reply? «Call the manufacturer, that’s their problem.» Great, I am glad you’re completely absolved of responsibility for delivering an actual new product to the customer that paid for it.
Items that we want are pretty much always out of stock, which means a wait of 1 to God-​knows-​how-​many weeks until the item arrives. Pick up your item quickly, though, once it arrives, or they will sell it to another customer and then order you another, adding more weeks to the wait (this happened with cloth diapers).
In person, the staff is polite a little more than 50% of the time in person, but my stars are they mean on the phone. Also, they think nothing of badmouthing each other, other customers, the products they sell, children’s birthday parties, etc., right in front of you as you’re paying. Again, it’s like they’re trying to discourage you from shopping there.
Final point — the owner once gave us a little speech about how online shopping is ruining small businesses. Know how you can fight against that? By providing a superior in-​person shopping experience! Be nice to your customers! Have competent staff! Check to make sure the «new» products you’re selling aren’t obviously used! It can be done, these clowns just have no idea how.

DO NOT SHOP HERE!!! They may initially appear to be helpful but they will screw you once they have received your money. I wish I had looked at the reviews online prior to coming here.
I paid for all my purchases in full over $ 1000 prior to leaving the store with Patty (whom I believe is either the supervisor or owner of the store). Apparently they had given me some discounts on a few items. As well I was told by Patty that my glider would be delivered in 4 weeks even though my receipt stated 6 – 8 weeks.
When I called to check on the status of my chair 4 weeks later, I was told that I had an unpaid balance due and that they accidentally given me too much of a discount so they wanted me to pay them back for THEIR mistake! Also that Patty was wrong in telling me that the chair would deliver in 4 weeks because the receipt states 6−8weeks. They will LIE to make a sale.
To make matters worse, the actual item that I had paid in full, they REFUSED to deliver to me and sent me threatening emails to pay the leftover balance. I received these emails from a gentleman named Joe whom I believe is in charge of the store in Hopkins. I had even agreed to pay the balance but Joe still continued to refuse to deliver our paid item and stated that I needed to come to the store to pick it up now when I was promised and paid for delivery.
I am a physician and deal with many types of people. I have never in my life been threatened before and treated so poorly when this was all their mistake and a mistake that they acknowledged but refused to honor.
This is a company that no one should have dealings with.

Awful. ²⁄₂ orders screwed up, delayed and made frustrating.
First order, huge backorder, no mention of this at time of order. Very helpful advice fitting the seat to the car, but then downhill right away. Tons of delays, tons of constantly varying excuses as to where it was and why it wasn’t ready for pickup.
Second order, takes much longer than we were told to arrive, and they imply we’re idiots for «misunderstanding» the staff who told us the wrong thing when asked about it very pointedly. We ordered on ⁵⁄₂₈. Order not shipped until ⁶⁄₆. Partial order arrives 6/​12, a full week later that we’d been told. We insist on the final item, they can’t get a straight answer. It’s on back order. Then it’s shipping, but maybe a day behind. They don’t have any in store, but they do have other people’s order that they can take one from. I ask to cancel the order, and am told that we can’t. I insist on canceling. Told I can’t.
Chargeback and 1 day shipping from Amazon. Problem finally solved.

Everything written in previous reviews is correct. I’m not sure why I still ended up buying through Baby Grand. We ordered a few items — the smaller ones came within 2 – 3 weeks. We also ordered a glider which we were told would take 6 – 8 weeks at the time we ordered it. When we called at the end of the 8 weeks, that time was revised to 10 – 12 weeks. The salesperson tried to pin the mistake on us, speculating that we had gotten information on multiple chairs and that we just got confused. When we told her we only asked about the one chair, she was still reluctant to admit any fault. Based on reviews, it seems that giving overly optimistic lead times is this store’s MO.
The in store service at the Hopkins store is good. The in store service at the St. Paul store is awful. It was 7 or 8 minutes before anyone even acknowledged me or my wife. Even then, it still felt like the Jeffrey’s sketch from SNL where their employees actively despise customers.
Please don’t make the mistake we did. Do not give this store any business. You can buy any of their stuff online.

Do not go here … Terrible service … Bought over $ 2000 in merchandise and still treated like crap. Told anything to make the sale. All wrong. Don’t believe any quotes on delivery times. Or just add 6 weeks to what they tell you … Read all other reviews and then go somewhere else.

While I appreciate their variety of products, we have been quite disappointed in the service.
Key points: disappearing employees at the store, finally got an answer from the 3^rd employee we asked after the other two disappeared on us
Told a 6 week lead time by two employees at the store and a third when we ordered our glider by phone. The invoice said 8 – 10 weeks when we got it and after calling to fix our order which had been put through incorrectly, we were told it was an 8 – 10 week lead time. Unfortunately we can’t prove this and they seem to not believe me when I have told them about being told 6 weeks.
We are now almost 3 months past our order date, 1 month past the birth of our son, and have yet to receive our glider. We have had to be proactive in contacting them to keep track of our order since we had been hearing nothing from them unless I pester them.
The store itself in St Paul is very compartmentalized since it is in an old house which makes it hard to find employees or to keep them on your case. Secondly, we were there in July and it was extremely hot and stuffy and being 7 months pregnant I was getting very uncomfortable while waiting for an employee to comeback with an answer to our question (she was helping other customers instead).
They have offered a «loaner chair» however, we live in Rochester and don’t want to make yet another trip. They also seemed to be offering to ship it to us for free when it comes in, but after telling them we live in Roch, they said they needed to evaluate the size of the box when they receive it.
I wish we had made our purchase elsewhere, but since they had to order it, there is no way to cancel it without losing our money.

Wonderful sales associates who are super helpful and knowledgable about their products. Products are high quality. Great glider chairs, cute accessories, and they offer a gift registry.

Can I rate a 0 star? We were in search for a Dutailier glider and found out they had demo models. When we arrived we were treated wonderful. We had previously looked at Buy Buy Baby and were offered a 20% discount. Since they had the demo chairs, we felt like we should buy from Baby Grand (big mistake) and they matched the 20% off. During the sales process, we were promised a rental chair and free shipping. We didn’t get either. We were told that the chair would arrive in 5 – 6 weeks. I called during week 6 and was told it takes 8 – 10. I called during week 10 and was told 10 – 12 weeks.
I really like to shop at local, small businesses, but STAY AWAY from Baby Grand. They’ll tell you anything for a sale. The sales lady was the owner, unbelievable.

I wrote the below review after I had gone to Baby Grand. However, the follow through has been horrific. None of my stuff arrived when it was supposed to. Patty would not return any of my phone calls. The manager from the Hopkins store has been more helpful, but it has still involved way more follow up than it should be. Very frustrating!
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I can’t believe there are negative reviews for this store! I had the most amazing experience with the entire staff at Baby Grand in St. Paul. Patty was unbelievably helpful. I live in London, but was coming back to MN to do my baby shopping. Patty spent a ridiculous amount of time working with me over the phone to answer every question I had. When we got to the store yesterday, she helped me find everything I was looking for, and helped me come up with a million creative options. She knows every product inside and out, and can give great input on what does/doesn’t work.
The prices were very reasonable. Everything I found was the same price (or less than) the listed price at Target and Babies R Us, so I’m not sure what the other reviewers are referring to.
This store is small but it has everything you could possibly need… I bought my strollers, my cribs, bath gear, nursery chair, etc.
I couldn’t recommend this store enough. I only wish I could get here more easily from London! :)

Full of all of overpriced baby crap you could ever want!
They have a bogus ass return policy which states that returns can be made within 30 days with a receipt ONLY for credit card purchases; if you pay with cash you will receive store credit.

I cannot recommend Baby Grand. They are an ultra high end baby store, with very expensive strollers and cribs.
It occupies a Victorian era home on Grand Avenue. This would be quaint, but the many small rooms make finding customer service a challenge, if not an impossibility.
We went here several times, and found customer service very below average, especially for the price. Customer service walked off in the middle of helping us while looking at a crib, and never came back. When we tracked them down, she said, «Oh, I thought you weren’t ready to buy one yet.»
Eventually ordered a crib. Needed to be shipped to store. Wait three weeks. No call. We call them– order has been misplaced. Wife growing more pregnant. Beginning to panic about baby sleeping in cardboard box.
Reorder crib. Call back one week later. «It wasn’t on the truck.» Have minor freak out on phone. Finally get crib one week later.
Resolve never, ever to shop here again.
Also, the ever helpful salesperson told us, «Well, I’d really recommend wiping the mattress off after you buy it, since it’s coated with flame retardant, and you really don’t need that anyway, since your baby would suffocate in a fire long before they burn to death.»
Thanks!