Little Urbanites (Reported Closed)

Doesn't Recommend

S Ed

Joined 2 years ago

Poor out-of-store customer service negates any good. The single star is for how friendly, knowledgeable and well-meaning the staff are. The in-store experience is great; it's what happened after we ordered furniture where it became obvious that the owners are still learning how to be a small business.

We purchased furniture and a stroller on 9/11/11 and were told it would ship in two weeks. We received the stroller the first week in October. When I called about the furniture I was told that someone would get back to me with info and no one called. I had to call them back and was told that they didn't have tracking info because the crib and dresser hadn't shipped yet. There were several calls about this issue over the course of October and on three separate occasions I was told they'd call me back and no one ever did. At one point I was told the furniture had shipped on 9/30, but they had to get tracking info from the manufacturer, Oeuf. In another interaction I was told that they couldn't get the information until Monday because staff at Oeuf leave the office at 3:30 on Friday and with the time difference we'd missed the window. They also said that the time difference meant there wasn't much overlap in hours anyway. Once the furniture finally shipped, it took another set of calls to get the tracking number with a shipping company called YRC. Initially Little Urbanites estimated it would arrive on 10/30. Once we had the tracking number and called YRC, they gave a firm date of 11/2. We made sure someone was on hand for the full delivery window, and it never arrived. The shipping window was from 12-4, but YRC only mans the phone from 7-3:30, so I had to leave a message. Our furniture was just delivered, at 11:30am on 11/3. Almost two months after ordering.

In my opinion, the thing a small boutique should have over a big box store is customer service. In-store, they totally met my expectations. But they need to work on out-of-store responsiveness. I shouldn't have to call them back. I should be able to expect accurate delivery estimates. If the manufacturer is flaky about delivery, I expect the retailer to advocate for me. If you're working with east coast manufacturers, I expect you to be up early to make sure you can reach them, and I don't think that's unreasonable. I know that Little Urbanites can't control Oeuf or YRC, but they can up their customer service so that customers don't feel left out in the cold. If our baby hadn't arrived last week, I probably would have canceled my order because it's ridiculous to wait 2 months for something that you were told would arrive in 2 weeks.

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Ashley Gartland

Joined 5 years ago

Citysearch Editorial Review. Expectant parents and city dwellers with well-dressed tots fresh from a play date at Jamison Square Park shop the stylish wares at this modern children’s store. The cheery white space sports bright, punchy wall decals and stocks high-end merchandise like Ergobaby carriers, miniature peacoats and toys that teach to keep in-the-know parents coming back for more. An unpretentious staff led by a mother-daughter team and a well-run baby registry make this a kid shop unlike any other.