Observation regarding car rental and carseats

Re: Observation regarding car rental and carseats

• talentedgirl

  May 2009

  I have friends who used the car seat rental option and the seat was filthy.

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• 618mom22boys member

  May 2009

  We fly to DC in July and I was thinking about getting one thru the rental car company for like a sec!  Than I thought yeah you never know if it was in an accident and than the dirty factor.  So I think it is worth the trouble to just drag his carseat around the airport.

  

  
  

  DS1 12-31-1999, DS2 5-7-2008, DS3 8-3-2010

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• mrsmikey

  May 2009

  You probably could use the infant seat for a smaller toddler.  Don't most infant seats have limits above 20 lb now?  But it is a shame they don't offer convertible seats.  I would never rent a carseat anyway, but it should still be an option. 

  
  
  
  
  

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• Mc_Newlywed member

  May 2009

  Please take your own seat. ?We rented one - once. ?It was filthy. It was OLD. ?And it felt loose (like the handle was loose, etc). ?We asked at every rental desk and no one had another seat ?- or so they said. ?So we had to use it until I could get to my sister's to borrow hers. ?

  Never again. ?

  
  

  

  

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• KGsky member

  May 2009

  Mc_Newlywed:

  Please take your own seat.  We rented one - once.  It was filthy. It was OLD.  And it felt loose (like the handle was loose, etc).  We asked at every rental desk and no one had another seat  - or so they said.  So we had to use it until I could get to my sister's to borrow hers.  

  Never again.  

  Ditto.  I will spare you all the rigamorol they put us through just to give us the craptastic seat (which is reason enough). But when we finally got it, it was from like 1973.  It was hard plastic with a fabric cover--no padding--that was filthy.  Boy, did we learn the hard way... They really ought to require that these things be updated AND their staff should be trained in proper installation. We were late to a wedding behind them bringing us the wrong carseat and DH having to install it.  Liability factor alone would warrant them training their staff adequately.

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• teacherjess member

  May 2009

  CNN or MSN did a report on this awhile back and it was really bad-- a lot of places had carseats that were 10 years old, and some were even 20 years old, with broken pieces, etc. There are some new laws going into effect regarding this, I believe, but we'll travel with her carseat until then.

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• otc

  May 2009

  Ditto on the scenera.  I just flew with ours and it's so lightweight and easy to carry into the airport.  They checked it at the gate, no problems.

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• lite-bright member

  May 2009

  KGsky:

  Mc_Newlywed:

  Please take your own seat. ?We rented one - once. ?It was filthy. It was OLD. ?And it felt loose (like the handle was loose, etc). ?We asked at every rental desk and no one had another seat ?- or so they said. ?So we had to use it until I could get to my sister's to borrow hers. ?

  Never again. ?

  Ditto.? I will spare you all the rigamorol they put us through just to give us the craptastic seat (which is reason enough). But when we finally got it, it was from like 1973.? It was hard plastic with a fabric cover--no padding--that was filthy.? Boy, did we learn the hard way... They really ought to require that these things be updated AND their staff should be trained in proper installation. We were late to a wedding behind them bringing us the wrong carseat and DH having to install it.? Liability factor alone would warrant them training their staff adequately.

  Liability is the reason they WON'T install car seats. If someone got into an accident & the child was injured after they installed the carseat, that's a huge lawsuit waiting to happen.?

  I had an okay experience with car seat rental. I was traveling alone to my parents' place in Florida with DD and they rented a bunch of stuff (high chair, safety gates for their stairs, crib & sheets, stroller, and a convertible car seat) from a private company called Space Coast Baby Butler. Everything came wrapped in plastic after being disinfected and was in excellent condition. The seat was definitely new, clean, etc. and came with the original instruction manual attached so I could install it properly. However, it was obviously a relatively inexpensive seat (I don't remember if it was Cosco or Graco brand) and didn't have nearly as much paddling as our Marathon, and the straps were harder to manage. DD hated it.?

  It's still a hassle to install an unfamiliar seat, and my parents car is older and doesn't have LATCH, which complicates things even more. Next time I'll bring her own carseat just to make that part easier, and because she's more comfortable in her own seat.?

  I wouldn't rent from a rental car company, though. ?

  
  
  DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010

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