In the world of car seats, technicians need to know the names of the car seats with which they’re dealing. We need to be able to identify seats so we can look them up on recall lists and to write them down on checklists for liability reasons. It’s important to our jobs. And sanity.
For example, Dorel is a major manufacturer of car seats-their car seats are everywhere in virtually every store. But, they aren’t identified by the brand name “Dorel”. Dorel is the parent company with no fewer than seven Seven SEVEN brand names under them with more consumer-friendly names (Cosco-not the fun warehouse store Costco, Eddie Bauer, Safety 1st, Maxi Cosi, Alpha Elite, Alpha Luxe, and Alpha Sport). Would you rather own a Dorel seat or an Eddie Bauer seat? I thought so (and so did they). Problem is, with so many different brand names, who can keep ‘em straight? Holy cow! Dorel creates brand names for certain stores, to add to the prestige of owning a seat. But why do we need six different brands for ONE seat, the Alpha Omega Elite (the AOE isn’t available under the Maxi Cosi brand)? It truly boggles the mind.
It’s also a fascinating study in confusion as to why we need so many names for one seat. The Dorel (insert your own favorite Dorel brand here) Alpha Omega Elite is also known as the Deluxe 3-in-1, the Alpha Omega Elite/Luxe, the Deluxe 3-in-1, and the Echelon. Some of those are available in 40 lbs. versions, some are available in 50 lbs. versions. That’s FIVE names for ONE seat. At least we get a break with the regular ol’ Alpha Omega 3-in-1. It’s aka the 3-in-1 and the Alpha Omega All in One, but it also has some versions in 40 lbs. and some in 50 lbs. Is your head spinning yet? Mine is. But at least there are only THREE names for that ONE seat. Whew.
Or, if you like all of those eight seats, you can just buy the All in One Deluxe seat, which takes the harness height adjuster of the Alpha Omega Elite and combines it with the curvy, ultra sexy base of the Alpha Omega 3-in-1, but you only get a 40 lbs. weight limit.
So, did I mention sanity somewhere along the line? I think I lost mine somewhere in this post, lol. But truly, this is what we techs have to deal with on a daily basis. Manufacturers don’t have to do this craziness to have a recognizable, desirable name brand. Britax, Clek, Chicco, Recaro all have name brand recognition without having to confuse consumers and professionals. Just don’t do it guys: don’t confuse the people who are buying your products. It’s not good business.
That really pisses me off when I start thinking of it.
Graco has the opposite but an equally as infuriating issue. 6 billion different types of Seats all named Snugride.
Clients come into our service baffled that their seat has a rear pull tightening system. “I thought I bought a Snugride!”
Some of the boxes don’t say what the harness weight is ANYWHERE on the box at all. I’ve looked, especially the cheaper ones just say 5 to 100 lbs. No mention of harness weight on the box AT ALL and of course you can’t open the box in the store…
I’ve actually been in stores where they sell the 40 lbs. version of the seat next to the 50 lbs. version. And your right, Jools, that 100 lbs. is plastered all over the box–you have to hunt for where it says that harness weight. I don’t mind that the seat is a Swiss army knife. What I do mind is that it’s not marketed in a way that doesn’t fool consumers. I think Dorel has done a fantastic job of redoing their labels and manuals by color-coding rf, ff, and bpb sections, so why can’t they make their boxes that easy to read? Why can’t they have their naming schemes easy?
I do feel sorry for the Dorel rep every time we CPSTs get together at a conference or show because he gets an earful. I’d love for the marketing director to come to a conference once, but I don’t think that person would live to see the next day. I remember some marketing reps came to Lifesavers in San Diego and I think they left after the 1st day, never to be seen again.
Well, we got another one at work last night… It’s a Safety 1st something or other.
And I have to say, there’s no confusion among any parents about the weight limits. They all read the box and know immediately it goes to 100 pounds (except the AO/Safety 1st without armrests that only go to 80). I feel like such a Debbie Downer when I point to the harness limit, and I suspect most of them don’t believe me.
The marketing tactic here appears to be ‘overwhelm and confuse’ :p
To add to the confusion, the Alpha Omega Elite and Alpha Elite are two completely different seats. (Unless I missed the mention of that somewhere.) You’d think a company with so many different brands would be able to come up with a more distinct name for the combo seat. (Well, besides Apex…)
how interesting… my brother just asked me at dinner tonight, after watching me work to identify a few infant seats at dinner ” how many different brands are there?” I responded with at least 7 brands. Then I come home and find this post…. we do have to keep on our toes as techs and know these seats! I so enjoy reading this blog!
Sanity? What’s that? 😉
The way I cope is – I pick one name and stick with it. To me it’s an AO if it has no armrests and an AOE if it does. And it’s a Summit or Vantage Point or Apex or Prospect regardless of whatever they’re calling it at the moment. And yet, interestingly enough, the Scenera is only a Scenera regardless of whether it’s on a shelf at Walmart or Target or Kmart. Go figure.
As for recalls – techs (and parents) can help save some of their sanity by using the recall list from SafetyBeltSafe USA, which groups all Dorel recalls in one place – under “Dorel”. It’s free for viewing but you’ll need a membership in order to print it out. http://www.carseat.org/Recalls/179NP.pdf
It also makes it harder for parents to even know WHAT seat they have… the names are all too similar for the different seat and it confuses them to no end… so they don’t remember the name, the weight limit, or anything else, which just opens the big pandora’s box of unintentional misuse.
(keep in mind… most folks don’t read manuals all the time like we do)
Add to that the brand confusion and you’ve got a prescription for probable parental disaster. They don’t know what seat they have, or the limits, and god only knows who made it, so you can’t call them to solve the problem.
Seriously… even Evenflo (with the Triumph and Triumph Advance, for instance) has the decency to give each seat their own name (even if it’s done only by adding on a word)
Graco even changes the name of the same exact infant seat when they change the weight limit, even though they don’t have to… the snugride became the snugride 22, until the 20lb limit ones were all gone.
The SS1 has become the Snugride 32… you get where I’m going with this.
It is horid that Dorel is staying behind and only using about 4 – 6 words of all possible words to name their seats.
Oh yeah. Reminds me of the way GM names their cars and trucks. Doesn’t seem like a wise idea to give the same product so many names, in retrospect, does it? :/. (And for the record, my BRU has 6 Dorel 3-in-1’s on the shelf now…the only version I can’t sell is the one without armrests).
I hate this as well!! Esepcially for looking up a recall. You have look in a billion different places to make sure the seat isn’t recalled, and with an AOE/3-in-1/whateveryouwanttocallit, there is a good chance it has a recall on it!
Blargh, Dorel!
Could it be an exercise in strategic confusion? Britax, Clek, Chicco and Recaro WANT you to know their wonderful products. THEY know that WE know their reputations, and they want that halo to glow over everything they make. (Yes, THEY know that WE know THEY know WE know… Chandler Bing, where are you when we need you?)
So many techs have issues with AOE’s, Alpha’s, etc., so perhaps a parent company prefers to have different aliases so that each of their sub-brands has a better chance of being considered.
Maybe for Dorel, confusion is a benefit?