We bought this bath stand + tub package from Baby Zone Wollongong today for $79.95. It felt really steady compared to other ones in the shop, the price is very reasonable, too. I like the fact that the top is like a basket and it’s big so it can fit most tub if I ever decide to get anything fancier. The tub that comes with it is good enough though. It’s big, stable, and has the drain feautre. It also has space to put soap/shampoo bottles.

The stand is collapsible comes with anti-slip mat. The ‘basket’ has a rail where you can hang towels. Oh the ‘basket’ and stand’ can be used to store things once it’s not used for the bath.

You can check more of the range here.

I thought that was a good buy compared to the fancy bath + change table in one that I wanted before but refused by my husband because i’s not collapsible and taking too much space. Most of the fancy ones may come with storage but have a lot smaller tub which I’m sure the baby will grow out in few months (and much more expensive!).

Shop name: Baby Zone
Address:  398 Keira Street, Wollongong NSW 2500
Open: Mon-Wed,Fri 9am-5:30pm; Thu 9am-6pm; Sat 9:30am-5pm; Sun 10am-4pm (yes, they open weekend!)
Products: one stop shop for baby needs.
Pros: great price, excellent customer service
Cons: only stocks popular brands, only local to wollongong.

Comments:

I was looking for a local baby shop and came across babyzonedirect.com.au which has warehouse in Wollongong. The website stated that they only open monday to friday so I took a couple of hours one friday and went there. To my delight they told me they do open weekend!

If you look here, the online shop itself doesn’t have good reviews especially in terms of customer service so when I went there, I didn’t expect much out of their customer service. To my surprise, as soon as I walked into the store and looked at a few cots,  I was approached by someone. We were approached by a couple of staff who readily answered all our questions and showed us how things work. One of them is this young lady called Angela. She was impressive. Although she was young, she was obviously knowledgable about the products and passionate about what she does. We came to the store clueless about carseats and prams but she enthusiastically and tiredlessly explained to us everything we need to know about them and showed us how they work. She was also very honest about the pros and cons of different brands and styles. She also told us other customers’ feedbacks regarding the products, good and bad. She encouraged us to not rush into decision and think more about what we want. She didn’t pressure us into making any purchase on the spot.

The shop itself is not overly big but not small either. They stock nursery furnitures (mainly cots, change table, drawers) of popular brands (Boori, Kingparrot), prams and strollers, carseats (mainly safe n sound), baby bath, baby walkers, etc etc.

I was told that the online shop and the physical store are two different departments that’s why on the website it was written that they don’t open weekend (also probably explains the difference in customer service).

As for the price, they will give you whatever the price on the website so if you live locally or not too far from Wollongong, it’s worth going there to check out the product if you see something you like on the website. The price on the website is the cheapest around (I’ve checked). So I wouldn’t even bother checking other shops.

Also, you will know for sure if something is in stock or not when you go to the store and how long you need to wait. You can also lay buy the item so you don’t need to pay until you actually get your item. A lot of people say that if you buy from the online shop, you will still get charged first eventhough the item is not in stock and they don’t really tell you when it’s going to be available.

While I cannot say the same for the online store, I definitely recommend the offline store just for its customer service especially if you’re a newbie like me. It’s going to be my new hangout place over the weekend : P