So here's the situation.

I have been watching waterbirth.org's website for a while on the BPIAB. Toward the end of December, their website said that they were back in stock and would ship on January 8. So I hurried up and ordered one before they went out of stock again. The money came out of my account on Dec 28. January 8 rolled around... no news about shipping. I waited a week. No news about shipping and no birth pool. I did this until 2 1/2 weeks ago, when I read a thread on here that said that waterbirth intl was out of stock again on the BPIAB... then I sent them an email asking about the status of my birth pool. I didn't get a response. So last week I called them, and they told me that the shipment had just come in and they would be sending them out that week and that it would take about 5 days to ship. So yesterday, I checked my order status on their website, and still no tracking number. So I emailed them again asking them to please update me about the status of the order and if they would either overnight the pool to me or (if they were out of stock again) to overnight a La Bassine and then give me a refund on the difference.
So within a few hours, I got an email back saying that the birth pool had shipped and was due to arrive at my house on the 31st. So I get home from work today and guess what? no birth pool. I just got done checking the FedEx website and found out that FedEx wasn't even in possesion of the package until 5:00 PM on the 30th (AFTER I got the email saying that it would arrive on the 31st). AND it isn't expected to arrive until the 5th. I will be 37 weeks on Sunday. Because of my work schedule, I won't be able to do a test run or anything until the weekend after we receive the pool, which will put me at 38 weeks :angry:angry:angry
I really really really wanted to have the pool aired out and a test run done on by 36 weeks (last weekend), and I just feel like this is putting it too close to my due date.
I am so mad at waterbirth intl right now and I don't know what to do about it. I know that they are having some major financial issues right now, and I know that they are in serious danger of folding. But their service on this particular order has seriously stunk.
I'm really just beyond being patient about this whole thing. Not only did they not communicate at all about the order, they also lied about their effort to resolve the matter for me.
I'm seriously seriously seriously hoping that I don't go into labor early. I mean I know that first time pregnancies tend to go later than the due date, but I also know that there isn't really any way to know for sure. And I will be so thoroughly disappointed if I don't get to have my waterbirth. My desire for a waterbirth was the strongest thing that spurred me toward HB-ing because none of the hospitals in my area allow for a water delivery. One hospital has a birthing pool, but they will only let you labor in it and my insurance wouldn't cover that hospital. A waterbirth is just so important to me and now I feel like that part of my HB is in jeopardy. And I am just so beyond angry and upset about it.
I want to send them another email with a complaint about the situation. But now that the pool is already in FedEx hands with basic ground shipping, there isn't anything they can do about it, except apologize... and at this point, I just don't know that an apology is going to make me feel any better. But I also know that if I don't do anything about it, that I will sit and stew and feel like I should be doing something. On the other hand, part of me will feel sort of guilty if I DO do something because I know that waterbirth intl is a huge advocate for waterbirth and that they are in serious danger of folding.
So I don't know....:irked::angry:confused::eek:scared:gloomy: :rant:

I'd refuse the package, get a refund and rent a pool locally (if that's an option). I rented a heated pool, I think it was called an aqua doula? It was amazing and stayed at the perfect temperature throughout the birth. :)

I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience.

i'm so sorry to hear this! i have been having a tremendous amount of good fortune by writing letters to companies, manufacturers, stores, etc... lately. It really helps me to feel as if i 've said my peace and it allows me to exercise my rights as a consumer. I would write them a polite, but honest letter stating that you chose to order form them b/c of xyz, instead of choosing their competitors, that you had faith in them as the most reputable supplier of home birthing tubs, etc... and then explain that you feel the way that they handled the transaction has left you feeling helpless and full of unneeded anxiety. That in the future you will be using another company and recommending that your friends, family, MDC members etc... use another company as well to avoid the delays and hassles and stress that you experienced. Keep it nice, and don't attack them...just point out how their actions have affected you and your future purchasing choices.

First of all, they are a business, and their bread and butter is literally the products that they sell. That's fine that they have your money today, but knowing that they have lost your future business and the future business of all the potential customers you have access to will surely prompt them to take some action...whether it is a discount coupon for a future purchase, a partial refund on your current purchase, or at least a very sincere apology letter. Either way, you've let them know your feelings, you've unburdened yourself of (some of) the anger and frustration, and perhaps you've opened their eyes to the very serious nature of how they are affecting what should be a worry free time in a expecting woman's life!

As for time: Invite a friend, relative or support person over to set up your pool for a test run while you are at work so that you can get into when you arrive home...make the time for it to put your mind at ease, and ASK for help! You deserve the time they can donate to making your life a tad bit easier-- don't play martyr or super girl--you don't have to go without a test run until the last minute and you don't have to do it around your other obligations--make THIS your priority so that you can have peace of mind :Hug

Good luck and i cannot wait to hear your upcoming birth story!!

They need to refund your money and you still get the pool.

I sent them an email this morning.

Here's what I sent:

I am sending this email to express my disappointment in your business and the service you have provided me on my birth pool order.

As I explained in a previous email, when I ordered the Birth Pool In a Box (BPIAB), your website indicated that the pool would ship on January 8, 2008 (as did the confirmation email I recieved from you). The payment for the pool was taken out of my account on December 28, 2007. I waited about a week after the 8th, expecting the pool to arrive and when it didn't, I logged in to your website to check the order status. There was no tracking number or any indication about what was happening with my order. Knowing that your organization has been struggling, I waited another week to see if the pool would arrive or if the package would be shipped. When I logged in again, there was still no indication about what was happening with my birth pool. So I sent you an email requesting and update about the status of my order. I received no reply. On Tuesday, January 22, I called your organization and spoke to an employee (I do not remember her name). She informed me that the BPIABs had just arrived in port and that they were going to go down and pick them up and have them all shipped out by the end of the week and that my order would take approximately 5 days to arrive. On January 30, I logged in to your website again to look for a tracking number. There still was nothing posted about the status of my order. So I sent you an urgent email requesting that you either overnight the pool to me or, if you had gone out of stock again, overnight a different pool and give me a refund on the price difference. When I received the email below, I was relieved to know that it was in fact on the way. However, yesterday, I did not receive the pool, so I went on the FedEx website to find out the status of the shipment. According the FedEx tracking system, they did not receive the package until January 30th at 5:01 PM (which was after you sent the email below) and that the pool will not arrive until February 5th, 2008.

As I said at the beginning of this email, I am very disappointed in the service your organization has given me on this order. I chose to order my pool through Waterbirth International because I know your reputation for waterbirth advocacy. However, I am disappointed in the lack of communication that I have received regarding this order. I feel that there should have been some sort of notice given to me after January 8th if you knew the shipment was going to be made later than expected. I also feel as though I was misled in the email below. I understand that your organization has been struggling. However, I still expected to receive quality service when I made the BPIAB order. This has not been the case.

Because of the expected arrival date on my birth pool and because of my work schedule, I will be unable to do any kind of test run or set up until the following weekend, which will put me at 38 weeks pregnant. I'm confident that you understand the kind of stress and anxiety this situation is causing me during my final weeks of pregnancy.

Again, I want to reiterate my deep disappointment in your business and in how this transaction has taken place. And I want you to know that I will not be recommending your organization to my midwife, doula, or any friends or family who plan any future waterbirths.


Sincerely,
Shannan ********

as you noted, WBI has been having financial difficulties and only has 2 employees right now (1 may even be part time). i'm happy that you sent your letter and that it was a polite, explanatory one.

I would like to point out one thing, though: despite your deep desires (and perhaps intuition) to have a waterbirth, at the time of birth you may find a waterbirth is not the thing your birth needs to be. this happened to me twice.

wishing you a peaceful end of pregnancy and a safe and beautiful birth...

~claudia

I would like to point out one thing, though: despite your deep desires (and perhaps intuition) to have a waterbirth, at the time of birth you may find a waterbirth is not the thing your birth needs to be. this happened to me twice.


I'm fairly aware of this possibility. Which is another reason I wanted to HB... so that I would have as many choices as possible for my labor and delivery.

I had my baby in a regular bath tub.

it was the same as my previous "waterbirth tub" waterbirth. :shrug

I had my baby in a regular bath tub.

it was the same as my previous "waterbirth tub" waterbirth. :shrug


My bathtub is not big enough to be comfortable for me. Plus, this is a birth pool that I've already paid for.

How frustrating! I really hope everything works out for you and your birth.

I just received a phone call from Barbara Harper. She was very apologetic and sooo nice. She said that she definitely wanted to make reparations so that I could feel more confident about their organization. We talked for a little bit and she asked what she could do to make this right for me.
What I told her was that I really appreciated the work that WBI did to increase women's choices about birth and that I knew the organization was having difficulty and I didn't exactly feel right about asking for a full or even partial refund (which I don't). So she offered to send me her book. However, I already own Gentle Birth Choices... so then she asked about my midwife and if I thought that my midwife would like a copy... I decided that it would be really nice to make that sort of donation to the business that my doula runs. She runs a natural family living business that offers birth classes, doula services, breastfeeding support, yoga classes, a boutique with supplies for all of the above plus a bunch of other NFL stuff. And they have a lending library for their members... so Barbara said that she would put together a whole package of books and materials to donate to my doula's business. :thumb
Basically, her phone call in and of itself did a lot to make me feel better about the whole situation, and the materials to donate to my doula is really special. I'm still nervous about cutting it so close... but I feel better about working with WBI.

On a side note, she said that if she were closer to where we lived, she'd love to come over and give me foot rub if it would make me feel better. :)

What a lovely outcome! I think it is easy in our society to feel adversarial when we feel disappointed or frustrated with how a situation is proceeding. It has taken me many, many zen moments to realize that anger will rarely get us anywhere--but honest communication opens up all sorts of possibilities! I think that this is a perfect example of how women support and help one another through hard times.

I can't help but wonder what the outcome would have looked like if two men had been trying to resolve this situation (no offense against men, clearly, i happen to adore the men in my life, but they can kinda be blockheads when it comes to this sort of thing, just as i'm sure i would manage to bungle my dh's manly hikes in the woods with his buddy :))

I'm really proud of the way you handled this and am sending all kinds of :goodvibes:good vibes your way for a peaceful, gentle birth, whether you wind up using the darn tub or not!

I'm so excited for your upcoming birth...i am not far behind you (we are 35 weeks right now) and i look forward to hearing about Christopher's welcome into the world!

Namaste--
Justine

Shannie,
I'm glad the situation is resolved and I will be glad for you when you get that pool!! I ended up ordering a La Bassine instead of BPIAB because I didn't want to deal with that stress.

We did a trial run with the pool and I think the most important thing for you to test out is the hose and faucet fittings. The pool itself, if you use an electric pump to blow it up, will take about 1 min to inflate. But it's the hose, fittings, etc, that can be tricky... so get your equipment and test it out in a bucket or something, then you'll know you can fill it with water.

If you want to get a sense of the hot water situation, just run your hot water and keep track of how long it stays hot. We filled our La Bassine (which is about 100 gal) in about an hour TOTAL. We ran out of hot water at about 30 minutes, had to stop and wait, and then start again, so overall it took about 1hr 20 min...

Really, though, what you want to know is can I fill it up when I need it, and testing the hose will help you feel more secure. Just keep some soup pots on hand in case you need to do some boiling (I know we're going to have to :p).

So glad things worked out so well for you in the end. I also had issues with shipping of the pool, but it showed up a few days ago and I was thrilled to see it. I'm 35 weeks and was also getting a bit nervous, but it worked out.

What Barbara said to me was that when the shipment came in from the UK it got held up in customs for like 50 days... and when customs finally released the order, they started shipping them out according to due dates. Starting with February... they just made the mistake of not informing people about what was going on.
So anyway, my pool is due to arrive tomorrow... and we went and bought all the supplies for it this weekend. So I think on Saturday, we'll do our test run... see how long it takes to fill, and all that.

I am glad that she called you. It makes a difference doesn't it! I loved birthing in the water, and laboring in a big tub of warm water is such a treat!

Just to let you water birthing momma's know...i ordered my La Bassine through Your Water Birth, owned by Debra Nelson and she shipped it the same day! I know that this isn't the same kind of pool that shanniesue2 had ordered, but i was really worried about "not getting my pool in time" since we have waited until 35 weeks to order it...but Debra says she usually ships same day, or next morning with all of her orders. Just a heads up for any of you gals who have waited till the last minute like me :)

So, shanniesue2, have you received your tub yet??? I'm interested to hear how your test run went so that i can benefit from your wisdom! Hope all is well!