A US mum, Jessica Huchko who lost her unborn baby, has posted a heartbreaking account of her treatment at the hands of a shop called Babies ‘R’ Us in Waterbury, Connecticut.
The mother who has three daughters, delivered her fourth child, a boy, at just 24 weeks. The baby did not survive.
Something that we often forget about a devastating loss such as this is that the expectant parents have usually spent many happy months preparing for their baby's arrival, amassing clothes, prams and nursery furniture, which now serve as a painful reminder of the loss.
Jessica had finally summoned the resolve to return the pram and car seat she had bought for her son only to be treated abominably by staff at the store.
Jessica later wrote a post on Facebook detailing the encounter:
“I had to make the dreaded trip to your store soon after my loss to return my purchases … I never expected that my son would not survive so I did not save the receipt.”
In the shop, a sales assistant pressed the mother for the reason for the return of the items, until Jessica felt compelled to explain that she had lost her baby.
“I was absolutely heartbroken... I was so emotional I could not stop crying. I became nervous that so many people were watching me cry while she was looking up the product. She must have scanned the items 20 times and could not find them in the system.”
When a manager intervened to try and locate the items in the system, a distraught Jessica was forced once more to explain the reason for her returns.
The mum waited with her daughter for the situation to be resolved for over half an hour while trying to remain composed.
When at last the manager found the items in the system, she offered the mother half the value of car seat and just TWO CENTS for the pram which had originally cost $179.
“I was so upset and frustrated with this place I started hysterically crying while everyone was watching me.”
“I have never been more embarrassed in my life. I was still in complete mourning of losing my son and now this? I grabbed my store credit and ran out of the store.”
Babies ‘R’ Us has since reached out to the mother to apologise and refund her money.
“We are deeply sorry for her experience in our store, and more importantly for her loss.”
“The store leadership has provided coaching to the team members to help ensure similar situations are handled with more care in the future.”
Read Jessica's full post:
