Babee Tenda

As much as I'd like to comment on this post at BuckeyStateBlog, my login is blocked for some reason. Ha! An excuse to write on my own blog for a change!

Either how, the poster and his wife are expecting a new baby, and as these things happen, word got out to the marketers, probably because they registered for baby shower gifts. From this, they got an invitation to a fake "Getting Ready for Baby" show, which he figured out ahead of time is a strongarm sales pitch for Babee Tenda product.

Now, nine and a half years ago, yours truly and the lovely mother of my children got roped into attending one of these things. Being young and stupid, as we were, I seem to recall that we detected a whiff of scam, but decided to go with a "hey it could be fun" attitude.

From what I recall (and I'm sure that as soon as Jane sees this, she'll have a much better recollection) a few things stand out. The huckster/salesman/"parenting expert" started out with a nice discussion of generic parenting advice, one piece of which was the importance of interacting with your children, even going so far as to show some products that isolated children from interaction like the dread baby carrier/car seat thing so hip these days.

The amazing thing was that their main product is a baby/child seat thingie (the actual Babee Tenda) that is a device for securely clamping down your child in order to prevent any bothersome movement (note that it can be used for bathing, and has a sun-shade for outdoor use!). Now this is actually worse than the roller seat thingie (will one of my siblings please fill in the correct O'S-lingo name for the pea-green one we had?) that lets the kid motor around and fall down stairs or wander into traffic and such. This thing is a table. It doesn't move. And, as a huge bonus, the Babee Tenda grows with your kid, allowing you to securely confine your toddler and even bigger children. This, of course, is done for "safety" and other positive parenting reasons. At this point in the presentation Jane and I were in full MST3K snark mode, and were most likely getting angry stares from the other marks in the audience.

The second product is the Babee Tenda child jail-cell crib. I wonder if they use these things for the children at Gitmo. The big sell point of these things is that your child (once you let them) can let themselves out of their crib! Now Babee Tenda targets first-time parents who have never had a crawling kid climb out of a crib or pack-and-play, and for some reason can't recall any of their siblings being able to do the same. I seem to remember my baby brother (of rock and roll fame) escaping from the crib numerous times.

The Babee Tenda product also is sold as something that you can use with your children until they run off to be a roadie for Metallica at 36. This apparently justifies their ungodly expensive pricetag. This price, while high, is of course MASSIVELY DISCOUNTED!!! and only available to the marks in the room. The Babee Tenda, like many other high-quality products such as Avon Cosmetics, Amsoil motor oil, and of course Amway, is not available in stores.

The other thing I distinctly remember about the whole incident was at the point where the price was revealed, and Jane and I were choking, the pregnant teenager (accompanied by bored, but vaguely supportive girlfriends) in front of us whipped out her cell phone (now, this was 1997) to call her mother for her credit card number, so as to not miss out on this incredible opportunity.

God Bless America.

ecto says I'm listening to Just Like U Said It Would B from the album "The Lion And The Cobra" by Sinead O'Connor

Comments

[Jerid]

Howdy,

Sorry your account is blocked. I've had to turn on administrator approval for new accounts because someone has been trolling. If your account is still not working now, please shoot me an email.

Nice blog also.

All the best,
Jerid

[Bridie]

That baby table thing is insane! jeez, at least the baby-trapper tables you see in the stores have toys attached to them.
can't remember what we called the pea-green thing...

[amazonmidwife]

We used to call it a 'walker'.

[Molly]

I kind of have a mental picture of the pea green thing, but then wasn't everything pea green? Wasn't the "car crib" pea green and the little table we used for picnics on the front porch? Wow, maybe Mom had a pea-green theme and we never realized it...

[Maggie]

We should go with that. Mom had a theme. It is so ordered.

[Margie]

OK, if I am really unblocked....the answer is: the pea grean rolly thing was the "Hula Coupe", a brand name.

[Bridie]

well, at least Hula Coupe is spelled correctly!

[Ma'am]

Pea green things were all gifts or hand-me downs. The only pea green I like is the soup. But you are right, we did have an awful lot of pea green things.

[Mommy2be2009]

I was one of the suckers who actually bought this crib on Saturday and I actually like it. Its alot sturdier then the ones at babies r us, and yes I am a new mother, but I had my mother who has had 3 babies and my brother and his wife who have 2 kids already too. They hate their cribs and they actually bought the highchair thing because they hate the ones the stores sell. If a new mother was to go to babies r us and get a "new" crib from them... they would probably pay twice as much as I paid for the crib. Im not criticizing you, just saying that I like what I bought and I do not regret it!

[Megan]

I bought a babee tenda crib from one of those seminars. It is very sturdy and I like that it has a box spring and mattress for more support. It seems very comfortable for the baby. Also, the baby can't let themselves out unless you take off the door. Or if your baby was a genius because the locks on it are kind of complicated, I mean I can do it easily but I doubt a child could figure it out. You have to have adult hands. I did just hear on the tv that they are voting for a ban of drop side cribs though. There have been many recalls of these types of cribs over the past year. I know babee tenda has never had a recall but if the ban goes through they will have to change how they make their cribs I'd imagine. So I guess the crib I got may be one of the last of it's kind...

[Molly]

Bob, you have to tell us the Google search terms that brought these fine folks to your page. Is Babee Tenda the origin of your MLM rage?

[Sally]

I actually made a complaint to the Better Business Bureo.
Eventhough we DID purchase the items. I love the products, just not the way they "scam" you to attend.
I have two girls that at 15 and 11....so I had experience will makes and models. This was my husband now's first baby so it was the best or nothing for her!! At first I rolled my eyes and let him just order it. Now after 9 months of using the crib and chair I'm so glad. Our daughter was sitting on her own earlier then some other babies her age. I feel the Tenda helped that! And when we feed her its much easier then using a highchair. And we can roll the chair around to any room.
The crib is great casue we can lay in there with her...if we want to cuddle. She has slept in it since 3 weeks old!! 11 Hours a night since 2 months!!
The selling point for my husband is theier products have NEVER been recalled!

[adiadv10]

I got a good laugh from your blog, bob.os!
I vividly remember walking out (as fast as we possibly could) after the first hour of their tortuous seminar 20 years ago. And I have never regretted missing out on the free gift: a thin, rough crib sheet that only fit their "special" mattresses!!
Thankfully, both of my daughters survived their store-bought crib and high chair exposure. I'll never get back that hour of my life, though!
There was a lawsuit against Babee Tenda in 2007 (Google it: "babee tenda lawsuit")

[Meredith Phelps]

My husband and I attended a seminar recently, and while yes as a new mother I wish that they would make their products more 'marketable' (aka fashionable) I was very impressed with what they had to say about their product. Not impressed enough to whip out a credit card on the spot, mind you. Im young, not stupid. We put the items we wanted on layaway, which gave us 2 weeks to do our research. We are even more impressed now. HUGE selling point is that they are an American made product. Yes, I have chinese, indonesian and Lord knows what else all over my house, but we support American made whenever we can. Also, they have never had a recall on any of their products, and that is FACT.
While I understand the original bloggers sentiments, I dont see how putting a child into something safe, that encourages them to sit up, is worse than putting them into a pack-n-play or a walker. Personally, I love it while trying to get laundry done or the kitchen cleaned. You can always attach toys of your choice to the table... duh.

[Cassie Crockett]

My husband and I were also apart of the whole Babee Tenda crap. We however did buy the crib and the table. Which comes with the chair so that it can be used as a desk later on down the road. But I do love the crib. Its really conveinent and we havent had any problems out of it. Now the table/chair thing is another story. We got them when my daughter was 5 months old and she is now 1 yr and 8 months old. The chair is falling apart. Of course the warrenty isnt no longer valid. But the seat cover has ripped. The part where the feet go in the seat doesnt want to stay half the time. I will buy another crib from them but I will not buy another table/chair. I think they are cheaply made and a waste of money!!

[shelly davis]

just left a seminar was impressed but not enough to purchase anything. the fact that it's no website to order from discouraged me from purchasing. loved the crib and all it's uses that would be the only thing I would buy from them.

[Mike Netz]

Just came home from the Babee Tenda "Info Seminar". If your gonna try to get me to shell out almost $1000 at your event, might want to be honest about your intentions when inviting me! Started out being a good thing about safety recalls, but when the sales pitch began, I became very angry! 2 hrs long! I really do like how the products looked! Dont get me wrong, I like the fact they are american made, and never had a recall. But to doup me into a 2 hr long sales pitch just ticked me off.