"The First Years"

Here is my letter to the company that makes "The First Years" brand products.

First of all, here are the two products I am referencing...

Natural Comfort Brest Pump

Easy Pour Milk Storage Bags

_______________________________________________________________


RC2 Brands
100 Technology Center Drive
Stoughton, MA 02072


To Whom It May Concern at RC2 Brands:


I am writing this letter to your company, quite frankly, because I am mad. I am a dissatisfied customer. I am disappointed in two “The First Years” products that I purchased, and in general, feel ripped off as a consumer.

I purchased the Natural Comfort Breast Pump & later purchased a package of Easy Pour Milk Storage Bags.

Shortly after purchasing the breast pump, it began to malfunction. It would only work if I unscrewed the bottle from the shield, and used my hand to loosely hold the two together. Not to mention the physical discomfort to the nipples from the pliable breast shield. I can honestly relate using your product to having pliars attached to my nipples, & tied to the bumper of a stick-shift truck , where a 16 year old is learning to drive…the repetitive tugging & jerking motion to the nipple…it didn’t do anything to encourage milk let-down.

Things that attracted me to the pump initially:
Size
Portability
Brand Recognition
Pricing
All of those things lured me in. Job well done. However, after using the pump for a while, and it turning out to be a poor investment, I can now admit that I should have paid no attention to the pricing, and just invested in a better quality pump (which I have now done).

Onto the topic of milk storage bags. They leak. In fact, they leaked my breast milk all over the lunches of a few of my coworkers. Not only was that embarrassing for me, it ended up costing more than the $5.99 I paid for the bags. Sure, breast milk is fit for consumption, but my coworkers weren’t really interested in their lunches, after my milk dripped from the top shelf down onto their food.

I am not basing my opinion of the bags leaking on just one incident. That wouldn’t be fair. Certainly we must allow for user error….after all, I’m sure we’ve all had experiences of not properly sealing bags of various types. With your bags however, I have certainly noticed a trend. Of the 4 bags I’ve used so far, they have all leaked. And, they all leak at the same spot.---on the left hand side of the zipper seal, just under the pour spout. I even had someone else seal the last bag for me, just to make sure it wasn’t my action causing the leak. Again, the bag leaked in the same spot.

This is my first child. These are my first experiences with your products. I am far from impressed.

I am aware that your company has a 90 day guarantee. As a consumer, I don’t want to go back to the store of purchase with an open, used product, & say, “I’d like to return this because I think it is crap.” So, here I am, writing this letter instead.

I’m not looking for anything for free. I’m not looking for replacement products. After all, I have no faith in the products I’ve tried so far. I just needed to let your company know how I feel as a consumer.

With regard to the money that your company spends researching, developing, and marketing products to breastfeeding women, I would think that your team could come up with comfortable, functional, and reliable products.



Thank you,