Today we took a trip across the Sound to where I grew up, Snohomish County. Brian wanted to bring some dinner to a friend of his whose wife gave birth a few weeks ago. They have another daughter who is almost Freya’s age and it was cute to see the two of them together. Freya was a little shy and the other little girl was a bit in her face, but Freya remained cool and even tried to share toys. Sweet pea. I also got to hold a newborn baby, and remembered how light they are and how they just sit there on your chest, staring off into space, not squirming or grabbing on or doing much at all except being adorable and soft.

After our short visit, we drove over to the Alderwood Mall, a place I often frequented and twice was employed back in the 80s. Since I graduated high school, the mall was gutted and rebuilt and renovated, and pretty much looks absolutely nothing like the dark ugly cave it was twenty years ago. Now it has the modern style of atriums and sky lights and an outdoor promenade. We went to Nordstrom so I could use a gift certificate on a pair of very cute pajamas on sale, originally $75, and I paid $32, woo hoo. After that we wandered around, could not resist a onesie and a pair of pink sweatpants on sale at babyGap, then Freya fell asleep. We strolled around with her outside, and then I saw the REI store.

I suggested to Brian that we go in and just look at the backpack carriers, get an idea of what we might want to get secondhand, and see what the price ranges were. It was crowded in the store — they were having this one-day sale event for members only: 50% off the last ticketed price of a pile of random items in a clearance bin. We found the backpack carriers and lifted a few up. A salesman helped us out and told us the price ranges, around $150 to $300. It was a bit daunting.

Then I mentioned I was a REI member, and he said actually I think there’s one of these in the sale. He went to get it, and came back with a large, premium model by Deuter (a German company I’ve never heard of but is apparently really good and has been around for over 100 years). It was clearly a nice one, and a look at the tag showed that it could be ours for less than $50. “This is a $280 carrier. It’s a really good one,” the guy said. Um, we’ll take it.

We got to the cashier and I was told I had a dividend (REI members earn cash back) of $6.50. She rang up the carrier for $45, then knocked another $6.50 off. The list price on this carrier was actually $289, and we paid $39.

There is a catch, of course. The kickstand, which is the part of the frame that helps the carrier sit level while you put the baby into it, has a broken hinge. So that could make it a bit harder to get her in and out, unless we repair it. I already wrote to Deuter to ask if there is anything they can do in terms of helping us fix it.

But for a savings of $250, I don’t care that much. Aside from that flaw, it’s an AMAZING carrier. I can’t wait to use it with her on our next hike or beach trip!!

EDIT: Okay so it gets better. I emailed Deuter last night to see if they could help me with getting this hinge part fixed. They replied this morning (fast!), saying that no, it can’t be fixed, and furthermore, REI should never have sold a defective carrier as it is a huge safety hazard for the child. Therefore, they asked me to send the carrier to them (they would send me a prepaid UPS label), and they will replace it with a 100% NEW CARRIER. Yes, they are taking back our broken $39 carrier and sending us a new $289 one free of charge. Oh my god.

That’s what I call customer service. And while it may seem as though this company is “losing money” on this transaction, I can guarantee you who I will be looking at the next time we are shopping for a backpack for ourselves or for Freya. They have definitely won a new customer. I let them know as much in the email I sent thanking them for their amazing and prompt response.

So I shipped the broken carrier back this afternoon and hopefully we’ll get our new one in a week or so. Wow. And yippeee!!