Pampers Comfort

I am a loyal Drypers user. I used the brand with my daughter A, then naturally, when I established NappyCakes in 2004, I decided to use the brand because I was a satisfied client. So when my son was born last year, I went with Drypers, knowing it was the best, affordable brand for my little boy. Besides, I buy it in bulk for my cakes, so letting him use Drypers was most convenient.

But I recently learned that baby boys are different from baby girls. What suited my little girl, didn't follow with my little boy. When Drypers worked properly with my little girl, it failed with my little boy - it leaked like crazy at the waist.

So because my then nanny had a little girl of her own, who was exactly the same age as my little boy, she suggested we try Pampers Comfort. Pampers has a number of diaper lines in the Philippines - the cheaper alternative is their Comfort line with Bear Hug Tapes. And it didn't leak, unless uber full, which didn't quite happen much because my little one takes after his dad, and soils his nappies twice a day (hehe).

It reached a point when, because I was so happy with Pampers Comfort, I was ready to make the switch, even with my diaper cakes. In fact, prior to this happening, I've already had requests from clients to use Pampers Comfort, as it was the brand of choice of the mom-to-be. But my last purchase of Pampers Comfort proved to be a bad lot. I purchased two huge packs of 52s from the Christmas Midnight Sale at Shopwise. The diapers had a new waist design, which my new nanny noticed the moment she opened the packs and transferred the diapers to our diaper crate.

Yup, new and defective. The first time the baby wore the diaper, it broke off at the waist. The next one's tape came off when the nanny was dressing him up. The rest were the same. So I decided to write to Pampers but the email I had sent to the address provided at www.pampers.com.ph returned with an error message saying the address didn't exist. So I tracked down Proctor and Gamble's corporate email address, and sent them the same message I had sent the original Pampers Site. And after a few days, I received a reply and was told to call their hotline so they could assist me with a refund.

So I looked for my Midnight Sale Shopwise receipt, which I had on display on my kitchen refrigerator at home, being proof for the most I've spent on one grocery ever! Sorry, but it was their Christmas Special Sale, and I was in line at 10pm!

And today, I called their hotline. I spent over half an hour listening to a taped voice message that told me their representatives were busy assisting other customers. Finally, after 10,000 years, a certain Ella assisted me with my call. I was put on hold again so she could draw up my file, then after asking me a few questions, she informed me that she couldn't assist me further if I couldn't produce the actual diaper packs. I told her that the email I received didn't inform me of this requirement, but that I had my official receipt which clearly states I bought two huge packs of Pampers Comfort Large 52s from Shopwise Libis on December 16, 2009. But no, she couldn't help because she needed the batch code, etc, etc. So much for the customer service. I was at a dead end.

What I do not understand is why bother with the packs when clearly you already know of the defect/ recall. As I tried to purchase more diapers (but of the Pampers Active Baby line which works pretty good) the first week of January 2010, I couldn't find any on the shelves because apparently, the bad Pampers Comfort lot was pulled off the shelves and loyal customers like me bought the next Pampers alternative.

Oh well. So much for the brand switch. I heard Drypers has improved their new diaper design with new leak guards to address the problem with baby boys. Hmmm... I guess it's time to give my supplier a call! Too bad, Pampers. Our relationship has been cut short. Apparently, you do not value your customers much.

PS. I received a message from a few friends and a cousin, after posting a disgruntled status on Facebook, and guess what?! They are unhappy Pampers Comfort customers as well! Just this batch, but you know how it is with mothers, if you irk them once, you irk them forever. :P