With the Sunshine Kids car seat sale ending soon, and vendors quickly running out of stock, I decided to purchase a Radian seat for my baby. We have a vacation planned for next month, so I wanted something that would be roomy and comfortable for him on the long car trip. I decided to purchase from Hip Monkey because they have the best deal I could find, and the proceeds benefit charity.

The ordering process went smoothly, but I inadvertently picked a color that was backordered. The shopping cart made no mention of it, but it was listed as such on the product page. Note: If you click on the Radian 65 product page, it says “In Stock”. However, you must use the dropdown menu to see if a particular color is in stock. The menu starts on “Champagne” by default, but the “In Stock” message you initially see refers to the Radian 65 in general, not the color. If you select a different color and then go back to Champagne, it will be correctly listed as “Back Order”.

A customer service representative named Marie emailed me promptly (in fact, it was around 12:15 a.m. in my time zone!) to make sure I knew the item was on back order. She told me that if I wanted the other color instead, she would send it out the next day (or I could wait for the other color to come in). We emailed back and forth a few times; I was really interested in the Champagne color, but needed it in time for my trip. She offered to email me closer to the date of my trip to let me know if the car seat was available, and ship the other color if not.

In the end, I decided to pay a little bit extra for the Radian 80 in a fabric that I had originally set my eyes on, but had talked myself out of in favor of the Champagne Radian 65. Marie was very accommodating. I spoke to her on the phone to finalize the extra charge on my credit card, and she told me it will ship tomorrow (in fact, it’s already marked “shipped” on the website)!

Hip Monkey’s personal approach to customer service is refreshing. My questions were addressed promptly, and I felt valued as a customer. It seemed like they truly cared that I received just what I was looking for in the time I needed it. Thanks, Marie!