In the past month I have spent $400 in Motherhood Maternity. I have spent my last dime there.

Tonight I saw a bizarre charge on my debit card for $20 from a company called "Parenting Early". I have never heard of the company so did some research online. I only found a magazine company but the price for a subscription is $9.95, so this still made no sense.

After spending thirty minutes on the phone with my bank they provided a phone number for this company.

When I contacted them with my questions, they asked if I had shopped at one of the Motherhood Maternity or Pea in the Pod stores. I had. They said that by paying with my debit card, I get a free subscription to Parenting Early and if I don't cancel within two months, I get charged.

I was never told in any of my three visits to Motherhood Maternity about any magazine subscription. I never would have given permission for any company to share my debit card information.

Parenting Early said that I should have been told at the store. They also said that by signing the receipt, I accept that I will be charged for their magazine if I don't cancel.

I asked them how would I be able to complete a purchase without signing a receipt - which gives them permission to charge me. The answer "You can't, when anyone pays with a card they must sign for, their card information can be sent to us."

I made a purchase at MotherHood Maternity in April of 2010. Today a charge of $20.00 was posted to my account for Parenting Magazine which I did not authorize and am not receiving. I have disputed the charge with my bank but I find that MotherHood Maternity seems to make a habit of putting this charge thru without my knowledge or authorization, .

I accidently grabbed the wrong size of maternity underwear. I didn't realize this until I got home (45 miles away). I called the store and told the cashier what had happened and she informed me that I couldn't do anything about it because it was "intimate clothing". The package wasn't opened. Now I'm stuck with underwear 2 sizes to big. I hate this store's return policy!

I made two purchases at mother hood maternity on two separate occassions. The woman working there was very nice and said that since I was purchasing seventy dollars worth of items, I might as well but ten more dollars and get the free FIFTY DOLLARS IN rewards for a resturant. Well, I asked her, I said I'll get fifty bucks free and clear..no gimmicks? She said no, you get fifty bucks, you can print it out and spend it right then and there. I thought it was great. Well, i spent the eight bucks, went home thinking I made a good choice. Well, I went back a couple days later to buy a coat I wanted, I could have bought one cheaper somewhere else, but because I was coaxed into believing Ill get another "free" Fifty dollars, I chose motherhood. I love the items I bought, no doubt..but I was coaxed into buying twenty dollars more of crap for these "free" coupons.
I went to the website thinking I was gonna get some great take out from a nice resturant...Come to check out the coupon...and It says I HAVE TO SPEND A MINIMUM OF 35.00 TO GET THE FIFTY REWARD. BULL MAN, JUST PLAIN BULL. Between me and my kids, I can't eat eighty dollars worth of food? Its so ridiculous.. I find myself without the fifty because I don't live around family, I am also going to have to spend thirty five dollars just to get the fifty? SO now I just spent 115.00 instead of the eighty at motherhood, now I have to pay an extra thirty five to get these Reward dollars. THis is a scam to get you to go to these diners. DO NOT BUY INTO IT! JUst buy what you have to, unless u fully understand these terms-which they absolutely don't tell you about! Then do it. But remember NOTHING IS FREE! NOTHIG!

I bought 2 nursing bras and asked the sales clerk what the standard rule is (I was trying to buy them in advance as I didn't want to wait until after the baby was born to try & find nursing bras, therefore I didn't know what size I would be). The clerk told me to go up one number size and one cup size, which I did. She put the receipt in the bag and never mentioned the return/exchange policy to me. About a month later (only 5 months pregnant at this time, so I still haven't had a need for the nursing bras yet) I was at Victoria's Secret and was measured and found that I was already bigger than I ever imagined. Knowing I had bought the wrong size nursing bras from Motherhood Maternity, I tried to exchange them 9 days later at a store closer to my home. The sales clerk at this store informed me of their "no exchange policy" on intimate apparel, but at this point, the information had come too late. She further informed me of the 10 day exchange policy. Strike two against me. I wish I'd known the rules before I played this game. I called the manager of the store from which I bought the items and she reiterated that the policy can't be changed. Okay, fine, but her sales clerk had several opportunities to inform me of these policies and she didn't. As the 2nd store clerk pointed out, she was supposed to have me initial the receipt where their policies are spelled out. Since the receipt remained in the bag until the time I attempted to make exchange, and I was not otherwise informed of these silly policies, I had no way of knowing these policies even existed. I never tried on the bras in the store - what would be the point? Whether they fit at that point or not wouldn't determine if they were going to fit when it was time to nurse. Sorry, I'm getting off track. I explained to the manager of the 1st store how & why I never knew of these policies until the day I tried to exchange them. She said she'd call the sales clerk that sold them to me and she'd call me back. She repeated the number to me perfectly. After several hours with no phone call from her, I called her back. She told me she transposed the numbers of my phone number, which is odd since she was able to repeat it back to me with no problem earlier. She told me to bring the items in and she would exchange them. She told me to bring them in over the weekend because she would need to be there for the exchange to happen. I asked what hours she would be there over the weekend and she proceeded to give me the store hours. I asked if she would be there that whole time because I figured she wouldn't work the whole time the store was open over the weekend and she said she would be there. I showed up Saturday night around 7:30 and the sales clerk said she left at 5pm. I informed her she told me she would be there until 9pm and the clerk stated that the manager was only scheduled to work until 5pm. I was PO'd! Gas costs $4 per gallon now! The clerk tried to call, but was forced to leave a message for the manager. I asked if the clerk could by chance do the exchange and her response was that the manager told her about me & that if I came in she was not to do the exchange - the manager would need to be there. The manager ended up calling me at my house after I'd returned home and said I should have called before I came. I reminded her of our discussion when she assured me she would be there all weekend. She told me she doesn't "live there." She further told me she wasn't going to do the exchange now. Then she hung up on me.

Motherhood Maternity's return/exchange policy is ridiculous. They know that since you are only pregnant 9 months, it isn't worth it to you to fight over a mere $30 and that it's much easier for you to give in and just take your loss. These $30 here and there add up for them. The fact that it is "only $30" is even more incentive for them to deny any attempts at refunds or exchanges because they count on most people caving in & eating their $30 loss. I'm not putting up with it. The policy makes no sense. Regardless of how long you are pregnant, if something doesn't work for you, you should be able to remedy the situation. They can still sell any exchanged/returned items, regardless of this comical 10 day return/exchange policy.

That place has pulled scam after scam, and from reading these complaint boards, it looks like this has been going on for some time. Simply stating "it's against our policy" doesn't make it okay. If you are reading this - DO NOT SHOP AT MOTHERHOOD MATERNITY. It is for your own good. There are plenty of other places out there to fit your maternity needs.