Which? Report: most retailers’ free car seat fitting failing on safety

Which? are well known for offering independent advice on a large range of subjects. They also conduct their own safety tests of child car seats. With most retailers now offering a free car seat fitting service, Which? wanted to know how good the quality of this service was.

Posing as parents of an 11-month old baby looking for a car seat to fit their car. The Which? team visited 42 stores from seven different retailers and asked them to fit two different seat types into their car, one secured by ISOfix and one by seat belt. The results were worrying - only four retailers fitted the seats correctly and safely.

Several stores fitted the car seat so badly that, according to Which?, a child sat in one could have been in 'serious danger' in an accident.

Richard Headland, the editor of Which?, said ‘It's unacceptable that retailers are providing such shockingly poor fitting services, which could potentially be putting children at risk’.

Independent stores scored more highly than the bigger retailers, but there were still some mistakes being made which could compromise the safety of a car seat.

Some of the errors identified were terrifying. Thirteen of the stores didn't ask the child's age or weight before fitting the seat. Child car seats are made for certain ages and weights and safety tested with them in mind. Placing a child of the wrong age or weight in a car seat could severely affect the seat’s ability to protect them.

One retailer even folded a car seat support leg under the seat rather than placing it on the floor. This not only makes the whole seat unstable, but again completely compromises the safety of the seat.

Overall Which? found the retailers to have a lack of suitable training, with three major retailers failing over 80% of the fittings they attempted.

All the companies involved have said they are investigating and looking to improve staff training, however some might say that it’s a little be late to be starting now - car seat staff should have been trained effectively in the first place.

With the new i-Size regulations just around the corner, and with more and more car seats coming on the market, it’s even more important that you know how to fit your car seat correctly. A child car seat can only offer the best possible protection to your child if it is fitted properly.

Which? have produced a handy child car seat checklist as a guide for parents which can be found here: http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf/10-child-car-seat-checks-pdf-363028.pdf

Child car seats are not a one-size-fits-all solution. It's important when you’re buying one that you check it’s compatible with your car. Manufacturers put installation instructions in their manuals for you to follow, with most placing easy step-by-step guide stickers on their products. You could even visit the car seat manufacturers’ YouTube channels to get some insider knowledge before you visit for a seat fitting. Either way, we recommend that if you’re in any doubt, contact your car seat manufacturer via their website or social media channels. 

However, with retailers offering a free installation and consumers seeing these retailers as the 'experts', it is worrying to think how many people could be travelling around with car seats that are fitted poorly.