Baboodle Baby Equipment Hire Review

Baby gear is expensive and they grow out of it so quickly. I didn’t realise rental or hire is an alternative option. Hiring a stroller or other baby equipment also works for travel. Renting for a couple of weeks- is especially useful if you have that one off long haul flight or trip where you don’t normally need a really small cabin sized stroller or a toddler sleep device – but it would be super handy for you on this one trip… Or so you think! Our tester Jo, hired a Joolz Aer + travel stroller from Baboodle for a holiday to South Africa and loved it so much, she is seriously thinking of buying one!

Trustpilot has them rated at a full 5 star. I always look at negative reviews of any company I use, and there is just the one two star review out of many hundreds of positive 5 star reviews. This review was replied to in an understanding, genuine, polite and apologetic way despite the delay being outside their control. It was clear to me that customer service is at the heart of what they do – how a company deals with any issues says a lot about them.

Over to Jo and her experience:

Booking and Return Process

Booking was super simple – a very easy to navigate website with clear options. For some items like strollers you can hire from 2 weeks, 1 month, or longer.

As we were on a 2 week holiday, we opted for one month to cover the full holiday plus delivery time. Initially, this seemed lengthy when we were only away for a couple of weeks, but on returning from holiday it does then allow you some breathing space to get organised and send it back. Also, we loved the pram so much that an extra week or so of using at home wouldn’t have been a bad thing!! You can of course send it back whenever you want.

The full rental for one month cost for the Joolz Aer+ £69.95 which included postage and returns. This also included a rain cover and travel bag at no additional cost -whereas other companies do charge for this.

There wasn’t much communication after ordering, but the flip side is we didn’t get bombarded with promo material! I was sent the delivery details for DPD.

The travel pram arrived a few days before the date I had asked for, which gave us piece of mind. It was well boxed (in reused packaging which was a nice environmental bonus) and simple to open.

The Joolz Aer+ didn’t come with any instructions but you could use a QR code to find some. It was actually so simple to use as a pram that we didn’t need them anyway!

It was super clean and tidy and completely ready to use, with a handwritten note, which was a nice touch.

Sending back was just as easy. I emailed Baboodle as I hadn’t heard anything since it arrived, but they were really quick to respond and sent me a link to follow the returns process. The info is all on the website but I didn’t realise at the time. You have the option of them sending you a QR code or printable label for your free return.

This was also really intuitive and I could choose whether to get it collected or take it to a post office.

I chose to take to a post office as we live right opposite one and I printed a label to stick on. I could use the box it came in to package it back up and they simply scanned the label at the counter and the job was done!

I think I could have asked for a QR code for the post office if I didn’t have a printer. I sent it back last week and am yet to receive confirmation from Baboodle that it arrived so just a bit more communication from them would have been really helpful for peace of mind both at the start and finish of the process.

The Joolz Aer+

The pushchair came with a carry case with a handle, a rain cover, also in a carry bag, and a detachable strap for the pram itself.

The pram was really easy to use, and could be put up and down one handed, which was really helpful. It was light enough to carry around in the bag when needed to at the airport, though a comfier strap would have made that easier as it got quite heavy after a while. 

It stowed away in the overhead locker on the flight absolutely fine, and because it was so easy to put up and take down we were able to keep our baby in it as late as possible and just take her out as we approached the aeroplane door.

We loved how robust the pram felt. We were in South Africa and the pavements weren’t always perfect, but we never felt like the pram couldn’t handle it. When we got home we really missed the lightweight pram and didn’t feel like returning to our bigger pram was an upgrade! It manoeuvred really well too.

The basket underneath the pram was small, but it did what it needed to and never felt like it was not strong enough.

The rain cover (which unfortunately we needed to use!) was great. It was really easy to take out of its very compact zip bag, and easy to put back, and it fitted so well on the pram.

Our baby was really happy in the pram – she is a small 11 month old and we were worried it might be too big for her, but with the straps up as tight as they could go she was really comfortable.

The sunshade could go nicely far down which helped in the heat, and the pram could fully recline with an unzip of the back panel, which meant we could easily leave her in it to snooze whilst we were out and about without her noticing us changing it over.

The pram handle didn’t appear to adjust, but it was a good height for us (and we are a good foot or so different in height between us!)

We loved it so much we have been googling the pram to buy now we are back!