During my stay in Israel, one place my wife and I went to for a new stroller was Shilav, Israel’s version of Babies ‘R Us, at the Malha. We saw a stroller at a relatively unbelievable price and decided to get it. When we reached the counter the cashier explained to us that that price was for registered customers and to register we would need to pay an additional NIS 25.
This caused a bit of a commotion since we didn’t see any signs at all, indicating that this was the preferred price and that the real price was about 50% more than we would have paid. In addition, the language barrier caused problems. The store manager, seeing that we were getting ready to leave without a purchase, stepped in, filled out a registration card for us with waiving the signup fees, and allowed us to purchase the stroller at the stated price.
This tells me that Shilav, while in a way operating like many Israeli businesses operate, nevertheless cares about their customers, and in the end allowed us to leave with a smile on our faces, as well as a good feeling that we got an excellent product at an excellent deal. Should we visit Israel again and need something for our kids, Shilav is now our preferred choice. The only thing is we need to pay NIS 25 for the registration card, which is not a big deal at all.