Aleksandr Orlov Meerkat (compare the meerkat) soft toy available from harrods

No1Joker

franklally wrote: »

A great gesture - restores my faith in human nature:D

positive publicity (and thats obvious publicity) by a retailer two weeks before christmas, doesn't equate to a great gesture in my book. A "surprise at the level of demand" is naive and not Harrods. Calculated, Simples.

If all those donated Meerkats made it to the children then great.

The reality is that a % won't and those will go to ebay (et al) and be sold to the highest bidder.

pudding

i can't beleive your all argueing over a stuffed toy from a tv advert..I think it's great they are going to charity..I don't beleive people on here were getting them for their kids as what child has requested this from santa..it's the adults who wanted it...well done Harrods i think they did the best thing all round saves any arguements with customers who didn't get one they ordered now nobody will

kerrydrobertson

what a good cause they are all going to. im a bit disappointed hey ho. would just have been another thing to sit on the shelf.

bet you the kids that are seriously ill will appreciate it so much and be a hell of a lot more mature than the 'adults' complaining about it on here. my kids will be told no merrkat, tough, you dont know how bloody lucky you are

babymoo

chickywiggle wrote: »

what about people who had wanted to buy them for THEIR children????? what are you going to say to their dissapointed faces........ "sorry but you're not special enough!"?

personally Harrods should sell them to those that have been promised.
They can then donate ALL the money raised (or toy equivalent) to the charities.

So WHAT if people sell them on???? If I could I would........ I would then use the huge profit I would make to put on my own debts to make my own sons life better.

Sorry - and I am anticipating a stabbing here - but MY son will ALWAYS be a higher priority to ME then anyone elses!! Thats not to say I don't feel for other children and their situations but they are not MY first priority!!

Just for the record I didn't order one (or even try too) before anyone acuses me of being jealous etc.

As someone who spent her entire childhood in and out of hospital and who will no doubt spend most of her adult life their aswell I was utterly gobsmacked at your outrage. Yes fair enough your child comes first but reading that message scares me as that is the reason we "special" people get bullied for being just that "special" and different because people like you don't teach your children that people are differing and that your son is exceptionally lucky to be healthy and not need to visit hospital all the time. I hope and pray that you never find yourself in the position my parents and millions of parents like my parents found themselves in.
The last thing on earth we "special" people want is to be "special" I for one would have given anything to run around with my friends without turning blue, would have loved to have walked down the street without people having a go at my mum for making me cold when it was in fact because of my heart. Instead of whinging about it do the decent thing, explain to your son that people in more need than your son for something like this have got it to make them happy for what will possibly be their last Xmas. Also can I suggest watching the film My sister's keeper .. seeing as though you obviously have never come across a sick child, it might help you to see what it is like for people who's lives do revolve around hospitals.

Well Done to Harrods!!!

minimoneysaver

Blackpool Zoo have loads of Meerkats in their toy department, so does the South Lakes Animal Park etc. I'm sure that you can find one by a few simple phone calls. Well done Harrods. I know that you have done the right thing.

pinktheatrebunny

Aside from all the angry debate about who's children are most important (and lets be honest we all put ourselves first (as nature intended) as we are spending time on an internet forum rather than saving the world)

Wouldn't the best solution be for retail giant Harrods to shell out for the rights to make more of the fluffy creatures and sell them in the new year. Obviously pre-Christmas shoppers (like me) will be dissapointed, but they say they have 100's of 1000's of people interested. Then they could donate some of the profits to the charity's mentioned which would go further to diagnosing, treating and hopefully one day curing the diseases that blight these children's lives.

I bet affected families would choose research and help over a stuffed meerkat!

toinfinityandbeyond

I can't help thinking that children would appreciate lots of toys from their toy dept instead???? Like someone above posted,these are more collectors items for adults surely???

anguk

The WRVS shop in my local hospital sells 2 lovely meerkat stuffed toys, one big one a bit smaller. If you're really desperate for a meerkat you could ring the wrvs at your local hospital to see if they sell them. You get a lovely meerkat and the wonderful wrvs get some money.

chickywiggle

First off I apologise to anyone I offended with my use of the word 'special'. I meant important. I have been brought up never to call poorly children 'special' as I feel this reallly derogatory......... you have chosen to take this meaning and not read the rest of my post.

To re-iterate For the record.............................

- I DO donate to children's charities - I am not some blinkered selfish heartless cow. And if you read my thread I suggested a way to resolve this if he really wants to be charitable (which lets face it is a PR stunt) without making other children go without.

- I have read "my sisters keeper" and visited Great Ormond Street. My view still stands - my son would not go without so someone elses could have. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

- Personally I don't do handouts (e.g. "you are sick have a free toy") and would be embarrased to accept such a thing.

YES disabled/ poorly etc children ARE important - I have NEVER said otherwise.

YES parents of these children ARE important - I have NEVER denied this.

I 100% feel for parents/ children who ARE in a hard situation. I have NEVER said otherwise.

My objction is that these children's parents think children in this situation are more impotant then any other child in the world and feel it perfectly acceptable 'normal' children should go without to prove a point that they are healthy.

There are many others on this thread who agree with me - why is nothing being said to them????

Hope this clarifies matters for all you out there.

TBeckett100

I am sorry, but Harrods promised 5000 of these and 5000 people bothered to be lucky enough to be on the list.

i do not accept that these are now to be given away to charity. I had no intention of resale but wanted something limited and unique.

the debate on here about kids who are "not special" should thank their lucky stars they are not disabled is utter tripe. It doesnt mean that people who have been promised an item should have to give it up to a child who is ill. I would have rather Harrods asked for an extra £10 to charity. Money helps charities a lot more than stuffed toys.