Before becoming a parent I never had any need to make very many store returns. But now, the daughter is always getting gifts we don't really need and a majority of them don’t include those gifts receipts you get these days even when you buy toothpaste and toilet paper at Target. I can see why people don't include them with gifts, it does send a weird message like “yeah, return this because I don’t know you at all and I guessed.”
Some family just gave my daughter a late Christmas gift - a Christmas dress (with a tree and Santa on it) that we probably won’t use. The thing still has a Toys-R-Us tag on it (you know with like the price area ripped off.) So I paid visit to the returns counter:
Toys R Us Woman: (blank stare…breathing heavily…staring at my hair as I walk up)
Me: Uh, Hi, I’d like to return this.
Toys R Us Woman: You gotta receipt?
Me: No, it was a gift
Toys R Us Woman: You gotta ‘gift’ receipt?
Me: No, we didn’t get one…
Toys R Us Woman: It’s our policy not to take that. There’s a chance it’s not from “R’ Us”…
Me: There's an ‘R Us tag on it
Toys R Us Woman: Sorry, that’s our policy (looks around me) Next!
Me: What? I've never heard of that...is this policy written somewhere so I can read it…?
Toys R Us Woman: Nope, it's our policy not to show our policy
I asked for the manager and 5 minutes later some kid, maybe around 20, chewing gum and strutting like John Travolta out of Saturday Night Fever comes over to me:
Toys R Us Manager: Hey bro', (nod's head) what’s up?
Me: Uh, yeah, I’d like to return this
Toys R Us Manager: Sorry bro', it’s our policy not to take stuff like that back
As you can imagine, I’m never shopping at Toys R Us, Babies R Us, or any “R' Us” ever again (and I was a good customer too with my video games habit --you hearing me R’ Us!? No more!)
I guess this could be one reason why so many people re-gift these days. Because it’s probably something they got without a gift receipt and the store wouldn't take it back. There’s probably this endless cycle of unused merchandise out there that’s being recycled between people.
What does everybody else do? (Besides break out the torches, axes and picks and go Giraffe hunting…)
28 comments:
Nope, it's our policy not to show our policy.
That's a classic.
Gee, I wonder why Toys R Us is losing customers. I haven't been in one since 2000.
Regift it next year!
Yeah, some stores are getting really weird about the whole "gift receipt" thing. I even got trouble when I tried to exchange something WITH a receipt, once, for reasons that I still don't understand.
Maybe you can swap the Xmas dress with one of your readers. It's like regifting, but more 21st century.
'R-Us' started that policy (even on exchanges) years ago. I don't shop there anymore because of it. Walmart will let you return a certain amount of items without a receipt within a 6 month period, but they take your personal information and once you hit that magic number - no receipt, no return. Circuit City has a strict 30 day return policy, and I mean strict. The only places I know that don't give a lot of flack on returns are Target and Costco. Yes, I've done my research! LOL
Bottom line... I've become a regifter because of all the stupid policies.
My sister-in-law always gives us gifts that she guesses we want.
So what we do is we rewrap them and then give them back to her in the years to come.
It's funny because she is always so grateful, unlike me and my husband.
But then later we find out that she passed our gifts onto her daughters. It's like recycling!
Jillian
You've learned early that any place with R Us in its name is unnecesarily weird.
Is it just me or do all R Us places have a bad vibe?
I never shop at 'R Us anyway. They're creepy. All those toys, staring at you from the shelves...
metro mama - that's the plan, at least for now.
Be Inspired Always - that's funny! we haven't tried that one on anybody... yet
Sarah O. - you know, the R Us people never bothered me until this. I did some searching on the internet and they have a whole lot of angry people at them for this "policy", maybe there is a reason why Target and Wal-Mart at killing them.
InterstellarLass - walking through the doll aisle freaks me out. It's like they're all waiting for me to be alone and butcher me. I've watched every "Chucky" movie (even the bride one)
Personally, I find it odd someone would give a Christmas dress as a late Christmas gift? With the speed at which my kids grow out of clothing, especially at that age-- what a waste.
But like you said, it was probably re-gifted.
Save it to give to someone else next year... at least its not a fruitcake!
I always have to donate stuff after my kids get gifts because people don't give gift receipts. It seems like such a waste sometimes because if they had just given a gift reciept, 99% of the time I would just exchange it for the correct size, but a gift is just that. A gift. Something that didn't need to be given, and I appreciate the thought even though it is frustrating to be donating it to people I have never even met. I almost never go to Toys R Us becuase it is always so crowded near us. I wonder if it is filled with angry people trying to return/exchange things?
I call bullshit- the customer is always right so if there is a policy wanting to be seen then the policy shall be seen. I say call corporate, just to piss the buggers in your R Us off, get them to take the dress back, and then never shop there again.
I worked in retail for too long to sit here and watch these two walk all over you and get away with it.
Toys R Us is abyssmal. I know several people who worked there, all who were treated like crap. The company is so poor in the service department it's not even on the service radar. I went recently to look for children's bathrobes. The clerk asked the lady in FRONT of me if she found everything ok, but not me! I must have had that disgusted "I'll never shop there again" look on my face. They shouldn't wonder why they're losing sales to Wal-Mart, Target, and online shopping. Cripes.
I say keep the dress and use it as a halloween costume for the dog next year.
That must be their policy on the west coast 'cause out here on the east coast I have never had a problem returning things with the tags still on them at R' Us.
You should have hit his hair. I'm sure he worked all day on it. (hoping you get the movie reference)
EVERY retailer is clamping down on refund fraud (without receipt or frequent refunder with reciept). Do a google query on refund fraud, and see why.
We donate a lot. I know...in some ways that is letting the stores get away with their stupid, secretive policies. But I've battled the 20 year old managers too many times.
We've never had problems returning gifts without a reciept. Too bad.
We regift usually.
We just recieved some "new toys" from Hasbro because we sent back a defective toy they no longer made. Great except the "new gift" was an even older product which we already had (and the stores no longer carry) and the packages all were broken during shipping.
Oops, just read Mrs. Chicky's comment and had to add, we are on the East Coast too.
bummer, dude. donate it.
but it is so infuriating. we shopped early for some stuff for the girls, and got a duplicate, so we tried to take oour toy back to Toys R Us with the receipt. but they wouldn't take it because it was outside the 30 days. we said we shopped early so we could get what we wanted because they always run out and they just shurgged and said they wouldn't take it back. it's such crap.
what happens is they all slash prices to get you in their door, not the other guy's, and then they make up for their unprofitable competitive price slashing by screwing honest consumers who just want their money back with a receipt.
I used to regift crap like that, until I was caught. Mucho embarrassing!! Now, when I get a lame ass gift that can't be returned, I hang on to it and donate it to Santa's Anonymous or a similar charity.
As for shopping at the R-Us stores, never do it anymore. It's like crack for kids and overgrown child adults.
My bankbook forbid me along time ago to step into that store.
Regift it, but not to any of us online friends - we all know about it now!
I always ebay kids' clothes that are new with the tags, and ugly. Since I don't live near most of the stores these were purchased from and I'm really kinda lazy... I just sell it on ebay.
I'd regift, but I don't know anyone who would use it. My kids are the youngest of anyone I know out of a pool of maybe 5-6 people with kids that I know/am related to.
Otherwise I donate it, or freecycle it, or as a last resort I just toss it.
It's our policy not to show our policy?
What kind of backward-assed crap is that?
Oh Hell NO! DOn't regift it, you march right back into that store and Demand a store credit! I managed a TRU for 5 years and they have always had a "Nordstrom's" return policy; "We take anything back, even if it isn't ours." Feel free to email me and let me know which store you are frequenting and maybe I can help.
Mrs. Chicky - He might have came back with "I work a long time on my hair, and he hits ma' hair.."
Adrienne - I did some more research and was contacted - Toys R Us WILL not take returns at all, even with their own receipt after 30 days (bagan June 06). You're referring to Babies R Us - they will take the return and offer store credit. Problem is, Toys R Us sells baby clothes (at least ours does) and that's considered under the Toys R Us policy. Point is- if you're going to shop with the evil, shop at the Babies R Us.
We won't be doing either from now on.
I got one word for you....
EBAY!!!!!!!
Best Buy has a similarly dain-bramaged policy.
Pageant Mom is right: eBay. (Or regift it.)
-J.
I tried to return a toy today and was told by the store manager that there was nothing she could do since I did not have a gift receipt. EVEN THOUGH said toy had a theft prevention sticker on it that very clearly stated "Thank you for shopping at Toys R Us." The manager suggested that I try selling the toy on Ebay or Craigslist since I had no other option. I will NEVER shop there again and I will be sure to tell everyone I know to boycott them as well. ALL of their competitors offer store credit without a receipt.
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